Cleo Hassan.

Cleo Hassan.

Cleo Hassan.

A name unable to leave his mind, even as the boom voice rings through his ears.

" Forgotten about the wife already?"

" Ex-wife," Marc quips as he goes to untie his leg.

He leaves the bed, careful to not make a print in the sand ring surrounding it. He changes out of Steve's pajamas and into his own clothes, covered by a thick navy blue jacket. He grabs the keys, peels the blue tape from the door and exits the flat and goes to the elevator. The dim florescent lights begin to flicker as the God grows impatient.

" Can't these things move any faster?"

Marc rolls his eyes and waits patiently for the elevator to reach the bottom floor where he leaves the building behind in order to be of service.

" Where are we going this time?" Marc asks.

He's gotten so used to obeying and serving, that he finds himself not asking why he does the things he does, or why an Egyptian God even needs the help of a mere mortal. But, Marc swore to protect the traveler's of the night on behalf of Khonshu, and his service is far from over.

All while serving a God, Marc wants to keep this away from Steve. In fact, he keeps himself from Steven, desperately wanting to preserve his innocence. He wants Steven to live a happy, normal life, even if that means Marc will suffer.

And Konshu doesn't mind, as long as Marc continues to prove himself useful, he doesn't much pay mind to the 'worm'.

Under the lustrous escape of the moon light, Marc listens to Khonshu, obeying his commands, no questions asked, and thankfully he's able to return home a few hours later, something that has become a rare commodity. Marc has gone days away from home, all while listening to the compelling voice of the bird. He walks up to the building, his journey almost complete. As Marc uses his keys to along the front door, his eyes trail over to the large list of tenant names by the buzzer, and at the very top, he finds the one his mind fixated on.

C. Hassan.

Perhaps it was someone else, but that would be an awfully big coincidence. Too big.

Marc enters the building, and therefore after the elevator. As he stands and waits for it to reach his floor, his mind ponders over the name again and again and again, almost to the point of obsession. And even has the elevator reaches his floor, his body walks towards the door while his mind remains occupied. He unlocks the door. He opens it and enters the flat. He closes the door and locks all the locks. He grabs the roll of blue tape and puts a piece along the seal of the door. He changes back into the exact pajamas he changed out of earlier. He hops over the sand ring to get in bed. He places the restraint back on his foot.

His body does all of this on auto-pilot while his mind combs over the singular name, as if it's the only two words he knows.

Cleo Hassan.

Cleo Hassan.

Cleo Hassan.

He finds himself unable to figure out what exactly is so captivating-- it's just a name. A name of a person he's seemingly never met, and yet a name that feels all too familiar.

" Now you're beginning to sound like the worm."

The booming voice of the God seems to be the only thing able to take Marc's mind off the name, despite how annoying he finds the bird.

" No... I'm nothing like him."

As Marc goes to fall asleep, the God leaves him be, up until the next time his assistance is needed. Marc keeps a straight face, but feels an overwhelming urge to frown at the lack of music from upstairs. He's jealous that Steven is able to peacefully be lulled to sleep by the heavenly wonders being produced by the neighbor. He's almost resentful of Steven for having a moment of peace that Marc is unable to. All because of the God.

The moment Marc closes his eyes, having the illusion of sleep cast upon him, the alarm clock goes off, and Steven wakes up.

He sits up in his bed and lets out a relaxed breath as he goes to release his shackled foot. He goes about his morning in his normal routine, being sure to feed Gus and tell him good morning.

As he makes his way out of the building, his phone is pressed up against his ear as he seems to leave a voicemail for his mother, whom he can never seem to get ahold of.

" Laters, gators."

All the while, Cleo finds herself having the opposite kind of morning. She had forgotten to set her alarms once more, and is currently sleeping in. Even Ana doesn't attempt to wake her, she just lounges on a chair in the living room, bathing in the sunlight.

Cleo's mind creates such a captivating movie, that it almost holds her hostage. Her dream is harmonious and undisturbed by outside forces. Her body remains still under the covers, aside from her gentle breaths.

It's not until close to 9 does she begin to fade away from dreamland and back to the unfortunate reality of the real world. Her eyes squint open, needing to adjust to the rays of light shining in from the windows. She yawns as her arms stretch above her head. She groans as she sits up to crack her back, multiple pops escaping her joints. Cleo looks over to her bedside table to grab her phone and checks the time to realize its well passed time for her to be at work.

But alas, there isn't really any work for her to do. Not anymore.

She tosses her phone onto the plush white covers of her bed as she lays back against the fluffy pillows. She goes to close her eyes, but Ana runs in from the living room and begins to obnoxiously meow, clearly trying to communicate with her human.

