Red Roses ~Marcus Lopez Arguello

27~Limbo.

Delgado Residency, December 20th, 12pm
   
The bang on Scarlett's door wakes her up from her slumber. She groans and turns over, only to spot the ruffled up spot where Marcus once lied, empty. Her smile saddens but the banging causes her to quickly turn her head, as Antonio walks in, a light smile painted on his features.

Scarlett removes the dark gray cover off of her body, her outfit from last night still present on her figure. She rubs her eyes to wake herself up as Antonio sits right beside her. "Tough night?" Scarlett nods as she reaches her hand out for the mug of coffee Antonio made her. He laughs as he passes it over, and he takes a sip of his own as she chugs half of the mug. "I'll take that as a yes." He looks over at her. "Any plans for the day?"

Scarlett finally calms down, before letting him know seriously. "Going to lunch and talking to Diablo about Chico then spending the night killing the dude who has Chicos head."

Antonio just responds casually, not finding an issue with her plans. "Need any help?"

"Nah, I think we've got it covered."

"Alrighty." They sit in silence for a bit, and Scarlett keeps moving her eyes to the empty spot where Marcus was and Antonio watches her face dwindle. "He was running late for work. He wanted me to tell you." Scarlett's eyes widened at the boy's obvious understanding of who spent the night. "I ran into him when he was heading out. Idiot fell into a bush." This mention caused Scarlett to giggle at the idea, and Antonio just watches her features soften. "So you and Marcus? I like it." He drinks the last of his coffee. "Is there anything else you haven't told me?"

Scarlett taps her manicure onto her glass mug before taking a breath, deciding to finally tell him. "Rory's alive, Tony." She gets no response and she grows nervous at the lack of sound emanating from the boy. She snaps her head up to him.

"I know." Scarlett paused waiting for him to continue. "He came here first, the day of your birthday. And I opened the door. I told him you were at the old house, and that's when he left towards you. He also told me about your plan to kill your dad. We've been planning some stuff."

"What?"

"I found out where your dad has been the last couple of months. He's out in Spain, holding parties for his clients. These parties are massive. He uses these as a way to show off all of the girls to his clients." Tony then stands up and Scarlett follows him to his office. He pulls out two plane tickets from his op drawer and hands them to her. "This next party is on the 22nd. It's a masquerade theme. Perfect for you to sneak in."

"That's this Sunday, Tony."

"I know. You're leaving tomorrow morning."

"I'm going by myself?!" Scarlett stares at the boy.

"I can't go because your dad knows what I look like, sound like. I'm not as good as you at masking my voice."

"Then why did you give me two tickets?"

"Cause- you're gonna take Marcus."

•••

Lost Innocence Comics, 2pm

Marcus ran all of his clothes under the sink. He had taken his coworkers' spare uniform to clean himself off. This was his karma. He left Scarlett alone this morning, with not even a kiss goodbye. He was fighting for his life. He shit himself. Literally. What was worse is that he did it in front of everyone in the comic book shop. So he was in the bathroom, completely unclothed, trying to wash away his sins. The door opened, and he covered himself as Billy, Lex, Petra, and Maria stood there, staring in complete shock. All the other customers surrounded them.