Sally woke to the sound of her husband drunkenly stumbling into their bedroom. Mike was no longer the man she fell in love with. When they were in their twenties, Sally and Mike were inseparable. Now, Mike only rarely returned home before Sally fell asleep, and when he did, he was usually drunk and mean.
Sally found Mike as attractive as the day she met him, maybe more. Unfortunately, he didn't feel the same way about her. The couple got married in their early twenties after Sally accidentally got pregnant with Jacob. Mike had no specific reason for hating Sally, he simply grew tired of her as the years went by and the stress of raising their children had slowly worn away his calm demeanor. Now he felt older, less attractive, and stuck in a life he never asked for. Sally was a great wife, but the sight of her reminded Mike that his life would never really change. He was going to see her face every morning for the rest of his life. It was the first thing he saw every morning and the last thing he saw every night.
"Well fuck. Put stuff away. Making me... hit things!" Mike slurred his words together as he stumbled his way across the room towards their bed. He hit his knee against a dresser as he entered the room. The dresser was sitting where it always sat and there was no clutter on the floor to hurt Mike. He was too drunk to walk in a straight line and too proud to admit that there was anything wrong about that fact. Sally knew what to expect. At least she knew that Mike's friend Kevin was usually around to drive him home.
"Just go to sleep. You're drunk, sweetie." Sally tried her best to ignore Mike's behavior. She knew he wasn't happy, but she learned a long time ago that there wasn't much she could do to fix that. She hoped that Mike would eventually realize how lucky they were to have stable jobs and two healthy kids, as annoying as they may be. Maybe he'd cheer up and put down the booze when the kids left for college.
"You go to sleep. I didn't ask nuthin."
"Just get in bed. Do you need me to get you anything?"
"No." Mike sat on their bed for a moment then got back to his feet. "Bathroom" he mumbled as he scanned the walls for the door. He started to stumble back across the room but he quickly lost his balance and fell sideways into the wall, causing some boxes to fall off the nearby dresser. With a sigh, Sally pulled herself out of bed and attempted to get Mike back onto to his feet.
"What is this thing?" Mike asked as he awkwardly gestured towards his hand. He lifted something up and accidentally hit it against the side of Sally's stomach. After she pulled Mike to his feet, she reached over to his hand to see what he was holding. She saw his fingers wrapped around a small metal pendant. The sight of it sent a shiver of panic down her back. Mike's fall might have knocked her old shoe from the top of their closet. When Sally looked back at his hand to confirm that it was indeed the Medallion, she noticed that his fingers had already started to shrink and the skin of his hand was several shades lighter than normal.
"Fuck!"
