[i]What’s in it for me?... Yeah, it’s a loaded question for sure, but one I’ve been asking myself since I was a kid. And why shouldn’t I? Shit, I don’t see any reasons not to milk this sorry existence for all it has to offer, but I don’t go that far. Just enough to appease my own curiosities I suppose, or maybe I do push things further beyond the edge of the world, where you feel like one more step could mean you’ve just ended it all. Nah, I know I’ve slipped off that edge plenty of times, but I just keep falling with no fucking view of the ground below. I haven’t hit anything yet. I’m untouchable... ...Where the hell was I go with all this? Vincent, you asshole...[/i] A song from [i]Filter[/i], something from their early album, played softly in the background, streaming out of the many surrounding speakers in the back patio area. The large swimming pool glowed a soft bluish-white from the sublevel lighting along it’s perimeter, casting a stark shadow over everything floating on the surface. The time was...who really knew, but sometime after midnight and way before the morning sun was ready to show its face. Vin slowly drifted along laying on a bright green inflatable pool raft and dressed solely in a pair of white washed jeans, his tattooed arms outstretched, making the mythical wyvern creature inked on his chest almost appear as though it were in flight. His body, however, was unmoving, yet his eyes were open and staring intensely up into the starlit sky. Plastic red cups, empty liquor bottles, half inflated beach balls, and a myriad of men's and women's clothing were left floating in the pool or hanging off the large rocky cascading waterfall. This had been a good night. A night that would be easily replaced by massive hangovers, puking up everything still left in our stomachs, and most likely getting shit stolen. Yeah that hurt the most, and yet it was the inevitable byproduct of inviting complete strangers to your top-level apartment for an all night “fuck the world and crash” party. Oh yeah, it's all worth it in the end, right? “Hey, Vinny!...” The faint female voice, layered in some kind of British accent, echoed loudly from across the patio, snapping Vin from his reverie, almost causing him to tip over into the cold water. “Who? W-What the fuck?..” His words came out slurred yet surprisingly coherent, as he turned his head to find the source of the interruption. “You're Vinny, yeah? Shite, didn't ya hear me the first [i]five[/i] times?” Vincent focused and caught sight of the tall, leggy dark-skinned girl crouched down at the edge of the pool, her long dreadlocks partially covering her face and half naked body. She steadied herself with one hand while holding a mobile phone in the other. “Eh…[i]yeah[/i]...Vin. Don't call me ‘Vinny’, I hate that. And who the hell are you? And where is everyone else?...” He said with a confused expression, looking around the empty patio area as he pushed himself along the wall, floating closer to the mystery girl. She stared back at him, her head cocked a bit with a sour look across her face. “Really?...we met last night at the opening of your tatt shop over in Buckhead, genius. And I don’t know, people were leaving throughout the night. Something about having to work in the morning. [i]Shite[/i], I need to work in the morning...” The girl then held up the phone, which Vin noticed was his. “But, that doesn’t matter now, someone claiming to be your ‘brother’ is on the line and needs to speak with you…” Vincent tried to sit up on the unsteady raft, only to lay back down, more so from his own lack of balance and coordination. He scooped up some water, splashed it on his face, and wiped off the excess from his eyes. “My..My brother?...what the...I don’t even have a brother. And why the hell did you answer [i]my[/i] phone?” The woman gave a sideways smirk as she massaged her pounding forehead. “Look, I don’t know, it was sitting next to me and kept ringing, so I answered it. Do you want this bloody thing or for fuck’s sake I’m going to throw it in the pool!…” “No!...yeah, I mean…[i]yes[/i], give me the phone please.” He reached over to grab the phone from the girl, who stood up, and staggered over to one of the lounge chairs. Vin took a deep breath, trying his best to clear his head from all the chaos bouncing around, before putting the receiver end up to his ear. “Yeah? Who is this?” There was a brief pause on the other end, before a male voice spoke, his tone somber and cracking. “Vincent…” “Shit...Benny...what happened?” This was a guy Vin thought he’d never hear from again, not since the incident with his sister, Trish, Vin’s ex-fiance who left him for some rich chump. “Dammit Vin, I’m over at Mercy Hospital, and Trish...she passed away an hour ago man. Her heart gave out due to a mix of prescription drugs and booze. Vin, I fucking told her to stay clear of that shit! I-I just don’t know man...” Silence between the both of them seemed to last an eternity. Vin laid his head back against the plastic headrest on the raft, staring up at the starry sky yet again, and wondering if he’d even feel anything for what had happened to her. As much as he didn’t want to, and as much as she hurt him in the end, he felt it. He felt the sucker punch of life once again, and it hit like a mother fucking monster truck. “...Vincent?” Benny spoke up, clearing his throat in the process. “Look man, I just thought you should know. But, I gotta go bro...” Benny was gone, and the phone came to a rest on Vin’s chest as he kept his eyes fixed toward the night sky. Reaching his right hand over to his left shoulder, he rubbed the inked portrait image of the girl who broke his heart all those years ago, slowly closing his eyes to calm down the raging onset of a coming migraine from hell. And, as if by some twisted and perverse coincidence, the surrounding speakers streamed an all too familiar song by [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_GPxe91hWE]Alice in Chains[/url] that they both shared back in Seattle when things had been different. When life seemed to make sense, and the rules didn’t matter. “Shit, Trish...not like this…”