𝙳𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚞𝚌𝚝 | 𝙱𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝟷

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝙵𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚢 𝙽𝚒𝚗𝚎

𝚂𝚘𝚏𝚒𝚊

☆═━┈┈━═☆

"Wow," Mickey breathed out beside me, "that's some damage for sure."

Curtis, Mickey and I stood in the door way of my apartment, my new phone clutched tightly in my hand while we looked into the mess. I had woken up from my nap to Curtis nudging me, telling me that he had my phone and I needed to get up so I wouldn't sleep all night. Begrudgingly I did, and now we stood the doorway assessing the damage.

"And it's all over the apartment?" Curtis questioned.

"In every room," I confirmed, looking down at my bare feet and where the shoes were thrown haphazardly in the apartment, "they've written on every window, and I know it's them because they changed my wallpaper on my tablet," we all turned to the emergency exit when banging appeared, but no one wanted to make a move towards the noise, "well we're not going to clean it up from out here," I shrugged, stepping into the apartment carelessly because the craft paint had dried, turning to see Mickey and Curtis following me in. "You two take the living room and the kitchen, I've got the bathroom and bedroom."

Curtis and Mickey nodded, a loud bang coming form the emergency exit again.

I knew someone was in there, I felt it, but I didn't want to discover who, and it was locked from my side, unless they had a key, which would have to be authorized by Steve or I, there was no way they could reach me. I pushed open my bathroom door, the only room I didn't thoroughly inspect when I arrived home earlier, flipping on the light, I stepped completely in the room, pausing when I saw the picture on the mirror. In red and black paint, different than the rest of my apartment. Three shells were stacked up, leading to a woman that had dark hair, red streaks down her body. I recognized the shape, my head tilting when I ran my hand over the artwork, dragging my eyes up to see words on the top of the mirror.

A clue is there for you, if you figure it out.

I brought my eyes back down, pointer finger tracing over the shells, running back up to the woman, whoever drew it was no Picasso but they were able to get the basic shape down. I had so many memories of the last two years I've wanted to forget that I was struggling to figure out why I knew this shape, why it seemed so familiar.

My heart paused, a small gasp leaving my lips. Mom's obsessed with Greek mythology, it symbolizes the day Aphrodite was born from the Sea.

The fountain at the Barnes Manor.

My keys were in my suitcase that was currently with my parents. But I knew I needed to get to the Barnes Manor before Steve got home and stopped me. I quickly left the bathroom, rushing over to my dresser and pulling open the first drawer, everything shifting with metal running against wood, a smile crossing my lips. My spare key sat under the socks. I grabbed a pair of socks, slipping them on before I was running to my closet, pulling on another pair of shoes. "I'll be right back," I told Curtis and Mickey when I entered the living space, they grunted their approval, none the wiser of what I was doing and I left the apartment.

A minute later I was exiting the elevator, rushing up to the desk where Marta and Alexander were sitting, both of them raising their heads to look at me. "Are you off?" I didn't bother to ask Marta, she wasn't my friend, but she was an employee who would take over Alexanders shift if I told her to.

"You're the boss, I'm on schedule now, but if you say I'm off, then I'm off."

"You're off, grab a hoodie and put on jeans," I looked down at his slacks and loafers, "put on some regular shoes, and hurry, we have to leave out the backdoor before Steve gets home."