This is the Way the World Ends......

It was dark out. Fey hated the dark. How could anyone trust something that concealed dangers. Evil. That was the word Fey used to describe the dark. It was the only thing that Fey felt truly deserved the word. Closing the curtains and turning away from the window that led to a seemingly unending blackness and to the room that flooded her with light, she sighed.

"Fey, don't you see there's nothing out there to hurt you? The dark is no different from the light. What are you going to do when you must live out on your own?" Fey hadn't known what to say, she could only look at her mother silently.
"As usual, you just stand there silent. Waiting. What are you waiting on?" Why did mother insist on always asking the questions that Fey had no way of answering? She had gotten better. Since finding Finicky, Fey had been able to sleep without a night light and withstand the dark inside rooms. There she knew she wasn't alone. It was late. Fey was tired, so she called Finicky over and went to bed.

*************

Pit...pat...pit...pat..pat..pat.pat.pat.patpatpatpatpatpatpatpatpatpatpatpat. That was the sound Fey seemed to wake up to most mornings here in Washington Heights. Not that she disliked the rain. Really it was a good part of the world. Fey just wished that the sun would make a consistant appearence in Washington Heights more often then not. Finicky whinned beside Fey and went over to the door frame of the bedroom to scratch at it.
"I'm comin' Finiy, don't worry, I won't make you hold it in. Even on a rainy day." Fey laughed at Finicky. Whenever he had to go out and they were in the apartment he seemed to act like he was asking for some great favor.

Fey walked to the coat rack, Finicky by her side, and put on a coat, grabbed an umbrella, and stuffed her crotched hat into her bag along with a plastic bag.
"Let's be off!" She opend the door, and the pair went out.

Fey and Finicky turned into the vacant lot and walked to the far corner of it. While Finicky did his business, Fey politely looked elsewhere. It was then she noticed the stand in the lot had been reopend. Once Finicky had finished, Fey was pleased to find there would be no need for the bag and began to walk back to the side walk. The reason for the use of the vacant lot as apposed to the park was simple. there were so few nice areas in Washington Heights Fey figured Finicky could use one of the least pleasant parts and leave one of the nicest ones unspoiled, atleast by himself.

Reaching the sidewalk, Fey decided to go out for some coffee. The rain wasn't that bad after all, and she had her umbrella jauntily held above her head. Walking past the now unvacated stand, Fey was struck. Not physically, but with the sight of a great bird perched on a shelf. It wasn't alive, Fey could see that, but the state it was in wasn't natural. From the earth it came, and to the earth it should have returned, all of it, for the next generation. Fey suddenly became aware of a small, strange woman looking back at her. Averting her eyes, Fey hurried herself and Finicky down the street towards the traffic light.
Deep breaths Fey, deep breaths. Everyone has a reason. It is just her being herself, you are not the one to judge, or you will be judged. Despite her attempt to calm down and just accept the woman as she'd accepted everyone else, a cold chill went down her spine as she thought back to that bird.

The Hollow Men

Fey sat on her stool behind the counter that had the cash register facing her. Her shop, The Wrath, was lit and warmed by the help of a small space heater. The overhead lights were hanging ones with metal bowl-looking coverings that cast the light under where they were in round pools upon the floor. There were two lava lamp lights around the world too. One purple and red, and one green and blue. Her shop was simple, small, two stories. The front room was where the shop was. In it there was shelving unit near the door. It held crystal ball stands, candle holders, incense burners (metal, wood, hanging, stick, cone), both harmless incense and harmless candles. These things were, in Fey's opinion, safe to let someone steal, it was the contents in the glass counters that lined two walls, and the one that prevented people from going to the back room without her that needed to be guarded. In these cases she kept articles of the curio and the occult, all made for good magic, but, like people, these things could be corrupted. The cases held tarot cards, candles and incense specific for certain spells, certain herbs (some of which were poisonous), athames, crystal balls, and various other objects with which one could do harm with.
While Fey wasn't particularly busy at any point in time, she did have some loyal customers who came by, some from Washington Heights, others from other towns. They came for her handmade soaps, incense, and candles. Many-a-day Fey would sit with a small portable oven heating wax to make candles, making soap, or crushing and mixing various herbs and spices for her incense. Rolling the cone incense in her hand, Fey felt at peace. This small simple job, it was amazing how centering it was. All day, this is what she did. Today she was making daimiana incense. If people were going to try to get high, they might as well do so on a legal herb that wasn't quite as powerful as the elusive Mary Jane. Besides, you would have to burn a lot of incense to get high off of daimiana in the incense form. That was just how it was. Not that fey judged people who smoked daimiana, or tried to use the incense for their own purposes. She herself burnt the incense, but only in order to relax. It was a wonderful relaxant.

