It was well after midnight when Brendon left the Pontalba Apartments. He slinked past the front desk, clad in all black, and stepped out into the misty streets of New Orleans. Only the faint orange glow of the streetlights were there to guide his way.
There was an eerie vibe to the city at night, especially when he was alone. With Ryan it was one thing, but now, it was just him, and he was able to experience every little thing he couldn't with another person.
The air was damp. That part was obvious, but it was the atmosphere of it that really chilled him to the core. Mist surrounded him, and the way the streetlights sliced through the droplets made the isolated streets all the creepier. It was silent, except for the pitter patter of his footsteps against the wet concrete. The breeze whistled. He could hear the faint sound of the ocean waves in the distance. Not a soul was in sight, and he truly felt like he was the only person left on Earth.
Jon had said he lived on the outskirts of town. Where exactly that was, Brendon didn't know, but he had a hunch he'd find it eventually. He had to. Jon would help them. He knew he would.
An old newspaper blew across the empty street, the rustling of the paper sending chills down Brendon's spine. The wind had seemed to pick up, and it was cold. It was so much colder than it had been before. He was in New Orleans. Surely it didn't get this cold, even at night.
Regardless, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and continued on his way, trying to his best to ignore the sickening feeling of someone watching him from the shadows of the alleyways.
He couldn't tell Ryan and Spencer where he was going. They'd try to convince him otherwise, tell him they could handle it themselves, but Brendon knew better than that. They were prideful, but no one could pay off a foreclosure on their own. They needed help, and Brendon was sure Jon wouldn't hesitate to jump on board. He'd made a promise to keep them safe, and he was fulfilling just that.
The outskirts of town just screamed dangerous. Old, broken down shacks and buildings, flickering streetlights, the distant sound of growling dogs. Brendon was starting to question his decision to do this at night. Maybe he had misheard Jon. Maybe Jon didn't live in the broken down, crime-filled part of New Orleans. Maybe he was going to get eaten by wild dogs if he didn't get out of the empty streets. Who knew.
He heard a meow then, a low, guttural meow, and a streak of black raced past his leg. He nearly jumped out of his socks when he saw a pair of angry amber eyes staring back at him from the darkness.
So he was going to get eaten by a wild cat instead. What a turn of events.
"Jynx!" a voice suddenly snapped from the shadows.
Jon stood in the doorway of a small hut, completely barefoot and clad in loose, dark clothing. Brendon had never been more relieved to have a man save him from a cat in his life.
"How many times have I told you to treat our guests with respect?" Jon went on, and to Brendon's surprise, the black cat watched him with wide, amber eyes. It even seemed to shrink into the streets out of shame. Was Jon some kind of cat whisperer?
When Jon glanced up at Brendon, he flashed him a smile. "Sorry about that," he said. "Jynx is a bit protective. She's a night patroller."
"Don't sweat it," was all Brendon could manage. He didn't even know what to think anymore, especially as Jynx stalked past Jon's legs and disappeared into the hut. Out of all kinds of cats, of course Jon had to have a black one. Probably just to scare away people who strolled around at night, just like Brendon had been, and he had to admit, it worked flawlessly. If Jon hadn't appeared, he would've made a break for it. He wasn't planning on getting eaten by a cat any time soon.
"Well, whaddaya waitin' for?" Jon said, tearing Brendon out of his thoughts. "Come on in. I don't want ya to freeze to death out there."
Brendon didn't hesitate to step past Jon and into the hut, thankful to be out of the wind and the chilling mist. He hadn't realized just how cold he was until the warmth of the hut washed over him.
Although, the interior wasn't quite what Brendon expected it to be.
It was dim, lit entirely by dozens and dozens of candles, the hot wax dripping down the sides and forming twisted shapes on the ledges they rested on. It took Brendon a moment for his eyes to even adjust to the lighting, and when they did, he saw dusty, ancient books scattered everywhere. On tables, bookshelves, even the floor. Thick cobwebs decorated every corner. Odd piles of jewelry here, empty bottles of who knew what there. It was a single room hut, judging by the cot in the corner, but what concerned Brendon the most was the cracked skull on the table in the center of the room.
Jon chuckled when he spotted Brendon staring wide-eyed at the skull. "Don't piss yourself, kid," he said, giving Brendon a hard pat on the back. "It ain't real. Just for show."
