The Lady In Red | COD-MW2

7

The bar was alive during these times of the year, especially Dia de los Muertos.

Dia de los Muertos, Day of the Dead, is a holiday tradition to celebrate to remember our loved ones and to pay respects to those who have passed away. In the ofrendas, home alters, we leave them their favorite meal and drink, visit their graves with their favorite items, and leave them as gifts.

Marigolds and flowers are also left in the ofrendas and graves, believed to attract the souls of those who have passed to them. People have also scattered the petals to form a path from their graves to their homes.

Evelynn would always celebrate the holiday. She would have her loved ones and friends who had passed on the ofrenda table. In the top of the ofrenda, was a picture of her parents and Cheng. Every morning, afternoon, and night she would always go to the ofrenda to stare at their pictures. The fun memories flowed back to her head. She always wondered what would happen if they were not killed. She would sometimes have made-up scenarios of them.

As she looked around to see the famous 141, she spotted the small ofrenda. From what she could see, there were multiple pictures. From her guess, one of the pictures must've been the twin's parents.

Her eyes shifted to an empty booth, just across a table up from the group. As she was walking to the booth, she felt as if someone had laid eyes on her. She tried to look at who was watching her but kept acting and sat at the booth.

Soap laughter filled the whole bar. "Come on now, I know what I saw, and you are crushing on her!" His drunk words slurred. Soap caught Rudy looking at Evelynn and he was now making a tease of it. 

Due to how loud he was Rudy at once shushed him. "Quiet down Johnny.", Ghost said while Rudy nodded in agreement. "I'm sorry but Rudy here is looking at her like a teenage boy in love!" Soap giggled while taking a drink from his beer.

Graves groaned, "I thought we were going to make a plan to capture El Sin Nombre or Lady in Red... not to get our ass drunk." Alejandro chuckled. "Eres un idiota..." 

"Come on Graves! Let's enjoy this night! There is always tomorrow!" Soap slurred his words, making it difficult to understand what he was saying. Graves rolled his eyes as a response.

Rudy was still looking at Evelynn. He was positive that he had seen her before. Not when she saw her arriving at her hotel, but deeper into the past

Evelynn moved her hand to put her hair behind her ear to reveal the scar on her cheek. When Rudy first saw her, he didn't see that scar on her face. He questioned himself if that scar was recent, but his thoughts were interrupted as claps erupted as Divina ended her singing. He was about to get up and walk towards her, but Divina walked up towards her first.

Divina looked at her in pure silence. "About time you gave us a visit." Evelynn chuckled, "Hello to you too, Divina." Evelynn stood up and both gave them tight hugs.

"It's been so long!"

"It's been 4 months."

Divina rolled her eyes, "Still a long time. Let's grab some drinks!" Evelynn smiled and followed her to sit at the stools to watch the bartender make the drinks. Luckily enough, our bartender was none other than Annica

Annica smiled at Evelynn as she dried the glassware. "Welcome back, krasnyy. It's been a while." She said, putting the glassware away in the cabinet. Evelynn and Divina sat down on the stool chairs. "More like an eternity" Divina mumbled, causing Evelynn and Annica to chuckle. "What would you ladies like to have?" Annica asked.

"Give me a Manhattan!"

"Whiskey."

Annica prepared their drinks - a Manhattan for Divina and a Whiskey for Evelynn. She cut a little slice of orange peel, squeezed a bit to get the oil out, and started to rub it against the rim of the glass. Quien Sera by Lisa Ono filled the bar with music.

"So, what brings you to Las Almas?" Divina asked Evelynn, which caused one of her eyebrows to rise. "I thought Vernon had informed you of my mission?" Evelynn replied.

"He informed me and Andrei," Annica said, mixing the drink. The sound of ice cubes hitting the glass makes a distinctive 'clink' sound.

Divina spoke hesitantly, "Vernon and I are not on good terms right now." Annica had already placed Divina's Manhattan on the wooden counter and was now pouring the whiskey into the glass, causing the ice cubes to float. Evelynn grabbed her drink and took a sip of whiskey. "Oh?" she spoke.

The combination of sweetness, smokiness, and a hint of sourness traveled Evelynn's taste buds as she savored the whiskey. Divina cleared her throat to change the conversation. "Back to where we left off."

Evelynn put down her drink. "Have you heard of Hassan Zayani?" Annica and Divina nodded. "He stole two missiles and fled to Las Almas seeking protection from the cartel." Divina took a sip of her Manhattan while Annica stood there quietly. "Vernon told me to eliminate him but I found out that a military task force also needs to eliminate him."

Annica glanced at the group in the booth and asked "Them?" They both briefly looked over. Evelynn nodded as she returned to her original sight. "You know the one sitting in the middle wearing the grey hoodie has been giving you quick stares," Annica said to her. "I've noticed."

Divina giggled. "Aw, how adorable! He even has cute puppy eyes." Evelynn rolled her eyes.

Rudy looked away embarrassed, caught once again staring at her. "Soap is right, hermano," Alejandro said to him. "You do look like a joven enamorado"

"I'm not in love... I just feel like I've known her before." Rudy said defensively.

"Maybe you should go talk to her."

"I was going to, but she has company now."

Alejandro gave out a small laugh. "Pero aun así. When her friends leave, go up and say a simple 'hi', maybe compliment her," he said, placing his right hand on Rudy's shoulder and the other hand was holding a Corona beer.

Rudy smiled weakly, his nerves drowning him. He only took a small sip of his beer. Usually, he would drink, have fun, chat with others, and sing along, but tonight was different. Her presence was powerful, almost drawing him towards her. It was intoxicating for him.

"Where's your brother?" Evelynn asked Annica who was cleaning the glassware.

Annica blanked out, almost as if she had forgotten where her brother was. "Oh. He's feeding the stray cats and dogs."

Back during the times when the twins were still in Russia. They would constantly take extra money to purchase meat. But not for themselves to eat - no, they would buy it for the strays struggling to survive in the harsh weather of Russia. Every day, they made an effort to provide food for the cats and dogs of Volgograd.

After being transferred, they continued their habit of feeding the strays of Las Almas, just like they used to do in Volgograd. This has become a daily routine for them, and the stray animals have also grown accustomed to their kindness. Sometimes, these strays will follow them wherever they are going, be a cat or a dog, you can always find any stray next to them. 

Evelynn hummed as a response. Divina's eyes lit up, "They have a pet dog and cat! You should see them! They are so adorable!"

Evelynn chuckled and raised her glass to her lips as she was about to take a sip of her Whiskey when the front door was busted open with full force. At the door was another blonde who seemed to be the twin of Annica Sokolov.