Sizzling sounds of bacon being cooked up, as well as the smell that filled the kitchen and living room that came with it. The wonderful beats of rap music played over the speaker that lay on the kitchen counter. Ashton walked in seeing the fridge was open, there was some clancking, shuffling of objects. He peeked his head over to look at his godlike chef of a friend, Soo Yeon. Soo was a tall asian dude that oozed talent, he wore circle wireframe glasses, he was the epitome of an Honors kid. Outstanding grades, great social skills, athletic, not to mention the fact that he looks like he climbed out of the heart of the boy band scene in Seoul, Korea. Deep black hair in an undercut style, Soo was a hit with the K-pop fans.

“Why good morning, Ash.”he said with a wide smile on his face, “You’re just in time, Rana was going to eat your food.” Ashton laughed like a cocky asshole, and shook his head.

“We both Rana would super hard lose that matchup.”he taunted making sure to get loud enough to be heard over the anime being played on the TV in the living room. There was some grumbling, the TV paused, and the mound of covers, on the couch, began to move. Soo gave Ashton a look like he was about to get in trouble with the teacher. The short island boy rounded the corner into the kitchen with sleep massacring his face. Purple shaggy hair left messy and unkempt, brown skin that was visibly lighter than Ashton, but he still had a minority card that spanned a lifetime. With two black studs in his ear being the only accessory he had, Rana was the only one who didn’t wear glasses. “Morning, sleepyhead.”Ashton said as he began to grab a plate to get in line for food. He handed the short cover caterpillar a plate as well.

“H-how did you sleep, Ash?”, Rana sputtered releasing his toxic morning breath in the area. 

“Jesus man, you need to brush.”Ashton spewed out in disgust, but the question still remained, how DID he sleep? He kept rewinding that sequence: perfect sky on perfect water, curious clone, and demon in the void. Concluding that any talking about what happened would end him in an asylum, he just shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t know, man,”As he was pondering life, Chef Soo was surgically placing eggs, bacon, and pancakes onto his plate. The plate was getting hot,”but, outta my way. Shit’s hot.”, he pushed past Rana almost knocking the half-asleep Maori boy over. Using his fingertips to hold the scalding plate, Ashton scooted over to the counter stools, sitting down, and diggin in. As he chewed the eggs, the reality set in that this for the next 6 months this would be home. 

The place looked like it had 3 young men living in it; slightly messy, some unwashed dishes, and a rolling tray sitting out on the coffee table. On the other hand, it was pretty tidy compared to roommates Ashton had had in the past. Rana sat to the left, while Soo sat down on the right both sides of him at the counter, they were perhaps the best roommates he had ever had at Brookshire University.  They threw their usual jokes at each other while shoveling their faces into the plates of food. Ashton lifted his head from his trough, for a split second, he peeped that Rana had one last piece of bacon left unattended. The cogs began to turn in his head. Starting slow he stealthily moved his fork under the counter, slithering towards Rana’s plate.

“Don’t”he snarled through the morning fog. Shooting a death glare Ashton’s way halted his bacon heist, he knew better than that. Grumpy, ravenous, sleepy Rana was probably the 3rd scariest thing that he knew, next to being skipped in rotation. Ashton quickly put his dishes into the sink, walked over to the couch, and began to enjoy his lazy day.

The others eventually followed suit to binge out on anime, the vibrant colors and exposure to another culture kept them glued to the TV for what seemed like an eternity. Ashton longed for the sense of journey that these characters had, the way they were written, characters, gave them a higher purpose. They had every quality that he wanted in his life right now. He huffed out and sank deeper into the couch bumping shoulders with Soo.

“Something on your mind bud?” he asked.

“I don’t even know, just some weird stuff been going on lately.”

“Maybe you should go out, what are your plans for today?” Plans? Over the loud assorted anime noises, he pondered *What do I have to do?*. His face seemed to tell more than what he said, because Soo placed his hand onto Ashton’s shoulder. “Whatever it is, just know we are here for you.” Those comforting words seemed to soften the uneasy feeling that he couldn’t shake for the past night. He glanced at Rana still in his blanket burrito, eyes glued to the TV.