"Then why do you have it?" Brendon questioned. Any man who kept a skull in his house was an incredibly strange one, even if it was fake. Maybe Jon wasn't all he said he was.
Jon lifted his shoulders in a shrug, sauntering over to the table and pulling up a couple of chairs. "It was cheap," he replied, although Brendon had a hunch he wasn't telling the full story. "Anyway, what brings ya here, Brendon? It's late. Thought you'd be passed out in bed by now."
Now came the part Brendon had been dreading the most. He feared what Jon's reaction would be.
"It's a long story," he started. He took a deep breath and tried to hide his trembling fingers in his pockets. He didn't want to do this, but he came out here for a reason. Jon needed to know.
"Well, lucky for you, I've got all the time in the world," Jon said with a grin as Jynx leaped up onto the table, her sleek black coat shining in the candlelight. "Have a seat. Tell me your troubles."
Brendon was hesitant to sit at first, feeling uneasy under the cat's harsh amber gaze, but Jon was the cat whisperer. If he was attacked, Jon would be there to help.
So he sat, and he began telling the troublesome tale.
Jon listened intently, his eyes not once leaving Brendon, even when the story took the sharp turn for the worse. He simply sat in silence, stroked Jynx's fur, scratched behind her ears, and waited for Brendon to finish. At least he didn't have an outrageous reaction. Brendon was grateful for that.
But he remained silent long after Brendon stopped speaking. His gaze fell. His lips pursed. He quit stroking Jynx, and he didn't continue to pet her, even when she crawled into his lap with a content purr. His lack of words made Brendon uneasy. What was he thinking behind those chocolate eyes?
"So The Spotted Cat went into foreclosure?" he finally asked, his voice barely above a whisper. He didn't meet Brendon's gaze anymore.
Brendon nodded. The air around them was suddenly a lot heavier than it had been mere moments ago. "It did," he sighed, "and we have less than two weeks to pay it off before we lose it forever."
Even Jynx seemed to know that something was wrong. She still purred, yet she stared up at her owner with solemn eyes. Maybe she wasn't so bad.
"Damn it all." Jon's jaw tightened, his lips pressed into a thin line. "I was afraid this day would come, just not this soon."
"What do we do?" Brendon asked. He was growing desperate now, more desperate than he'd ever been before.
Jon didn't answer, just lightly pushed Jynx off his lap and stood, rubbing his chin as he stared at the wall. He was deep in thought, and Brendon was itching to know his ideas. Surely he had one. He was intelligent, maybe even a bit clever and sly. Jon would know what to do.
"Foreclosure's serious business," he said after a while. "I don't know how we're gonna slip outta this one."
"Isn't there somethin' we can do?" Brendon found himself standing now, as well. "We can't let the bank take The Spotted Cat. It's Ryan and Spencer's whole life!"
"I know," Jon sighed. He finally broke his stare with the wall and met Brendon's gaze once again; distress glimmered in his chocolate eyes. "But the bank's persistent. They're serious when they say less than two weeks. Once that deadline passes....we're done for. Nothin' we can do after that."
"Then we need to do somethin' now!" Brendon exclaimed, nearing a yell. Jynx stared up at him, startled, her eyes wide. "Tell me, Jon, what are we supposed to do? I'll do anythin'."
A feeble smile curled up onto Jon's lips. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Brendon," he cautioned. "Unless you can pull five-hundred dollars outta your ass, we need to think rationally about this. Financial processes are tricky business."
Brendon was ready to pull out every single strand of hair on his head. He wanted to cry. He wanted to curl up into a ball and cry, scream his lungs out, yell his throat raw. He wanted this situation fixed now. He hated seeing Ryan and Spencer so distressed and panicked, watching as their home went under foreclosure. Why didn't Jon seem as concerned as he was?
Sensing his anguish, Jon pursed his lips, giving Brendon's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "I know you're worried, kid," he said softly, "but we'll get through this. Don't sweat it. Ryan and Spencer are some of the toughest folks I know. We'll all get through this. It'll just take some time, right?"
Brendon didn't want to hear the word time, but nonetheless, he nodded, taking a deep breath to calm his anger. He knew he needed to be rational. Jon was right, but it was difficult for him to realize that. He just wanted everything to go back to normal, the way it was when he first moved to New Orleans. Spencer was upbeat and happy. Ryan was young and full of life. How had everything gone downhill in such a short amount of time?
