Tea Leaves and Opal Necklaces

Hauntings

Match Eighteen: Hauntings:

Despite the happy moments going on with Florence in his life, Alfred felt left out about what's going on around him. He tried calling Arthur several times, but he wouldn't pick up. Everyone else looked uneasy. Even his jokes were dead in the water to cheer up his ally friends.

"Come on, guys!" he said. "Cheer up!" The three men looked up at him with no emotion in their eyes. Yao's mind was elsewhere with a calendar in his phone. Ivan had been writing down something when the American man spoke up. Francis looked like a worried mother. The glow from Alfred's face instantly died.

"Okay, what's the matter?" he asked. "Where is Britain?" The three men didn't want to speak. Francis looked away.

"He's sick today," he lied. Alfred tilted his head.

"He's been doing that a lot lately," he said. The American man wasn't born around the time the Woman in Red roamed the earth. Arthur pleaded with the allies to keep it that way.

"He can't know the truth behind this mess," he said before Hecate trapped him. "I want to end this before he finds out." The other allies agreed.

"Yeah," Francis said. "It's been really bad."

"Well... We should go and visit him," the American man said.

"No!" the Frenchman was quick to say. Alfred gave him a strange look.

"Why not?" he asked. Francis nervously looked at his hands.

"He won't let anyone see him," he said in a low voice.

"What?" the American man asked.

"Leave it alone," Ivan said. Everyone looked up at the Russian man.

"We can't do anything for Arthur at this time," he said. "He's not going to answer the phone if we tried to call him and he won't let us in."

"What am you saying?" Alfred asked. "We just can't leave him. He needs our help!"

"And what can we do for him?" the Russian man asked. The American man's mouth hung open for a moment. He tried to speak, but no words came out.

"My thoughts exactly," Ivan said. He sat back down in his chair and returned to his notes.

"I'm afraid I will have to agree," Francis said. Yao nodded his head. Alfred looked around, but said nothing. The rest of the meeting felt isolating.

Alfred just couldn't leave it alone. Arthur was part of the team. Sure he was condescending, a bad cook, weird with his talking to himself, and pompous as hell, but he was like family to the American man. And he needed serious help.

He stopped by Arthur's flat. Alfred pounded on the door.

"Arthur!" he shouted. "Dude! Come on, it's me! Open up! I want to see how you are doing!" The American man happened to look and see a face peeking out from the curtains. Alfred ran over when the face disappeared.

"Hey!" he shouted. The American man tapped on the window.

"Come on!" Alfred said. "I know you're in there! Come out! I just want to talk to you!" When he touched the glass again, a cold shock ran through his body. His vision clouded up as he began breathing heavily. When he stepped back, he began to see strange things.

New York in the 1990's.

There was a high school gym. He could see a ball game in progress, most likely basketball. Many high schooler clichés were there. The cheerleaders looked like Barbie dolls. The basketball players could put elks to shame with their swift and graceful movements on the court. A blonde boy about fifteen years old stood off to one corner in the gym. He looked like he hadn't eaten in days. His clothes hung off of his body.