Real[m]ity

“I don’t get why you can’t just walk home by yourself, Kelsey,” Landon said.

He had no choice but to wait for her as she gathered a few things from her locker at a glacial pace. Kelsey merely sighed and zipped up her backpack as she swung the metal door shut.

“I’m not too thrilled either, Landon. I can walk myself home, but you heard Mr. Mantel,” she muttered, leading the way down the hallway towards the school entrance. “There was another murder over the weekend over in Huxley Park and it isn’t safe for a young lady, such as myself, to be walking home alone in the dark.”

“I doubt that anyone would be out to kill you, Kelsey.”

“Whatever, quit complaining,” Kelsey growled. “We live in the same building anyway and you were just leaving after doing who knows what… You were stalking the new girls again, weren’t you?”

Landon winced, seriously hating the fact that Kelsey’s voice was so loud as it echoed across the open air. It was funny how her frame got so small over the years while her voice remained big and obnoxious. He sent her a sharp glare and instinctively gave her a mild punch to the shoulder. The lithe blonde only laughed in good humor as she rubbed the sore spot on her arm. It only made Landon that much annoyed with her and he half wished she’d return to the girl she was five years ago, then he wouldn’t feel bad if he actually punched her. But Landon would never seriously hit a girl anyway… he just liked to imagine it.

“Keep talking and I’ll leave you to the Ripper,” he had to settle for a lame threat instead.

Local news called the culprit of the gory murders ‘The Ripper’, likely due to the brutal crime scenes that he left behind. Bodies were said to be practically shredded and blood would be splattered ten feet high. Landon had never witnessed any of these crime scenes himself, but that was what everyone said. Kelsey hardly seemed phased by the idea, even as they stepped into a wide alleyway that cut across the block to bring them directly across from their building.

“Landon, please,” she sighed. “I’m not afraid of some crazed psycho killer lurking in the dark, I’m a big girl now.”

Just then, the few dim lights that illuminated the alleyway cut out and plunged them into black. They both came to an abrupt stop as they stared at each other through the darkness, neither one willing to admit that what just happened was unsettling. But it was Landon who caught sight of a pair of oddly round shaped opalescent eyes hovering in the shadows. He didn’t really think much of it until they suddenly turned red within the blink of an eye.

“Look out!” Landon shouted, hastily lunging forward and pulling Kelsey out of the way as it jumped at them.

Kelsey yelped as she caught a glimpse at what was coming after them. Aside from the glowing red eyes, they could only hear the scrape of its talons on the pavement. Landon instinctively pushed Kelsey back as he tried to bring them both out of the alley, but he was forced to stop as her grip came tight around his arm. She uttered his name in a tiny voice and he immediately checked his surroundings.

There were multiple pairs of red eyes peering at them from all directions.

Landon didn’t even have the time to think before they descended upon him and Kelsey. He could only shut his eyes and grit his teeth as she dug her fingers into his arm and let out a terrified shriek. He was fully anticipating the pain of claws tearing into his skin, but instead the sound of two loud gunshots made him jump.

When he opened his eyes, he saw nothing. There was only the sound of light footsteps on the concrete and the mysterious sound of something cutting through the air. Through the inky darkness, he could only make out a smear of red and a glimmer of blue.

“Landon!” Kelsey yanked him back with such force that they both fell on the pavement.

When he looked up, there was a strange swirl of green forming in mid air above them and it spilled out a strange thick mist that made both he and Kelsey choke. A large shadow creature emerged from the anomaly and landed in front of them. Suddenly they were face to face with those menacing red eyes as it raised it’s black talons and took a swipe at him. Landon could swear that he could feel the tips of them graze his chest before another gunshot tore through the air.

Silence reigned and a silhouette loomed there. Slowly, the lights flickered back on and the last of the thick green mist from the odd portal vanished and the still black blobs that used to be creatures started to evaporate.

Landon and Kelsey both looked up to meet the eyes of their savior.

