[center]The sunset was gorgeous. Hues of red and orange mingling over a wretched bundle of shimmering obstruction. After all that had happened, Eddie Garcia sat at the edge of the world. The wind pulled at his hair, in errant gusts; his feet, as well, pushed to the left when they came. He let his gaze trail down, between his dangling shoes. 

[color=DEB887][i]I just gotta lean forward.[/i][/color]

Considering it sent shivers up his spine and made an uncomfortable knot in his stomach. He couldn't relax. Despite everything that happened, he was still focused on an entirely different matter. Sure, an eyeball had attacked him in his apartment. Sure, he had spent two hours puking up black bile. Sure, the words of a strange smiling patron still rang in his ears; just under his own repetitious thoughts.

 [color=BC8F8F][i]Here, Edward. Take it, or it will take you.[/i][/color]

 A smile. Huge. Everywhere. Cheshire? Maybe. His apartment, spinning. Tentacles. The scene overtook him.

 It didn't take long for Eddie to forget he was sitting on the ledge of an adjacent complex. Now, he was back [i]there[/i]; out of control, reliving the moment. Back in his apartment. Some number of hours ago. The scent of New Steel City became incense. The breeze on his skin became the sputtering breath of his half-broken air conditioner. Everything began to shift, losing its solidity; the phantoms of Eddie Garcia's mind overtaking him.

 [color=DEB887][i]Oh Dios mio...not again...[/i][/color]

 He had been sitting in a stupor for some time. Albina had left him. Finally seeing him for the piece of shit he was. The bathroom was cold. Blood trailed from a small number of marks on his right arm. The needle sat on the sink's rim, glistening in the low yellow light. Dirty clothes littered the floor, mingled with two towels; one of which he had a light grip on. The pink one. Albina's.

 Eddie Garcia had been crying, that much was evident by his reflection in the dirty mirror. His eyes swollen and red, his hands shaking. Her towel was coarse and still wet. Not forty five minutes ago she had been all smiles. Then she had found just how much of their collective stash had gone missing. 

 [color=DEB887][i]Quick way to turn a loving junkie into a junkie bitch.[/i][/color]

 What she had said was enough to cut him to the bone; driving him to finish off what he'd started. Now, Eddie's veins were full of narcotics; his head full of thoughts that wouldn't cessate. [i]You're a fuckin' piece of shit, Eddie! I'm gone![/i] She kept saying that, even though she had only said it twice. He kept hearing it. It echoed off the walls, and drove a new nail into his heart, each time. 

 He couldn't argue, though; he didn't have the will for it. So, he did what he always did. He ran, seeking numbness over closure. Sliding bare feet across dirty tiles, he sighed; sitting back. The rim of the bathtub wasn't comfortable, but he needed the toilet available. Nausea pulled his stomach up and down, threatening to empty its self. An empty threat, given that he hadn't eaten since just before the last time he slept.

 [color=DEB887][i]Four days, man.[/i][/color] Eddie had thought, [color=DEB887][i]Maybe a few more if this shit keeps up.[/i][/color]
 
 Standing wasn't a chore, but it was a hassle. Eddie did it, anyway, walking over to the mirror; knocking his rig aside without much thought. Plastic, as it was, the thing didn't break. He nudged it aside with his toes, staring into himself. He looked like hell, he knew. That hardly mattered. Blood trailed down his forearm. Four missed attempts with shaking hands had left his fresh marks obvious. He placed a hand against the grime, letting it press until cracks showed in the glass.

 [color=BC8F8F]"Ugly mug, isn't it?"[/color] The voice was a rasp at his back, so close that the vibrations tickled at his ear. Eddie spun, his fists raised for all of half a second before they dropped. He thought it was a hallucination, at first; but the [i]thing[/i] in front of him was more like a nightmare. It stooped to keep its head from hitting the roof, looking down on him with yellow eyes. His mouth worked, but produced no sound. A hand, large but thin reached out for him. [color=BC8F8F]"I brought you something, kid. Something you'll like."[/color] He was absorbed by its smile; the way it stretched. 

 [color=DEB887]"What...what the fuck [i]are[/i] you?"[/color] He managed to choke out, trying to step back; earning the rim of the sink against his lower back. The thing chuckled; bringing up a closed hand. Tendrils wormed their way from between closed fingers, flailing violently at the air. Eddie wanted to run, but found himself rooted to the spot. 

 [color=BC8F8F]"I'm Smile, Eddie. You can call me Smile,"[/color] its eyes didn't leave him, the smell of Smile's breath carrying repulsive sweetness and subdued rot, [color=BC8F8F]"and [i]this[/i],"[/color] its fingers unfurled, revealing the source of the tendrils, [color=BC8F8F]"is yours."[/color]

 [color=DEB887][i]What the fuck?! Oh hell no! I'm out![/i][/color] He slid away from the sink, the creature and the thing in its hand, and toward the door. The moment he did, something pierced the back of his head. Eddie crumpled, his hand barely grazing the door's tarnished knob. Then he heard flesh ripping, and could barely feel the tendrils worming their way beneath his skin.

 [color=BC8F8F]"Keep an eye on it for me, kid."[/color]

 And that was where he forced himself to stop remembering. After that he had passed out, waking up on his bathroom floor. Blood covered everything around him. He had used Albina's towel to wipe up most of it; changing clothes and heading out the door without a second thought.

That brought him [i]here[/i]. The New Steel City low-rent apartment rooftops; contemplating suicide.[/center]