THE RED HOUSE PART ONE
FOURTY FIVE DAYS AGO
“I don't get it”,Barton complained next to me,on the driver's seat. “Since when am I your personal driver Pearse?”
“Since Tasha's away on a mission” ,i hummed cheerfully and he snorted.
I had my fingers out the window,the strong air current fiercely brushing them. The sun was up at it's highest point,the horizon filled with clouds. It was a warm day nonetheless.
“You could give me an address at least”,he continued,his eyes fixed on the road ahead.
“Yeah,if I had one”,i turned my head at him,noticing how he was giving me a look. “Come on Barton,trust me. I remember the way from when Fury pulled me up”
“Yeah,sure. Not like I got any other plans for the day,but since you didn't ask,let me tell you,I did”
“Stop being so dramatic. I'll buy you a beer”,i said and he chuckled.
“Ah,i see someone took in her first paycheck”,he joked,his hands strong on the wheel.
“Well,it's more like an advance,if nothing else. Fury knows i'm broke so he was kind enough to help out a bit”,i said shaking my head along every word.
After half an hour I noticed some familiar scenery and asked him to pull up,although it was hard enough to find a parking spot,let alone remember the way to go back. Thankfully,Barton was smarter at that than I was. He pinpointed the address we were when I asked him to pull up,and after we parked,almost three blocks away,he put the address on his phone.
From that point on it only took us a time span of ten minutes to find the alley.
“Who even is that friend of yours Pearse?”,he murmured after eyeing the place;
There were even more people now than the last time i'd been there. Still,i managed to spot some familiar faces.
“Oi,Anisa!”,my voice came out with excitement and I unconsciously lifted my arm to wave at her;
Anisa was a young woman,a twenty year old immigrant from Kenya,as she had told me before. Her skin was much darker than my own,and her long,raven hair much more curly. She was always smiling,no matter what,and although her English were mostly cracked,her wits went beyond any other person's to stay at that alley.
“Persephone?”,she tilted her head and stood up. “What you do here?”
“I'm here to get Jean. Where is she?”,i turned my head to look around,though I could not spot her anywhere.
Anisa lowered her head,something seemed to be bugging her.
“Jean..”,she started, “not here more”,she shook her head.
“What do you mean? She lives somewhere else ?”,she was hesitant.
“The Red House”,she spelled out,her voice low.
This was the second time i'd heard of that house. And although Kith never explained what it meant,nor did Jean,Anisa's faint terror upon mentioning that could only mean that something was off.
“What's that exactly? Do we need to drive more?”,Barton asked her,arms on his waist.
“It..you not go there” ,she pleaded.
“Just what is that place,Anisa?”,my brows were knitted together and Barton was eyeing me.
“Red House...is a bad place”,she explained and pursed her lips. “Nobody come back after they visit for too long Persephone”,she looked straight into my eyes,her brows furrowed.
“Where is it?”,Barton asked in a rather strict manner and Anisa took a deep breath.
“Twenty third street”,she said after a while,in a faint voice after she lowered her head again. “Two blocks after pink bakery with the blue letters on glass”
“Now this narrows it down..”,Barton said sarcastically.
“Let's go”,i turned my back,calling on Barton whom then,and after a sigh,followed me.
“Wait!”,Anisa grabbed my arm and I stopped to look at her. “Be careful Persephone. The Sparrow won't let you leave with no scar” ,i squinted my eyes.
“The..what? Is there a bird?”
“Probably a code name Pearse,come on”,Barton sighed and I lifted my brows.
“Oh...It's okay,don't worry. We're pretty strong”,i smiled at her and left,as she didn't speak again,but instead was only looking at us. I think I heard her whispering something,probably in her language,but I didn't pay much attention.
Barton checked his phone screen and said it wasn't much of a distance,we could walk it off. I was mostly dozing,my eyes fixed on every single thing I thought to be beautiful; the storefronts and the lined up people waiting outside,the small canteens with grills on top of them,some dancers flying up and down as people were gathering around them,leaving coins in front of them,some recording the event on the phones even.
“You tested out these games I brought last time yet?”,Barton suddenly asked and I gasped.
“Yes! They're truly fun,thank you for that”,i smiled and he seemed pleased,somehow proud even. “I killed off all the zombies,but my teammates keep letting me die,they are incompetent” ,i noted and he chuckled.
“You're not actually playing with other people Pearse,you are not online”,he said and I was now confused.
Barton had brought me a box the other day,a black one which he then installed on my apartment,along with some disks. He called it a play-station,said I would enjoy it,or so he thought at least.
No mission for me had been brought out yet,and so I was constantly complaining about how bored I was. I was dying to go to the training compound,and Fury told me I could as of next week,and since I had nothing to keep myself busy with,Barton thought I should make myself more..normal. He noted that all Earthlings had been playing these games since a young age,and it would make my “weird violent ass” feel a little more at ease.
Nonetheless,they were fun to play,some form of mind training if I may add.
Nevertheless,i couldn't shake off that uneasy feeling,ever since I heard of that place; the Red House...just what was it? And why was Jean involved in that? I was just hoping she wasn't in trouble. People would always speak like that,always suspicious about everything. I was hoping this was the case now too.
