A/N: REVIEW. I like.
...twenty chapters? I seriously have to reconsider my existence.
Chapter 20: Reality
At least, it was some kind of safety.
The chat with Marie about my life and if I was still feeling sick had evolved into a friendly conversation, where even Jenna had been allowed to join in. Even though I got violently sick to my stomach from just a sip of tea, I managed to avoid grimacing and just pretended to be too nauseous to drink it, an excuse that Marie seemed to accept. The small office had begun to smell of the coffee Anne was brewing, and even Jason, who seemed to prefer being alone, had begun sorting the papers on the shelves, shielded from idle conversation by Jenna, who was keeping Marie and me busy for two.
As Marie was finishing her tea, and we were beginning to run out of topics for our conversation, a sharp knock rang out from upstairs. Even as Jason stepped out of his room out of curiosity, someone knocked on the door twice again. "Coming", Marie shouted up the stairs, as she began to climb the steep staircase, limping slightly along the way. Jenna grabbed me by the sleeve and excitedly began dragging me up the stairs. Marie was standing in the doorway, her short and frail silhouette dwarfed by the people outside. We stepped out into the lobby, trying to get a look at the strangers.
There were five persons standing outside in the light rain, black against the cloudy night sky. A tall, stubbled man in a sienna duster and a wide-brimmed brown hat was talking to Marie while distractedly smoking a cigarette. Behind him were a ragtag bunch of people, looking strangely out-of-place behind their imposing groupmate.
A blond, military-looking man with a blond buzz cut, wearing an oddly bulky denim vest and a pair of baggy jeans was standing by the man's right-hand side, and behind him, a teenaged boy, not older than 17, was skulking around, spitting on the cracked pavement and glaring at me through the hall. He was wearing a black leather jacket and ripped biker jeans, with a navy blue messenger bag slung over the shoulder. Sticking closely to his side was a girl seemingly a year or two younger than him, wearing a red parka and khaki winter boots and nervously clinging to the boy, her hands possessively buried in his long blond hair. By the stubbled man's left side, a young woman, about 21 years old, was standing, glancing around the hall with her hands buried in her black trench coat.
"Good evenin', missus. Have ya seen a chick calls herself Brandon? Should have black hair and black clothes, real nutcase." The man in the duster, though speaking politely enough, couldn't hide an unmistakable Southern accent. Brandon? The name rang a bell, though I was pretty sure I didn't know a girl who wore black and called herself by a boy's name.
Marie was clearly on the defensive, her tone stern and disapproving. "Brandon? I don't know of any girl by that name. The girl back here is called Jenna, though I trust she's not the one you're interested in." The man stared at Jenna through half-closed eyes, then looked back at Marie and slowly shook his head. "Those chicks are jus' from the city, I guess. The Brandon we're lookin' for is somethin' special, y'know, missus?" His tone was proud and faintly arrogant, which was only intensified by the fact that he was looking down at Marie, being at least six foot five and quite muscular.
"No, I do not know what you're talking about. I don't know any Brandon, and it is quite arrogant to barge in at three o' clock at night with a team of people like you and demanding to know where she is. You'd better leave before we call the police." Marie was obviously furious, clenching her teeth and glaring at the man, who was still looking disinterestedly down his nose at her.
"Watch yer mouth, ya old bat. Wouldn't wan't us to mess ya up, wouldja?" The boy was sneering at the older woman, glaring threateningly at her with stinging, ice-blue eyes. "No cops ain't gonna be comin' if we floor ya all in here 'fore ya call the cops." As Marie began shrieking at the boy, a red haze slowly rose in front of my eyes, feeling as though it was seeping into the back of my brain.
Who the fuck did they think they were, coming in here in the middle of the night and threatening an old woman who didn't know anything? I didn't care about killing anyone this time. The only thing I was thinking was that I sure as hell was gonna gut that kid. Beside me, Jenna had caught my signal, smirking and cracking her knuckles.
Let's dance, kid. Don't you act like that in front of a monster like me.