Or was it?

Ella got up and thought it might be an idea to make coffee and some toast seeing as according to the wall clock she had just an hour to get to work, she would be pushing to get there on time if she wanted to get enough deliveries to pay the rent.

She had worked at a bicycle messenger/courier place for nearly 3 years now and the work was tough, the pay... not great and the people... kinda weird but all in all she enjoyed the work. Mostly she got a large number of walk up deliveries which were not fun but usually they payed well for the extra privacy.

Ella had to spend at least 6-7 hours a day running as many deliveries as she could to be able to afford her rent but sometimes she managed to pick up work doing freelance illustration, design work and even sometimes a shift or two on the counter at the local bottle shop. and because of this Ella was often very tired but being busy was something she enjoyed what with this business lately with her ex boyfriend.

Thinking about all this stuff and then thinking about the weird dream Ella thought. Maybe I'm pushing myself too hard. with a sigh Ella got up from watching the kettle boil and had a quick damp wipe down using a wet washcloth, that would have to do. Riding a bike all day made you stink anyway.

Looking into the mirror Ella saw a stray eyelash sneaking towards her eyeball "ahh no you don't" she said as she plucked it free and then examined the rest of her face.

Ella was a small but strong woman with cyclists legs and firm but not well defined muscles over much of her body from the hard work she does as a messenger, small breasts tipped with larger than average nipples. A cute face with plump lips and a slightly freckled patch around her nose and cheeks making her look younger than her 24 years. topping it off with a bleach blond/pink highlights hairdo that was generally tied in a ponytail with some stray bangs that refused to stay in place.

Ella was comfortable with her body, it didn't get in the way of her work which was a major plus as far as she was concerned. But as she examined her face in the mirror... something seemed off, Ella couldn't quite put her finger on it but something was different. her eyebrows, still a natural brown seemed darker and almost like she was wearing subtle makeup but not enough to really point to any one thing.

Strange Ella thought as she reached up and felt her cheek with her fingers. the kettle clicked in the other room and Ella dismissed her reflection and instead went to grab the coffee and now cooling toast.

By the time Ella had finished half her coffee and toast her alarm was beeping shrilly from her bedroom, She grabbed her bag and shoved the remaining slice of toast in her mouth, wrestled her bike out the door, down the lift and then out into traffic to begin working.

As she rode Ella began noticing something else that did not sit quite right. She felt noticably stronger than the other day, normally by the time Ella was half way to the depot she would be breathing heavily due to it being uphill most of the way, which struck her as odd but she ignored it.

Evetually Ella reached the Depot and due to being a few minutes late, had to sit around to wait for a bit while dispatch got deliveries sorted out, a few were waiting in the daily stack for anyone doing runs to take out so she had a bit of a flick through to see if any could be turned into a delivery run, thats generally how you make the most money, get as many packages/messages as you can that you can knock off in a chain before having to come back in again. but sadly someone probably already cherrypicked the best ones, what was left was all on the edges of the delivery zone which ment a long ride, it also meant that some people were going to get stuck doing a really crappy run at some point today.

"Ella baby, hows it rollin girl?" Called Eddie Fine, the guy was a bit of a throwback and considered himself a "playah" but he was good people anyway, some people think of him as the soul of the depot. Ella was not sure she had ever actually seen him deliver anything, he just kind of hung around. an old timer from back in the day who didn't want to grow up I guess.

"Rollin well Eddie, any news today" Eddie knew everyone and everything happening in messenger land, and alot else too. want cheap tickets to a show? bike parts? bit of weed or something a bit more exotic? Eddie had his tentacles in it.

"News is theres been a pile up on the way into the city, Folk are saying truck was carrying some weird biological containers, there were G men all over it with rubber suits an-"

"Ella! got a rush delivery needs to go out now, some idiot forgot his wedding ring and needs it pronto, they are at the alter. biiiig money!"

"Where" She yelled as she jumped on the bike

"lake side, 46b green street, spare key is in a crack above the door, ring is probably under the pillows on the bed or in the bathroom"

"jeeze, better be paying well"

"500, get a move on"

"aye aye boss"

Ella practically flew out the door a wide grin on her face, she knew why Eddie stuck around.