The stories that killed their writer

Chapter 2: How are you doing?

Lana's POV

I woke up the next day, alone in bed. I sighed as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

I sat up and immediately reached for my forehead, burying my face in my hands. I had a huge headache. I shouldn't have had that many drinks last night...

I groaned before pushing myself up. I made my way downstairs and saw Melody in the kitchen. She was done with her breakfast but was reading the newspaper while having a cup of coffee.

She seemed to feel my presence as she looked up at me. She immediately let out a sigh. "You look like crap."

I let myself fall onto the chair in front of her. I shrugged.

She raised her eyebrows before going back to reading.

I looked from her to the newspaper and spotted something. "Hey look," I pointed to an article at the back of the newspaper. "They're talking about my book."

Melody glanced at it before going back to what she was reading before.

I sighed before looking away. It was clear she didn't care, it was clear she didn't think my books were that important. I knew that though, I have known that for a long time. But that doesn't mean her behavior doesn't hurt me.

After 5 minutes, she finished her cup of coffee and put down the newspaper. She looked at me. "What are you going to do today?"

I shrugged. "I don't really have anything planned."

She nodded slowly, I could see she didn't like my answer.

"I may go over to the firm to talk about the book's sales and stuff like that..."

"Sounds good," She got up, walked to me, and kissed my lips. "Hopefully it sold well." She patted my shoulder before heading off to work.

I sighed deeply.

______________________________

After breakfast, I went back upstairs. I needed to get ready before I'd leave the house.

I got undressed and walked to the bathroom. I got into the shower and started washing myself and my hair.

I was humming as I was rubbing the shampoo in my hair but I stopped as soon as I heard something. I opened the shower curtains a bit to look around the bathroom. Nothing. There was nothing.

I gulped as I closed the curtains again. It was probably the wind. Yes, the wind.

As I got underneath the water to get the shampoo out of my hair, I couldn't help but feel like someone was watching me. Like someone was peeping.

I gulped as I quickly got the shampoo out of my hair. I rubbed the shampoo and water out of my face and looked at the curtain, it hadn't moved.

I quickly finished my hair and got out of the shower. I dried my hair and body and walked to the mirror. I started combing my hair and suddenly saw it, in the mirror.

I gulped. "What is it?"

It didn't move. It just looked at me.

"What do you want, Shax?"

Shax kept smiling like crazy, it's their usual form: a dark shadow, white eyes, and a white smile. It terrified me. I didn't like having Shax near me. It was evil, it was a demon, and I knew its powers.

I turned around and didn't see Shax anymore. I sighed as I knew it was playing a game, a game I didn't intend to play.

I left the bathroom and went back to my bedroom. I hurried to get dressed.

I took my phone and hurried downstairs. I walked past the kitchen and stopped. I looked inside. "What are you two doing here?"

Mark and Macy were looking at me. "Cleaning the kitchen, it looks messy here."

I sighed. "I'll clean it when I get home, I'm old enough."

They eyed me.

"Look, I have to go to a meeting now but I'll clean it when I get back. Just leave it." I then walked to the front door.

"Don't forget to take your jacket."

I looked at Macy then. "Yes, mom..." I joked but did put on my jacket.

Macy looked pleased.

I then left and got into my car. There I stopped and sighed. Ok, so I saw Shax, Mark, and Macy today. And it was only 10 am... This will be a long day.

Just like Shax, Mark and Macy weren't real. They were characters from my book. Though, they were nice. They were the parents in every book I wrote. And they treated me like their child. Shax, however, that one is bad news.

I drove to the firm. I was wondering, anxiously anticipating the meeting. I really wondered about the sales, about the numbers. Not for me though, but for Melody. I just wanted her to be happy, I wanted her to be proud.

I parked my car and entered the firm. It was a rather small publishing firm, perfect for me. I never intended to be famous so I never aimed for the biggest players in the market. And now that I was a relatively big deal, those big players suddenly wanted me to sign with them. What an odd world...

"Good morning." I said as I entered. I smiled as I saw Isaac and Chelsea. Both were my publishers, and both were my best friends. They are married and incredibly nice to each other and me.

"Good morning." They both said with a smile on their face.

"Lana, wow," Isaac nodded as he held the report. "Big numbers, again."

I smiled nervously.

"It sold even more copies than the last installment," He went on. "Congratulations." He said as he handed me the report.

I looked at it and smiled. Melody would surely be happy with this, I hope.

"What did Melody say?" Chelsea asked.

I sighed. "You know Melody..." I put the report down before looking at nothing in particular. "Being a writer is not a real job."

Chelsea and Isaac shook their heads.

"She can't possibly ignore all the fans you have," Isaac smiled. "By the way, I have arranged some signing sessions for you." He took his journal. "Next Monday, Thursday, and Saturday are the first ones here in town." He then looked at me.

I nodded. "Sounds perfect." It's not like I've got anything else to do, and I wouldn't be at home...

"I'll let you know about the other signing sessions later this week, the locations still have to be confirmed." He said.

I nodded.

He smiled at me before heading back to his office.

"So," Chelsea looked at me, a look of worry on her face. "How are you doing?"

I looked at her and saw she was genuinely worried about me. She really cared about how I was feeling, but I couldn't involve her in this thing. I didn't want Shax to harm anyone. So I smiled at Chelsea. "I'm good."