The taxi driver unloaded my suitcase and wished me a good night with a portuguese accent, leaving me alone in a desert street. It was on a little hill, and if I placed myself on tiptoes I could catch a glimpse between the roofs over a part of the city below, and further away, on the glistening surface of the ocean, darker than the darkest ink and breathtakingly enormous.
I had never seen the ocean before.
Once I had taken in the view and calmed down the thousand of thoughts in my mind, I let my eyes wander through the calm street, where colorful houses were tightly pressed one against each other. Even though I was sure that the street and architecture had to be stunning, the only thing my paranoid brain was taking in, were the shadows of the lanterns and the houses that were stretching into threatening silhouettes.
I had like a déjà-vu.
Uneasiness made my heartbeats accelerate and I turned around, suddenly in hurry to enter the piercing blue house the taxi had left me in front of. I gathered all of my stuff on the sidewalk and wanted to open the door as a thought hit me.
I had no key.
Just to be sure, I grabbed the old-fashioned handle to test if it was really closed and almost immediately a stinging pain went through my index, and I let out a sharp exhale. Before I could process what just happened, the door gave a little clicking sound and the door opened itself.
As I looked on my finger, I saw a dark droplet of blood pearling from my index.
I blinked a few times, frozen in front of the half open door, understanding that the opening system of the door used a drop of blood. A genetic, pre-programmed key that I was sure not to lose.
Once I gathered myself, I entered the house, dragged my stuff behind me and quickly pushed the door close. I let out loud exhale, before the little voice in my head appeared once, whispering in my ears.
Do you really think that this is gonna keep you safe? Do you really believe that the door is harder to break than Rachel's neck?
I chose to ignore the poisoned words in my mind and began climbing the steps of the squeaking wood stairs that lead to the top floors, tightly clutching the handle of my suitcase.
Once I reached the last, fourth floor, I prepared myself mentally for the sting in my index when grabbing the door handle. The apartment seemed to extend on the whole floor of the house, because I could not see any other door.
As the door swung open, I braced myself for... everything, or better said everyone that could be awaiting behind it. But... it was empty.
Besides the strong scent of wood, and sweeter one - maybe fruits- that wafted me in the face, nothing gave away that this place was habited.
The apartment was empty, all the lights were out and nobody was in there. The only source of light was coming from the large windows that where stretching themselves till the high ceiling of the space, letting the dull light of the city center and the moon illuminate the wooden parquet and drawing the outline of the furnitures.
Were they all sleeping? Was I in the wrong apartment?
Tiptoeing to what seemed to be the living room area, I tripped twice over my own suitcase and bag before finding a lamp that I could switch on. As the subdued light shone through the apartment, I couldn't stop myself and let out an amazed sound.
The space was bigger, far bigger than I intended it would be and was more comfortable than everything I had ever lived in. Standing in what must be the living room area, I discovered a large dining table in front of me, rugs with bright, colorful stripes and a modern kitchen to my left. I could see the little balcony that offered an incredible view on the city center and the ocean below the little hill the house was standing. If I concentrated a bit, I could hear the faint rumor of the city sounds, the traffic, some very loud music...
I went around the big, soft sofa in the middle of the room, past the multiple plants swelling from every possible corner, my steps leading me to the kitchen corner.
Even in my cooking school in Vancouver, the counter space hadn't been this big, or the cooking devices this modern... A chuckle left my lips, as I caressed the smooth surface of the wooden counter, opened every dark blue cabinet to look inside, an uncontrollable squeaking, giggle coming from my mouth.
Gosh, I had never been this happy about something since a long time ago.
Biting my lip to contain any other sounds, I went back to my suitcase in front of the door as I saw something lying on the sofa.
Hesitantly nearing myself, I recognized that it was a satchel. It was a... special satchel. I would not be the first person to volunteer to wear that... thing.
Old, with holes and its brown leather wrinkled and discolored in various tones of greenish brown or ugly yellow, the satchel surely looked more like someone had just throw up onto it.
But by the presence of this bag I knew that the turma, the group of Venantis Marvin had talked about, had been here. Or at least, someone had been in the apartment and left that satchel behind.
I took my suitcase and entered a narrow corridor on my right, where six doors seemed to lead to different rooms. I opened every single one of them, almost afraid to see a person sleeping in one of the rooms. All of them were empty, but I could see personal objects lying around here and there. In one room, I noticed a huge pile of chocolates and sweets laying on the bed, in another I saw some pictures hanging on the wall, or in another room, the complete space was... a mess. But an artistic one, if I could say it like that.
In the four rooms I had already visited, I had seen that they were owned by one of the four boys. The fifth room was a big bathroom, so I figured out that the last room had to be mine.
The tiredness was starting to kick in, so I quickly took a shower, prepared myself and directly went to bed in my new room. I was too exhausted to make myself to eat, so I figured out that the meal I had in the plane would be enough to hold till the next day. As I started to sink into the fluffy mattress of the bed, I let out a sigh of contentment, the dull light of the bedside table immersing the chamber in a cozy atmosphere.
Beside the faint city sounds, I heard nothing. I guess the turma was out for the night.
My eyelids were getting heavier and heavier, and all the thoughts that were racing through my mind were slowly falling apart...
