The Hanging Man • JW

Now You Don't

4:40pm

Athena muttered a curse under her breath as she shoved her phone hastily into her pocket. The traffic was at a stand still, and it was only four minutes until she needed to be at the mysterious location.

"I'm going to cut this ride short," Athena grunted, shoving a 20 dollar note onto the drivers lap. "Keep the change."

Quickly, she leapt out of the taxi, shrugging on her leather jacket as she sprinted down the road, passing and weaving through the people.

Finally, she reached a rather old, shabby looking building. Pulling out her tarot card, she read the address and it was confirmed. This was the place... Checking her phone once again, it read 4:44pm, exactly the time. Ignoring the possibility of what could actually be happen if she entered the building, she opened the door and started to climb up the flights of stairs.

After climbing about four flights, she stopped when she noticed three people waiting outside a door. They all seemed a bit impatient.

Immediately, all eyes turned on her as Athena climbed up the final step of the flight.

"Wait, don't tell me," the eldest man said. He had a brown hat on, hiding his almost bald head. "A... Amy? No, Athena. Do you have a card, Athena?"

"Yeah, I'm guessing you do as well," Athena nodded, crossing her arms with a grin on her lips. This was definitely the right place.

"I'm Merritt," he introduced.

"I'm Daniel," another voice said. He was younger, but older than Athena. He had messy brown hair and a plain expression on his face.

"Henley," the third person introduced. She had fiery red hair, and a pretty smile.

"Nice to meet you all," Athena grinned, overwhelmed. Just as she was about to ask something, someone else walked up the stairs.

They all turned around expectantly, thinking it was someone to show them into the apartment door, but it wasn't.

It was a older boy in his 20s, the same age as Athena. He had dark hair, and big brown eyes. A leather jacket was pulled over his black T-shirt.

His eyes skimmed the four, lingering on Athena for a moment before he turned to Daniel. "No way," he beamed, "J. Daniel Atlas? Dude, I've seen like everything you've ever done." Athena turned to look at Daniel who seemed very smug. "You're like- I- I idolise you."

"Thank you, a true fan," Daniel smirked, making Henley roll her eyes.

"I'm Jack by the way," he smiled at us all, fidgeting on the spot excitedly.

We introduced ourselves again, before Merritt spoke up.

"Question, did you get one of these?" He asked, flashing his tarot card towards Jack.

"Oh! Oh, yeah," Jack fumbled in his pocket before slipping out a tarot card of his own.

"Death," he smirked, raising a eyebrow and showing his card which had a dark skull on it.

"High Priestess," Henley spun her card around, seeming impressed with hers.

"The Lover," Daniel proudly stated.