Chapter 5 - Part 1

Howell blinked wearily as he tried to keep his eyes open.  His hands reached out on their own, trying to grip part of the iron-bar balcony to keep himself from rolling off.  Worn, dusty carpet met his reach fingers instead and grey eyes flew open.

He was in one of the rooftop apartments and his panic initially chased away the headache that gnawed at the back of his mind.  The confusion only lasted until he registered that he had a piece of broken metal clutched in his right hand.  Then the events of last night started slowly filtering through his memories.

There were ghosts.  He had defended himself and had used the piece of metal as a weapon.  It no longer glowed the way it had last night but he still liked the feel of it in his hand, despite the fact that the jagged edges had left large gashes in his palm.

Howell sighed and rolled onto his back as he stared up at the decaying ceiling.  He remembered fighting the creatures past sunset.  He had either defeated them or else they had fled.  His body had wanted to collapse when Howell had gone back inside, but he had instead did push-ups as he had tried to sort out his sanity.

Now that it was morning, he still was not sure on anything.  He tried to pass it off as hallucinations but the argument seemed weak.  At least, this time, he was not feeling sick to his stomach.  Exhausted with a small headache, but not ill.

Howell rolled himself up to a sitting position and finally dropped the piece of metal on the floor.  His movements had cracked some of the dried blood and he winced a little as he stretched his fingers out.  He hoped it was still the weekend, otherwise he had probably slept through his first class.  Howell got onto his feet and walked to the balcony.  He would have to check what day it actually was when he got into the apartment.

The apartment.  Now Howell remembered why he had gone to the roof.  His mind flashed him images of broken things and heart wrenching sobs.  His mom had forgotten her medication and had a fit.  It was definitely morning, so things would have calmed completely down.  It was safe to go back into the apartment.