Andrew finally entered his apartment after a grueling bus ride just in time for the clock to hit 05:00. His eyes had grown weak and were full of red lines, his face was fully expressionless and his body ran on autopilot as the burst of energy from his short nap had fully ran out. He scrambled about, trying to find the right key for his front door and before he could realize he was approached by the mailman.
"Good morning Andrew. Partying hard, ey?" The mailman said, approaching Andrew and helping him unlock his door.
He was a middle aged man with a sturdy build and broad shoulders. He had a permanent cheerful expression on his face and had made friends with many of the tenants of the apartment complex.
"Morning Gary. It's nothing an ungodly amount of caffeine can't fix. Do I have any mail?" Andrew asked.
"Sure do." Gary said with an amused smile and took out a simple red envelope with 'to: Andrew P. Harris' in calligraphy, written by hand on it.
Seeing that reaction Andrew sighed deeply, grabbed the envelope and shoved it in his pocket.
"Oh come on. You know they are trying to help you out. I do the same with my eldest. She acts exactly like you do." Gary said with a chuckle.
"I know. But they are very persistent about this. I'm making enough money myself. See you next time Gary." Andrew said, entering his house.
"Sure thing." Gary replied and proceeded to continue his work.
***
Andrew's apartment felt lonely and cold. The dim light that made it in-between the curtains highlighted its emptiness, having barely more than the absolute minimum a living space should.
Andrew opened the drawer built into his study desk and put in the red envelope along with many other wildly coloured envelopes that all bore the same calligraphy of his name. He then desperately reached for his mini fridge taking out two canned coffees and downing them at lightning speed.
And he just stood, waiting for the caffeine to hit. And as he did he grabbed the candy given to him by Hans and popped it into his mouth, almost forgetting to unwrap it.
That candy was always really good, even when he was all grown up. It partly tasted like caramel but it had a unique nature to it. Hans had said that he got them from abroad but Andrew could never find them.
Once the caffeine hit and the sugar from the candy was in his system, Andrew hastily jumped in the shower and dressed up for his date. He chose an olive green button up shirt and simple jeans.
"This should do." He stated proudly and sprayed some cologne on himself.
The walk to the bus stop was short yet grueling as he could feel the burn from his legs after having walked for that long. He didn't have to wait long before the bus arrived, he went in and took a seat in the far back.
But there was something odd about that bus ride. Adam felt that his eyes performed oddly. He was gazing off the window and every now and then would see odd smudges or vague people silhouettes in the distance yet he couldn't quite see what they were even though the things around them were much clearer.
"You see them too right?" A young boy no older than 12 years old said from the row in front of him. The young boy had turned around in his seat and was looking Andrew in the eyes. He had bright piercing blue eyes and short light brown hair.
"No, sorry. I don't have games on my phone." Andrew replied absent-mindedly
"I didn't talk about games. I talked about the rumours. You see them too right? I can see you staring at them. How many have you gotten? I have 2." The kid said in excitement.
Andrew smiled at the kid. Kids always have very active imaginations. He was one of them too, afterall.
"What do you mean by that big guy?" Andrew replied.
"The monsters. You see them too." The kid insisted
"Don't worry. No monsters can't reach you here. They are afraid of adults you see." Andrew leaned in and whispered as if it was a secret. It was the same way his parents had answered to him too.
"No they're not. Luna is an adult and they still come for her. Mister Frank too." The kid said defiantly.
"Oh do they? Don't worry. This big bro right here is too scary for them." Andrew insisted.
Why do the adults play along with that kind of stuff? This is just going to scare the kid even more.
"Really? Are you that strong? You don't look that strong though." The boy asked with a look of wonder in his eyes.
"Sure am. Oh! This is my stop big guy. I'd say not to worry about monsters too much. Worry about your grades." Andrew replied, getting off the bus after waving the boy goodbye.
***
The date location was a large and beautiful lake that parents brought their kids to and couples flooded at every possible occasion though thankfully it was pretty calm in the mornings, especially on school days. There was a small pier in the lake yet it was mostly unused excluding the occasional hobbyist fisherman.
