Street Dreams

Chapter 11 - Angel Eyes

Ren was that much closer to bringing Hana back to the family. The fact that she had run away was both a dishonor on her family, but also a slap to his face. Having gotten the address from Niall, he followed the directions on his GPS. It was a decent, little house, in a suburb. The yard was carefully planned with indigenous plants, instead of a patch of dehydrated grass. He walked to the door, not sure what to expect. He had thought about what he might do to Hana, or the person harboring her.

After knocking, it took a few minutes after he heard , 'one minute,' from within. He recognized the voice, he was sure of it. Then, when she opened the door, the sight of her widening eyes confirmed it. She must have recognized him. She took a step back, her face taking on a dusting of color that reminded him of sakura. She wasn't bundled up, now. Instead, her dark hair fell in long, loose waves, and her face was pretty, exotic to him, with the moderately broad, pert nose and eyes that he had seen, already. They weren't quite round enough to be anglo, but also not so shaped, nor with as much fat above them, to be East Asian. "It's you." She stuck her head out of the door, scanning the outside for something, "How did you find my house?"

His immediate impulse was to make a joke about being a stalker, but he bit it back, surprising himself just due to the urge being there. "I got the address from your priest... friend."

She seemed surprised, "Oh. Why did he do that?"

  Ren stood, trying to recall just why he was there, before expelling, "I am here to retrieve my fiancee."

It took a moment before she reacted suddenly, "Oh my god. You're Hana's fiance? Seriously? R... Ren, right? I'm Melisande, though, Niall probably already told you that." She quickly spoke again, "Mel. Just Mel."

Ren nodded, slowly, studying her face. He took a step back before the question registered. "Yes," he forced, "I am Hana's fiance."

Melisande started to step into the house, then quickly reappeared. "You're not a vampire, right?"

The question shocked in its absurdity. His expression must have been enough, because she laughed, "I didn't think so. Just checking. Come on in."

She seemed friendly. Ren remained quiet as he entered the house, though, bowing once he was inside. There was a moment when he considered taking off his shoes, but was not sure if it would be good protocol, or if he would be there that long. It was a nice house, not particularly upscale, but well-kept, quaint, and nicely decorated with neutral tones. There was a distinctly feminine touch to everything, the couch had a ruffled skirt on it, potpourri was kept in a bowl, the pictures on the wall were Impressionist pastoral or park scenes. Despite these things, there was an ethnicity to it, one wall was a toned down orange, almost grey, another was a rust, similarly neutralized. Each of the four in the living room changed in such a way. In a vegetable bowl, there were various peppers. It was like two cultures juxtaposed with each other.

It had taken them enough time upstairs that he had the opportunity to map out the entire room, down to a small skull keychain that dangled on a key hook next to the door. The room was a mess; a stack of books sat next to the couch, the coffee table had drawing paper all over it, and there was folded laundry stacked in several places. Ren wanted to laugh, and he almost did, until he heard steps coming down. He looked up to see Melisande, followed by Hana.

Hana did not look thrilled to see him. Ren didn't care. He had to bring her back. She had changed into someone else's clothes. He guessed Melisande's by the way they hanged on Hana's slender figure, like a small child trying on their parents' clothes. His eyes focused on her with a suitably penetrative glare, "Are you ready to go home?"