In, out, in, out all day long. Not a lot of people, but a few. At one point, an inibriated man stumbled into the shop. He looked around and approached the counter. Fey had just lit a cone of daimiana incense. The man looked at her.
"I need to find mmgmgmmm.."
"Sorry, I couldn't catch that last bit of what you said."
"I need to find someone." Just like that. The polite smile Fey had carefully been supporting faded, like everything else. Her world went black.

Fey woke up in the back room of the shop. When she sat up Finicky ran over to her from where he had been lying. Fey pet him and rubbed her head.
"oh dear. It has been a while since a black out like that." They used to happen more frequently Fey reminised. Originally she had thought that they were caused by some sort of health issue; however, she'd realized eventually that the memories lost were very person specific, so Fey just assumed what ever happend didn't effect her and therefor had no reason to know what happend.
She blew the candle next to her out.
"Come on Finicky, time to close shop." Fey and Finicky went to the front. Looking down at the counter, she saw a ten dollar bill on the counter. She picked it up. Getting her bag, Fey and Finicky walked to the door. She stopped. Frozen. It was dark. Fey's heart filled with terror and she began to panic within her mind. What should I do? Maybe I could stay here tonight. Finicky whined beside Fey, beckoning her to the darkness beyond. He wants to be fed. We have no food here! Fey knew that she had to go back to the appartment, she didn't want to cause the poor animal pain, lord knew he'd sufferd enough before she'd found him.
"O.k Finiy, we'll go home, but you have to hurry you know." She took a deep breath. When she reached the door, she prepared as much as she could. She opened the door and locked it so that when she closed it it couldn't be opened again. One foot in, one foot out Fey reached for the light switch. Making sure that Finicky was outside she flicked the switch and stood for a moment in complete darkness. Her heart sped up. She shut the door tight and ran. Down the street. It was just a short distance and she walked it every day. But here, now, it seemed the greatest distance in the world. She reached the corner and turned to the left. There were the doors. Something fell out of her bag, but that didn't matter. Right now she had to outrun the blackness that surrounded her. She held the door open for Finicky and ran into the dimly lit lobby. Beyond the lobby was her hall. At her door she calmed slightly, pulled her keys out and opened the door. SLAM!!!! Fey quickly locked the door and slid down to the floor with her back to the door. Finicky came up and licked her face, sweetly reminding her as to why they had to come home.
"O.k, o.k let's eat." As she walked to the kitchen, still upset, Fey looked into her bag. Her book of poetry had fallen out. She had been collecting poetry in it for over three years. The loss of the book was as if a friend had died, but it was gone. Here at Washington Heights what got lost stayed lost.

Cottleston, Cottleston, Cottleston Pie

Fey stood in front of the freezers in Manny's Grocery Store. She'd already gotten the dog food, carrots, apples, some beef and beans to make chili, three potatoes, and some sugar cookies. All that was left was to get the milk and tea. She reached out and grabbed the skim milk carton closest to her and placed it in her basket. Walking towards the aisle the tea was on, she heard a loud crash. Upon reaching the aisle, she saw a woman pushing her cart down the aisle quickly and a young clerk picking up the coffee cans that now littered the floor. She'd recognized that woman. She was the one who always got off on the 5th floor, she remembered because she'd tried to keep her eyes averted from Fey's presence nearly as much as Fey did to hers.
Fey's attention was brought back to the mess in front of her by the mutterings of the clerk.
"I can't believe she just left this for me to pick up. Bitch."
"Here let me help you," Fey said bending down.
"Thanks, they're supposed to be stacked in a pyramid." The pair was finished picking up the mess in a matter of minutes.
"Thank you again, I just don't get why some people feel that they can just leave their own messes to others to clean up."
"I'm sure she has a good reason for rushing off. Maybe she'd left something on the oven." Fey was hoping that by suggesting that she had a good reason to rush off the clerk's aura would lighten and her less than understanding words wouldn't come back to haunt her. No luck.
"Maybe, but more than likely she's just a self-centered cow." With that the clerk walked off.
On her journey home, Fey thought over the clerk and wondered why people could think such mean thoughts about others without knowing the whole story. It was one of the problems of the world. Ever since Fey had decided that most world problems were attributed to people not being understanding, or even trying to be, she had done her best to only think positively of others. Fey knew that there had to be a reason bad things happened, and that Karma did exist. It had to. Just like fate. It was meant to happen. She was meant to find apartment 81 in Washington Heights and Finicky.
Back at the building. Fey had deposited the groceries and gotten Finicky. She had planned to go straight to her shop to open after lunch, but decided to take a ride on the elevator first. Going up the elevator another person got on. He was thin, looked under-nourished and tired. He looked at her with such a calculating stare that Fey had to look away. Fey didn't even wait to see which floor he got out on or if he was even going up or down. The next floor that the doors opened on to admit someone into the elevator Fey got off on with Finicky. Deciding she had better go open up, Fey chose to use the stairs. Outside the building Fey turned right and walked past a small fenced in area. When she reached her shop, The Wrath, she paused, as did Finicky, and, before opening the door and going in, looked to both sides, not because she was scared, she had no reason to be. The Sun was still up.

