Remembering Raimondo (Complete)

Four Doors Down

The entrance led to a flight of stairs. The hall leading to the stair was framed by walls with no doors and no opening space. Odd. This type of blue print was new to me. Usually homes around this area had an open space rather than a hall at the entrance. I tapped on the walls, the sound of the thud echoed itslef all throughout the hall making Austin turn in panic. His shoulders relaxed when I held my hands up in apology. The walls were new, I'm guessing they were built to block out the view of the space behind the walls.

I wonder why.

Austin lightly jogged up the steps the same way he did outside. I stayed at the bottom until he reached the top.

"Reach!" I joked extending my hand and tightly closing my eyes.

He didn't laugh. "Very funny. We're not here scavenger hunting" 

I paused to understand what he said."Haha! That doesn't even make sense!"

I ignored the fact that he didn't react properly at my attempt to crack a joke, and proceeded up the stairs.

The floors creaked beneath my feet. I was pretty sure that the board will fall from beneath me making me go down to the basement.

The second hall I reached ran horizontally.

"Which way?" I asked.

He scratched his head. Examining the floor, he followed a muddy trail. "This way." He turned left passing three doors and stopping in front of a black door.

He turned and gave me a long look before opening the door.

I scrunched my nose even before I got my foot through the door. "Yugh, what's that smell?"

When he didn't answer I decided to check for my self. But I didn't find anything that could explain the aweful smell. The room looked like a teenager's. Not just any teenager's, this room was sad and dark. The posters on the dark red walls were torn, and bright graffiti spelled out profanity across the posters and on the ceiling. Clearly there were vandals in here.

"Who's room?" I asked walking towards a shelf. There were casettes and books. Everything looked awefully old. A little too old to belong to Austin.

"Some kid."

I frowned at his answer. Some kid. This "kid" must have been disliked.

"Jeff killed him."

I froze.

Despite the fact that I knew that Jeff killing someone wasn't impossible, bile rose towards my mouth. It took all my might to supress myself from puking all over the floor. I didn't realize that my hands were shaking, or that Austin left the room untill I reached for the door behind me to balance myself.

"Austin?" I called him. My voice showing how frightened I was.

"Out here," he called back.

As soon as I entered the hall, he flung another door opened. This one obviously belonged to a little girl. The pink walls dull against the bright graffiti that covered this room as well.

It took me a second to find my voice, "and her?"

He gave me a hard look but didn't answer and walked past me.

"Audrie!" He yelled sternly.

I dragged myself out into the hall again. He flung open another door, and another. But by now, I couldn't keep it down, I couldn't control my system. I covered my mouth and ran past him, down the stairs and barely made it outside where I puked all over the balcony. I heard Austin's feet pound on the stairs. He roughly pushed the storm door open.

"NOW do you understand?" He demanded. "Look!" he pointed across the road at all the other homes. "He made an entire community flee for their lives. Him and his gang. And you, you just got your self mixed up with one of the country's worst gang. Now do-"

"Stop! Okay, I fucking understand." I screached, my throat still aching from the acid.

I marched down the steps towards the pickup. "Take me home."