Chapter One:
A boring day for sitting at home, idly scrolling through the suggestion pages on Insta. My thumb swipes furiously across the screen, trying to get through of all the rando's I have little to no interest in viewing. I have nothing to do on this extremely dull day. Sundays have always been a struggle with me. At most, I have sitting on my phone, silently judging people for their better time-wasting skills.
I sigh, about to turn my screen off, before something catches my eyes. A new notification pings, sliding down from the top of my phone. A suggestion for someone 'I may know'.
When do I ever know these people though...
With a short breath, I click the bubble and it takes me to a newly created account. The profile picture is a familiar face, much to my surprise. A clear view of Ava, my cousin from another state.
Since when does Ava have an Insta?
I hum a note under my breath and follow her. Taking access into my own hands, I take a peek at her feed. Only one picture shows up on her profile. A lesser qualified picture - of her in a see-through crop top, bra clearly visible. I sigh, shaking my head. She's better than this, which only raises a few more concerns about the sudden account - not to mention attempted thirst trap.
Looks like this pic was posted a few minutes ago.
I shrug it off for now and click the screen away on my phone.
My head leans further back on the couch, lazing away, as I debate getting up to eat. The hot afternoon climate makes me repel the very idea of getting up, but the guttural hunger in my stomach keeps bouncing the thought back to me. Maybe I should after all...
With a great groan, I lift myself up off the couch. The hot summer air having peeled me to the leather material of the couch, creating an unpleasant sticking noise as I come off of it. I shuffle into the kitchen and open the refrigerator, the chill of cool air inside feeling nice on my face. My eyes scan each individual shelf.
What looks good, what looks good...? The urge to do as minimal as possible is there, right there. Unless I can find anything worthy and savory to overcome my laziness, it looks like quick soup today. A glance over at the counter and I remember that I need to do some shopping hits me in the head. I sigh.
Sparky Vampire Cereal, it is then.
I could probably eat healthier. . . Later.
Quick and easy, and the last of the milk. Not that anyone will care-- since I live alone. So long as it's not spoiled, I'll be fine for the rest of today. A few crunches into the cereal, I hear my phone ping again from in the living room.
I manage to ignore it for now, continuing the journey of cereal. However, as the noise repeats itself once more, then twice, and on and on again, I wonder if the world may be ending. My face pinched into a firm scowl, I put the spoon in the bowl and fetch my phone. As the screen lights up, I find that every notification is from Insta. More on the nose, Ava's Insta.
🔔 ||24 new posts from AXVXA|| 🔔
Ava??
Please. Don't tell me that she's posting stuff about her food. That's over-seen and over-shared. Anywhere. Everywhere. I rub my nose as I unlock my phone, opening the app to view what all the hubbub is about.
What I see makes my heart fall, and head spin with confusion.
Multiple men in her apartment, dressed in heavy fantasy costumes that seem like more quality than she can produce on her own. Questions raise high and through the roof. Left and right, more and more thoughts about her account confuse me. Who are these guys? Why are they in her apartment? How does Ava know them? Are they friends, or is this some sort of business advent?
... What KIND of business advent???
These men are admittedly attractive too. Extremely so. Their costumes are dawned with I'd guess leather-ish materials. Places of different coloured and styled horns atop each man's head. The variety is nice, I'll admit. I take a moment to double check if I'm still on Ava's page. Hoping for a brief moment that, perhaps, I've just confused myself and this has nothing to do with her at all. Some sort of woman who looks eerily similar.
But it's not. This is still AVA's account.
My concerns now outweigh the pleasures of the view. I close Insta and open my texts, bringing up my dear cousin's number.
Time for me to pay her a visit.
... After I finish my cereal.
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✨✨ Time//Skip //// The Next Days... ✨✨
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I get out of the cabby, lugging my baggage with me onto the sidewalk. My head cranes back as i look up at the extravagant apartment-suite buildings above and before me. I got off the plane a few hours ago, and just about everything inside of me is exhausted after this impromptu trip. Ava knows that I'm coming, don't get me wrong, but I didn't ask her if I could come. I told her that I was coming. Ava's never been one for socializing, and I understand why.