He dreaded the thought that it was him who had upset the balance of everything.
"Tell ya what," Jon started, dragging him out of his spiraling mind. "I might know some folks. I'll call 'em up, maybe pull some strings, see what I can do. How does that sound?"
Brendon frowned, yet at the same time, he felt his heart thumping against his rib cage. He wondered what Jon meant by that. How in the world was he going to pull a few strings and come up with over five-hundred dollars? Jon was certainly a mystery. That was a fact.
"Go for it," Brendon told him. "Don't know how you're gonna do that, but if it'll help Ryan and Spencer, I'm not stoppin' ya."
Jon flashed him a smile, his eyes seeming to glimmer with mischief. "Don't worry about it. I know my way around." He reached down to pick up Jynx then, her amber gaze still locked on Brendon, as if she knew something about him that even he didn't. "In the meantime, Brendon, keep lookin' out for Ryan and Spencer. You're doin' a good job. I appreciate ya comin' out here in the middle of the night to tell me what happened Could've waited for daylight, but whatever. I don't sleep anyway."
"Of course," Brendon said. Jynx still kept staring at him. "I'll always be there to help out, and you'll be the first to know if somethin' else comes up."
"Excellent." Jon finally seemed to notice Jynx's sudden obsession with Brendon, so he stepped forward with her still in his arms. "Go on. Give her a pet. She likes ya."
"But it looked like she wanted to kill me ten minutes ago," Brendon said with a laugh.
"Nah, that's just her street attitude," Jon replied. "She's a lovebug. C'mon, scratch her ear or somethin'. She loves it when folks pet her there."
Brendon was still hesitant, for he didn't want to walk out of Jon's hut with cat scratches, but Jynx's eyes didn't look nearly as threatening as they did on the streets. She looked content, her body trembling with loud purrs. Surely a small scratch on the ears wouldn't hurt him.
He had come out to Jon's hut to tell him the day's harrowing events, and he had walked out of it with a new feline friend.
Maybe things were going to be all right after all.
~~~~~
I forgot we bought a hotspot for the long bus ride so here have a slightly early but still regularly scheduled update :) I love Jon in this chapter sm (and in general but ya know)
So anyway, this is gonna be a long author's note because I gotta share some wild stories from New York. By far the most harrowing trip of my entire life. Tempted to skip school tomorrow to recover because I'm in the weirdest mental state right now
23 hour bus ride both ways. Absolutely terrible. I think my tailbone is literally broken. Knees are locked up at all times, etc. Everyone on this trip has such an attitude so ofc I was getting pissed at them for that. Even yelled at my friends a couple of times because they were unnecessarily bitching me out. Didn't need that negativity on that already awful trip
Also, stayed in a haunted ass Pennsylvania hotel because there was a really bad snowstorm in New York/New Jersey on Wednesday. I'm not joking. It was literally haunted. The cabinets kept opening and closing. The door rattled. When we left for supper we turned off the bathroom light and closed the closet, and when we came back the light was on and the closet was open. We unplugged the alarm clock and it kept making gurgling noises in the middle of the night. Deadass, it was haunted. It's safe to say we were pretty happy when we left the next morning
Spent most of March 22nd in New Jersey so ofc I was depressed the entire day. Rip
I hate big cities in general because they give me anxiety so New York City was such an overload. Constant flow of people and so much noise. I mean it was cool, but goddamn, all the stimulation and hatred of people from my school really drove me overboard. Had at least two mental breakdowns a day
I also got stuck in an elevator so that was gr8. Totally didn't have a panic attack the entire 10 minutes we were stuck. Literally thought I was gonna die because there were like 20 people in there and it was so hot and hard to breathe. Let's just say I took the stairs for the rest of the trip and will for the rest of my life
We're almost home as I type this though and I don't feel good at all. Probably gonna end up staying home even though I have so much make up work to do. Pray for me
I think that's about it. If I remember something else it'll probably be in the next update's author's note. If you read this far, hi hello thank you for taking the time to read about my horror trip :)))
Love y'all! I missed you. Feels like it's been 15 years since last Sunday
Remember to vote/comment/share with your pals! <3