User blog:CryingWeevil/Masks.

The teenage girl ran down the dark alley. Her Mother had been drinking again and whenever that happened Dad would often get mad and they would fight. She had stopped caring about such conflicts years ago and would often take to her second home whatever the state of her house was, the streets.

As she got into the alley a skinny boy easily older than her greeted her with a smile. He stared at her, brown hair, pale skin and a yellow and black outfit that contrasted with the dark grey of the alley.

"Stripes again? You will never grow out of the bee fixation will you, Hornet?"

"Come on, like you're a fashion model." The girl said snarkily. "Did you bring what I asked for?"

"Two containers" Replied the young man as he showed two metal containers with a foamy white substance inside. "120"

"Sixty a container?! I can get them for 40 at the drug store and you know it!"

"Well, you can definitely try. What will the pigs do when they realize you got biofoam? Your parents?"

"Joe you scamming son of a bitch. I could just knock you on your feet and you know i-"

"Oh yes you could." Said Joe with a confident smile. "But who would satiate your little addiction? Now, do we have a deal or not? I have other places to be and folks who pay better"

"You son of a bitch..." The girl took out 3 light blue 20 Credits bills and held them over to Joe. "Just hand them over."

Joe handed the two containers roughly the size of a deodorant spary can to the girl. "Just Try not to get caught this time while you inject them." He said as Hornet started turning around. "It hurts business when cops orbit around a client"

The girl flipped a finger as she walked away and put both containers in a bag.

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Miranda stumbled into her car empty of cash and pride. Joe had just doubled the price again and it was hurting her bad by now, even to the point of having to borrow 30 credits from Kamini, who gave them as "lunch" money.

Miranda grabbed a container out of the 6 she had, she could swear they were getting smaller by the year but was always too lazy to actually measure it. She put the container inside a syringe and watched as her whole body itched for it, her anticipation grew as her hairs stood up and goose bumps popped out. How much she had missed this.

As she inserted the syringe into her vein and injected the foam she felt the pain cover her arm, it felt similar to being stung by a bee, a feeling she knew all too well. In her first years she would often keep inject few doses at a time to inhiibit the pain and prolong the time each container lasted but, as she grew older, she started to just inject the whole dose and suck up the pain.

After a few minutes her arm went from the hurtful red back to normal skin color and she felt the desired effect. A numbing sensation covered her whole body and she felt at ease after the last days. She just let herself fall in the seat and feel the numbness of her body, like being in a lucid dream. In such state it was hard not to sleep for some hours at least, and as she looked into the setting sun she felt herself grow tired.

She woke up to dizziness and guilt, a feeling her "Hero" outfit magnified to a huge extend. Miranda was good at having masks, one for the world and one for her close ones, no one, especially Kamini could ever know this side of hers, this broken and dependent side .She would never allow them to see her inflamed arm or unfocused look, it could break her masks and tear her own life apart. She at least knew how to keep a mask.