𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄
" it was some demented hulk! "
VALENTINA PAULMAN sighed in utter exhaustion and annoyance as she flipped through the heaps of envelopes that had been left stacked on the counter for her to wake up to. She had distinctly remember asking her best friend and housemate, Saanvi, to go through them before she'd left for work but wasn't surprised to find the task undone.
Tossing the envelopes away, her stuffed unicorn slippers swept against the floor as she slid her feet along the tiles, making her way to the fridge to begin her day with an enjoyable breakfast.
Eggs and spinach leaves drenched with lemon. Oh how Valentina enjoyed the sweet and sour taste of lemon, she practically drenched all her meals with it and often her friends would squint at her with confusion as they were weirded out with the odd act.
And when Valentina was quick to complain about the many ulcers in her mouth, they would always respond with the usual yell for her addiction with the lemon juice. Still, Valentina continued with the addiction and the endurance of the bad mouth ulcers.
The brunette smacked her lips in satisfaction, licking the excess taste of her breakfast off her lips as she placed the plate in the dish holder before dragging herself along to her room, getting dressed for her usual day at the library and her attempted to form an outfit for tomorrow's lunch date with her sister, Rowan Paulman.
The two had been through hell and back. With the divorce of their parents to the passing of their father from severe burns after jumping into a severe fire incident to save victims as apart of his jobs to living with their grandparents together after their mother's disappearance with her new husband.
Now Valentina lived with her best friend and had agreed with Ro to visit once or twice a week for lunch, breakfast or dinner. Both sisters were close as ever, sharing secrets to fangirling about John Stamos, specifically his role as Uncle Jesse in Full House.
Valentina tucked a strand of her umber hair behind her ear, tugging at her handbag that hung onto her shoulder. She was well known around the apartment building for her clumsiness and her stubbornness too, especially the countless fights with the old lady who lived just downstairs, always complaining about the noise the girls made.
Her hands fiddled with the key as she locked the door before tucking it away in the lantern that was placed just in the left bottom corner of the door. With that, she fled the building and headed off to the local library for another day of books and the hope of receiving inspiration.
See, Valentina Paulman was a successful writer in her college years, publishing interesting books on her own little made up world of fantasy and the characters within it. Young adult fiction was a smart idea and she enjoyed sharing her ideas and fantasies.
Unfortunately, her writing days ended with a severe writers block after the year of hell passed along with her divorce and the car accident that not only left a large scar across her stomach and around her waist, but also the mental scar of a miscarriage and an internal scar of infertility.
With that, the betrayal of her husband due to her severe depression and drinking problems had troubled her, finding him in their bed with that redhead she'd occasionally seen in his work place.
Chase Morris had been a nightmare to her and a constant reminder when she approached any man with intentions of flirting or whatnot. Saanvi has despised him just as much, probably even more for what he did to her and always encouraged Val to get out and get laid, 'chill a little' is what she would always say, but it never happened.
Valentina shook the thought of the devil from her head and cursed under her breath as she felt the pain in her chest and at the scar on her stomach, despite it not being there.
She dragged herself onwards into the library, greeting her fellow colleagues and her kid friend, Rami, who spent his early mornings clicking away on the mouse and bashing at the keyboard as he played a game of Neighbours from Hell.
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Hearing the moderately loud volume of smooth music made Valentina roll her eyes as she unlocked the door to her apartment, scoffing when she spotted Saanvi and her boyfriend of five years devouring each other's face with pure love and ecstasy on her favourite couch.
"Get a house!" She called out, tossing the keys onto the counter and placing her handbag there too, walking off to the fridge and pouring herself a glass of cranberry juice.
"Hey Val~ !" Her best friend grinned at the sight of Valentina, a cheeky grin at that too. Saanvi was a beauty of her own and Valentina had always adored her, she was happy for her too when she'd finally found a great guy as Lyle Montgomery, a forensic psychiatrist who Saanvi always enjoyed bragging about over and over.
Pecking Lyle's cheek, Saanvi hopped off of his lap and walked over to give her best friend a bone crushing hug, placing a kiss on Valentina's cheek too and giggling as she witnessed her whine in disgust, just as expected.
"Don't give me your boyfriend's mouth germs you dork." Valentina whined, wiping her cheek and placing her finished cup down. "Where's Cole?"
Ah, Cole Hendrix, another member of their foolish squad. Cole had been there long before Lyle arrived and was another one of Valentina's closest friends. They'd all met back in college and had spent life together ever since, packed tightly together as they went through each other's chaotic roller coasters of life.
