Steven woke up with a jolt catching himself on the side of the bed frame.
Breathing in a series of ragged pants, he held his hand up to his chest. "Was just a dream wasn't it Gus?" He nervously laughed glancing over to the side of the room housing his fish tank. "For a second there I thought I'd wandered off again" mumbling under his breath he caught the disheveled image of his reflection staring back at him.
Back to the same old routine. Sighing loudly he unlocked his ankle chains and stumbled into the kitchen to fix himself a coffee.
Steven Grant was a creature of habit.
Everyday, he would leave for work, endure the temper of his hotheaded boss, close up his little corner of the museum, and eventually make his way back to the same mess of a flat he lovingly called home. Rinse and repeat.
He would admit it did get lonely at times when he find himself eating his vegan wrap by himself in the break room or wake up in a cold sweat completely clueless as to how he had gotten to a random back alley way in the more troubled areas of London. But it was something he had gotten used to a while ago.
In fact, he could not even remember a time where anything was any different.
Life was not always perfect for Steven Grant, but he managed to get by. And besides, having Gus around made the whole thing worthwhile.
But something was off today.
The ache in his head was more painful than usual. Must just be tired he rationalized as sprinkled fish flakes over the top of Gus's tank.
It was true. He had only managed to fit in four hours of sleep the previous night keeping his mind occupied with readings of first hand accounts of the Silk Road.
Taking a quick glance at the clock Steven hurriedly threw on his navy button up and a pair gray khakis not even bothering to mess with his unruly curls. "Oh bollocks, Donna's gonna have my head" he muttered grabbing his workbag and sprinting down the stairs of his flat to the lobby.
As he pushed through the revolving door, he was suddenly hit with a blast of something... unfamiliar.
There was just too much. Of everything.
The wailing of an ambulance, a street vendor calling out to tourists, a small dog yipping at a squirrel. The piercing sounds rang through Steven as he covered his ears with the palm of his hands. He strained to fish out his ear buds from his bag opting to listen to music than whatever migraine induced earache he was experiencing.
That's strange he wondered.
He usually experienced things in a state of muted fuzz when he slept for less than six hours.
Guess I better make an appointment with the doctor Steven concluded gripping onto his bag tightly.
Funny that, just when I thought it couldn't get any worse with the sleeping disorder now my hearing starts acting up. Looks like my body's out to to get me. He mused to himself.
Just another issue to add to his growing list of concerns. Not that it wasn't unlike anything Steven had dealt with before. No. He would find a way to fix this too.
Nevertheless, deciding he did not want to be terribly late for work (again) he briskly strolled over to the bus stop trying his best to focus on the smooth melodies of the jazz in his playlist over the bustling bursts of noise from the city.
As the transport arrived, he made his way into a crowd of passengers stepping into the back of the vehicle and clutched the handgrip tightly.
He was again blasted with sensory overload as the nagging click click click of a teenage boy chewing his gum, the silent tapping of fingers on a laptop, and what looked to be a couple arguing over what take out they would order that day were directed towards his eardrums.
The sounds cut through Steven making him wince in pain. He turned up the volume to his music praying that he would get off soon.
What is the matter with me today? He silently wondered adjusting his earbuds.
After what seemed like eternity, the bus rolled to a stop and he made his way to the front, stepping off onto the pavement as the other passengers clambered on behind him. He made a dash towards museum's entrance not even pausing to admire the banner plastered on the front of the museums entrance like he usually did.
As he rushed in he was meet by the security guard feigning a look of pity on his face. "Well, well, well, if it isn't Stevie" a voice boomed from the other side of the hall. "Funny you decided to show up at all considering that you're nearly half an hour late"
Steven cringed feeling her outburst shoot up through his left ear. "Sorry Donna, this is the last time I swear"
"Last time my ass" She growled between clenched teeth. "Lucky for you Lesley's covered your shift. You're on storage duty" The venom was evident through her words. Steven blinked slowly Thats not right "I thought I was being interviewed for the curator position today"
Just then Donna's mouth curved into an especially wicked smile "That role is already taken I'm afraid. Dylan got the job seeing that she's the only one who actually meets the qualifications having a degree in Egyptology and all that" She sneered clearly enjoying breaking the news to him.
Steven just... stood there.
This was the job he had spent the past six months prepping for.
All his hard work, his meticulous note taking on Egyptian Burial practices, countless hours of watching lectures videos over ancient civilizations, practicing his curating in the mirror, in front of Gus, on the phone with his Mum was for...nothing.
His vision started to to cloud up as the prickles of water began to form near the corner of his eyes.
"Not like they'd give the position to some knob like you anyway" She scoffed under her breath eyeing him up and down.
He suddenly felt a strange sensation in his stomach. Almost a sort of deep panging hunger. He looked back to Donna noticing the enticing way her bluish veins contrasted with the pale skin near her collarbones. He could almost her the soft rhythm of her heart straining out of the side of her neck. If only he could get a little closer...
"Well get a move on Stevie, I don't want to hear a word of your dawdling around" Her murderous look was all he needed to break out of his trance. Blushing furiously he quickly scrambled out of her line of sight.
That's it, I've finally gone mad was all he managed to think as he headed to the depths of the storage room intending to confine himself there for the next decade or so.