A/N: Both parts contain medical terminology that may be hard to understand. Please check the in-line comments around them as I've added explanations. If there's a term in here you do not understand, please ask. I will clarify. Please enjoy both parts of this chapter, and let me know what you think. 

Music: K. Flay, So fast So Maybe

February 9th, 2020

*****

The borrowed umbrella did a decent job of keeping her dry under once again steady rainfall. Through the rain, she noticed one of Philadelphia's many street kiosks. The halo around it beckoned to her. Unable to resist the angel's call, she headed over. Her eyes skimmed over the glossy magazine covers, assorted candy, and newspapers declaring the day's headlines. She stopped on the rainbow display of cigarettes. There was her next high; her next rush. Stella paid the sixty-odd dollars for four packs of Newports and one lighter.

She scanned the area, looking for a good place to have her first cigarette in years. She spied an alleyway not to far away, promising shadows to hide in. Stella meandered over, looking at depressing store displays. She casually ducked down the alley, then sprinted to duck behind the dumpster. Her hands shook as she lit a cigarette. The smoke choked her as she inhaled, forcing her to cough. The taste of menthol, nicotine, and life energized her. It carried her far and high. Fluffy white clouds surrounded her, surrounding her with their fluffiness. They felt like cotton candy. She could see the sun and felt its scorching rays burn away her impurities.

Then she exhaled. The smoke left her lungs, leaving her throat raw. Stella was back in the shadow-filled alleyway. She looked at her hand in horror and dropped the umbrella. She dropped the cigarette and stamped it under her foot. Soon, there was nothing left but filler. Stella copied the same with all of the other cigarettes she purchased, mad giggles erupting from her throat as she did so. When she was done, the remaining Newports made a small mountain in front of her. She stamped it into the ground, watching it flatten into nothing.

Her work done, she picked the umbrella back up and put it away. It didn't matter now. Nothing could touch her. She skipped out of the alley, letting the rain wash off her old skin. With fresh eyes, she looked at the store displays again. She ducked into a clothing store, danced through rack after rack of clothing. She grabbed a tulle skirt, held it up against her body, and decided it was perfect. She started to grab shirt after skirt after dress after pants. Stella barely noticed the weight of the various garments as she shopped. 

She spied an accessory wall in the back of the store. The ceiling lights glittered on the display, creating rainbows and waterfalls. Fake diamond dangling earrings glittered like the real thing. They promised her recognition. She added them to her ever-growing pile. 

Stella made her way up to the check out counter. She shifted from foot to foot as she huffed at the cashier. Didn't they know she had things to do? She was an important person. She spied a small book at the checkout and added that to her pile. It was followed by a gift card, which she put $269.64 on. She tried not to giggle at the number; the clerk wouldn't get why it was funny. Besides, Stella couldn't help but feel as if the clerk was envious of her. Stella would look amazing in everything she was buying, she could feel it in her bones. Everyone would fall over themselves, either wanting to be her or do her. She'd have to be careful from now on.

Finally, she paid the clerk all six hundred and forty dollars. She took her credit card back, hastily stuffing it back into her wallet. Laden down with her new acquisitions, she tottered out of the store. She looked around the street, looking for her next high. The stores all seemed to blend into each other, nothing appeared particularly inviting. Her head moved from side to side as she thought about where to go next.

No stores beckoned yet she recalled the ways rainbows glinted off the river. The Schuylkill was only a mile away, and she remembered the walkways there provided wondrous views of the river. She took it slow, stopping to admire a hidden sunbeam here and a fountain there. They stood out from the drab surroundings, the various businesses and homes blending into each other.

In fact, she tried to ignore the buildings. They seemed to bleed into each other, running like ink. It was impossible to tell when a clothing store turned into a café then into a pharmacy. The longer she looked at the runny ink buildings, the more they looked like water. The more they looked like water, the more she wanted to drown in them. Stella kept her eyes firmly on the ground; the sidewalk was safe. She just had to avoid the cracks; they would open and swallow her whole.

