Gazing into the once spotless but now utterly filthy mirror, Matthius thought about the day ahead of him. During his time in the mental ward, his aunt had grown quite fond of the officer who had stopped him on the bridge. She had asked him to join them for lunch today. 

Officer Bradley Youst had introduced himself rather sheepishly to Aunt Tami. Later, she would tell Matthius that according to Officer Youst, he was absolutely smitten by her beauty. She too had fallen for the rotund yet sincere officer rather quickly. 

“No one has ever made me this happy, Matty.” She gushed to him after their first date. “He’s a good man. I don’t know if before now I’d ever met one.”

“I’m happy for you, Mom.” Matthius said fondly. “You deserve to be happy.”

“How can I be though? It’s selfish with you being in the position you are.” 

“Nonsense.” He said curtly. “Don’t you ever think like that. I’m a grown man. It’s about damn time I took care of myself.”

“Matty, you just lost your beautiful girlfriend and attempted suicide. You need me.”

“Mom, I need to do this on my own. I’m not going to drag everyone down in my life. I will be okay. I promise. Now please can we discuss something else. My head is killing me from sleep deprivation and dehydration.” 

“Okay, Matty. I care, that's all.” She said defeated.

“That I will never doubt.” He assured her. 

Matthius stumbled away from his sink, and sunk to his knees. After several painful bouts of heaving, he threw up all the contents of his stomach. This fucking morning just gets better and better. He thought, holding his aching abdomen. I can’t be late for this lunch. I promised Mom I’d be okay. I have to be fucking okay.

The last thing Matthius ever wanted was to worry or upset his aunt. Unfortunately, today, something was much more noticeable than before. He was completely shaken by a terrifying occurrence in his dream the previous night. Though much of the dream was the same, there was one bone chilling difference: The entity in the terror gazed directly upon him. 

In that moment, Matthius knew that what he had been dreaming for months upon months was sickeningly real. Fuck… What does it all mean? Why am I dreaming about that particular woman? Who is she? As he pondered these thoughts, he lifted himself up and collapsed roughly into his shower. 

“Shit!” He cursed angrily. “Shit! Shit! Shit!”

He felt a release from cursing, but it was short lived as the pain in his head doubled from his clumsy fall. Feeling his scalp gingerly, his hand came back bloody. Fuck my life. May need stitches. He groaned in pain. I can’t call Mom; she will freak the fuck out, and that will ruin things with Officer Youst. Gotta come up with a good excuse for not showing up. 

He felt something sticky trickling down his neck. Dripping off his hair, he felt his back getting wet. He didn’t have to look to know that the bleed was bad. What in God's name  did my head hit. That’s when he noticed the bottle of Jim Beam he had stashed in the shower the evening prior. I guess, drinking really does kill. 

He laughed at his own ridiculous joke and attempted to pull himself off the aquamarine tile floor of his shower. Bad fucking idea! He fell back down with a thunk. Now his ass hurt and he was not anywhere closer to getting out of his shower. Thank God I’m not naked, at least. Reaching for his phone in his left pocket, he jerked his hand back and swore once again.

“Fuuuuuuuccccckkkkk! Can’t a guy catch a guy catch just one fucking break!!!” He roared as he stared down in disbelief at his lacerated hand. 

His damn screen had broken on his cell. Very carefully, he reached into the same pocket for his seemingly cracked device. After successfully retrieving with no more injuries to speak of, Matthius peered at the shattered screen in dismay. It won’t turn on. Shit… What now? 

Is this how it ends? Honestly, it’s so pathetic. Rather fitting if you ask me. Maybe it’s exactly what I deserve. Maybe secretly, I’ve wanted this all along. Then he thought about Sam. He knew this couldn’t be the end. He wasn’t ready to lose her especially not in this asinine way. 

He grabbed hold of his navy blue shower curtain. Lift your ass up, man. He chided himself. You gotta be strong for Sam. This can’t be the end. Heaving his athletic body with all his might, he once again came crashing down. 

No! No! No! Dammit!

Growing increasingly desperate, Matthius tried with all his might to get back up; however, as he did so, his vision became spotty. His head was spinning now, and once again he felt the sudden urge to vomit. A fraction of a second later, he did just that. Before he could even register what was happening, he blacked out.