Although it was afternoon, Lex's room was dark.
The curtains were drawn and the air was stale. He lay flat on his back, one arm hanging over the side of the bed and a letter dangling from his hand.
Aside from the birds chirping outside, he remained there in silence.
He stayed like that for a while.
After several minutes, he sat up and switched on his lamp. A weak pool of light filled his world.
He surveyed the room with a numb gaze. Rubbish littered the floor, while the surfaces of his bedside table and desk were cluttered with empty cans of fizz and takeaway containers.
He let out a defeated sigh.
"Grandpa..." he muttered, resting the letter on his lap.
The envelope was pristine, without so much as a crease. It even had a wax seal.
How very fitting of you, old-timer.
Reluctantly, he dragged his thumb beneath the flap and pulled out a lengthy handwritten letter. Across the top, in superb penmanship, were the words: I'm Sorry, Lex. A short note had been added at the bottom.
I should read this. They're his last words, after all.
He unfolded the paper with care. The note at the bottom caught his eye first.
P.S. "Bloody machine kept beeping at me. Threw the blasted fucker out the window as a final act of rebellion. Then I remembered I've got to write a letter for ya."
A smirk crept across one corner of Lex's mouth.
"An old fogey to the end... Couldn't even figure out how the printer worked. I showed him a thousand times. It was probably just out of ink."
He shook the smile from his face and continued reading.
"I hope this finds you well, wee Lex. I wanted to get the last word in without you nagging my ear off, so here it is: my final letter, written just for you, boy. Feel honoured.
"You're twenty now, aye? A proper age - one when you should be living in your prime. But you've probably already reached the same conclusion about this world: it's a pile of shit. I know I'm usually the positive one, but that's the truth of it, son. Life's dealt us a rough hand - you more than me.
"I'm writing this to tell you one thing. Well, a few things, but mainly one! First: I'm sorry, Lex. I'm sorry your parents died in that accident; that you've been forced to carry on without them; and that I couldn't give you the life I'd hoped for you.
"It isn't your fault, son."
Lex's expression went numb. His lips trembled as his hands tightened around the paper.
"Lex, this is important, so pay attention. I'm entrusting something I received too late in life to someone I know can make it work. You've got brains. If it weren't for all that blubber on your body, you'd be surrounded by women. Hopefully, that problem will sort itself out soon. You can't let the family line end here.
"I'm leaving you my old retail store, the only real piece of land our family owns. You might be asking, 'Grandpa, why do we have a retail store?' Truthfully, son, I haven't a clue. I don't know where it came from, but we found the papers years and years ago. The deed belongs to us with absolute certainty.
"But listen, this is prime real estate. Aye, it might be a bit untidy. I haven't properly looked after it in over a decade. Still, a bit of spit and sawdust and you'll have it up and running in no time! And the start-up costs? Don't worry about them. You'll see when you get there that this is no ordinary shop. Just don't get carried away, and remember where you came from.
"Anyway, son, I love you, and I'll always be watching over you from above. So this is goodbye.
"- Grandpa."
Enclosed with the letter were a slip bearing an address, the deed and two keys for the store.
Lex rolled the keys between his fingers as he stared at his reflection.
What stared back was a failed man.
He was tall, no doubt - over six feet - and possessed a stocky build that could have made him a powerhouse on a rugby field. But the fat clinging to his frame, the acne and the bags beneath his eyes told the story of someone who could have been everything.
"A retail store, eh?"
He closed his fist around the keys and hurled them at the mirror.
It shattered, shards of mirror clattering over his already cluttered and dirty floors.
"That's all I've got left?!"
Realising what he had done, he sighed and kicked the shards of mirror aside before shuffling over to retrieve the keys.
"I don't have time for this. I'll check the place out after university."
He could remain there, emotionally numb and frustrated, or he could take another step forward.
Lex knew which of the two he would choose.
He dragged on some clothes, slung his bag over his shoulder and slammed the door behind him.
For once, Lex had listened to the better part of his brain.
Outside his dingy, dimly lit flat, he was graced by the beauty of his world: council-grey residential blocks stretching as far as the eye could see.
He approached his car, a battered old thing with patched bodywork and a spare tyre.
After two tugs, the door finally yielded and allowed him into the driver's seat. He took a few swigs from an opened can of energy drink left over from yesterday and, after several turns of the ignition, got the engine running.
Then he did what he always did.
