The small hotel room looked tired and lifeless to the woman sitting on the side of bed. Kerry sighed. She had very little memory of how she'd come to be here. She just knew that things had gone wrong back home. She'd lost her lousy job, lost her true love and at the same time lost the only family she had left. Her grey eyes threatened to well up with tears again when she thought of her sister, Megan. They had been more than sisters; they had been the best of friends. Megan was everything Kerry aspired to be. She was outgoing, she was beautiful, and she was popular all through high school and college. It hadn't mattered to Megan that Kerry was shy and self-conscious; she had taken Kerry with her to all the cool parties and the best social events. The only dates she had ever had were with friends of Megan's numerous boyfriends. Eventually though, Kerry thought that in the light of Megan's beauty she herself must have looked more attractive. That's when she met Rob. He barely gave Megan a second glance, all of his attention was for quiet, mousey Kerry. When he'd come to pick her up at their apartment Megan would be charming and flirty the way she was with all the boys, but Rob was merely polite. He only had eyes for Kerry.
His love gave Kerry confidence she had never felt before. She stood a little taller, held her head up a little more, looked people in the eye when she spoke to them. She also began to stand up for herself at the crumby job she held down to pay the bills. She had the education for a much better position, but she'd somehow ended up working in a cramped little cubicle doing work that more often than not her supervisor took the credit for.
The clock radio on the small nightstand gave a loud click as it turned itself on and began to play some slow, morbid sounding tune. Kerry jumped and reached over to shut it off, then changed her mind. The music suited her mood.
Another deep sigh escaped her lips and she looked down at her hands. They were dirty. She'd never seen her hands so dirty before. She rubbed absently at the dried brownish stains on her skin and under her nails. What had she been doing to get so dirty?
"You're listening to KDTH FM radio..." the music had stopped and a calm, deep voice had taken its place. "All death....all night long..."
Kerry looked at the radio and shook her head. It must be set to some goth station or something, but it was alright. She liked the DJ's voice. He sounded like he was talking directly to her.
"Tonight, dear listeners, I'd like to welcome Kerry to our show." The voice continued. "Say hello to our audience, Kerry...."
Kerry blinked in confusion, staring at the old radio. She jumped again when the DJ spoke and really did seem to be talking to her. "Come on, Kerry, don't be shy....say hello." She thought she must be losing her mind.
Feeling a bit silly, Kerry leaned toward the radio and barely whispered hello.
"That's my girl!" the DJ said enthusiastically. "We're really lucky to have Kerry with us tonight, listeners. She comes to us with blood still on her hands!"
