Amaranthine ~ Ben Hargreeves

Act II

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Abditory
(n.) a place into which you can disappear; a hiding place

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February 21st, 1961
the arrival

The ground was harsh and cold as Rose's knees met the concrete with a crack. She rolled across the ground, her clothes immediately becoming uncomfortably wet with the thin layer of snow that blanketed the floor. Her hair whipped her face and a shiver ran up her spine as it was blown away from her neck. Her hands felt particularly cold, missing the warmth that had previously enveloped them as she held onto her family. Now, they were empty.

Rose carefully lifted herself to her feet with a few groans of pain and then immediately wrapped her jacket tightly around her shoulders. It was freezing. She took in her surroundings quickly, observing that she was in an alley, not a particularly interesting one either, just smooth walls and frozen dumpsters.

"Klaus?" She yelled up at the sky, "Ben?"

The panic inside began to rise as she was met with silence. She must have yelled for Klaus a good ten times more.

"Klaus!"

When there was no reply, her first instinct was to search for her brother or any of her other siblings. And so that's what she did, stumbling forward on shaky legs until she reached the opening of the alleyway where she was met with what looked to be a high street.

The sunlight was brighter out in the open than it had been when she was encased by the three walls in the embrace of the alleyway. She was forced to squint as her eyes adjusted. When they finally did, Rose was simply confused. They certainly weren't in the city anymore, there was too much open space and greenery. The buildings were too bright, all shades of greens and blues, for her to still be in their home town.

She took a few more steps until she was stood in the centre of the sidewalk, much to the disgust of passers by who tutted at the fact they had to make a detour around her. She stepped in front of one man, dressed in a hat and suit and carrying a briefcase, attempting to ask him where she was, but he just shoved her to the side and continued on his way. Rose sighed and tried again, this time with a woman, but to no avail. She had no idea where she was.

Seeing as people were useless, Rose decided to take a different approach. She attempted to regain her composure and then began to make her way down the street. After only a few seconds of walking and admiring the buildings, she turned into what appeared to be a newsagents.

The bell chimed as she pushed the door open and stepped inside. The first thing she noticed was the heating and she had never been so thankful for anything as much as the rusty old box that flooded the shop with warmth. The man behind the counter greeted her warmly with a "Good afternoon, Ma'am! It's a shame about the weather in't it?"

Rose smiled politely at him and nodded. She turned to take in the shop, shelves stacked with books and trinkets with a rack of old vintage style clothes hung along the back wall. The lighting was dim but the bright pinks and yellows of the fabric brought a glow to the place. On her right, a tall magazine stand was situated and she moved closer to flick through the papers.

Before she'd even touched the paper she could tell it wasn't a new one. The fonts were all different and the paper was a creamy yellow with grey text, rather than the harsh black and white she was used to. She reached a hand out and picked up the closest newspaper, bringing it forward to examine it closely. The first thing that caught her eye was the headline.

'John F. Kennedy joins presidential campaign'

That was odd. This paper must have been old, like really old. Rose lifted it closer and scanned over the date.

'February 21st 1961'

She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and then took another look around the store. Now that she thought about it, this whole place have her major 60s vibes.

"Excuse me?" She plastered on her best smile and made her way over to the counter. "I'm sorry, but what is this place? Is it like a vintage store?"

The man looked confused for a moment and then laughed awkwardly. "I'm sorry darlin', I'm not sure what you mean there."

His accent was a thick one and definitely country. When she looked down at the paper again she noticed it read 'Dallas express'. Maybe he was from Dallas?

"This paper." She placed the paper on the countertop he was leaning on. "It's old."

"No, that was printed fresh just this morn'."

"But look at the date."

"That's today darlin', February 21st 1961."

She paused for a moment. What the hell had Five gotten them into now?

"Shit."

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