Somewhere in Chicago, letters with red wax seals were placed at 4 doorsteps.
Each with a time, a place and a distinct colour that matched each of their personality.
And at Nneka, a red stamp letter lay on her doorstep waiting for a curious friend with a spare key to pick it up.
Stella walked down the hall, whistling. Her key chain swung through the air as she stopped at both Natalie and Nneka's shared apartment.
By her red heels, was that same letter, 1 of 4.
She picked it up and flipped it to see Nneka's name written on the back in cursive.
Stella admired the handwriting. It was elegant, and sharp and felt as if she had entered the medieval time.
It was pretty, really pretty.
She sighed heavily, low key jealous wishing for one as she opened the door.
Inside, Natalie sat by the TV watching a baking show. Her face was stuffed from eating half a bag of tortilla chips with nacho cheese resting seemingly untouched on the table.
Natalie's head immediately turned to the unlocked door. She saw as Stella slid out of her heels, and walked over to her.
At first, she went to the kitchen counter and tossed the letter on the table, then rushed over to Natalie. Stella fell on the couch beside her, took the bag of chips out of Natalie's hand and started eating.
Sitting still, Natalie eyed her. In one hand a chip half bitten rested, and the other half sticking out of her mouth. "Nice to see you too." She said finishing it.
"Where's Nneka?" Stella asked.
Natalie shrugged, "Maybe her room. She had to get something."
"Ah..." Stella dipped her chip into the cheese, hogging the bag to herself.
It was almost 7 pm, and Stella decided to take a small detour in her planned night.
It was date night, for her and her husband Alex. But for some odd, not entirely strange reason, she found herself walking to their place.
She was dressed in a long red dress. Her hair folded up, that only a bit of her dyed blue highlight could be seen over her naturally dark brown hair.
So why was she there? Her plans, lucky were only a few blocks down. And the reservation was at 7:30 pm, only 30 more.
Yet again, she was there, and unknowingly played a part in the game of fate or chance.
After a couple of seconds, Nneka walked out. She was dressed for home, wearing a pink bonnet and a grey pajama dress.
"Hey..." she said dragging her words out, surprised. "Aren't you supposed to be on a date?" She asked.
"Yeah, but you have a letter."
"A letter?" Nneka moved towards the living room.
Stella dropped the bag and held her hands up, standing up. "Wait, you have to read it." Nneka stopped. She turned to the kitchen with a raised brow and walked to the letter. Stella followed.
Natalie paused her show, she was nosy too.
Nneka picked it up, "Mmmhhh...fancy." And showed it around.
Natalie became intrigued. She got up and headed to them, pulling out a chair. "Open it," she said.
"Okay." Nneka examined it quickly, seeing how nice it was. It was too nice. Too nice that she tried to keep its original packaging as she slowly peeled it open. Stella and Natalie's heads moved around, trying to catch a glimpse of the letter at the same time trying to read Nneka's face.
"What does it say?" Stella finally asked.
"It's an address." She told them. "2008 W boulevard, and for a time, 7:45 pm tonight."
"Tonight!" Stella yelled. "Why tonight?"
"Does it matter?" Natalie asked.
Stella sighed, "Obviously, I can't go!" She turned to Nneka, "You're going right?"
Natalie shook her head, "Why would she go?"
"Because why not?"
"I can think of several reasons."
As the two argued whether or not she should go, Nneka's eyes were stuck on the seal. The red seal.
Ever since that night with Javi, everything was red. The books, the food she orders, and even the seal on a letter placed at her doorstep.
The colour red meant a lot of things, like love and romance, just as he said. But red also meant sacrifice and danger.
She checked back into their conversation just as Natalie mentioned axe murder.
"An axe murder." Stella repeated, "Where do we live, the suburbs? It's a letter."
"A mysterious letter." Natalie pointed out.
"Let's go," Nneka interjected. She looked between the silent girls, waiting. Both with opposite looks on their faces. One was excited and thrilled, and the other worried beyond belief, with a hint of disgust.
"Let's go, and I'll be the judge," Nneka explained.
"But—"
Stella covered Natalie's mouth. She grinned, "If anything happens I take full responsibility. Also..." Stella reached into her purse, taking out a small can of bear gel, a stronger more affected version than pepper spray.
She hands it to Nneka happily. "If anything happens, you know what to do."
Nneka laughed.
Natalie rolled her eyes, getting up. She was heading to her room when they called after her.
"Where are you going?" Nneka asked.
"To get dressed." She left.
Stella smiled, clapping her hands. "My work here is done, gotta jet."
Stella waved goodbye. She took her heels, slid them back on, and ran out the door.
Once that was all done, they looked at the time. The time was 7:35 pm, and they were finally ready.
Only 10 minutes before they were classified as late, but that really didn't matter to them.
In Natalie's mind, being late for a potential serial killer was always a good thing.
For Nneka, it was only nerves.
Plus the place was close, just a few train stops away and they were there. Late, but nonetheless there.
Once they reached the spot, they noticed the familiar neon light hovering above the street, The Bar.
Nneka laughed, but Natalie was still weary.
"It's the bar from the other night," Natalie said.
"And just my luck," Nneka took a step closer but was pulled back quickly.
"Sometimes, I wonder if it's optimism or just plain stupidity."
Nneka took a deep breath, and opened the door, "Optimism. Definitely optimism."
Natalie sighed and followed behind. The place was dark, with a staircase. The light socket was broken, making only a few places shine
Natalie's body hunched over as they climbed a few flights of stairs. They moved slowly, just as loud footsteps overpowered their mini quiet ones.
Natalie stood up straight, grabbing Nneka's hand as a deep voice spoke up.
"Excuse me."
They turned to the voice.
A man, with dark skin that glowed under the dimmed lit light, while he wore a bright orange jacket stood there.
Nneka squinted at him and then realized.
"Elijah?" She questioned. The other one from Spain.
Natalie's eyes darted from the man to her. Her face softened, and her heartbeat slowed down.
He was confused himself, but smiled politely, "Hi."
"What are you doing here?" Nneka asked.
He held up the exact same letter as hers, but his colour was green, and his ripped opened. "I got a letter."
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Happy New Year!!!
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