" You know people don't worship you anymore, right?" Cleo groans as she reluctantly gets out from her warm bed.

She walks into the kitchen with Ana right behind her. She opens the can of tuna and places it into a bowl for the cat, and upon noticing the water bowl is getting low, fills that up as well. Only now does Ana allow her to leave the kitchen and return to her bed that sends out a warm, cordial invitation to Cleo.

Cleo hides under the covers and buries her head into the pillows, wanting nothing more than to sleep for the rest of the day, if not more, for the real world can be extremely tiring.

After a few minutes, she grows impatient. She reaches into her bedside drawer to pull out a sleep mask that she dawns over her eyes in order to hide from the sunlight like a vampire. She returns to her pillow with a smile, quiet little snores soon escaping her lips moments after.

Her mind's director resumes the movie for her, but the movie decides to take a dark turn. Perhaps it's the writers fault, but Cleo's too consumed in the story to care. What was once a peaceful slumber has now turned into a tragic peak into her memories.

" You're not alone, Cleopatra."

With those final words, Cleo instantly returns to the waking word. She throws the sleep mask off of her head, her eyes wide as her body panics. Her breathing uncontrolled and labored as tears tease the edges of her eyes, daring to fall down her cheeks.

But she doesn't let them. She's able to remember breathing techniques for panic attacks, and she forces herself to comply, despite the desire to cry being ever so strong. Her eyes shut. She inhales for seven seconds, holds it for seven seconds, and then exhales for seven seconds. She inhales for seven seconds, holds it for seven seconds, and then exhales for seven seconds. She repeats this pattern enough times, under her body and mind have calmed, even if it's temporary.

Cleo opens her eyes, the bedroom once filled by sunlight is now covered by the dark ambiance of the moon light. A grumble escapes from her stomach, and it now dawns on her that she has not eaten all day, and has an unexplained craving for a slice of pizza. She couldn't care less about the clothes she's wearing. They're comfortable and they cover everything that need to be covered. She throws on a long tan coat and a pair of sneakers, and then leaves her flat for the first time all day.

Cleo leaves the building, shoving her hands in her pockets in order to keep them warm. As her shoes walk along the concrete sidewalk, her mind tries to drag her back to the very nightmare she wants to escape. She's tried to keep those memories buried for so long, and won't give up so easily as they try to resurface.

This keeps her mind busy, allowing her to become distracted, completely unaware to the man behind her. He's been following her for blocks, waiting for the right moment. As Cleo walks towards the opening of a thin alleyway, the man strikes. He lunges forward. He grabs her and forces her into the alley. One of his hands goes up to cover her mouth to prevent any screams from escaping as she flails in his grasp. All logical thoughts go out the window, her mind shuts down as she completely forgets how to defend herself in situations like this.

But her situation doesn't last long. Cleo's eyes shut for a moment, and once they open, the attacker is lying on the ground, blood oozing out of his nose. Her body feels as though it's vibrating, her adrenaline still very clearly coursing through her veins. She doesn't see her would be saver, just a glimpse of a white cape gliding through the night sky in the corner of her eye.

Her mind soon finds some rational thoughts as it screams at her to run, and she listens. She runs as fast as her legs will take her, all the way back to the building. She endlessly taps the button for the elevator until it finally opens. She rides it all the way to the 5th floor, and then sprints up the last few steps to her door. She fumbles with the keys, but manages to unlock her flat. She slams the door shut behind her and locks every single lock available to her. She presses her back against the door as she attempts to catch her breath. Her eyes stare into the abyss, until they close as she leans her head back. A heavy sigh escapes her lips, finding yet another reason to never go outside and just stay in bed. After all, the outside world is such a mess.

All in the same night, Steven waited patiently for his own personal lullaby, and yet it never came. His frown was prominent on his lips, but a scoff soon followed. He knew it. It wasn't real. It was all just a dream. His sleeping disorder had successfully tricked him. He tried his best to stay awake, no longer confident in his own reality, but he becomes a victim of sleep once more, allowing Marc to take charge once more.

And he too waited for the music... but it never came. What was supposed to be a night off turned into him following his neighbor as she left the building. He kept a safe distance, just wanting to ensure her safety, but the moment he saw her get dragged into an alley, he acted on pure instinct. He summoned the suit that Khonshu had given him, and quickly and effortlessly apprehends the attacker, leaving him unconscious on the ground, despite wanting to slam his head against it over and over again. He leaves without even ever seeing so much as her face. His only memory of her is her long black hair.

By the time he returns home, he sees the God standing in the flat as he leans against a wall.

" You should've killed him."

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