Paragon- The New Eden

Chapter 1

Paragon- The new Eden

The corners of the flier flittered dangerously in the cruel wind. The small slits of tape threatening to break free and send the thin paper flying down the bustling street. Wrapping her arms around her thin waist, Lila Florence hugged her coat close to her body, and started back again down the dull sidewalk.

The afternoon was growing steadily cooler as the clouds became more and more layered over the dimming sun. Faces with gray complexions passed her by hurriedly, nobody bothering to give this girl a second glance.

Passing a newly shined boutique window, Lila turned her face to the left and stopped abruptly. It had been nearly a week since the last time she had looked herself in the mirror, and the reflection she was seeing now was slightly startling. Stepping closer to the store window, Lila pressed her freezing palms to the clean glass, staring intently at her face. Her eyes looked wide and tired- big hazel spheres looking more confused than she had ever seen them. This was surprising to Lila; she had slept more in the last month than she had her whole life.

Her complexion looked grey and without color; the tips of her ears, on the other hand, were red with cold. Suddenly, after looking at them, her lips felt cracked and dry, and she ran her tongue over them, trying to bring back their healthy pink hue. This didn’t work though and, after hesitating a few more moments, she turned away from the window.

Taken by a tremor of shivers, Lila pulled her hood over her long curls and continued on her way down the bitterly cold street.

The city had looked nippy from Lila’s apartment window, but the air had still been a shock when she stepped down the chilly stairs outside. It wasn’t really necessary for her to take the trip to her favorite café down the street, but since the incident she found herself longing for the warm, small inside of the coffee shop, and craving her usual hot coca with a shot of cool peppermint more than usual. She took comfort in these things, knowing that the warm relief they gave her would never change.

At the door of the café, Lila stepped out of the way of a tall woman with a billowing coat that was threatening to blow her right out of the way. The woman’s face was bitter with anger, and it was apparent that the comfort this place gave Lila had not taken the same toll on this particular person. Glaring at her, the woman pushed her way out of the door and hustled on down the street.

This type of behavior was usual for the city folk around here, and Lila hardly took notice of this woman as she stepped through the door of the café. A hot whoosh of air met Lila as she entered the cozy building, and a small bell dinged overhead, acknowledging her arrival. Lila turned right and walked stiffly over to her usual booth by the window. She had often been glared at by groups of college students for taking a whole booth to herself, but the staff didn’t seem to mind and neither did she.

As she slid into her seat, Lila could feel the hot air of the café warm her body and her toes started to thaw in their boots. Tugging off her suede gloves, she rubbed her hands together, attempting to restore their life.

A moment later, a petite woman in a white apron and messy bun approached her seat.

“Hi, what can I get for you today?” She asked with a cheerful smile.

Funny how the staff here always seems to be so happy, Lila thought as the woman looked at her expectantly. But I suppose that’s probably part of the job.

“Large hot chocolate with a shot of peppermint, please,” Lila responded just loud enough for the woman to hear.

She smiled again and left to make her order.

Lila’s heartbeat had managed to maintain a steady beat as the waitress spoke to her; something that was rare these days. Ever since the night of the incident, whenever someone spoke to her off guard, she had a sort of a mini anxiety attack. Her stomach would be hit with a pang of pain, her skin would grow hot and her heart would start to beat so furiously it was as if she were being attacked all over again. She had never mentioned this to her mother. She didn’t feel the need to tell her something she would probably tell her to brush off; that it was just a phase. Nor had she told her father. This idea had never even seriously occurred to her. Her parents were divorced, and she only saw her father about 5 times a year. And even when they did, they hardly ever spoke much…

Shaking all thoughts of her father from her mind, Lila sunk deeper into her booth, allowing her mind and body to be enveloped by the warm comfort of the cafes atmosphere. Attempting to clear everything from her head, Lila closed her eyes and opened her ears to all the voices around her.

A man had just entered the building and was walking past Lila in a pair of very loud business shoes to the table directly to her left.

Clack, clack, clack.

Lila continued to listen to the man as his suit brushed the bottom of his seat and he sat down at the small, mosaic table.

This was something that Lila did often. She would focus her mind on one person, close her eyes, and just listen.

Lila heard as the man ordered his drink: A medium Vanilla Frappe with a shot of caramel.

How manly, she thought to herself.

“Here you are!”

A cheerful voice broke into her tranquility and, gasping loudly, Lila jumped straight up in her seat, startling the waitress so she almost dropped her drink.

“Sorry!” The woman exclaimed almost instantly

“I didn’t mean to frighten you!”

Lila looked up at her with wide eyes and took a deep breath, calming her heartbeat. Disgruntled, the waitress quickly put down her drink and walked away; turning back only for a moment to look at her with a slightly worried face.

Lila lowered her eyes and picked up her drink, suddenly terribly thirsty. As she took a large gulp of peppermint and chocolate, Lila’s heartbeat slowed, but a new feeling emerged.

Someone was watching her.

Turning her head slightly to the right, Lila switched her gaze to the man she had been listening to.

He had dark hair that was slicked back with gel, a dark grey suit and was looking at her like she was a particularly interesting piece of art.

