the visitors

Hudson's Houses

Audrey's Living Quarter

6:22 PM

      Audrey stared at the blank page of her notebook, hoping that turning up the volume on her music would somehow inspire her further to create some words. The volume was already at its max. Any minute now one of her roommates would come home and Audrey was rushing to use the time alone in the house to her advantage. Cora was at work and sometime liked to go out to eat with her "coworker of the week" afterwards. Cora talked enough about her work life that Audrey knew name more than she cared to know. Advik was at the park with his new friend Morgan. 

     Morgan was actually Cora's former best friend that suddenly found herself crashed on her couch since three weeks ago. Supposedly Morgan went off grid years ago and Cora was not expecting her, but given they were once super close and their abruption wasn't on bad terms Cora accepted her with enthusiasm and without asking Advik and Audrey. Audrey didn't particularly mind Morgan, though she was loud and messy. She figured the stay was brief. Advik, however, instantly clicked with her, shocking to the rest of their peers. They were nothing alike at first glance but they acted like that was part of the charm that made it seem like they knew each other since childhood. So, with that context, it didn't cross Audrey's mind too much that Morgan was spending the day with Advik and not with Cora. 

     Audrey decided that the music was actually distracting her so she turned it off. When it stopped she realized the door was knocking. How long had it been knocking ? Audrey checked to see if any of her friends were at the door. Obviously it wasn't her roommates since they would have easily let themselves in, and would have texted her if they locked themselves out. Audrey's neighbor Avery and her landlord Hudson were possible contenders, but they would have let her know beforehand. It might have been another neighbor Kat, since they were friends, and Kat wasn't the type to text Audrey. Audrey didn't like being the first person to text either, so they didn't talk as much as either of them would have liked to.  

    Audrey went towards the door and looked through the peephole only to learn she didn't recognize the people on the other side. No surprise, she had two roommates they could have been there for. There were two men, one fairly tall and the other fairly short. To call him short wasn't fair, he was taller than Audrey. shorter, then. The tall(er) one carried a suitcase, the short(er) one held an umbrella. The sun was setting and the sky was dry, so this was warranting of a judgment. Besides what they had with them, nothing alarming. She cracked the door open, only enough so her body filled the gap.

"Hello ?"

      The tall(er) one raised his eyebrows at the short(er) one, signaling him to be the one to speak up. "Are you having a nice evening ?" his eyes looked tired but balanced it with a smile. Calling his eyes tired in her head wasn't a bad thing, in fact she found herself admiring his perfectly straight eyeliner. He wore his heavy like her, so she took a liking. Her mind went back to his question. Am I having a nice evening ?? Did he mean 'good evening' ??

"Uhh.. sure. Are you looking for someone ?" 

"Why, you read my mind !" When the short(er) one said this the tall(er) one let out a small gasp. Before he could say anything, the other one said "no, just an expression I've heard people use. She can't really but this will easily prompt us into our next question."

"Oh, good ! I thought Cora was living with a witch !" The tall(er) one had a louder voice, although just as charismatic as the short(er) one's. Audrey would have passed it off as a joke if the short(er) one didn't have to give him that earlier lesson on what an expression was. Audrey didn't ask anything, just waited for the visitors to ask her about Cora.  

     There was a pause where the parties just stared at each other, so the short(er) one let his smile down for a moment. "Where might I find Cora.. Rogers ?" The last name was said not as if he was unsure of it, but rather he was emphasizing that he knew what it was.

"Not here. Can I ask for your names, I'll tell her you stopped by."

"You may ask." The short(er) one said as if he just completely owned her for correcting her incorrect question.

"Okay. What are you names ?"

"I'm S-"

"We will not give you our names." The short(er) one spoke fast enough to beat the tall(er) who was about to actually give a normal answer to the question.

"Well. Bye." Audrey shut the door on them. They didn't fight her and Audrey was surprised she was able to just, do that. She went back to her table and waited for them to knock again. How long did they wait outside the door ? Fifteen minutes later and Audrey turned her music back on.

---

     "Hey Auds." Cora walked in, Audrey still at the table with her notebook. She at least had a few sentences down. It had been thirty minutes since the two men were talking to Audrey so it seemed like a surprise they didn't catch Cora on her way in. "Oh my god, you're not looking to date, right ? Too bad ! My coworker, Traveon, has a roommate, Elliot, that I think you might like. He thought you were pretty from the picture I showed him, and he's like, kind of sarcastic too, so-"

Audrey learned to ignore Cora's weak match making skills. "Some guys were here looking for you. They literally refused to give me their names." Audrey then gave brief descriptions. She really didn't care to do what they asked her to do, but she wanted to know who they were, and Cora might have decrypt Audrey's descriptions. 

"Uh... not familiar. That doesn't mean I don't know them. I'm bad with knowing people right away. But.. I'm intrigued. Were they hot ?" 

'Pretty' would have been Audrey's preferred term, but she immediately shook that thought out of her head. "Who cares ! One had a suitcase ! Are we about to have more roommates if they decide to show up again ?"

"Girl I can't even be honest with that question. 'cause, like, I had no idea Morgan was gonna come here." 

      Audrey gave a mean look, not appreciating her joke. Just because Cora was the first person to live there and was literal friends with the freaking landlord doesn't mean she can get away with messy shit like this.  

     Cora knew her joke wasn't good. "'kay, sorry. No it'll be okay. If they freaked you out, I'll get them. You're more important to me than I act sometimes." It... actually came across as genuine, and she was real about it, so Audrey just shrugged, not a bad one, a neutral one, when Cora hugged her.

