AlphaQueen

Her Point Of View: What do you do when you discover your world is coming to an end? I do not know what your answer is, but here I am seated on a creaking bed, surrounded by lots and lots, and lots of bills. A brief run down of things: Josh’s school fees are long over and, in fact, if I do not send more than fifty percent of all the debt I owe his school by tomorrow, Josh will have to drop out of school. Not to mention my college fees, I have a letter ready in my hand, waiting for me to take it to my school administrators to let them know I will be dropping out of Med school. Mother's medical bills are piling up close to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and I do not even have a dime to pay for the bills. I have many letters from the hospital warning me of disconnecting the respiratory machine and stopping other medical services if I do not pay by tomorrow. Mother cannot even breathe without those damn machines. Water supply had stopped coming into the building three weeks ago, I was out of anything edible in this house right now. I have no electricity, no food, nothing! I was already working two jobs every day, yet there was no hope of money coming in from anywhere because today was the third of a new month. I had been paid two days ago, and all that money had gone as deposit for Mum's drugs. A brief rundown I said. Slowly my eyes travel all around me. Living organisms were already feeding on my intestines since they have had nothing else to feed on since yesterday morning. I have thirty more minutes until I have to leave for my next job at the bar which I probably may collapse at while working or serving one of the customers. All hope is lost! There is nothing I can do again. I cannot even ask any of my two employees for an upfront payment because they had done that two days ago too. At this point, I would gladly drink poison and end my miserable life because there is nothing more I could do. I cannot help Josh or my mother anymore. This was the end for me. That was when I heard the knock on my front door. It came soft on the door twice. The first one got me off guard, but the second one got me on alert. I never have visitors. It was not the day when Josh came home from school, and even if it was, if the school had finally decided not to wait any longer before kicking him out, Josh would not be knocking on the door before coming inside. I stand up carefully from my bed, carefully so that I do not step on any of the bills, and trip or fall. I walked staggeringly towards the living room, and then to the door. “Who is there?” I asked, just as my hand settled on the door knob. I got no response even as I opened the door. I saw no one, not even a shadow that could suggest that someone had been there. I was about to close the door when my eyes landed on the brown envelope by the step close to the door. Glancing around one more time to see if I would find someone, and still seeing no one, I bent down and picked up the envelope. It was addressed to me: Abby Juhel. Yes, that is my name. Closing the door gently behind me, I began to open the envelope with care. Dipping my hand inside, I came up with a bundle of clean hundred dollar notes. Curiosity hits me and I open the envelope wide enough to see the rest of its content. Bundles of money were all I saw. Shocked, I poured everything onto the ground of the living room where I stood. Bundles and bundles of money were all that came out until finally a letter dropped, and the envelope was empty. There has to be a mistake somewhere. And as I bent to pick up the letter that had fallen a midst the bundle of money, I realize the letter was addressed to me. I quickly tear it open and begin to read. ‘Abby Juhel, Twenty years old, daughter of Sarah Vinny and Juhel Thompson. Your father is dead, and your mother suffers from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia, and is currently residing at the Bliss Care Home in Dallas. You have no sisters, but one brother, Josh, and he is currently attending Senior High school in Salc. You have no friends, no boyfriend, no other family members. You work two jobs every day, and you are currently studying in medical school to be a Neurosurgeon. You are five feet six tall, and your weight fluctuates between one hundred and twenty and one hundred and twenty-five. Blonde hair, blue eyes, and have no medical conditions.’ I could feel my legs getting weak already. Who was this that knows everything about me? My heart begins to pant, and slowly I begin to read again. ‘ … total debt is owed Four hundred and ninety thousand dollars.” I swallowed an empty throat because even this was true. ‘You do not know me, but I know you, everything I need to know about you and more. Do not bother searching for me because you will not find me. I have a proposal for you. Five Hundred Thousand dollars every month, for you to do with as you want or like, and in exchange, when it is time, you become me.’ I widened my eyes. Become someone I do not even know? ‘If you do not agree, this money will still be yours, but it will be the last you ever get. But if you agree, all you have to do is repeat these words thrice. “et nos unum sumus” and the money keeps coming every month, until it is time for me to come get you. They call me, Astropos!’ And that was the end! No second name, or hint of where ever he or she may come from or may be!