Taking another swig of her drink, Lila moved her eyes away slowly so he wouldn’t notice that she had caught him staring.

She continued to drink her hot chocolate as if she had no idea of the man staring at her. For a few more moments she felt his eyes on her, and then, out of the corner of her own eye, she saw the man readjust his sitting position and turn his gaze to the window.

Relieved, Lila herself scooted closer to the window, sliding her paper cup across the tabletop, and rested her now temperate head on the cool, refreshing glass.

Seemingly impossibly, the wind had grown stronger since she had entered the café. Lila smiled to herself, suddenly very grateful to be indoors for the time being.

Lila took another sip of her hot chocolate and continued to stare out the window. When her cup was empty she sighed, slid back down the seat, and rose to toss it away.

The man in the suit to her right was still there, and when Lila rose he followed her with his eyes. Feeling slightly awkward, Lila quickly pulled on her gloves, threw away her cup and turned abruptly toward the door.

As she walked back down the even colder, even busier street, Lila’s long, tan curls whipped her face almost painfully. Pulling her hood back up, she stopped at a dim red light, and shivered furiously.

When the light turned green, she, along with around 25 another people, crossed the street to the line of old grey apartments that lined the road.

Hugging her arms to her body, Lila leaned forward, bracing herself against the wind, and plodded on down the sidewalk.

The apartment complex that inhabited this area of town was far from the best. They were made mostly of concrete with rusty gates and dead plants.

Lila had lived here for 6 years. After the divorce, her and her mother had left the moderately nice house they had lived in before and moved here. Her father had not been able to afford keeping it, so the house they all used to call home was sold to a family that they didn’t know.

Her mom always told her that they would get out of this apartment soon. That she would get some big promotion at the clinic she worked as a nurse at and leave all this behind.

But so far, this had not happened for them.

As Lila grew steadily closer to her apartment, her footsteps grew steadily slower. She didn’t notice this until she was standing completely still in the middle of the sidewalk.

Lila’s mind didn’t know why she had stopped, but her body seemed to.

Thoughtlessly, Lila turned from her path I until her face was met with a familiar sight.

The ally walls beside her apartment were thick with grime; old dirt collected between the rough bricks. Four, large blue dumpsters lined these walls- dirty from years of use.

Lila remembered something else that was dirty in this ally….something that happened.

It had been nearly a month since the incident; since she had seen the light haired man. He had thrown her to the ground; pinned her to the filthy concrete.

His left hand had crushed her shoulder, keeping her down, as he unzipped his pants with his right. Gasping with pain she had looked over at his wrist where a simple design met her eyes. The outline of a heart was tattooed there in deep, black ink. Like the man needed proof that he really had one. Lila remembered thinking, in the midst of all that was happening that the tattoo was accurate.

The man had a black and empty heart.

She stood there thoughtless and hardened for a full minute before her stomach caught up to her eyes. A dreadful pain had sprung from the deepest part of her stomach, and was slowly rising. Feeling as if she were about to hurl, Lila forced herself to peel away from the horrible scene that would have seemed normal to anyone else but her. Not waiting to gain control of her pain, Lila strained her legs to begin walking once again.

This wasn’t the first time Lila had walked past the ally since the incident. Twice a week for the last 3 weeks she had traveled the short distance to her favorite coffee shop. But not on any of those occasions had Lila let herself relive the memory she had been trying so hard to forget.

As her apartment grew nearer, Lila kept her focus on the few concrete steps that would take her away from the busyness of the afternoon city. Reaching them finally, she heaved her suddenly heavy body up the stairs. Sighing slightly, she reached into the front of her jeans and pulled out a small silver key. Turning it in the lock, she swung open the door just wide enough to fit her frail body through, and stepped into the grey inside of the building. Not comforted by the damp smell and messy haired lobby man who stared at her as she pushed the elevator button, Lila was suddenly hit with a pang of longing for the familiar inside of her home.

Wondering why the elevator seemed to be taking so long, she waited nervously, all the while feeling the eyes of the lobby man staring daggers into her back.

A high pitched ding relieved Lila as the empty elevator came to a stop and the doors slid open. Stepping inside, she made sure not to make eye contact with the man behind the desk, and out of the corner of her eye she saw his mouth twitch into a small smile. Slightly disgruntled, Lila braved a glance out the elevator, but to her liking the doors had already closed and she was starting to move slowly upward.

Lila realized then that she had never pushed the button to indicate what floor she was going to, but with another ding, the doors rattled open and she found herself on floor 9- her room just down the hall. This didn’t surprise Lila much; the elevators were always on the fritz. Instead she was grateful that she didn’t end up on some random floor and had to use the stairs.

Room 18 was just like any other apartment; maybe a bit more drab. Drawing another key from her pocket, she shook it in the lock, rather then turning it- as was accustomed- and entered the main room.

A small, worn leather coach called her name and she realized that her mother wasn’t home. Somewhat surprised at the relief this gave her she closed the chipped door and stepped heavily across the room to the inviting couch.

Sinking comfortably into the cool leather, Lila leaned back, unconsciously touching her hand to her stomach. And, what is more, to the unborn baby that grew inside.

I'm not too into it, but oh well.