Unwelcomed guests

....

1....2....3....hours since you three started walking. You and Keiko were fine, you didn't know if you would be this patient to walk for hours on end like this. You however found entertainment in talking with Keiko and Amelia so it wasn't too bad.

It was a hard task for Amelia though as the hours went by she got more and more tired and was practically dragged by you for a few dozen minutes before she relented and took you on your offer to piggyback her.

This was a huge time saver as you and Keiko began to lightly speed walk the rest of the way there. Amelia found it to be quite comfortable, you could tell by how tightly she latched herself against you. Her crotch swirled in circles as she rubbed it against your back while taking deep sniffs of your scent from behind. The minx remained quiet ever since she got on you. Thankfully Keiko didn't notice.

Keiko showed you guys all the shops along the way. Truly a place to hangout as the streets were smaller and the shops were more homely being more of mom and pop shops. The streets had old cracked concrete with a few sprouting of weeds here and there. A lot less futuristic 'modern' and more of the older age modern as if it froze in time not allowing the city around it to influence it's growth.

You walk around with a slight smirk on your face. You feel very....nostalgic. This is the kind of place you would definitely see in your last reality. A common sight actually....it's so weird.

"And here it is! Sarah's apartment."

Keiko says as she stops at the sidewalk. There is a parking lot in front of an aged apartment building. Two stories tall with an external flight of stairs. It is very dingy looking and made of almost entirely rotting dark wood and concrete. Some windows of the apartment are cracked and some even broken open. Definitely a place you shouldn't want to be calling home.

Despite the state of the place people still live here as there is a few banged up vehicles parked out front in the parking lot.

You give the place a good look and let Amelia down. Keiko smiles and you give her a thumbs up.

"Thanks Keiko. It's getting late so you should get home. We'll take it from here."

"Ah okay. You two can find your way back right?"

"Yeah we got it."

You say glancing at Amelia. Amelia fixes her skirt and looks up at you.

"O-Of course. Thank you Keiko."

"Alrighty, no problem you two. And be careful alright? Tell Sarah I said hi!"

Keiko smiles and begins to run off down the street as she waves back at you two.

....

"There she goes."

You say and turn to Amelia.

"...."

"You were rubbing yourself weren't you?"

"S-Shut up! It was itchy okay!?"

"Hah, really?....want me to look at it? I bet you we can find a place."

"Hmph! Let's just get on with this first....then....maybe we can."

You shrug as Amelia begins to walk ahead. You follow close behind her.

"What's the plan?" You ask Amelia.

"We ask someone who lives here about Sarah."

You and Amelia approach the closest door on the ground labeled room "8". Amelia presses the doorbell and takes a step back....

....

After a minute there was no reply. You and Amelia look at each other in confusion before you take a step forward and pushes the doorbell again....

No answer.

"....next door?"

You say and Amelia nods.

....

Two doors down after a second of pressing the doorbell the door finally swings open. You and Amelia freeze in place as a pale old man with some missing teeth peeks his head out and looks up at you two. One of his eyes is half open and his grey balding hair is frayed out like he's been comically electrocuted. He's seen better days.

"Hey, we're looking for a girl named Sarah. Do you know where she lives?"

You ask the old man and give him a smile making sure to not scare him. His lips slightly parted looks around as if he doesn't understand your words.

"....who?" He says with a shaky voice.

"Sarah. She lives in this apartment I think....we're her friends."

Amelia follows up and speaks to him. The old man licks his lips trying to wet them and gulps looking around again....

"N-No I don't know...."

And he starts to close the door. You don't let him as you take a step forward and the door hits your shoe.

"Sorry sir, please, we need to know where she lives."

The old man visibly gulps and shakes his head frantically. From this distance you can smell the scent of cigarettes wafting out from the room.

"N-No please. I-I don't know....p-please."

You glance back at Amelia who looks at you unsure of what to do. You give a gesture of your hand to let you handle it before you turn back to the old man.

"Hey, ummm...."

"P-Please I-....."

The old man stops as you present your hand where 500 dollars sit folded up neatly. Immediately his demeanor changes as he stops trying to close the door.

