January 29th - Day 2

"Well that was all but f*ckin" useless!"

He threw his leather jacket on the bed of the rented room. His search for weaponry had led him to the marketplace. Sure he had found several places that sold his kind of weaponry but they wouldn't take his useless money.

"I just gotta find someone to trade work for gear, or some sh*t like that."

That after all was how he had gotten his room here at the inn that he was currently in. He would find a way' he always did. This one was just going to take some time.

"Maybe I should just get a sword or something. Seen plenty of people carrying the damn things."

He knew that was just a stupid thought. He had no training in swords. Maybe a baseball bat would do him a bit more good. But then again what the hell was he going to do against some kind of wizard or a vampire with a baseball bat' Challenge them to a game" The thought actually made him laugh, and lightened his mood a little bit.

"Ahh, I really needed that. All this sh*t is really getting on my nerves something fierce. Oh Malcolm, what have you gotten yourself into this time" And how the hell did you let Juan get away?"

When he had arrived here he had been chasing Juan Carrasco, a convicted killer and armed robber who had escaped a prison transport as he was moved from Miami back to Ft. Lauderdale to serve out his sentence. He had chased him through the parking lot and turned into an alley when suddenly he was" here.

"Now that was a trip. Just wish I knew how the hell to get back."

Now there was something that he for some reason hadn't even thought about too much. He figured if there were this many people from all different worlds here, they couldn't all want to stay here.

"Could they?"

No way. No way in hell could anybody like this place. Maybe the freaks and lycans might, but not those like him. Then again he hadn't met a human from Earth since he had arrived in this damn place.

"Gotta be at least one or two around here. There's just gotta be man."

Oh but who cared" He had had enough excitement for one damn day. He decided to spend the rest of the night in his room. He had snaked a few Badsiders from behind the bar when there wasn't a bartender around. He popped the top to one of the bottles and took a long deserved drink. The night was not near over, in fact it was just starting. But he wasn't about to go back downstairs with the freak show that was going on down there.

"Nope Malcolm, you're better off on your own. Always have been bro."

Yeah he was getting tired of talking to himself, but then again he was his only friend in this god forsaken place. Scooting farther back on the bed he leaned against the wall, taking in another good helping of beer. He raised the bottle in a toast to himself.

"Here's to you man. The dumbass who got stuck in this hell hole.?

That brought him another small amount of laughter. He did stay in his room the rest of the night, though his nightmares made it all but impossible to sleep a wink.

February 3rd - Day 7



"Son of a b*tch!"

He threw his trench coat on the bed again as he entered the room. He had been wasting his last four days chasing Juan for some reason. He had been out for a walk in the marketplace when he saw him, just as out of place as Malcolm was in this city.

"Why did I even bother with that sh*t anyway?"

He had been on his own case since he started drinking earlier that night. He had chased Juan through the city and the outskirts for far too long. Maybe it was pride that made him go after the man.

"No place to bring the son of a b*tch into Malcolm."

That was why he had called off the hunt for Juan. There really was no point to it all. Even if he caught him, where was he going to bring him' Back to the bond office" It seemed really stupid to him now, and even more so a giant waste of his time when he could have been trying to find a job.

"Only got this room for a couple more days bro. Better get your ass in gear if you don't wanna be living on the street in the winter."

That took him back a moment. He had never had to worry about anything like that in his life. He had worked for and earned everything he had been given since he was 16 years old. He wasn't at all used to having to feel out of place. Usually it was him that made others uneasy. Sure he wasn't the biggest of guys, or the most imposing, but his flat demeanor seemed to unnerve most of his co-workers and bounties alike.

"Not in Kansas anymore dude. Like I would ever go to Kansas. Heh."

As a matter of fact this winter stuff was new to him as well. He was used to Miami. Warm winters, hot women, and stone cold criminals. That was his life up until now. All he had really known. Sure he had been to other places. One bounty even took him up to Maine one time.

"What a run that one was. Then again no matter how far or how fast you run?"

It was true. He had never lost a bounty. Not even to another bail bondsmen. Last year he had collected on 32 private or personal contracts, and another 26 for the city of Miami and the state of Florida. That didn't even account for his 'retrievals". He had made quite a living on the side retrieving lost or stolen items for very rich and influential people.

"Bondsman of the year. Lotta good that does you "round here man. Whole lotta no f*cking respect."

Why should he get any' In this place he was the minority, the weaker of the races in this place it seemed. He was getting tired of looking over his shoulder all the time, and it had only been a week in this strange place. He would have to earn it, like he always had. Maybe it was time to stop hiding behind those dark glasses and start making himself known in this city.

"Death wish' You know damn well you cant handle a lot of the people" well hell, even things that walk around this place. You need some damn allies around this city bro. And ya need to make "em quick."

That made him think for a minute. Maybe that was exactly what he needed. Well a job first, but some friends would help. He had been so untrusting of everyone since he had been dropped here that he never gave anyone enough slack to help him even if they would.

"Time to change tactics man. Time to find some backup. Your gonna need it, if you cant find your way home."

