Burnt Feathers- Chapters 2 and 3.

Chapter two: Directions from a mad man.

Ayame pulled up into a dingy gas station somewhere in Downtown Houston. Thick, oily, black smudges seemed to cover every inch of the station. Why, even a decrepit old man hobbling out of a questionable looking garage was covered in the stuff.

“Excuse me,” She hailed the old man, who looked at her with curiosity before staggering over, and proceeding to stand uncomfortably close to her open window. The heavy smell of gasoline and body odor wafted into her car. “Excuse me, but could you give me some directions? I’m a bit lost.”

A bit lost was quite an understatement, Ayame thought silently to her self. With other things occupying her mind, Ayame had left the house without directions. Worse of all, she had driven into the middle of the city without thinking about it. Now, she was caught in the intricate spider web of streets in Houston.

She looked up, startled; as the old man let out a wheezing cackle, abruptly stopping after seconds, and continued on to contemplate Ayame with a single watery black eye; almost as if he were checking the reliability of a new tool. Ayame just stared back, nonplussed.

“Well, missy,” He continued in a clear southern accent, “Where would ya be headin’?”

Ayame reached into her center console and handed the scrap of paper with Aki’s address on it to him wordlessly. The old man broke into a hacking laugh once again, the wrinkles that pulled his lips inward stretching taut.

“Well!” His laugh once again ended abruptly, though now his tongue was exploring his upper lip. “We have got quite a ways to go, haven’t we!?”

Ayame was beginning to think the man was mad. She smiled slightly at him, wanting to give off a good impression. The old man smiled back, let out a rasping chuckle and began to give Ayame a series of complicated directions she tried desperately to memorize. He ended the instructions by giving Ayame back the scrap.

“Well, missy, I hope you find your way back,” Though a gleam in his eye told her otherwise, “And be sure to stay out of trouble!”

Ayame drove off, having the distinct impression that she was in for a long ride. She was quite right. She spent the best part of the day trying to follow the old man’s far-too-complicated directions, but when she had reached the end of his instructions, she found herself, predictably, nowhere near her desired destination.

She parked at where her sister’s house was apparently supposed to be, according to the wheezing old man. It was a towering brass statue of some long-forgotten hero, littered with bird droppings and graffiti.

Leaving her car at the curb, Ayame walked over and sat at the monument’s base. The sun was going down, and Aki was probably wondering where she was. She didn’t have any means of contacting anyone, and was running low on gas. What a disaster.

The sky was shot with shocking bolts of pink and orange as the sun sunk dramatically over the horizon. What a day this had been. She reflected back on it, glad it was finally ending. How many people had told her to be safe today? She wondered vaguely. Did they think she was going to throw herself over a cliff or something?

Sighing, Ayame got to her feet and made to run back to her car, but stopped dead in her tracks. She could’ve sworn she had seen a person sitting on top of the statue. Of course, that would be ridiculous. How could anyone climb to the top without her noticing?

Shaking her head, Ayame got back into her car and turned on the engine, sitting silently for a moment. She reached into the console and extracted the two feathers from earlier. They were quite pretty, once she had looked closely at them. Smiling slightly, she put the feathers back into the compartment and pushed gently on the gas with her foot. She would just have to hope she could find the house by herself.

It was late and Ayame’s hopeful attitude had long since faded. The sky was a hazy grayish black, with not a star in the sky. The only light was provided by artificial ones, and the cloud covered moon. Squinting sleepily at a street name, Ayame continued down a lane of high class apartments.  She had been on this same street for what seemed like, and probably was, hours.

Just as her head started to sink slowly to her steering wheel, Ayame saw something that pulled her abruptly out of drowsiness.  A large and oddly shaped bird had darted across the hazy sky.

Sliding forward in her seat, Ayame peered upwards through the window. The creature was zigzagging around a corner. She turned the corner and squinted, to try and see the flying phenomenon better. Her attempts were in vain, it seemed. As they rounded even more corners, Ayame caught naught but one glimpse of the strange being. The light of a nearby lamppost had gleamed a dull orange glow on what seemed to be large, shiny black wings. Ayame was so deep in thought over this new revelation; she didn’t notice the giant bird-like creature soar away into the sky’s dark haze.  In fact, it took her several minutes to realize that she was at a complete stand-still, silent and un-moving in the center of a dark road.

