Parallel: Avalon's Journey

Chapter 5: Introductions (Part 1)

   Monday morning at 10:45am found Xander standing at the end of High Street, trying to figure out where the hell number 7 was, since 5 went straight to 9, with no trace of someone actually being able to count. All the houses on High Street were, in fact, quite short, highest only 2 stories above ground level. If this is High Street, I'd hate to see what Low Street is... Xander thought as his eyes roamed around the street, vainly trying to see a glimpse of the number 7. THERE! Hidden around the corner, tucked under some maple trees, a 3 story house with a brass 7 that was slightly obscured by a hanging plant stood alone.

Checking his watch, 10:55, Xander quickly crossed the street & rapped on the door. Immediately, there was a small buzz to the side & an irritated voice spoke, "Whatever you're selling, we don't want any!" Xander, shocked by the bluntness, took a second too long for the voice. "You heard me! Scram!!" "Wa-wait!" Xander managed to stammer out before the intercom hung up, "I'm not here to sell anything. I have an appointment with someone named Crowley for 11?" "............" For a few seconds, all he could hear was static. "Hello?" Did he hang up on me? Xander wondered as he brushed some leaves aside to find the actual intercom set in the brick wall, green light still on to indicate that it was connected. Right as Xander brought the small steel plate to eye level, the voice suddenly cut back in, making him jump 3 feet up, and 2 feet back. "Alright, Crowley's apparently expecting you, so you can come right in. Take the stairs to the second floor." With that, and giving a heaving Xander no time to recover, the door clicked & swung open to reveal a foyer/coatroom.

Quickly catching the heavy oak door, Xander slipped in, firmly shutting it behind him. Looking around the foyer, which had various coats & shoes in the closet, Xander quickly climbed the stair leading up, noting that the stairs going downstairs were blocked by an electric gate. Reaching the landing for the second floor, Xander ran right into a middle aged man who was just hurrying down from the third floor, knocking them both over. Quickly standing back up, Xander helped the man up, apologizing profusely. "Oh, it's no bother, my dear boy, no bother at all. Are you by chance Xander?" the man spoke in a crisp British accent, as he took Xander's hand to get up, quickly turning it into a handshake at the confirmation. "Well lad, I'm glad we bumped into each other, no pun intended, since I had almost forgotten if I told old Jeffery downstairs if I was going to meet you up here or down in the cloakroom. Crowley's the name, often referred to as "that klutzy Brit", which I'm told is said fondly, though I'm not sure how much I believe that." Blinking against the sudden torrent of words, Xander could only shake his hand & grin at Crowley's rambling. "It's good to meet you, Crowley, do you need a hand with your papers?" Xander asked, gesturing at the disheveled pile of folders & loose documents that Crowley had been carrying when the two ran into each other. Crowley blinked for a second, "Well, yes my dear lad, that would be remarkable. Never actually had someone offer before, come, I'll introduce you to the team that we have here for the beta testers & designers...." This last bit was said as that klutzy Brit began walking down the hallway towards on of the doors, having passed Xander the mountain of paper & striding forward, leaving Xander to follow the best he could.

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*pokes head out of random tree* For those wondering what the sticks are for, the blunt ones are to be used for characters & among yourselves, non lethally! The sharp ones are for those few crazy ones who've actually somehow stuck around while I was applying for the Crown of Procrastination, to jab at me- Ow! Ow! At least wait until I'm done the AN before starting!! -to jab at me if I don't post another chapter in the relative future. Splitting this chapter into 2 parts because A) I've lost my notepad that had all my notes & such in it & B) I needed to rewrite & think of this next bit because it's going to be introducing characters that (hopefully) will be sticking around for a while. Thank you all who voted & commented on the AN before this one, letting me know you're all still around. Please feel free to toss comments my way, letting me know anything from if I managed a British accent right in text form, to yelling at me for waiting a year before posting, to pointing out that nothing makes sense! 

~Your hopefully not completely perforated writer OW!!!, Merlin