Oh the Places You'll Go!!!!

Fey Mandrake didn't live on the 5th floor. As she the elevator doors of the 5th floor slid shut, Fey looked at the buttons of the elevator, each one leading the small metal box that smelled mildly of alcohol to a new floor. It was then she became aware that some one was talking to her.
"Are you going up?" The man who'd asked her was tall, taller then her at any rate. She noted he'd pressed the button for the 8th floor.
"Oh, yes! The 10th floor please, thank you." Fey flashed him her quick little smile she'd mastered through years of practice, then went back to looking ahead of her in silence. The elevator reached the 8th floor, the doors opened, and the man stepped out. The doors shut, went up two more floors, stopped again, the doors opened, but Fey didn't move. The doors shut again. Fey reached forward and pressed a button. She had lied. She didn't live on the 10th floor, she lived on the first, apartment number 81, her favourite number. a square of the square of 3, a sacred number and oh so perfect number. However, when not at her apartment or shop, the elevator was one of Fey's favourite places to be. Not because she liked enclosed spaces, she didn't. No, it was because every time the elevator doors opened she was in a different and (relatively) new place. Also, with the building being so big and many residence, with every ride Fey was likely to see someone new, she never met anyone she saw, but she saw them and that was enough. Fey liked people, that's why she owned and ran a shop next door to the diner and, although the shop was two stories, chose to live in Washington Heights. While it was more of a financial stretch for her, the day she had looked into living in the apartments the first one shown to her was 81. Fey knew it was a sign. She had to live in that apartment. She just knew that by living in apartment #81 she would one day meet someone important, it was fate, why else would apartment 81 be open in the building next door to her shop?
Fey approached the door, her patchwork dress just barely touching the floor. She should hem it. She wasn't very tall, but she wasn't short either. She had long wavy hair that formed natural loose rings towards the bottom. Both her hair and eyes were brown. While she had a shapely figure, she spent most of her time wearing jackets or sweaters to cover most of her figure up. She looked down both sides of the hall before she opened her door. Not due to the crime rate, more to see if anyone was in the hall. She ducked inside, no one to see today, oh well. Fey was sure she'd meet whoever it was outside her door, although, being very shy, she wasn't sure how she'd do so. She barely managed to talk to people long enough to sell things in her shop.
Her apartment was small, but livable. There was a bathroom, a kitchenette that was connected to a living room type space, one closet, and a very small bedroom. The only door in the whole apartment was the front door. The other doorways had hanging beads in them, except that to the bathroom. That doorway was covered by two pieces of fabric. She made her way to the bedroom, which consisted of a mattress, a light, and Finicky. Finicky was one of life's good parts that Karma had been kind enough to make pass Fey's path. She had found Finicky one day while looking around the graveyard. The poor dog was half starved, probably a family pet that had gotten lost and never looked for. She called him Finicky because when he'd first come to live with Fey, that's exactly what he was. He was the only man in her life, and they were happy. Every morning they went to The Wrath and opened it. They stayed there most the day, and around 6:30 closed and returned home. Fey wasn't sure what type of dog Finicky was, but that didn't matter, he was a good dog, and cared for her as much as she cared for him.
"No new exciting people today Finiy. C'est la vie. Come on boy, lets have some dinner."
"Arf!arf!" With a couple of barks of agreement from Finicky, they made their way into the kitchenette to eat.