That's WHY if I had asked, I'm nearly certain she would have said no, don't come visit. Regardless, I'm here, and that's what matters most.
I look above at the fourth floor and squint. The weather today is clear, and the sun beaming and bright. Personally I find it bothersome. It's hot, I'm sweaty, and the flight here was tiresome.
Time to get inside.
...
I'm quickly relieved from the heat inside of the lobby. The management, or whoever, has the A/C cranked on high, and the temperature in the lounge is chilled and so very pleasant on such a boiling day. Pretty plants, be them fake or real, line up the corners and some of the wall space. The furniture looks shiny and like something I would melt into if there was a heat that got in. But overall? Feels real classy.
I approach the elevator and click the button for the lift. As I wait for it's arrival, I check my phone. Swiping away unimportant notifications, adjusting my time to the difference between states, and closing some apps that were left open. The elevator finally dings, and the doors glide open. I walk into the tight space and press button four, watching the doors close thereafter.
Most of the ride up, I'm lost to my own unsorted thoughts. It goes by rather fast.
The doors open with another ding, and I come to. Keeping my baggage close to my persons, I enter the odd hallway that twists and bends where there seems no need to. I find my way to apt. number 4C, making sure at the front of her door that I have all of my barring's.
My eyes roam up and down the door frame after I knock and stop abruptly at the doorknob.
It's... melted. Nearly singed right off of it's screws and pieces. How the hell did that happen? Add it to the list of wonders and worries. I knock again and wait a few minutes more. After all that time has passed, it's a simple deduction that Ava's not going to come answer.
My eyes go back to the doorknob. Curiosity gets the better of me and before I know what I'm thinking, my hand is reaching for the knob. I grab it and twist, the door opening without any resistance at all. Oh great. She's just been living without any current locks or securities on her door! She might not be able to even afford that kind of thing right now.
It's fine. Sure.
I step through the door and look around the corner for any sign of Ava. Lights are off and her place is a frank mess. There's scraps of trash littered about the living space and the plant she has shows signs of having been tipped over. Dirt is everywhere on the floor.
"Anguishing... Ava, have ya' ever heard of sweeping up?" I mutter to myself.
I try calling out to her now. If she is here, I don't want to give her a heart attack by any surprise turn arounds.
"Ava! You here, dude?"
No response. I hear a small chirp behind me and I turn to see her cat, perching on the floor in the kitchen. I kneel down and offer my hand out to him.
"Well if it isn't mister Johnny. Hey kitty,"
He comes to sniff my hand, offering his ear to be scratched. I gladly do so, giving him a little ease behind the collar too. He chirps at me again and I bite the inside of my cheek, standing back up.
"Where's Ava, huh bud?"
He doesn't give me much to work with, grooming his own paws as I turn my attention back to the rest of the apartment. I hear a thud from the bedroom and raise an eyebrow at it.
"Ava?"
I carefully approach her room, on my guard. The door handle being burnt to a crisp might have not been Ava after all. Maybe someone's robbing her? Not that she really has much of value around. I ready my fists, lowered towards my hips, and open the doors to her personal space. Inside, there's men. The men that I remember seeing on her page. They don't notice me at first, as I come in slowly and quietly.
They're whispering between themselves. There's only two of them in here currently. I think I can take them if I need to. But they're definitely not Ava. The first man has a long blue coat on, and his skin is a cocoa dark. Darker hair than cocoa, more like a dark chocolate. Glasses perched on his face as he whispers sharply to the second.
Speaking of the second, he's much shorter than the previous. Ginger-like hair and unusual eyes that, frankly, remind me of orange fizzy soda. One look at how they're both dressed and I realize that they're still in cosplay. Who robs someone dressed up like a fantasy dork?
Maybe there's not a robbery happening, actually. No one's that unaffected by pride.
"May I help you??" I clear my throat, standing taller in the doorway.
Both of them practically jump out of their boots, whipping around to face me head on.
"I'm looking for my cousin. Ava," I add, "Who, may I ask, the hell are you?"
"Rhys!" The second man squeaks, "We're going to be in so much trouble! If Sorceress Ava knows we were in her room, she'll banish us with the power of cray-yola!!"
"Calm down, Noi," The first says lowly, "We must handle the situation delicately. Follow my lead."