"Do you know who Sarah is? And if you do, where does she live?"

You lean in and whispered to the old man. A sweat rolls down the side of his face as his hands jitter in place. He then whispers back without making eye contact. His eyes are trained on the floor under him.

"U-u-uh ummm uh....s-she lives upstairs....r-r-room t-twenty....t-that's all I know...."

"Why are you afraid?....I'm not going to hurt you."

The old man shakes his head silently.

".....alright."

You say and give the old man the cash. He hurriedly takes it and closes the door. You step back allowing him to do so before sighing heavily.

"....well, you heard him."

"Yeah....umm....why was he so afraid?"

"I....don't know...."

You say and look out to the surrounding area. The sun has set in the distance. The orange in the horizon is fading and the dark blues of the night have appeared with sparkles of the stars at the opposite side of the sky. The chirps of critters start to sound off nearby. The buzzing of flies tapping against the occasional street lights fill the air with loneliness.

"C'mon, lets get this over with. It's getting late. I want to get into a warm bath soon."

Amelia says and grabs your hand. You smile down at her. Quickly you two make it up the flight of stairs to the second floor and travel across to the very end of the line of doors. Giving the honor to Amelia she steps forward again and presses the doorbell..

....few moments later you see the window blinds move as someone takes a peek at you two through the window beside the door. Amelia jumps a little frightened at this and you pull her a little closer.

"Hey! Uhhh....we're here to see Sarah!!"

You shout at the window.

"....."

".....Sarah! Are you ther-"

"GO AWAY!!!"

A female voice shouts out and you both jump at how loud it was. It wasn't Sarah's though. A family member?

"Ma'am, can we talk? We're friends of Sarah and we're here to see if she's oka-"

"I DONT GIVE A SHIT!!! FUCK OFF YOU SHITHEADS!!!"

You look at Amelia again and she looks at you confused.

"Try the money trick again."

"Huh? I don't think we can bribe her."

"Why not? Offer like a thousand bucks or something."

"I-I don't carry a thousand bucks on me. You think I'm looking to get mugged?"

"But you were carrying 500?"

Suddenly a deafening BANG comes over the place as you two instinctively duck fearing that it was a gun shot. It echoes into the neighborhood splitting the air into two as you on double time swoop Amelia off her feet and thud down towards the flight of stairs as quick as you can. Amelia covers her eyes and ears in fright.

You keep running as Amelia glances back at the apartment in your arms. Going past the parking lot and down the road you finally stop.

"Holy shit....she had a gun."

You say with a cold sweat over you.

"W-who was that?"

Amelia says holding onto you tightly.

"Dunno....but they really don't want us snooping around."

You let out a visible breath and notice that the cold night air had finally arrived.

"Let's get back home. We can....talk about it later."

Amelia says to you and hugs you tighter.

.....

You and Amelia walk back for a few minutes. Just side by side, hand in hand silently hopping from streetlight to streetlight. Her hands are cold....

"Should we get on a bus? They're still running at this time right?" You say as you speak to Amelia.

"We could....or maybe we can get a taxi? That might be better. Won't have to walk from the bus stop."

"Heh, yeah that'll be great actually. Do you know any taxi lines we can call?....Amelia?"

"....."

"Amelia?"

"Shhh!"

Amelia grabs you and pulls you aside to hide. You peek out to look and you quickly see what she is looking at....Sarah.

Sarah walks towards you and Amelia, her head keeps looking back behind her every so often as she walks. She is in her uniform still....

"What is she....doing?"

"She's being followed. I think that's why she's looking back like that."

Amelia says and you focus your eyesight into the darkness behind Sarah....she's right. There are two male figures following Sarah on the sidewalk.

"Jun, you shoul-"

Before Amelia could get out what she was going to say next you had already left her side and began to walk down the sidewalk towards Sarah.

"W-Wait Jun! There's two of them! Don't get hurt!"

"Amelia, I'll handle it okay? Stay back."

You say as she began to follow you but stops. There is a worried look on her face.

Your heart pumps loudly as you draw in steady breaths. Your body is alive. You can feel the blood coursing through your veins. It is hot as you tighten your fist and stretch out your fingers....