Finally, after realizing her position, she stuck her head out of her window and strained fruitlessly to see the flying figure silhouetted in the night sky. Eventually, she gave up on finding the creature and shoved all thought of it to a corner of her mind, feeling that she ought to see where she was and resume the search for her sister’s house. However, she did not have to search very long; for directly on her left was the exact complex her sister lived in.


Chapter three: Prelude to disaster.

The complex was quiet; quiet in a stately, polite way. As if the apartments were greeting her with their watchful silence. Her footsteps echoed in the staircase as she climbed. The address in her palm crinkled as her hand slowly closed into a fist. Every little noise was magnified in the absolute solitude. These little noises climaxed into a dull roar as she got closer; closer to her new home. Then, finally, as she stopped before a handsome wooden door adorned with a brass number nine, the roar dissipated into nothingness; into watchful silence once more.

She could feel the complex as if it were alive. Holding it’s breath along with her, sharing in her apprehension as she raised her fist to knock. Three hollow knocks later and the world exploded in noise.

“Ayaa!” Aki leaped onto her sister and promptly pulled her into the familiar choke hold. “You had no idea how worried I was!”

Passively, Ayame was lead into her sister’s living room by the hold on her neck. They both sat on a plain, square shaped couch and Aki finally released her grip. Ayame rubbed her neck gratefully.

“Where have you been!?” Aki exclaimed at her very-late sister.

“I just got lost.” Ayame put simply.

The single response didn’t seem good enough for her sister, as Aki was opening her mouth to ask another.

“Look,” Ayame interrupted, “I’m tired. We can talk about this tomorrow.”

Aki rearranged her face into an expression of understanding and care.

“Sure,” She said, meanwhile grabbing her sibling’s hand and pulling her upwards. “I’ll lead you to your room.”

It was at this point Ayame finally noticed her surroundings. The apartment was spacious and modern; every piece of furniture was made out of either metal, glass, or fabric. The heavy, wooden door was the only visible piece of wood in the house. Immediately after entering through this door, you had to choices of your way to go. On the left was the living room, a few chairs and a television set  just in front of the wide balcony. On the right was the rather under furnished dining room, which led into a boxed off room she presumed to be the kitchen.

Aki, still leading her, pulled her down a wide hallway set in between both of these rooms. She passed one room, which might’ve been the study, another, which might’ve been the master bedroom, until she was finally led into her room. The room was empty and clean (most likely in anticipation of Ayame’s arrival) except for a plain metal framed bed along with a dresser. The walls and existing furniture at this point were completely white, and Ayame couldn’t help but feel as if she were entering an asylum.

“So?” Aki prompted, “How do you like?”

“Uhm...” Ayame gave an incoherent sound of thought. “Yea, it’s nice.”

Ayame walked into the room and flopped down on her new bed.

“In fact, I think I’ll just go to sleep now.” Ayame pulled down a white quilt.

“Do you want pajamas?” Aki seemed confused, seeing as Ayame hadn’t even brought in any of her things yet.

“That would be nice.”

Aki walked across the hall to her own bedroom as Ayame looked around. There was a closet in the corner next to the door, and a large window on the opposite wall; Overall, a nice temporary home. However, she didn’t plan on staying here long. She could only endure Aki for short periods of time.

Just then, her sister walked in, carrying a pair of black shorts and a loose fitting shirt, neatly folded.

“Thanks.” Ayame mumbled, as she took the clothes.

Aki smiled cheerfully, “It’s no problem. Tomorrow, let’s do something fun, okay?”

Ayame managed a feeble smile. Anything Aki considered fun couldn’t be great for her. “Sure.”

“Alright! Well, goodnight, sis.” Aki gave a last supposed “heartwarming” smile and closed the door behind her as she walked away.

Her sister’s constant cheerfulness, occasionally dotted with emotional swings, was exasperating Ayame to the brink of insanity. How much longer could she endure this? Things could always be worse, she told her self. As she would soon find out, things would reach the point of much worse tomorrow afternoon. For now, however, she closed her weary eyes and drifted immediately into sleep.