Finally, she risked picking her eyes up off the ground. In front of her was a store, perhaps the only store that wasn't beckoning her to a watery grave. Books were displayed proudly in the window. Stella's eyes sparkled as she eyed the jewel covers. She slipped inside and left her bags with the clerk. She meandered through the store, feeling the spines of every book under her fingertips.

There was no feeling that could compare to the swell of a hardcover spine. The book jackets scratched under her fingers, promising to take her to lands far away. She picked it up and read the summary, then tucked it into her free arm. A book about a psychotic killer was what she needed to add to her collection. Several more books joined her pile in quick succession.

It was the literature section where she found it; her favorite book. Pride and Prejudice, sat in the middle of the shelf, surrounded by gold. She traced the silver lettering with her fingers, slowly dragging them over every letter. Stella looked around quickly. She spotted no one else in sight, with the exception of the clerk. Quickly, in case someone else was watching, she added all three copies to her pile of books. She scurried upfront, hunched over her pile.

Stella scanned the store, keeping an eye for those who might want to take her treasure away from her. She took the bag quickly from the clerk and took the rest of her shopping bags. Clutching the bag of books close to her, she hurried out of the store and down the street. The rain battered her, but she couldn't find it in herself to care. Before she knew it, she found herself at the Schuylkill River. She found a bench hidden in a copse of trees by the riverfront.

Barely noticing her dress soak up the water, she sat on the bench and took out one of her copies of Pride and Prejudice. She started reading it, sinking into the material. Jane Austen's world flashed before her eyes, summoning visions of petticoats and antique dresses. Stella lifted her head as she heard an inhuman scream come from somewhere nearby. She looked around wildly but was unable to locate the source.

She did the only logical thing she could think of in that moment; she threw her new book into the river. Her eyes followed it as the current swept it away, safe from whatever creature screamed. She listened hard, trying to identify it. She could hear the sound of traffic flying down Market Street. The rain sounded like pellets as it hit the ground around her. Try as she might, she heard nothing that could have let out the noise she just heard. Once again, Stella did the only logical thing she could think of. She watched another copy of Pride and Prejudice float down the river.

"Ma'am? What are you doing?"

Stella's head swiveled sharply at the noise. There were two officers looking at her strangely. She only briefly glanced at them; there were monsters surrounding them. How had she not noticed them earlier? It must have been at least one of these creatures that screamed earlier. It probably summoned its friends here. She tasted bile and swallowed it. Stella couldn't let them know that she was afraid. They would pounce the second they knew she was vulnerable.

"Ma'am?" one of the officers asked again.

"I-I'm fi-fine," she stammered out. The hoard came closer, tasting the air as if they could sense her fear.

"We thought we heard a scream," the shorter officer said.

"No. No scream around here," Stella lied. She pressed herself back against the railing. The hoard moved closer.

"Why were you throwing books in the river?"

Stella blinked. Now that she thought about it, she didn't have a good reason for it. "I didn't like them," she replied. It still made no sense. Perhaps the demons had put her up to it? Of course, she couldn't tell the officers that; they'd think she was crazy. Then she would end up in the hospital with Haldol dripping into her through an IV.

"Are you sure you're ok?" one of them pressed.

Stella had stopped paying attention to them. It was starting to make sense. The demons wanted her to hear that scream and throw her books in the river! They wanted her to seem crazy to these officers! They didn't want her to know that they were still there, haunting her. How could she ever forget? They were the reason that she was like this. "Yes," she answered, finding more confidence in herself.

"Is there someone we can call for you? You don't look quite right."

"No, I'm fine. I'm going to head home now." Even to her, her voice sounded squeaky. She looked around, trying to find an escape. The demonic hoard moved closer to her, cutting off escape routes as they tightened their circle. She would have to push her way through to get home.

"Stella?" a familiar voice called, cutting through the chatter. When had the chatter started? It had all seemed so quiet.