Alice Kills

Chapter Nine

Shoving the bags and boxes into the car I looked back at the house and sighed deeply. I knew, the very second I began putting these boxes in my car, that this was the right decision. Seeing how excited Violet was for the task at hand, made me incredibly anxious. Chiyo and Atsushi sat on the porch swing eating pineapple, they enjoyed fruit very much, so I made sure to by a crap-load. I smiled as they waved goodbye, Violet was getting into the car, and David was in the drivers seat. To see these plans out, all I had to do was get in the car.

About two hours later I began to see bright lights and metallic buildings erupt from the ground and take their place in the sky. The road was no longer silent and bumpy. The road itself was smooth but chaotic. The road was filled with shiny cars, horns honking, music blaring. I had never seen so many taxis or cabs. I had never needed to even know the difference between the two, or if there even was a difference. People rode cars, bikes, skateboards. All anyone ever road in Lamia were cars. The streets themselves were dirty and sad looking but were still alive under the buzz of the city. Turning onto an ominous street, each side overwhelmed with apartment complexes, I searched for a beige sign reading, "There it is! Lennox Apartments!" Violet hopped with joy in the front seat of the car, I had chosen to have the back to myself. Not only did having the back seat include having it all to myself, but Violet and David are pretty inseparable. I cringed at the sight before me, a run down looking apartment complex with a broken gate and boarded windows. There were elderly people shaking on their porches, older teen boys climbing into cars, looking around cautiously. It was obvious that not only the apartment complex, but also it's tenants were struggling for survival. The car ride was annoyingly silent, I thought I knew what I was walking into, and obviously David and Violet didn't have a single clue what they were even doing here anymore.

I'd phoned the former resident of the apartment; we were the last apartment to the far right, closest to the street, and on the top floor. I didn't have a single clue on what the condition of our apartment was in, but I knew it was a one bedroom one bath. When I had called and asked about the apartment, I thought it was just going to be for me, but seeing that David and Violet will be with me, they can have the room. I didn't too much care about where I was sleeping, I just wanted to get down to business and figure out what's going on with the Color Catchers. 

  I opened the car door and immediantly recognized the difference from Lamia and the City. "David... I meant to ask you, what city is this?" he raised his eyebrows, "Well, you said "The City." I had assumed you meant the biggest city here, this... well, this is the uglier side of Las Vegas." I looked around, most people depicted Las Vegas as bright lights and fun nights, this part of Las Vegas was black to the white of Las Vegas. It was sad and lonely. But the people, had a twitch in their eyes. They looked around, and in a way their ears perked before a police car came around. I hadn't exactly done my research of this place before moving here. But I could tell, crime was high. Las Vegas is already pretty packed with prostitution, so for my type of work, I was in the right place. Walking to the trunk of our small car, I see dried up grass and weeds sulking from lack of rain erupting from the chain link fence surrounding the entire complex, and our car was parked in the very back close to our  brand new apartment.

I grabbed my duffle bag and swung it over my shoulder, Violet came by and opened her eyes wide. "This place looks really.. uh..." I laughed, "It's definitely not what you thought!" I bumped my hip against hers playfully. "Ha, that's for sure." She grabbed a cardboard box slightly bigger then the one in my arms. "Showing off those baby muscles?" I winked and walked down a sidewalk with Violet humming behind me.  There were emtpy beer and soda cans sprinkled across the walkways, and tattooed caramel colored muscular men standing in doorways. They remained straight-faced as we walked by, and realizing we weren't a threat, casually entered their homes again. "Alice! What's our apartment number again?" I stopped walking for a second to let Violet catch up with me, "Honestly, I'm not.. Oh! 812, It's like the very last section of apartments, the last door on the top floor." She groaned and continued walking by my side.