He endured a road-rage-inducing commute, reached university, sat at the back and zoned out. He ate alone in his car because the cafeteria somehow made him feel lonelier, despite the hundreds of students moving through it.
By the time his lectures and seminars ended, he was sitting silently in his car.
The entire day had felt like an unskippable cutscene from a game, as though he were watching the world pass by without him.
He sighed, resting one hand on the wheel as his fingers tapped against its curve.
He wasn't really thinking about anything.
Perhaps he had too much to think about, and the weight of it had overwhelmed him.
Or perhaps there was simply something he needed to do.
His eyes drifted towards the passenger seat, where the keys he had thrown earlier lay waiting.
For some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off them. Thoughts of the store had intruded upon his mind throughout the day.
I doubt I'll be able to settle without at least checking it out.
He let out a flat laugh.
Better than going back to my room, I suppose.
He turned the key in the ignition. After several attempts, the engine finally caught.
This car is on its last legs...
With that, he headed towards his grandfather's inheritance.
Outside the Store
He immediately regretted coming.
"Fuck..." he groaned.
This isn't a store. It's a rundown, overgrown building that maybe - I don't know - could have passed for a shop two hundred years ago. How the hell am I supposed to refurbish this with no money? Spit and sawdust, my arse...
Lex's thoughts were not unfounded. The building before him was a complete mess. Vines smothered the walls. Boards had been nailed across the frames of smashed windows. A literal goddamned tree had grown through one corner of the structure.
He had no money beyond what he needed for petrol and other necessities. Student loans and tuition had already left him in debt. He had no way to restore the shop.
But...
Grandpa said not to worry about that. I'm sure it'll make sense once I get inside.
Lex steeled himself and approached the entrance.
Keys in hand, he tried the lock. He half expected the door to fall from its hinges when he pushed it open, but despite a long wooden groan, it moved with surprising ease.
The interior was even worse than the outside. It lacked the sort of rubbish Lex had expected - cans, bottles and discarded cardboard - but several display cabinets had collapsed, their panes shattered alongside the glass bottles they had once held. Entering without safety boots would have been madness.
Several shelving units lay overturned across the floor, tangled in roots and vines. Lex imagined they had once held fresh produce. In the far-right corner stood the checkout, without a computer or even a till. Its absence spoke volumes about the building's age.
Nevertheless, Lex switched on his phone's torch and ventured farther inside, carefully stepping over shards of glass and splintered wood.
The building was surprisingly spacious. With everything cleared away, it would offer plenty of room. He passed through a door at the rear and entered a warehouse, which appeared to be the most intact part of the building - disturbingly so.
There were no overgrown roots or vines, no tree bursting through the walls and no glass covering the floor. Both the floor and walls were made of stone, in stark contrast to the wooden structure outside.
The warehouse was large. Most of its solid wooden shelves remained intact, although a few sections had collapsed. There were no electric lights, but unlit gas lanterns had been fixed to the walls.
The strangest part was that Lex found what had been absent from the shopfront. Open food containers, empty beer cans and drained bottles of spirits lay in one corner, as though someone had swept everything into a makeshift rubbish heap.
There isn't someone else in here, is there? No way. Surely not. Even someone homeless would know this place is a death trap.
Despite his reasoning, he continued with considerably more caution.
Other than the scattered rubbish and shelving, the warehouse was empty. Only one other detail bothered him.
To his left stood a locked metal door. It wasn't a piece of rusted scrap, either. It was pristine, as though someone maintained it regularly.
Lex had been wondering what the second key on the chain was for. He suspected he had found the answer.
Click.
The lock released with a crisp sound. Before Lex could open the door, a voice rang out around him.
[ Dimensional control-room door unlocked. ]
[ Last access: 7 years, 4 months and 22 days ago. ]
[ Security protocol activated. Confirming identity... ]
[ Identity unknown. Additional data required. ]
[ Extracting blood sample... ]
A mechanical arm extended from the door, seized Lex's hand and held it firmly in place. A needle pricked his finger, drawing a thin bead of blood.
"Get off me! Ow! Fuck, that hurt," he hissed, struggling against the arm to no avail.
The metal appendage withdrew.
[ Analysing blood... Familial relation to registered owner identified. ]
[ Subject identified as Leo Peckham's grandson: Lex Peckham. ]
[ Death of Leo Peckham confirmed through Lex Peckham's memories. ]
[ Inheritance protocol initiated... ]
[ Inheritance protocol complete. ]
[ Welcome, Owner Lex Peckham, to the Otherworld Retail Department. Please enter. ]