“You told me the other day you had a study session to go to,” Rana mumbled, sounding infinitely less crusty than before. As if by fate, Ashton’s phone buzzed on the table alerting the trio. There was a resounding ‘OOOOOOO’ in the living room. “Who’s texting ya, huh?” Rana tried to grab the phone first, but he snatched it before Rana could get the chance. The annoying purple-haired midget desperately tried to peek over Ashton’s guarding arm that was holding him back. “Wait, let me see, bitch!” Rolling his eyes he pushed the drowsy island boy away, who let gravity take hold and slumped over.

As he read the text his eyes widened to unnatural degrees.

   ———————————————————————

=MinaMuncher- @AshyB0y are you coming to the study session?

=Ghell- I sure hope so…….

=MinaMuncher- It starts in 20 if you are.

   ———————————————————————

“What did it say?”, Soo inquired with his turned to the side like a confused dog.

Standing up quickly, while startling the other and gathering himself off the couch, Ashton stood up in a panic.

“What?”, they both asked sounding moderately concerned.

“I have that study session for Japanese in 20 mins, fuck!” he cursed towards the ceiling, with ample of amounts of disappointment in his voice. *There goes the lazy day*, he guessed.

|———————————————–|

After the hurried gathering of his notes, getting dressed, shooed out of the place by Rana and Soo, he bolted out making a b-line for the bus stop. He managed to snag a seat on the crowded metal coffin, but he felt the pain of the unlucky souls who had to stand up and hold the railing. The Brookshire University buses were notorious for being packed, late, and unsafe, but Ashton was willing to risk his life for Japanese class. Body pressed against body, the unintentional crotch dangerously close to the face. Such was the norm of Brookshire.

A slightly above average college near the coast, Brooke-U was a huge melting pot of all kinds of folk. Black, white, asian- whatever you were, there was a place for you here. That being one of the main reasons Momma Campbell let him go to school 3 hours away. Something about getting to know his people better, but to him getting to know them would prove to be harder than just saying. Maybe he was overthinking things, like usual, but feeling like an outcast to black people was something he had been dealing with all his life. The bus hit a pothole that shook him out of his debbie-downer thoughts, he took time to look around and admire the campus. Open fields, clear sky with very little clouds, sprinkles of palm trees that littered the concrete grounds of campus. Modern-looking brick buildings that looked like old coffee shops made Brooke-U the hipsters’ paradise. He could even smell the salt, that snuck its way into the bus, from the sea, but it was overshadowed by the smell of late college students.

Eventually, Ashton found himself free of the odor trap, and was on his way to the Zachwell Library, the biggest one he had ever seen. 6 stories of books, coffee, stress, and all-nighters. Unfortunately, today he was going to join them, because the call of japanese myth, and a passing grade he desperately needed, was too strong. Clutching his bookbag, adjusting his glasses, Ashton looked up at this beast of a building. Shrugging his shoulders, What a way to spend my day off, he thought. As he parted ways with the sun he trudged into the library, ready to barely pay attention.

<Elsewhere>

He had been on its trail for about a few days now, and was getting fed up with chasing. It was dark, it was cold, and it was annoying. Regardless he still had a job to do, as much as he hated chasing these things around. Wrapping the grey scarf tighter around his face, this mysterious man strode through the parking lot of the library. Seeing his breath puff out with every step, it was around here somewhere, they often hide in plain sight. Bzzt Bzzt.  The phone buzzed startling him, that pissed him off even more. Aggressively he pulled out his phone from his pocket. Great, a call from his ex , just when things couldn’t get anymore annoying. Putting a deep groan into the universe to prep himself for this earful he was going to get, he begrudgingly put the phone up to his ear.

“Hello?”he sighed as he shuffled into the warm library in front of him, guess it will have to wait till he stops getting chewed out.

Little did he know, what he had been hunting was hunting him. Watching from a place that could not be seen. When that man returned it would strike, and kill, for that is its purpose.