“You're worried,aren't you?”,Barton asked me and my lips parted,trying to find the right words.
“I..Jean was the one who helped me when I first came here. She's a good person”
“And a friend”,he added.
“I..yeah. I guess so”
“Look at that-”,he then said and I lifted my head,his eyes pointing forward. “A pink bakery with blue words on the glass...”,he murmured.
It was a big shop,colorful cakes and bread on the storefront,it's walls died in a light pink. On the tall glass-wall there was a headline in dark blue letters:
JOVANNI'S BAKERY
MON- FRI 7 AM – 10 PM
SAT 10 AM – 5 PM
SUNDAY CLOSED
“This must be it..”,he said in a faint voice and I nodded.
We walked a bit more,only two blocks ahead when we saw it,just as Anisa said. A building,not so high as all the others,must have been five,perhaps six floors tall.
There where no signage whatsoever,nothing to hint it's purpose being there. Only two closed windows with black shutters and an equally black front door,with three marmoreal steps,with a wooden rail on each side for support. It's walls were died in a deep red,the shade of blood,if nothing else.
It was safe to say it stood up,the contrast of it's appearance making it look rather unique. To me though,it seemed sinister,if nothing else.
My eyes were glued on it and Barton's were glued on me.
“Look's like the place a grandma lives or something...”,he murmured. I really hoped so. “Let's just ring the bell,look who's gonna open it”
And so we did. He went ahead,only by a few steps and rang the doorbell. We heard three ding sounds,one following the other,and then someone walking rather loudly from behind the door,until it was opened.
“Hello?”, a slim woman with dark hair pulled up in a high bun,wearing wide length black pants and a tight red blouse.
Her eyes were somehow angular,eyes so dark I could barely separate the iris from the pupil; her lips were puffy and her skin clear,she overall appeared like a woman much more feminine and attentive than anyone i'd ever met and I couldn't help but wonder about the oh-so-many differences between us.
Back home we all look the same; those of royalty wear the according jewelry,only to be known as ones of royal position. The soldiers wear the same clothes as those of their unit,and for the ones whom stay inside the sacred temples,be it priestesses or just believers,they need to have a certain attire. Each group to be recognized by clothes,by movements and speech,yet they were all the same.
But here..they all look so,so distinctive. They speak differently,they have not only dialects,but even different languages. Their skin colour,the shape of their eyes,their clothes,every single person on this planet is unique,standing on their own. I couldn't help but feel...like a pariah if nothing more. A gatecrasher,even.
“Um,hi. We're looking for someone,her..friends said she's been coming here lately”,Barton spoke,seeing how I wouldn't.
“Who?”,she asked with a tilted head.
“Uh..right,sorry her name is Jean. Jean Pearse”,i could feel Barton's eyes getting squinty upon hearing her surname,the same as my own. “She..she had dark hair,short dark hair”,i lifted my hands,making nervous movements as I was describing her.
“She has really blue eyes,and she's..uhm,she's very thin. Her clothes are usually..trashed?”,the woman's eyes were filled with nothing but confusion.
“I'm sorry for your..friend,and I do hope you end up finding her,but she's not here”,she shook her head,her lips opened even after she finished talking.
This was fishy; she tried closing the door but I lifted my arm and a smudge made from the concrete under her door stopped it from closing. She tried pulling it even more,until she connected the dots and realized I had done something.
“I'm sorry”,i said in a serious voice as I went closer, “but two people have already told me of this house. Now,i don't know if you're keeping her here,but she's been visiting,that's for sure”,i walked passed her and she grabbed my arm,Barton following nervously.
“Hey. This is a private property”,her words were suggesting something had changed from the way she spoke before.
“And we are very sorry to be trespassing. We'll be off ” , Barton grabbed me by the shoulders,trying to get me out and I tapped his foot; he cursed under his breath,letting me go as he attended the now hurting foot of his.
“Sue me”,i challenged her.
Her eyes were opened,her lips pursed. She was studying me for a moment,in which I tried to take a better look at the house; there was a long staircase,leading somewhere I could not see,as it was getting darker,just like the end of a tunnel. But I was headed upwards,probably the upper floor.
And so,that's where I went.
“I will if you don't get out right now”,her voice was loud yet hoarse.
“Come down Pearse”,Barton was humming,following me as I was still climbing the stairs,and we were mostly kinda running at this point.
But,hell,those stairs seemed to be endless. Kinda like all the other floors were nothing but a front,as if there was only one way the stairs were leading you to. I could feel the vibrations on the ground,i knew someone was there,as if they were waiting.
I'm not a good enough Gean to be able to tell apart presences,or the vibrations coming from the ground,but I could tell someone was up there..at least. It's pressence felt..odd. The vibrations were..interrupted somehow,as if it was one moment stepping,and one..not?
Something was fishy alright.
Barton and the lady were constantly speaking,almost yelling at each other like they were fighting,although most of their words were directed at me. I could care less.
If Jean was here,i'd get her. I wouldn't leave otherwise.
After what appeared like a million steps- I saw it.
A big,red door,a back-light shaping it's frame.
I felt a knot forming inside my chest; I opened it.
“Hello miss Pearse. I've been waiting for you”