Lucas felt his head in space, darkness, silence and so much endless galaxy it made him feel claustrophobic. He felt his mind ascend into consciousness once again as the world around him swirled and suddenly, almost surreally formed into the darkened alley he lay in. laying among the crimson remnants of defeat and diamond purity of the sky's tears. Before he knew it the darkness and pale white of street lights turned into the sentient red and blue of the towns guardians.

"Shit- leave him and run!" shouted one voice, deep, commanding. Lucas only just started regaining the sharpness in his vision as he saw oily shadows melt away into the streets and the jolt of a hero clutching his shoulders.

"Are you alright kid?" He stared into the eyes of the pale and barely conscious boy, "someone call an ambulance, stat!" and with those words Lucas felt the world around him descend into that spacey darkness once again as his body and mind seemingly floated among the confused and naïve consciousness of a boy. 

The light; it blasted into Lucas and suddenly he felt himself become conscious once again and the light intensity turned into the thin, concentrated beam of a ceiling light. He sat upright, taking in his new surroundings; the room was small, a window on his right showing the rising sun in a radiant glory - in front there was a small television perched on its nest upon the wall - to the right was a door that Lucas presumed led to the hospital. A snort and faint whistle alerted Lucas to the presence of another one in the room. A man sat in an uncomfortable chair with his head resting on his shoulder, drool dripping on to the shoulder of his grey and black raglan - the man who saved him. The man awoke and Lucas shifted, his black tousles of hair falling loose in front of his face like worms from dirt.

"Well, nice to see you awake." The man spoke through character teeth, slightly crooked and yellowed although by no means detrimental to his health they didn't take away from the rustic charm he appeared to have. He had his brown hair spiked back and a short, equally scruffy beard covering his face.

"Thanks - for the help." Lucas muttered incoherently with his voice turned into that of a croak.

"It's alright..." he blinked three times in quick succession before rising to his feet, waking himself up further. "I do need to ask you some questions kid." He slid his hands in his pockets and gave a casual, cool look. Lucas scratched at his clean shaven chin and had a split second consideration of growing his own beard - although he doubted it would work as well as this mans.

"Well- time's a wasting." He said cheerfully, "What were you doing in the alley?"

Lucas stopped and sat his hands in his lap. Feeling the calming texture of the hospital blankets that smelt of cleanliness and purity.

"I don't remember - I guess I took a few knocks to the head." He gave an unsure smile to the man.

"Okay," he moved to the door, "well, if you think of anything, try searching for Ricky Bones." he left the door slightly ajar for whatever reason he felt necessary as he vanished. Lucas laid back - did this 'Ricky' know he had lied? He was far too calm about it. Casting another glance to the majestic sunset that had been before, Lucas was only greeted by the mundane sunshine of the daytime - the beautiful blood of the sky, a memory.

The rest of the day in hospital was dull, the sheets lost their pure scent as visitor after visitor entered to give their sympathies to the injured student - friend - acquaintance. The time was measured by the ever-dissipating radiance of the sun as man and woman exchanged their words: came and gone.

Eventually one of Lucas' closes friends was the only that remained as the angels white room darkened to a pale grey.

"I'm impressed you didn't tell him anything." Simon said as he twisted a drum stick in his fingers. He brought it with him everywhere, he used it to comb his hair, oddly enough - to spin around during conversation and of course, to drum.

"I wasn't going to rat on you bro. But-" the words got lodged in his throat and as his voice stopped, so did the world. The drum stick stopped twirling and the lights stopped fading.

"I want out of this business - it's just not for me, man." then everything continued and Simon smiled.

"Personally, I'm fine with that - I don't want this to happen again." He slicked his hair across with the drumstick and his eyes and mouth curved into an innocent, childish smile that made you wanna throw candy at him. The conversation had slowed completely and nothing but the swish of the spinning stick and the slight creaking of aged floorboards beneath reigned supreme in the room.

"I'm gonna head out - I'll see where Mark's been." He tapped his coat pocket unevenly, against some distorted beat that existed within his own mind, "That lazy shit." and then he was gone. Leaving Lucas to be consumed in the darkening hospital room, to enter purgatory and reanimate the next day.

As the night darkened, the blinds were folded down and the sweet coolness of the hospital room turned into the dark, musk of morbid thoughts - although reverberating through that darkness came a message:

From: Mark Lazlo ; Today at 11:23pm

    Hey Lucas, I'm sorry I couldn't make it to the hospital. Kinda stole a couple meds for my girl a while back (long story) and I'd prob be booked on the spot if I walked in. 

I'll cya tomorrow tho, rest up.

A smirk crept across his face as the message slowly dimmed into the distant past, and Lucas entered his slumber.

The buzz of the television formed words which soaked into Ricky's brain like water in a sponge.