I didn't know when I fell asleep, but as I heard the sounds, I knew for sure that it had waken me up. My body was still too much into sleep to move, be it just to open my eyes that seemed to be glued close, but my mind was starting to leave the heavy sleep it had been into.
Pressing my cheek deeper into the pillow and curling myself up to a ball under the warm sheets, I tried to concentrate on the noises with closed eyes. I could recognize a few voices and further away, the faint sound of the squeaking stairs, followed by the noise of opening and closing the door. Did I hear steps?
"Goddamned... Lee!"
Muffled voices seeped through the thin walls, and especially one voice was louder than the rest, like this someone was lecturing someone else.
"You don't just... alone, especially if... offers sweets! You're... little kid!"
Another voice tried to defend itself, and I could hear one, no, two other people trying to contain their laughters.
It sounded like there were four boys, from what I could hear. It was the turma Marvin had talked about, right? I wiggled under my blanket to sink further in the soft mattress. I could talk to them tomorrow, there was no hurry...
The voices became clearer, and I now I didn't have to concentrate that much to hear what the boys were saying; they surely had moved to the living room.
"And now, look at you! Look at us!"
Gosh, I started to have compassion for the one that was addressed.
As the other wanted to justify whatever he had done, he was interrupted by a third boy.
"Wait!" Everything went silent, and I wondered what they were doing. The third voice continued. "There is someone else here." Another silence. "A girl."
"What?" The three voices of the boys echoed through the apartment. I pinched my eyelids harder, trying to go back to sleep, which appeared to be impossible with those boys next door.
The footsteps got louder, as the one that had been reprimanding one of the boys let out a sharp inhale.
"Oh shit, I had completely forgotten: the girl. From Vancouver!"
"From Vancouver? What is she doing here, then?", asked the fourth boy with circumspection.
"You know... the one that has to stay with us, because- Lewis! No!"
The wooden floor creaked, louder. What were they doing?
"Oh, you were right, Riv. It's a girl."
Did they have to talk that loud? The walls were apparently so thin, that it felt like they were having their discussion right next to me!
"Guys, that's a very bad idea-..." The first boy laughed in disbelieve. "You're all crazy!"
"Argh, come on, Abe. There is nothing to worry about." The voice of that Lewis sounded like the entire conversation was a joke. "Come on! Don't be shy!"
The floor creaked and I heard a sigh to my left.
"Oh, look!" That was the one that had been moralized - I think his name was Lee. "Look, she's cute, isn't she?"
Lewis didn't sound convinced. "Yes, maybe... should we pull down the sheets to see what she has to offer?" True curiosity was trespassing through his words.
"Lewis!!" Abe sounded like he didn't know if he had to be outraged or if he should laugh.
Wait... How could they pull down the sheets, or see if I was cute if they were in another room?
"And you, Riv? What do you think of her?" Lee's voice was closer than before, coming from my right. No, coming from over me?
Oh shit. Oh shit. Were they... in my room? My whole body tensed and coldness swept through me, before I forced myself to relax. Pretend that you sleep, and they will hopefully go away.
I mean, with a bit of luck, no one would've noticed the minuscule twitch of my body.
An amused chuckle resounded a few inches next to me, and a hot breath caressed my temple. I didn't know why, but I knew it was Riv - the boy that had detected my presence before everyone else. The mattress sank on the edges and a low voice reached my ear.
"What I think of her? I don't know. But there is one thing I know about her."
Silence stretched out, only broken by my regular inhales.
"And that would be?", asked one of the three boys.
I could almost feel Riv smiling - a mocking, wicked grin - into the silence, even though I had no clue of what he looked like.
"She's awake."
°°°
As soon as Riv's words had left his mouth, I knew that there was no chance that they would leave me sleep in peace.
So I opened my eyes. Just a tiny bit, at first, and then I blinked. Twice.
As I was sure that what I was seing was not just another strange dream or belonged to a nightmare, I sharply inhaled and violently pressed my back against the headboard. What the...
Indeed, there were four boys.
What I hadn't been prepared for, was everything else:
Three boys were standing around my bed while the fourth, presumably Riv, was leaning on his forearms on the mattress, inches away to where my head had been a few seconds earlier.
But the worst was yet to come: They were all drenched in blood, their faces and their clothes sprinkled with crimson droplets. And from what I could see, it was not their own blood.
Time stopped and the seconds seemed to float as I gawked at them with a stuttering heart.
We stared at each other for a few minutes, before one of the boys, with soft features and asian eyes made a step in my direction, gesturing with a fucking pizza box.
A drop of blood fell from the bloodstained carton, in front of the bed.
"Uhm... hi." He let out an awkward chuckle, while a second red drop fell on the floor. He was the one that called me cute, I think.
"Are you... hungry, by chance?"
// I was literally giggling and kicking my feet all along on that last part of the chapter. I can't believe it that I finally introduced my booooys <3
Although I know that this isn't the best way to meet them for the first time, let me tell you this; there is NO WAY you won't love them. It's just part of their charm :)
Now it can really start, and the only thing I'm gonna say about it, is that the heat of Rio is not the only thing that's gonna make you sweat...
Stick around for the next chapters, 'caus there's gonna be stuff going around ;P...
Oh, and also, if you are interested, I created a writer account on instagram called "acostawrites_107" where I posted the aesthetics of my characters!!!
Love you <3
s. acosta