Jordan rested his elbow and hands on the edge of the balcony, and he leaned back from the bars as he stared at the dark sky. It stayed black for a long time before the sun rose from the corner of his eyes. As Jordan watched the scenery, it dawned on him that he never went to sleep at all. Time had passed, but his mind grew too weary of getting any sleep as he couldn’t concentrate or sit his brain still in the slightest.

To Jordan, not a lot of stuff made sense. What’s Melody doing that was so important, she couldn’t tell him a thing about it? He didn’t know how long it had been since she told him to take a break. On the one hand, he didn’t want to disobey or break his promise. But on the other hand, Jordan didn’t want to stand there by himself and let her do all the hard work.

Jordan left his room to get fresh air and quench his thirst. He trotted down the stairs and approached a door to listen in on a conversation from the other side. The door slammed open, hitting Jordan in the face.

“Oh no, I didn’t realize what time it was!” He heard Stanley exclaim. “I gotta find myself a job!”

Jordan closed the door and rubbed the bump on his forehead. He glared at Stanley, who ran off without knowing what he had done and hurt Jordan by whacking him with the door.

“Couldn’t he have watched where he was going?” Jordan hissed. “What was he—?” His eyes widened after a good chunk of hard thinking.

He ground his teeth as he reached down to pull out his phone. That did it, Jordan would finally give Stanley a peace of mind. He dialed up a number, placing the phone beside his ear, and tapped his foot, waiting for the person to pick up.

“Hello?” He heard Melody speak up.

“Hey,” Jordan greeted. “Can we talk?”

“Sure thing, what’s up? Is something the matter?” Melody asked.

“Yes, I would like to change plans, or at least, go try a different route while waiting for you.”

“Is that so? What did you have in mind?”

“I’d like to try that job at the supermarket again, earlier than our intention,” Jordan suggested as he walked his way down the stairs. “I’m asking you for permission before I could do it, but...”

“Sure, go for it,” Melody replied.

“Really? You mean it?” Jordan questioned, his eyes widened.

“I know what you mean; it’d be easier to watch over them in the same area. People would get suspicious if you were a customer watching from afar.”

“How did you know?”

“I’ll get intel and plan ahead.”

“Wait, you don’t want to join me?” Jordan asked.

“Ugh, I’d rather not.” Melody scoffed. “I have far more important stuff to do here.”

“Alright, then.” Jordan hung up and headed out the door.

.-.-.-.

The fog grew dense in the area, and mist surrounded his eyes after a while. Jordan entered the Purple Spoon and hurried over to the boss’s office, where the man did some paperwork with the files, cabinets, and computers.

The boss looked up and noticed Jordan as he closed the door behind him. “Oh, hello there, welcome to the store.” He greeted him while putting away some papers on his desk. “What can I do for you?”

“Well, I’d like to apply for a job here,” Jordan muttered.

“Oh, well, I was about to close up the store, so can’t you wait until—?”

“But I don’t have time for this!” Jordan interjected. “I need this now! And time? Aren’t they open for a long time?”

“You seriously didn’t check the closing times beforehand?” The boss questioned. “Will you at least answer me a question?”

“Um, sure?”

“Why do you want to apply here, and what makes you think you should get—?”

Jordan couldn’t take it anymore. He looked at the boss in the eyes as an ominous symbol appeared in Jordan’s eyes as they widened and stared into the boss’ soul.

“You will give me this job,” Jordan ordered in an ambient-toned voice.

“I... will give you this job.” The boss repeated, sounding robotic and lifeless.

“You will give me a proper introduction tomorrow and give me special treatment.” The boss repeated that sentence.

Jordan smirked and blinked, causing the symbols to disappear. “Alright then, see you tomorrow.” Jordan turned and exited the store, leaving the boss to sit there, looking confused as to what had just happened.

.-.-.-.

Jordan went back to his room, feeling content with the entire day. He sighed with content as he got ready to head to bed, finding it to be a lot easier than he expected. Who knew Jordan could possess power like that and talk the boss into giving him that position? Now, if only he could get rid of that faker, Stanley, make him get over that girl, Hilary, and make her fall for him instead.

Jordan stopped fixing the bed to ponder about something. Did he not pay attention or had time been sporadic all around him? Jordan thought about asking Melody if she knew anything about it, but figured she might be busy. He shrugged it off and decided to ask some other time. In the meantime, he’ll get some beauty sleep. After all, tomorrow is another day.

.-.-.-.

Mystifying laughter echoed in the room, and footsteps came closer. Jordan woke up and rubbed his eyes. Looking around the area, he found himself enwrapped in complete darkness, having no clue where he was. His body slowly lifted off the ground as he tried to get down. His stomach lurched, and his heart pounded like crazy.

He had no clue what happened or why he ended up in this position. He jolted up as invisible lines stuck out in his body, making him dangle in the air like a puppet on strings. Out of the corner of his eyes, Jordan noticed a glow and a free hand moving closer to him with a pair of yellow scissors. They reached toward the strings to cut them in one snap. Jordan’s eyes widened as he fell to the ground. He wanted to scream, but nothing came out. He shut his eyes tight, waiting for the inevitable.

.-.-.-.

Jordan fell out of the bed as he shot wide awake. His legs were entangled with the blankets and sheets. He rubbed his head and groaned. What a nightmare that turned out to be. Jordan crawled back onto the bed and covered himself with the blankets and tried to get back to sleep since it was too early in the morning.

After a while, Jordan heard tapping sounds from his windows. He squinted his eyes and covered his head with his pillow and clutched it tight, hoping to block out the noise, but it was no use. Jordan shot out of bed in anger and stomped over toward the window to find a bird flying around and hitting the window repeatedly. He pressed his face against the glass and spotted Stanley walking outside the apartment complex, past the gates. How could he have forgotten? Jordan slapped his face to get himself awake and prepared to get ready for the day.

Once he got prepared, he looked over in the mirror and smiled, now ready to get going for his ‘first’ day of work.