Condemned in Love

Truth within Reason

"The truth? It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution."

- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone

~ Chapter 8

 It was completely dark before Landon had pulled over stopping the car. Without saying a word he got out of the car expecting me to follow him, and I did.

I couldn’t make out much of where he had taken me except for the old worn set of gates, the bars bent and misshapen that were before the set of tattered looking ancient apartment blocks. I couldn’t help but feel a little uncomfortable wrapping my arms around myself at the iciness of the cool night and following Landon’s fleeting figure.

Who in their right mind would live in such a deathly eerie place except for the people who don’t want to be found? Pressing a button to the entrance of the door to the apartments Landon waited to be let in as I stood silently behind him.

He hadn’t talked to me since that heated argument in the car and I wasn’t sure if he was still angry so it was better if I just kept silent. The door opened with the sound of a buzz and I trailed behind Landon’s shadow.

The entrance was dark just as the outside as we walked about the wooden stairs, each step making a loud creak that echoed through the apartments building. The stairs cased around the tall building and I was beginning to wonder just how far up the guy we were meeting lived.

We were more then half way up the apartment before Landon stop to knock on a chipped and crack looking door to an apartment. I felt nerves start to flutter in my stomach anxious to see whom the person Landon was taking us too. 

Seconds later the sound of a lock clicking and a muffled voice behind it resounded throughout the building.

“Who is it?”

 “Only me.” Landon’s voice was deep and I could here the tiredness in his words.

Merely a second later the door opened to a man quite a lot younger than I was expecting. His hair tussled in a I don’t give a damn way complimented by his hazel eyes that lit up as he glanced at Landon smiling, to then landing on my own.

Confusion betrayed his face as he looked back at Landon with an expectant gaze on his face.

“No time to explain, we need your help.” His voice was stern and final as he brushed past the young man into the apartment.

I felt his eyes trail me behind as I followed Landon. The apartment was small, hell it was tiny as I looked around.

We stood in the living room. There were just two small sofas and a TV in the room and with an extra three people it already seemed crowded. The kitchen not even half the size of my own was trashed with old pizza boxes and cans of beer along the bench.

There was a narrow hallway that led down to two doors I assumed were bedrooms. In all honesty the apartment wasn’t much bigger then my bedroom itself. Landon took a seat on one of the nearby sofas and as the other man walked in taking a seat on the opposite sofa a realized I had no choice but to sit next to Landon on the stained faded red of the sofa.

 “Who’s this?” The man nodded towards me keeping his confused eyes trained on Landon as he leant over his knees an expectant gaze within his eyes.

I felt Landon’s leg pressed up against my own causing a sudden angst of butterflies in my stomach at how close we were sitting…damn this sofa was small.