"-we believe it may be linked to a particular drug ring we've been tracking for the past few months - although the only advice we can give is don't get involved or innocent people may be harmed from these drug abusing lunatics." Said the Officer. Then it went black. Ricky let the black screen display his reflection before he looked down to see a more distorted mirror within the liquid at the bottom of his vodka bottle. He started falling asleep - slowly - slowly. Drifting into a state of solace. Then he was awoken.

The time had played tricks of the mind and moved hours into the future in what seemed like a matter of seconds. A phone beeped, desperate for attention and Ricky's alcohol addled brain struggled to comprehend the concept of a ringing telephone. Then he came to and reached a pale, quivering hand to the phone - then his ear.

"Hello, Ricky Bones speaking, Private Investigator." His voice was monotone and his eyelids slowly dropped making the world a thin blur.

"Hey..." came the response and Bones snapped awake.

"Kid! You're out of hospital?" He stood as he spoke, feigning surprise as he scoured the kitchen for a notepad. Opening and closing cupboards with a silent haste and moving like quicksilver upon twinkle toes.

"About to be, I just got out of the bed," a fake laugh, evidently, "Anyway, I have some details I may be able to spare. I had some recall after my sleep." Ricky let a smile sneak onto his face, slyly as he clutched at a notepad from the cupboard.

"Great news. If you have anything you'd like to tell me - then fire away." He had his pen at the ready like a gun, ready to blaze his trail through this battlefield of a case. Ready to get details to help him bring down this drug ring.

Silence.

"Can we speak in person?" Then he settled. Ricky sat down the pen and leaned back against the kitchen bench.

"Sure kid." He was impatient but could understand the request. He'd been rather full-on about the case itself. The drunken stupor that had consumed him before had dissipated in the heat of the moment as he gave Lucas directions to his office.

"Is a Tuesday appointment sound okay?" he eyeballed the calendar, currently Monday. Lucas made his approval known and the phone conversation was ended there with Ricky tossing out the bottle of vodka that lay on the floor before he danced a little jig - tripping over his drunken legs. Welcoming the carpet as it hugged his alcohol influenced body.

"I'm gonna get these bastards - I know it" He sat up and peered out the crack in the window to the sun that had started rising. A bit of hope and help from this kid and he'd be well and truly on his way to exposing one of the largest drug rings the city had ever seen. Ricky Bones - P.I Legend.

 Fumes of sweet odours fused as they wafted throughout the small building that was Moore's Shack, a hidden drug den - how it remained hidden was beyond even the most ingenious thinker. Simon felt his mind enter a state of bliss as he strolled through and witnessed the feelings of joy that bubbled from each and every individual. The room was in a haze but Simon's mind was clear. ​

"About time our new friend got here." Spoke the gruff voice that appeared from the mist, materialising into what seemed more like a bear than man. He towered at about six-foot and had eyebrows that reminded Simon of his grandparents shag carpet. He had started balding on the top of his head yet the lower parts of his face had sprouted thick jungles of black hair. He had dark, soulless eyes that contained no warmth - just a chiseled, cold stare. He patted Simon on the shoulder with a heavy and hairy hand before pushing him through a door, away from the fumes of ecstasy and into the back room where neat packages were stacked like Christmas gifts for delivery. Simon was speechless as he witnessed the creation of his addiction.

"You must understand we're placing a lot of trust in you, bringing you into the inner circle." Spoke the bear as he widened his arm to pan across the room, amplifying its glory.

"What is it you want me to do exactly?" Simon slurred coherently as the fumes stuck within him started to dissipate making his motion as clear as his thoughts. The bear chuckled.

"You'll be doing package runs for us. We have delivery points where you meet up with anonymous clients and exchange money for drugs - quite simple really." Simon nodded and smiled, too simple.

"Your first delivery will be over to Lakeside, fair while away but you'll make it easily." The bear escorted Simon from the main cave back into the room where fumes danced along the air like dancers on a stage.

"The delivery will happen tomorrow at approximately two o'clock in the afternoon, the girl you're dealing with wants to go by 'Henrietta' and we're obliged to work with that information. Don't mess this up - we have faith in you." With that and a firm pat on the back the bear disappeared into the grey wall and Simon was left to sit down and indulge himself in the delicacies that Moore's Shack had offered unto him.

The entire house had entered a state of darkness, where all that existed was the haunting thoughts of failure and despair as the elegant shapes of exquisite furniture mutated into the stripes of black and white and sparks flew across Mark's eyes like flies to the trash. He felt the pain - his personal relief as each time he drew the kitchen knife down more blood painted the dull canvas before him.

Then he snapped out of it.

His eyes with tears he clutched at the bandages and slowly, calmly applied them. Dropping them clumsily from time to time. As the flies buzzed across his sight once again he clutched at a tea towel and dropped to the floor out of faintness before he regained vision and attempted to scrub away any evidence that remained. His ears mute to the buzzing of the phone message that read:

Today at 3:22pm     From: Lucas

Hey Mark, it's all good about the hospital man. I'll be out tomorrow anyway. We should catch up