"He's running a bit late. I even heard he's bringing a friend along too. Someone with the name Seth." Saanvi winked at Valentina who felt a smile tugging at her lips.
"Is he bringing something with the name takeout too?" She asked, folding her arms and raising a brow, knowing the response she'd get as she was used to her reckless friends.
"Oh yeah, he asked if you could be a dear and get it this time." With that, Valentina rolled her eyes playfully and grabbed her handbag, her keys too in case before walking towards the door.
"Fine, but then I get to pick today's first movie," She said with pride, waving at her friend who pounced at her boyfriend with lust. A chuckle escaped her lips, shaking her head. "And get off my damn couch!"
⋆⋅☆⋅⋆
The glimmering lights of the city illuminated the dark night, a time of day that was known as dangerous, lurking with criminals and victims. But Valentina knew it wasn't too late just yet, it was still 8pm and most people were still active, cars dashing by and each horn causing her to jump in her face, repeating the same flashback of the loud horn before the tumbling of her own car.
Shaking yet another negative thought out of her head, Valentina held onto her bag tightly as she distanced herself from the people who passed by. Some in a rush as they were too concentrated on their phones while others slow and smoothly, perhaps swinging arms wth their loved ones.
It wasn't long before she pushed the door of their favourite Chinese restaurant and greeted Mr. Xing with a smile before ordering the usual.
Walking out with the bags of vegetable egg noodles and sweet and sour chicken made her stomach grumble and her desperation to get home grow even more with the addition of the wailing sirens of police cars as they sped by in a rush.
The dangerous evening had already begun and Valentina was still 8 minutes from home. She increased the pace of her walking, her heels making louder sounds as she walked faster. The police seemed to stop close by and it scared her even more.
Narrowing the usual alleyway between two other buildings that were connected with the one line for the laundry, she had heard growls. Perhaps a wolf? But it shouldn't have been close, should it?
Still, Valentina made the mistake of continuing, contemplating a plan of escape in case she did run into whatever was making the beastly sound. But she never expected herself to actually use it.
There ahead stood a large demented creature coated with what seemed to be black slime. It was much larger than an average human being, both height and muscular wise. Valentina froze in her spot, her eyes wide with shock and fear as she stared into the darkness ahead.
The beast had its slimy yet sharp fingers wrapped around an individual's neck, the figure choking in its tight grasp as their legs wriggled and their hands grabbing at the slimy arm in attempt to tear it away from their neck.
A gasp had rolled off her tongue by mistake but also by instinct, her eyes stretched as wide as possible as she witnessed the beast crush the figure's neck in its bare hands before opening its mouth wide and clasping its teeth in their head.
It's head snapped at the faint sound, dropping the headless corpse to the ground, examining the witness ahead of it. She had to move in order to survive, but it was as if she'd lost control of all limbs, even her fingers that held onto the takeout bags felt numb.
The demented creature burst out in a sprint towards her and that's when Valentina had finally come in contact with her limbs and dashed away. Running in heels was a pain, it was quite impossible too which is why she didn't hesitate to ditch them if it meant escaping from the monster that chased after her.
She could feel the ground shake below her after every step it took, her bones trembling in her body and her chest rising up and down as she breathed heavily, gasping for air. Running was something she hadn't done in a while, but in a state of life or death she was faster than she could imagine and every fibre in her body pushed her forward.
Twisting and turning through the rows of residential buildings, she didn't dare look back and proceeded to run away, even after she was sure she had dashed through the doors of her building and right up the stairs to level three with no chance of stopping.
To her luck, her friends had carelessly left the door unlocked and Valentina allowed her body to clash with the door in an instant before she turned and closed it immediately, locking it faster than she could take a breath in.
Saanvi has jumped up from the position she was in and stared at her best friend in shock who seemed ten times paler than she usually was while Cole stood up from his spot, his brows furrowed.
"Val?" Saanvi asked gently, now on her feet as she slowly approached the trembling female who's body shook against the door.
"There's..." She began, her heavy panting causing her to cut off. "There's a fucking demented hulk out there."
And as silly as it sounded, Valentina's face had reflected dead seriousness and it was a face worse than when she had her PTSD episodes or her panic attacks, it was the face she'd had just in the hospital, laying in bed just after the car accident.
A face of horror, as if her own soul was sucked out in a instant.