Chapter 2

Gary reached the door to his apartment and slowly reached his aching hand 
into his pocket in search of his keys. He let out a short, angry, "Fuck!" 
as he realized that the pocket was empty. The keys must have fallen out 
somewhere between the scuffle and his leaving the alley. As he tried to 
backtrack his steps mentally, he hadn't the slightest clue as to when 
they'd fallen out. A look of disdain crossed his face as he realized he'd 
have to head back to McRay's to find them. 

The warm boozy haze he'd fallen into along the way home started to give 
way to the cool, damp air. He zipped tight his leather, pulled his hood up 
and stared absentmindedly at the ground in front of him as he walked. 
Occasionally glancing farther down the street to make sure he hadn't 
passed the bar or alley. The streets were quiet except for the occasional 
drunk, searching for their cars or trying to wave down the random cab as 
it passed, zipping past, their lights reflected in puddles here and there 
beneath him. The bars were all just shy of closing, and he'd expect the 
last flood of hardy drinkers to be emptying out. 

He lit a smoke as he walked and found himself muttering under his breath.  
"Stupid, so damned stupid! She got the better of you, and you lost your 
cool completely, and your keys. Real smooth.  And now, now you're talking 
to yourself.  Christ!" 

Hopefully he'd make it to the McRay's before the staff had gone home for 
the night. Getting there after the crowd had lifted should make it easier 
for him to find his keys.He once again looked into the bar window as he 
passed, the crowd thinned to just the last few regulars, and decided he 
could wait to head in until he'd checked the alley. His eyes turned back 
down to the damp sidewalk as he started scanning, side to side, to make 
sure they hadn't bounced out while he was running. Scraps of newspaper and 
random fliers for local bands littered the area, but there was no sign of 
his keys. He reached the alley, feeling a shiver run through him as the 
night's events brushed over his memory and turned down it.

Filled with broken down cardboard, dumpsters and garbage bags piled around 
them, he tried to remember exactly where he had ducked and hidden. 
Prodding at some lose trash with his foot, he saw something scurry farther 
down the alley, deeper into the shadows to search for an undisturbed meal. 
Gary had no idea what it was, and didn't plan on finding out, but he was 
certain it was either a large rat, or a stray cat. Continuing to poke and 
prod at the ground around the dumpsters, the stink of week old refuse 
began to work it's way into him, his stomach turning as he searched. Every 
bottle cap or beer can that caught the light brought a quick jump of hope 
to him, only to be dashed as he dipped closer, trying to ignore the 
building nausea every time he caught site of grimy, molded food or worse. 

A noise from the back of the alley caught his attention as he crouched low 
to check out what turned out to be a jagged piece of pipe buried under 
McDonald's wrappers. He turned, thinking maybe the hungry animal he'd 
chased off had found some courage. Gary was certain that there hadn't been 
anyone there when he came back here, but there was now a woman sitting on 
a large, unfolded cardboard box, half hidden under a tattered, dirty grey 
- or what was now grey - blanket, or rug. At each corner of the box she 
was sitting on, almost as if they were holding her to the ground sat a 
clump of bags. She smiled at him as he jumped, his elbow catching the 
corner of a dumpster and sending a shot of pain up his arm.

Gary tried to ignore her, to turn his attention back to his search, but 
something about her eyes stuck in his head. He could feel her watching 
him, every move, as he shuffled garbage around underfoot, turning over 
boxes and tossing aside bags. He hadn't even realized it until now, but 
with each false lead, he was letting out a longer and longer stream of 
obscenities. He straightened up and reached into his pocket for his 
Marlboro's as he turned to face the woman again, wondering if maybe she 
had them.  Pulling a smoke from one pocket and his lighter from another, 
he lit it, the glow illuminating the alley more than anything should.  
Gary inhaled deeply, relaxing a bit as he did and took a step toward the 
woman, whose eyes were still watching him, reflecting the light from the 
gap in the buildings behind him.  

He studied the women (or was it a girl, he couldn't even begin to guess 
her age) as best he could in the dim light of the alley. Her face, the 
only exposed part of her body under the blanket was almost translucently 
white, at least beneath the multiple layers of dirt caked on her cheeks 
and forehead.  Her face was narrow, her nose slim and slightly turned up 
at the very end. Her lips were pursed in a little grin. It was her eyes 
though that Gary couldn't keep his eyes from darting back to.    They were 
large, wide, and burned bright with life, even from the heavy shadow cast 
over them by the blanket.  A few long, straight strands of her hair, 
almost shining, even in the crust and dirt of the alley and her coverings, 
stuck out, golden, beneath here blanket turned hood.

Gary let out a small yelp as his cigarette burned down to his fingers, 
dropping it and breaking his stare with the girl.  Had he really been 
standing there, not moving or saying anything for that long? He managed to 
swallow the lump of minor embarrassment in his throat and eek out, 
"Um...hello," before he felt his cheeks start to go rosy. 

She poked a slender hand out from beneath her blanket. Her smile grew a 
bit and her eyes seemed to brighten even more as she made a small wave 
hello back to him.

"You, um, haven't by any chance been here long, have you?"

She shrugged her shoulders a bit, the blanket shifting and a bit more of 
her hair falling down over her face.

He wasn't quite sure if she didn't understand the question, or if she 
wasn't sure if she'd been there long.  He decided to try a slightly more 
direct approach. "Were you here when I was here before?  Didn't happen to 
find any keys laying around back here?"

Her lips barely moved as she responded, and he had to strain a little to 
be sure she was talking, but she responded with, "Nope," and, "I've found 
lots of things."  As the grin returned to her lips, Gary thought she might 
be mocking him, or at least toying with him now.

Raising one eyebrow, Gary looked at her, unsure if going further was worth 
it.  He thought about the bar, the staff leaving before he could get in 
and check for his keys.  He thought about having to wander aimlessly until 
they opened again that afternoon, and the lack of sleep.  He knew he 
should move on and give up on the alley, but there was just something 
about her that he couldn't turn away from.  He found his mouth moving 
without thought as he asked her, "I'm Gary, do you have a name?"

She looked deep in thought, and responded, "Umm, er, my name it's, wait, I 
know it.  It's Megan now.  I think at least. Call me Megan."  There was a 
bit more strength to her whisper of a voice now, and a brighter spark in 
her eyes, as if she'd suddenly remembered everything she'd ever known.

Gary took a step to the edge of the flattened box, squatting, he reached 
his hand out.  "Pleased to meet you."

His hand hung in midair for a few seconds.  She seemed to be studying him 
now, her head turning slowly to one side, eyes squinting as she looked at 
him.  Then the blanket she wore slowly opened and her slim hand appeared, 
reaching to his.  As her fingers wrapped around his, he felt an odd spark 
rush up his arm, warm and pleasant. Hands locked, he made eye contact 
again, and could swear she was glowing.  Must be the last of the booze, 
has to be, or the streetlights, or...

"No, it's me."

"What's you?"

"The glow, you're seeing me, the real me now, not the messy, slop of a 
girl."

His head was definately spinning, and he wasn't quite sure how to react to 
this. He hadn't mentioned her glowing, he hadn't even had time to finish 
thinking about it.

"...um, might I ask exactly why you're glowing?" he asked, as he thought 
to himself that there was no way in hell she could have been glowing.  
People just didn't glow.  Not literally anyways.

As he stared, dumbfounded, waiting for an answer, her smile grew. "You 
won't believe me, no one ever believes me."

"Try me. Hell, after tonight, a little belief might do me good. How about 
we go get some breakfast and you tell me all about it?"