While walking towards the lake, Andrew felt a little shaky. He had never been on such a date before so his nerves were not in their best condition. Especially coupled with the severe lack of sleep. Thankfully he was very good at hiding such things because he noticed his date waiting for him.
"Oh, hello Maya, good morning. Was I too late? I'm sorry." Andrew said while wearing a nervous smile.
Maya turned around and looked him in the eyes. She was a brilliant young lady. She had long, meticulously straightened, brown hair and amber coloured eyes. She was dressed in jeans and a yellow t-shirt.
"Good morning and no, not at all. You're here 15 minutes early actually." Maya replied.
"That's good. So, where do you want us to go?" Andrew asked.
Upon hearing the question Maya got a mischievous smile on her face and pointed towards a small picnic blanket with all sorts of small cakes and sandwiches neatly placed near on top of a basket.
"You said you'd treat me to lunch so I decided to surprise you with his first." She replied
"Thank you! You didn't have to go that far but I sure do appreciate it." Andrew chuckled. It felt as if the anxiety he had beforehand was washed away in an instant and he couldn't help but smile as he joined his date at the picnic.
Smalltalk ensued, talking about anything ranging from school to work to movies. Everything seemed to be going well but something started to feel off about halfway. Andrew could hear loud constant slashing of the air and reels going crazy from the pier's direction yet Maya didn't seem to mind.
It sounded as if a newbie fisherman just swung their fishing rod like a stick and just reeled the line in the loudest way possible. He tried to ignore the sounds but it felt like it was drilling into his mind so he caved and turned to face the horrid sound.
His eyes met what seemed to be a large man with his head covered in fishing nets to the point of no features of his face being recognizable and his body covered in tattered rags. He just threw the fishing hook in the lake and yanked it out repeatedly in an uncanny yet hypnotic way. He didn't even use his reel yet it didn't seem like it impeded on whatever he was doing.
"What are you looking at? Is there something cool happening?" Maya asked.
Andrew flinched, having been fully consumed by looking at the odd man.
"No, nothing special. Just that odd cosplayer at the pier" he replied.
Maya chuckled and passed Andrew one of the cakes from the basket.
"I didn't think you were the joking type. I'm not complaining though." Maya said.
"Haha, yeah" Andrew mumbled under his teeth before looking back at the fisherman, which he found staring right back at him.
Time felt as if it had stopped. He felt the same primal dread as he had with the marionette in his sleep. But that was just a dream. This, was not.
The fisherman started slowly moving towards Andrew while remaining on the pier, revealing his barnacle infested skin with every movement of the rags. The man's feet were covered in rotting kelp and a powerful musky smell of old fish started to linger in the air.
"W..w…what's going on here?" Andrew barely managed to say, his voice weak and hands trembling.
The fisherman was nowhere near reaching the frozen Andrew yet he threw his line once more. The line traveled further than it should have, illogically so. The line wrapped around Andrew's neck like a snake, the hook digging deep into his collarbone even making its way into the bone.
"I'm not going to fall for this twice you know." Maya replied
Andrew screamed in pain and blood started to gash out of the wound. He could feel his breath being constricted as the fisherman moved his fishing rod and as if subservient to his will, the line moved. He was slowly reeled in towards the pier, his feet off the ground with the line choking him ever more by the moment.
That's when Andrew snapped out of his innate reaction. He scratched at his neck trying to dig just far enough into his flesh to be able to grab the fishing line but it was no use. The more he bloodied his neck the tighter the line became.
He was being hanged but without the courtesy of having his neck snapped, being slowly reeled in to the embrace of a being that defied normalcy. And as his life was literally hanging by a thread, his roaring, monstrous pride awoke from its forced slumber.
Andrew grabbed onto the fishing line and yanked it towards himself, the creature that seemed insurmountable slipped and fell, seemingly being unable to leave the pier. Seeing that sign of weakness from the being that seemed godlike a moment before made Andrew smile. He was still heading to his death, his consciousness slipping away from him by the moment but he smiled at the thought of humiliating the being at his last moments.
"Yeah, that was him." A boy's voice sounded from just within earshot.