—

The distinct scent of the Realm mingled strongly in the air tonight, Amoretta observed as a grim expression fell over her features.

She stood on the balcony that overlooked the rooftops of East Harbor city. Randall’s parents owned the Wakefield building, which was why he was able to inhabit the seventh floor penthouse and take in two roommates. It wasn’t a large structure, but it was rather fancy on the inside. Not anyone could afford to live there, which made her very fortunate that they decided to take her in. For a moment, her mind wandered over to reminisce on their initial meeting.

She showed up at the break of an Autumn dawn.

Luckily, they were habitual early risers even on the weekends. But right away, they could tell that there was something entirely different about the mysterious young woman. They'd never be able to quite say what, but there were vague shadows haunting her jade green eyes. Randall Overton was familiar with those scars, which is why he was so inclined to accept her into their apartment as their long sought after third flatmate, even before Marcus courteously invited her inside for coffee.

"What was your name again, Miss?" Marcus asked, bringing her a cup of previously requested black coffee.

"Amoretta Thorne," she said slowly. "I'm from the inner city, but I've managed to land a job down here."

"Ah, were you living by yourself up there? It can get quite expensive, from what I hear," Randall observed, casually attempting to gain some insight into her personal life.

"I was staying with someone," Amoretta answered, intentionally vague.

"A man?" Randall asked before he choked on his coffee; Marcus had sent a swift kick to his shin under the table.

"Uh… yes," she brought the cup down from her lips. The corner of her mouth twitched downwards so quickly that they almost doubted they saw anything. "I decided that it was about time to go our separate ways. I wasn't his responsibility."

"Oh, I see…" Randall's brows arched and he leaned back in his seat. It seemed that her answer was enough to quell his curiosity for now.

"Why don't you tell us more about yourself, Miss Thorne?" Marcus quickly took control of the conversation, in case Randall decided he had more inappropriate questions for her.

Amoretta took a long sip of her coffee, her eyes unblinking as she set the cup back down on the table and cleared her throat. There was a distinct class in the smallest of her movements that Marcus was just beginning to fully realize. If it wasn't the way she handled her cup, it was there in the posture of her back and the inclination of her chin. Amoretta seemed to have been raised being mindful of grace.

"I grew up in the suburbs. My family is from Maryland. I came down here just last year to try and establish some roots for myself… but as you can imagine, the city life was a little overwhelming to me. Luckily, I met a guy and he helped me get used to everything, so here I am now.” Her story was precise and to the point.

It was also rather impersonal. And it gave nothing away.

Randall and Marcus were still willing to take her in. Whether it was because of an innate need to help a girl out or the work of some higher power, they would never know. All they did know was that she needed a place to stay and they couldn't very well let her go off to let her live with some psychotic axe murderer elsewhere in the city.

No. The best place for her would be with them.

From that morning on, Amoretta, Randall, and Marcus were history.

“Dinner is ready, Amoretta,” Marcus called from inside. “Can you get Randall?”

She let out a sigh as she turned from the view and stepped back inside, sliding the glass door shut behind her. The smell of dinner wafted through the air, providing a distinct homeyness to the place that she was just beginning to notice forming over the past three months. Amoretta wasn’t sure how she felt about that, but she went to Randall’s room nonetheless and rapped her knuckles on the door three times.

“Randall, time for dinner,” she said through the door.

The door swung open to reveal a freshly showered brunette sporting nothing but a towel around his waist. He flashed Amoretta a rather sleazy grin as he flicked his hair out of his face and leaned against the doorframe.

“I’ll be there in a minute, Amoretta,” he said in what seemed to be an attempt at a seductive tone.

Her face merely came together in an odd grimace as she turned around and walked away. Marcus took notice of this as she entered the kitchen and began setting the table for the three of them. He barely caught Amoretta’s muttered sentiment as he brought the main dish over to the table.

“One of these days, Marcus…”