Total pages in book: 47
Estimated words: 43689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43689 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 218(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
My hands shook as I turned to face my ruined apartment. The clock on the wall, shaped like a grinning skull, showed it was already noon.
“Well, shit,” I whispered to no one in particular.
I sank down onto my potion-spattered couch, the eviction notice crumpling in my grip. My eyes burned, and not just from the fumes. I really wasn’t sure where I was going to go. I had a couple thousand dollars in my savings account, and a hundred in my checking to do me until payday. If I could find a new place that wasn’t too expensive, I might have enough for a security deposit and first month’s rent. If I was really lucky. And that was assuming I could find something in the next eight hours. Right. Not a snowball’s chance in hell.
I glanced at my phone, scrolling through the pitiful list of contacts until I came to Carrie’s number and took a deep breath. We weren’t exactly close friends, but she’d always been kind to me at the coffee shop where I worked weekends. She seemed like a really nice person. She’d offered me a place to crash the last time my landlord threatened to kick me out. I hadn’t taken her up on the offer then since I only knew her from the coffee shop, but I wasn’t sure I had many options at the moment.
The phone rang three times before she picked up. “Ellie! Hey!” She sounded excited. To hear from me?
“Hey.” I tried to keep my voice steady, but it wavered. “I’m so sorry to bother you, but I’m having a bit of an emergency.”
“Oh no, Ellie! What kind of emergency? Are you all right?” Carrie sounded distressed. She was such a sweet person I had no doubt she genuinely was distressed.
“I… um… may have accidentally created a biohazard in my apartment and gotten evicted?” I laughed, the sound hollow and desperate. “I need to be out by eight tonight, and I have nowhere to go, and I have my cats, and --” My voice broke, tears threatening.
There was a muffled commotion in the background. I could hear Carrie talking and other people responding, but it was like she had her hand over the speaker or something. I closed my eyes, bracing for rejection.
“Drop me a pin and we’ll get over there.” Carrie sounded determined and, I thought, authoritative? Like she was the one giving the orders and everyone else was doing her bidding. So, I did as she instructed. “We’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”
Relief flooded through me so fast I nearly dropped the phone. “We?” My voice came out a squeak. I knew Carrie’s man was a member of a local motorcycle club called Kiss of Death. Which I kind of liked the sound of, but it was still a motorcycle club. Honestly, though, I kind of thought the guys I’d met at the coffee shop were much safer than some of the people living in this building.
“Oh yeah! The girls are gonna get you a room ready while Hannah and I come get you. We’re bringing Knuckles and Hawk. We’ll get you packed up and out of there in no time.”
“I don’t want to cause anyone any trouble, Carrie. It’s bad enough I’m asking you guys for a place to stay.”
“Nonsense! We all want to help!” There was some more racket in the background, then Carrie was back. “We’re bringing boxes and some big contractor bags. Anything you want to keep that’s soiled or smells too bad we can put in there and wash later. Be on the lookout for a blue Bronco.”
After I ended the call, I started piling things I wanted to keep in a pile, separate pile from the things I thought were too soiled or stank too badly to salvage. I headed downstairs a couple minutes before they were supposed to arrive. Several of my neighbors gave me the side-eye as I walked past. I couldn’t blame them. The stink really was that bad.
I looked around at my meager possessions. Thrift-store furniture, my handcrafted Halloween decorations, my collection of spell books that had clearly failed me pretty much summed up everything I owned other than clothes. I didn’t even own a car. The realization that I could fit my entire life, other than my cats, into a few bags was both depressing and oddly liberating.
Salem meowed softly from his carrier, his green eyes watching me with what seemed like sympathy. I walked over and stuck my finger through the grate, letting him rub his head against it.
“Looks like we’re starting over again, babies,” I whispered to the cat as he rubbed against me. “Who needs that jerky jerkface anyway, right?”
Salem looked unimpressed.
I had eight hours to pack up. I doubted it would take much longer than it would for Carrie to get here. Oh well. I was about to meet some new people. Make some new friends. With any luck, I’d still have a place to decorate for Halloween.