I arch an eyebrow at them, unimpressed. Did I walk onto a prank show set or something? This is kind of ridiculous. I cross my arms and give them a stern glare. The first man gives a light cough and fixes his specs. I wait for him to gather his words, and just as it seems he's about to say something, there's a loud shouting from behind me, in the living room.
"INTRUDER!!!!"
I snap my head around to see the blur of a green figure lunging at me, split seconds before I'm tackled to the ground. I feel my back pin to the floor underneath me, and my arms strapped firmly to my sides. My head spinning a little, and breath at a bit of a loss, I look up and see the face of an idiot.
White, maybe silver hair, grinning fangs at me in a shit-eating grin. A scar over his right eye, and boy, the purest shade of dark emerald eyes I've ever seen. It's like he's fuming, keeping me tucked underneath him and stuck to the ground. I can't move, no matter how much I resist him. Bending too much might hurt my arms or back.
"What the hell are you doing, you dunce?!" I bark.
He glows at me, puffing under his strengthy stare. The look of a madman held behind his eyes. Itching for a fight, that much is painful. And obvious, fitted from the way he's got me.
"Lief! What are you doing?!"
"She's an intruder!!" The idiot howls, looking up at his friends, "I'm taking care of it!"
"Are you going to kill her?!" Shouts the man named Noi.
Wait, KILL ME??
"Get the hell off of me! I'm not the friggin' intruder, you are!!"
I try squirming for a way out of the position, but to no avail.
The idiot barks a laugh at my words, "YOU are the intruder! WE stay here at the gracious mercy of Sorceress Ava! Filthy liar~."
"Wait? Ava?! Look who's a liar now! Ava doesn't know many people at all! She's a loner, I should know that! We're family!!!"
"You mean.. You're related to Sorceress Ava?"
Sorceress? The hell? I swear, as soon as I can get on my feet, I'm throwing these dipsticks out the front door.
Wait, it still doesn't lock.
I'LL THROW THEM OUT THE WINDOW IF I HAVE TO!!!
"Yes! I'm related to Ava!! GET OFF!!!" I squirm harder.
The man with blue attire and glasses (Rhys, I think I heard) hums. He looks to the idiot and addresses him.
"Lief. Release the human relative."
What the hell are these dopes on! The idiot pouts, begrudgingly getting off of me. As soon as I have the liberty of movement again, I take my hand-- balled into a fist -- and punch the idiot away from me. He fumbles back into the living room and crashes into the plant. More dirt sprawls unto the floor, and the pot twirls around, pondering a fall.
"MORONS!" I huff, sitting up.
The sound of footsteps running closer comes from the other end of the apartment. From the living room side though? One more man emerges from around the corner, tall, tan and very stoic. Dawned in fantasy garb like the others, primary color involved being light blue. This one's a looker, too.
Wait, HE'S THE ENEMY!! GET IT TOGETHER, ME!
"Who the hell are you freaks?!" I shriek.
"We are Daemos. Comrades of Sorceress Ava. My name is Rhys," Tall-With-Glasses bows his head towards me, in a dip of sincerity. He takes a moment to introduce each male present, never dropping the chivalry act for even a second.
"Are we her comrades though? I thought she was our prisoner..." Noi mutters.
Lief, resident idiot, scoffs, "We're definitely not comrades. I would stab her so many times, if you guys would just let me."
"You would stab anyone repeatedly, Lief." Rhys corrects.
I stutter over the sheer stupidity presented to me today, "You guys are total freaks."
"What'd you call me?!"
Lief bounds forward and invades my bubble, snarling at me, face-to-face. At his sides he holds roleplay daggers, looking sleek and real.
"I CALLED YOU A FREAK!!" I raise at him again, "How do you even know Ava?"
"She tried to kill us." Pierce interjects.
As he does, it kind of startles me. I get the impression that Pierce doesn't say much- the strong and silent type. Makes me forget that he's even in the room at all.
Noi fills in for Pierce, talking as though he holds all of the sun's shine with every word, "And then Prince Asch thwarted her attack and now she's our prisoner!"
It sounds way too upbeat and hopeful to match...
Where the hell are you, Ava?
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END OF ONE
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