He was all but positive that he wasn't gonna get to go home ever again. Sure he had met people with spaceships and others that still carried swords but"

"Swords?"

He couldn't help but laugh at that. It just seemed so damn weird to him.

"Why carry around a dead technology' If you can even call it that."

But then again who needs a bullet when lighting jumps from your fingertips. Yeah he had seen some ridiculous sh*t in his week here. It made him think all the more that he needed some pull, some backup.

"Work on it tomorrow man. You need sleep now bro."

He laid down on the bed, hands locked behind his head as he looked to the darkened ceiling. Yes, first thing tomorrow he would start looking for some help. For any kind of a friend he could find in this place. At least his drinking was helping him to sleep normally. And drift off to sleep he did. He had exerted himself far too much in his relentless and meaningless search for Juan. Maybe he would find Juan and use him as a form of backup.

"Me work with a criminal. Not likely."

He was already sleeping when the words came out of his mouth.

March 23 - No longer counting the days

"What the f*ck"!"

Malcolm sat bolt upright awaking in a bed that was not his own, in a place unfamiliar to him. Rubbing at his eyes, he blinked several times attempting to get his wits about him at this ungodly hour. He found his surroundings vaguely familiar as he looked around, seeing several things of interest he had noticed from the previous night.

"Oh' how damn stupid of me. Jesus Chr" how could I forget."

It all came back to him now. He hadn't been drinking much the night before, but he wasn't used to waking up so off his guard as he was this morning.

"Sin" Where in the hell?""

Apparently she had already awoken and was either gone or nowhere in the near vicinity. He had met the red haired beauty in the great hall the night before, a date they had planned out after the previous meeting in the tea shop. She had joined him for a drink by the fire and things had progressed fairly quickly from there. Who was he to blame her though. After all they were both damn good looking people and it only seemed fitting for him to wake up on her ship, even if it did disorient him just a bit first thing in the morning.

"Malcolm ol" boy I think since first coming to Rhydin you can finally say that you've had a good day."

It seemed true enough. Even after waking up without a weapon under his pillow, as shaken up as he had been, he was already in good spirits once more. With several more blinks and one last rub to his eyes he managed to sit up, kicking his feet over the side of the bed to rest on the floor.

"Now where in the hell are my clothes?"

No sooner had the thought entered his mind than he saw them, tossed over the back of a nearby chair. He was dressed in minutes, holstering the large pistol against his ribs just under his left arm, and he was off searching his way through the ship to find Sin" or at least his way out. Recalling from the night before that he was going to be staying here for at least a few days, he would need to head back to his room at the inn to collect his few possessions that he had amassed since coming to Rhydin.

"I wonder if she is still around."

He managed to find his way around amazingly easy considering he had never been in what he could only describe as a space ship, for indeed that's what it was. He hadn't managed to locate his red haired lover from the night before when he made it to what he assumed was the kitchen and decided to find a bit of breakfast from the fridge. Opening it up however he got quite the surprise.

"Clothes" What the?""

So apparently he had only found a fridge looking closet, and with a sigh he resigned himself to picking something up at the tea shop on his way back to his room. Sure enough a quick stop in the shop and he was on his way to the inn with some fresh coffee and a cake by the same name.

"Ahhh, finally some breakfast, and next". A smoke."

Up the stairs and into his room, and the coffee and cake were set on his small desk, the only furniture other than a bed in his small temporary residence. Slowly he went around packing his things into his duffel bag as he finished off the cake. When he had all of his belongings and his other weapon, his Mossberg shotgun tucked into the bag, he took his coffee to the window. Setting the to go cup on the sill he opened the window and lit his first cigarette of the morning, casually puffing now and again as he watched the busy street in front of the inn.

"Well bro, what now" And to think you wanted nothing more than to go home when ya got here. I mean I guess this place aint so bad. Sure the people are freaks mostly, but how much different is it than Miami anyhow?"

In truth up until now his rent had been dirt cheap and without having to pay for electricity or cable or water or any of the other things he had gotten so used to, it made for easy living and lots of spending". Uh coin. However now he wasn't even sure if he had any bills at all for the moment. Do you rent a slip for a space ship just like the boat he owned back home" He wasn't even sure what his 'responsibilities" were at the moment, or really how long he would stay aboard the". Come to think of it he didn't even know the name of the ship. In the movies they always had names. The Millenium Falcon being the only one that came to mind and he didn't even know where he remembered that one from.

"Well ya got your sh*t all packed up, I guess its time to check out and see what today will bring. Maybe you should stop by the agency and see what is going on today."

After closing the window, and the door behind him, he was back down the stairs hanging his room key behind the bar with the others. He still found it odd how rarely there was an inn keeper or bartender in the place. Yet without another thought he was out into the street and on his way to the agency to see about getting a new case to work. The duffel was slung over a shoulder and another smoke was lit as he made his way down the road, whistling to himself. For the first time since coming to this land, waking up had not been a chore, and he was in high spirits as he headed to work.