---

 

[Four days later, same location]

12:03 PM

     Audrey had walked in the door after coming home from a mundane shift at the library, when she was greeted by Cora and the two visitors. Audrey hadn't forgotten about them, but it still took her aback that they managed to find a way in her home. Of course Cora would let them in. The three of them were seated at the table with mugs in front of them. Did Cora serve them tea or some shit ??

"Um. You guys again." Audrey was stubborn about being just as hostile as them, at least the short(er) one. 

"Hey Audrey !" the tall(er) one looked almost excited to see her and waved. The fact he knew her name made her nervous. She wasn't one to yell, but she just might do so at Cora when they left. 

"Oh my god," Cora got up and whispered to Audrey. "You were wrong, they are hot. Well, he is." She nodded her head towards the tall(er) one. "You can have the other guy. Seems like your type. Same makeup, kind of." She got out of her whisper. "Anyway. Audrey, this is Bruce and Sebastian !"  

     Audrey rolled her eyes, trying a little too hard to seem disinterested. She still didn't trust them so for Cora's sake, and Audrey's secret interest, she sat on the couch to play on her phone will Cora talked in the kitchen. No one seem bothered by her eavesdropping, so the conversation continued. They asked Cora about her job and her social life. Not in an invasive way, but it was as if they were meeting her for the first time. 

     Audrey would have passed it off as some sort of twisted interview, but then they mentioned Morgan's unknown whereabouts without Cora ever bringing her up. Audrey stealthily poked her head out to see the reactions, and Cora was visibly taken aback. six seconds didn't seem like a long pause, but it was for Cora.

"Morgan. How do you know her ?" She squinted her eyes.

"I assumed we were talking about your friends. I apologize if this is a sore subject for you," said the short(er) one, the one who called himself 'Sebastian.'

"I haven't spoken to her in years. Do you.. know where she is ? Actually - never mind. I don't care. She never called me." Audrey suddenly felt bad for not giving Cora enough credit. Even if she was a bad liar, she knew a wrong situation better than Audrey assumed. The visitors, however, bought it, and changed the subject. The conversation carried on for ten more minutes, mostly about whether sugar or splenda was better in tea, before they excused themselves. When they left, Cora was about to say something before Audrey shushed her and ushered her to the balcony where they slowly opened the door to listen to the visitors.

"Okay, so now what ?? She broke ties with her family, maybe there's another friend who knows where she is ?" The one who gave the name 'Bruce' (Audrey had an idea that those were their fake names) asked. 

"Cora is a bluff. A person who knows that many people must know more than one person with a familiar name such as 'morgan.' Knowing she jumped to the one she claims she hasn't spoken to in years is a red flag." Sebastian was only irritated that he had to come up with another plan, but seemed rather pleased that they knew where Morgan was. Audrey and Cora made their ways back in. 

"Sooooo.. you never met them."

"Damn it Morgan !!" Cora hissed. Suddenly inviting someone who's spent the past five years in the wasteland seems to have after effects. "God, I should have known she was running away from something - someone - when she fucking shows up at my door with no notice ! How did they know to find me ??" Cora liked looking for petty things to be angry about, but Audrey pitied her and knew she had a right to be upset. Plus, now that they have untrusting strangers visiting them because of her.

---

Cora and Audrey hadn't left the floor when Morgan and Advik walked in. At that moment Audrey wondered if it bothered Cora that she spent more time with Advik than her. 

"Hey guys, did y'all know Advik -" Morgan wasn't able to finish her sentence.

"SO BRUCE AND SEBASTIAN, HUH ? YOU WANNA TELL ME WHO THEY ARE ?" asked Cora. 

"Who the hell are those people ?" Morgan smirked. she looked at Advik and shrugged, getting him to laugh at the tone she used.

"I.. don't think those were their real names, Cora." said Audrey, who then turned to Morgan. "Two men, one with a suitcase were asking about you ! Somehow they knew they'd find you through Cora. If you're gonna put your friends through that kind of danger, can you at least give us the decency to explain why anyone would possibly be looking for you right now ?"

Cora smiled, glad Audrey wasn't gonna be passive in this situation. Audrey was offended by Cora's proud grin. 

Morgan didn't look worried, but at least her annoying giggly self was gone. "I tend to piss people off. It's not a big deal. Your landlord is a former bounty hunter, right ? He might help me out. Some petty person I used to work with might have put a bounty on me and someone's taking it a little too far. I can handle it. 

"Well i fucking hope so. One might have looked like you could kill him by slapping him with a textbook, but the other one looked like he could do some damage, even if he didn't act like it." Cora was quick to forgive morgan. She still had more questions, but she didn't like being mad at her, or worried about bounty hunters. 

"He didn't even know that 'you read my mind' was an expression," Audrey muttered under her breath. She didn't have the energy to let these guys be a threat if no one else was.

Morgan looked scared. She didn't say anything until Advik noticed it.

"Um... Morgan you wanna say something ?" He smiled, but he looked scared now, too.

"Heyyyyyyy..... So those guys.... Did one wear a long trench coat and shoulder hair with too much makeup - uh no offense Audrey but it kind of looked like yours - and they other had curly short hair and wore clothes that were layered yet fitted enough so you could see his biceps ?" 

"Weirdly descriptive, but sounds like them." said Audrey.

"ADAM AND SETH !?!? Okay so I change my mind about me handling this. I might be fucked. hee hee."