Remembrance, Pt. 1

[Pegasus]

It started again, and I fell,
No emotions, just a shell.

The room was unbearably hot. Pegasus shifted uncomfortably on top of the bed sheets. Underneath the sheets it was virtually an inferno, and Pegasus had found out the hard way. He lasted almost two minutes below them before he threw the sheets off. He turned his eyes toward the open window.

It was his only means for temperature control as the air system in his room had shut down shortly before he had crawled in bed. He had, at first, thought about calling the front desk and requesting someone to come and fix it. Then, considering how late it was and the fact he had entered into a state of exhaustion far beyond dead tired, he decided to take on the heat and just sleep.

It turned out to be a lot hotter than he had expected. After throwing the sheets off, he spent the next few hours rolling around in bed waiting for sleep to carry him away. Sleep had almost taken him before, but as his mind drifted off into nothingness the heat started to get to him. He was no longer thinking of nothing, but of himself. What was he getting himself into?

He swore to himself that he wouldn't get involved outside of the business. He was supposed to be a shell, he was supposed to do his job and keep everything on the outside of his shell. No emotions got in, and none got out. Just a shell. And here he was with Angelica. He wasn't doing his job, he was screwing around. Yet, her presence felt so perfect, so right.

Sweat rolled down his forehead and into his eyes, stinging them as he thought about himself and this woman that had entered his life. No matter which side he turned to, the sweat continued to find his eyes, and even on his stomach Angelica somehow managed to cloud his thoughts and keep him awake. He finally gave up and swung his body over the side of the bed.

The moonlight that streamed through the open window caused the beads of sweat that rolled down his semi-naked body to glisten with an unearthly glow. He slowly pushed off the bed and made his way to the window. His room was on the third floor and looked over the street in front of the hotel. He could hear nothing from below. His ears could only hear the little whisper the wind made as it blew into the open window.

He thought it odd as the street was normally quite loud, even this late at night, or early in the morning as it were. Even when the window was closed, the sounds of the busy street traveled into his room. Not tonight though, no voices drifted up to his window, no engines rumbled in the distance, no animals came out of the dark. Silence. Pure Silence. He liked silence, but this silence made him uneasy. He needed interaction, something to get his mind off of his troubles. He quickly changed, and made his way to the lobby.

I smile here, and I smile there,
I do it all, pretending I care.

Upon entering the lobby, he found himself to be one of only three people in the lobby. A cleaning lady mopped the floor near the entrance, and a young looking man ran the front desk. Pegasus made his way over to the latter and flashed the gentleman a smile. He leaned onto the desk and looked around a bit, noticing the cleaning lady was still mopping the same spot, yet no bucket of water was nearby. Turning his attention back to the person on the other side of the desk, he finds that the man has yet to acknowledge his presence.

Pegasus: Hey, uh... pretty dead tonight huh?

The clerk continues to go about his business, completely ignoring Pegasus. He doesn't even make eye contact, or flash a smile or anything. Just a blank face as he looked through the computer systems. Pegasus backed off figuring he was busy, and wandered over to the cleaning lady. She was still on the same spot, going back and forth.

He tapped her shoulder and received no reaction. Not so much as a scare, or even a reaction showing she had felt the touch. He tapped her again harder and was treated to the same problem. What horrible treatment this nightshift was giving him. He was fed up, he needed to talk or do something. He turned on his heels and pushed open the doors to the outside.

But I don't, no one does,
Just a shell of what I once was.

If he had looked back while he left, he'd have seen both the clerk and the cleaning lady turn their gaze upon him, their eyes flashing a blood red for a second, then return to their previous duties. Outside it was horrible. In the time that Pegasus had taken to get to the lobby and outside, clouds had swallowed the sky. Lightning and thunder came about simultaneously meaning a storm was imminent. What luck, he tried the handles to the hotel, but they were locked. He tried again, but they were stuck fast. To his advantage, an umbrella was left next to the entrance, and he quickly grabbed and deployed it hoping to spare himself from the imminent deluge.

He started walking down the street and was no more than ten steps into his walk when the rain first began to fall. A small trickle at first, then it downpoured. Not that he had seen any sign of life outside the hotel, but he figured the rain would kill any chance he had of talking to someone in the street. He was now two blocks away, and then the umbrella collapsed drenching him with rain water.

Nothing works, my life's a disaster,
Spiraling downwards faster and faster.

Soaked to the bone, he ran to the nearest door he could find. The first two he tried were locked, so he continued to the next building. Two heavy, black doors stood before him. He grabbed the handle of one and pulled. It opened easily, and he read the title on the door that he had left shut.

Lucifer's Fun House
Enter at your own risk!

A fun house? He had never seen this building here before. Perhaps it was new, that would explain it. He shook his head causing rain drops to fly off his dampened hair, no time to question when the building got here, he had to get out of the rain. He found himself in a small room with another set of doors, this pair a blood red, in front of him. Well, it beat the rain outside, and it could be fun, so he stepped forward and placed his hand upon the door. Maybe he could find someone to talk to inside, as Angelica had entered his mind again. Where was she during the storm? Was she thinking about him as well? He lowered his head... he knew his shell was cracking.

My shell is cracking, won't last longer,
Wish I was better, wish I was stronger.

He pushed open the doors and entered Lucifer's Fun House, heh, who know's... maybe it would be fun.

To be continued...