𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐈𝐓 𝐃𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐆

6-dottie

The door of the bus screeched open, nothing lighting the sky except the large buildings towering over the streets of Chicago. Mike woke up to the loud sound of cars honking outside the bus, shaking Holly awake before thanking the driver and ushering her off the bus.

They were greeted by the fast paced husltle and bustle of the glowing city, people walking by at fast paces and cars speeding down the road. Women clicked down the sidewalk in their high heels, clutching their shopping bags and laughing with their friends. Men with briefcases hailed taxi's on the side of the road or got in their own cars, checking their watches every 10 seconds.

The bus zoomed away, rejoining the buzzing city traffic as Mike grabbed Holly's hand and fell into the river of pedestrians. Holly struggled to keep up with Mike, practically running at his side. He pulled the parcel of paper El had given him out of his pocket, flipping it over to find directions to wherever he was going.

He looked ahead, trying to figure out the directions she had given him when a small voice popped up in the back of his head.

Turn left.

He followed the voice and pulled Holly left onto a less busy area of sidewalk, street lamps dotting the edges of the street with large blobs of light, Mike smiling at the memory of the streetlamp outside his house.

He had a feeling that El was directing him towards his unknown destination, as he was somehow told to turn left. He thought to thank her, and that if they ever met again that would be the first thing he would do. 

They turned down another road, the light dissapearing and their footsteps tapping down the darkened path. A small dim light was visible up ahead, some people lingering around the area. Mike pulled Holly closer to him, approaching the area as people began to turn and observe them.

A man creeped around next to Holly, Mike picking up his pace as a woman dressed in rags began to whisper incoherent things next to him. Holly whimpered lightly next to him as they moved along, neither of them looking back.

Thet escaped the area as the alley thinned out, the pavement cracked majorly and little weeds poking out in between the cracks. A door appeared to their left, a small light above it illuminating the handle.

Mike tugged Holly towards the door, pausing in front of it as the small light flickered, letting him know this was it.

He hesitated before knocking on the door carefully, nothing being heard inside. No shuffling of feet, no voices, nothing. He knocked again, waiting a few moments before giving up and opening the door, pulling Holly in with him, her face displaying confusion.

"Where are we?" She asked him, squeezing his hand as he looked around. Every wall was covered in graffiti, including the door. The area was lit up as the room opened up into a new area, a staircase on the far right.

"I don't know." Mike mumbled, almost to himself. Suddenly, he jumped as footsteps were heard trailing down the metal stairs, stopping abruptly as they made eye contact with the two of them.

Mike turned to find a girl standing with her hip to one side and a hand on the railing as she chewed her
gum loudly. She huffed, turning to go up the steps as she yelled to someone.

"Kal! We got some kids down here!" The girl said, another girl appearing around the corner. The girl that was on the steps popped her bubble as she walked over to the other one with blonde hair, looking slightly older than the one with the gum.

"They just showed up, do you know em?" The girl asked as she pointed a finger down at Holly and Mike, Mike growing uncomfortable as the two women looked at him and Holly.

"No. Sorry, Dottie. Maybe Kali does?" The blonde one said, her eyes returning to the gum girl, who Mike had learned was named Dottie. 

Dottie sighed, turning back around and trotting down the steps, approaching the two and crossing her arms, neither of them saying a word.

"Hadlee, go get Kali." Dottie said, Hadlee nodding and walking away to a room, her footsteps echoing through the hall. Dottie looked them up and down, still chomping her gum as she did so.

Mike turned his attention away from her as some light footsteps were heard from the balcony where the steps went. His eyes found two small girls, one looking a little younger than Holly and the other one looking a little older. They peeked down at them from behind the railing, looking towards the doorway at the end of the balcony where everyone had been appearing out of when another one appeared.

The two girls ran off down the balcony and back through the door as the other woman made her way down the steps, joining Dottie. Mike guessed that she was Kali.

"Who are you?" Kali asked, looking Mike up and down as she noticed neither of the kids were holdings bags or clothes. Mike froze, not answering as Dottie and Kali waited for one.

"Are you a number?" Kali asked, snapping Mike back to reality.

"-uh-a what?" Mike asked, his voice quiet as he looked at the two women confused. He shook his head, taking a step forward before clearing his throat.

"My sister and I ran away from home. Uh- Jane sent us, she said you could help." He said, stuttering over
his words as he spoke, both women's eyes widening at the mention of 'Jane'. A man appeared out of the doorway, a mowhawk sprouting from the center of his head and towering over him. Mike looked up at him, along with Dottie and Kali as he began to speak.

"So, you're friends with Shirley, huh?"