Chapter 1 Moving Day.

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Brown eyes gazed out the car window, staring off into a what seemed endless street of skyscrapers. This is where she grew up, the city of New York. Ava felt nostalgic as tips of red hair tickled her bare neck. She wasn't here to remember sweet memories, she had to complete her mission and she had to do it flawlessly. Ava couldn't mess up. The taxi driver's scruffy voice resounded through the cab. "Yo miss, we're here." Her hand grasped the twenty dollar bill from her pocket and slid it to the driver. "Keep the change."

Grabbing her plain black backpack, she exited the car and into the roaring streets of the city. She huffed a piece of hair from her face and murmured, "Here we go." The brisk pace kept her from thinking too much; what she had to do was simple, just like baking a cake. Her eyes searched for the old tattered building she was looking for. "A old building called the Darling Oak, it can't be that hard to find," She thought enthusiastically.

She focused her gaze towards her worn out canvases and the cracked sidewalk. A slight breeze began to blow and she shivered, zipping up her light jacket. Ava felt small and insecure as she had not visited New York City in ten years. She slid a small peice of paper out of her pocket and unfolded it.
643 Wall Street.
"It's gotta be around here somewhere..." Looking around frantically for someone who could help her.
"Excuse me.. Sir! Sir!" She said to this man walking quickly by, he didn't even look at her.
"I will just have to find it myself." She huffed.
'643 Wall Street. This is it.' Ava thought to herself.
"Here we go."

Walking up the old cracked cement steps she looked up at the tall building. Taking a deep breath she pulled the door open. A bell rang as she entered. It was quiet, with dust lining the furniture as if nobody had been here for years.
"Hello?" Ava yelled.
There was no response. Just an echo that resounded throughout what felt like every floor. It was very dim almost dark and she could smell the dust and history in the air. She began to explore the main lobby and found
nothing but old papers, files and telephones that had been disconnected. As she began opening up the front desks drawer a man stepped into the room. He was tall and handsome. His eyes were a deep blue like that of a peacock feather. He towered over Ava but did not intimidate her.
"Well you're making yourself comfortable."
Ava jumped, as she thought she was alone, and quickly scrambled away from the desk.
"Oh um sorry.. I was just.. Um signing in?" Ava said, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Adremelech." The man said walking over to her with his hand outstretched.
"Um Ava." Ava responded taking his hand in a firm handshake.
Adramelech said nothing just a smile that hinted he was amused.
"So um is this the Darling Oak?" Ava asked after what seemed like an eternity of silence.
"Yes. This is it, you're in the right place. In fact you are the only one besides the boy up on the fifth floor." Responded Adremelech.
"Oh?" Ava asked. "This building is like 12 stories and there is only you and a boy. You being the owner I assume? That doesn't sound fishy at all." Ava said sarcastically.
Adramelech laughed and started walking towards the front desk.
"Well business seems to be slow I suppose." Adremelech explained. "This building is beautiful but everyone that stays here claims something is wrong and that they have issues well.. staying."
"What do you mean, wrong?"
"Well they say it feels like impending doom is coming upon them and so they leave. Wrong." Adremelech responded quickly.
"Okay.. Well I'm gonna forget all of that. I really need a place to stay and this is affordable." Ava said kind of hesitantly.
"Of course. I will room you down the hall next to Ezra on the fifth floor. He should keep you company."
"Ezra.. I like that name." Ava whispered.
"Pardon?"
"Oh nothing sorry."
"Okay, well I will show you to your room. Here is your key and your room number is 506. It's a very nice room, decent size and its all furnished so you won't have to worry about furniture. You have a washer and a dryer but we have a public laundry room here on the main floor if you would prefer to use it instead." Adremelech explained. "The elevator is down so you will have to take the stairs but it's not too bad." He continued. "Any questions?"
"Um I don't think so.. I will let you know if I do. Thank you." Ava answered shyly. Taking off her jacket, she trekked up the enless flights of stairs. Adremelech was different than any other guy Ava had met. He was almost mysterious yet very open in the way he expressed himself. She couldn't really describe him which frusterated her.
"This is it, room 506. You're key will open it and the laundry room downstairs. It will also open the main doors in case you are out past curfew." Adramelech said.
"Curfew?" Ava asked quickly. "What time is curfew and why does this place even have a curfew?"
"Geez, for a young girl you sure ask a lot of questions." Adremelech responded in an annoyed tone. "Curfew is 10:30 p.m. And we have a curfew so that we can assure all of our residents are safe in the night hours."
"Oh okay, well I dont have any friends here so I can assure you I wont be out past 10." Ava said.
"Well consider me your first friend.. Ava was it?" Adramelech responded.
"Yess Ava it it is. Well thank you for showing me to my room, I better go call my mum she wanted to know if I got here safe." Ava said. Sticking the key in the keyhole, turning it to the right and opening the door she put the key in her pocket and went inside. Once in the room she walked over to the Queen bed and fell back pulling out her phone to call her mum, with a sigh she put it up to her ear whispering.
"Here we go."

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