Chapter 3- Crazy Long Hair

Up close, those eyes had flecks of gold and green in them. His face was framed by dark, curly hair, accenting the tanned skin. There was a small, almost indiscernible scar on his forehead. Then I realized why I was so close to that face. "Hi I-erm... this is kinda awkward. C-could you please get up?" I was blushing. Of course I was.

"Oh sorry. I was in a bit of a hurry. Here, lemme help you up." He wasn't fazed at all.

Why oh why do I always start stuttering.

I slowly got to my feet, waiting for his reaction to my hair. I looked around for the Tupperware and saw that it had rolled to the corner of the hallway. As I went to get it, I heard a whistle. I cringed inwardly, but didn't say anything. Checking my pocket for my phone, I looked up and saw that he was still gawping at my hair. "What, never seen long hair before?" I snapped.

"Not crazy long," He replied smoothly, and thankfully stopped staring. "I'm Lukas. I'm guessing you're here to meet me and my family?"

"I er... yep. And I'm Wren."

"What's wrong with your glasses?"

"What do you mean?" As I took them off, I saw what he meant. One lens was missing, and part of the frame was cracked. Oh come on, those were my favourite! Dammit what a time for this.

"Oh God. I need to find the other lens." I went down on my knees and began searching. Lukas did the same.

"Is this is?" He held up my lens... in two pieces.

"Just great. I'm gonna have to get new ones." I took put my damaged glasses and broken lens in my pocket. I wanted to just go back to my apartment and sleep but I didn't get an opportunity to talk to new people often.

"Well," I gestured to the box of tarts. "Might as well."

"Yeah, sure. Come on in."

Unlike my apartment, this one didn't use a key card. He used an actual key to unlock the door and usher me in.

"MOM! WE HAVE A VISITOR!"

"Do you have to be that loud?"

He just smirked at me, taking the box from my hands. I was led to brightly lit living room with a couple of sofas and an ancient looking armchair. A lamp sat next to the armchair and there was a silver clock with buttons printed on it.

"I'll be right back. Make yourself comfy." He ambled down the hallway just as a whirlwind of blue and green shot out from one of the rooms and ran straight at me.

"Adan! Please greet our guest properly!" The blur stopped, mumbled hello, and disappeared from sight.

A stout, dark haired woman followed him out and smiled at me.

"I'm Lydia, you must be Wren. Sorry, he's a bit shy around new people. Thanks for the tarts dear."

"No worries. I made them myself."

Lydia came and sat down next to me. "So, Wren, which apartment do you live in?"

"I'm in the top floor apartment of building A, with my Dad and Grandma." I watched, confused, as her expression morphed. The amiable look was gone, and her face now matched Dad's face when I told him we had new neighbours.

"Uhh what's wrong? Are you alright?"

She quickly masked her emotions, saying, "I uhh... yeah. Wren, why don't you take Lukas and Adan and show them around the complex. They don't know their way around just yet. And by the way, is your father Julian Archelatta by any chance?"

Why was everyone tryna get rid of me? And how does she know Dad?

"Yeah, that's him. How do you know him? And erm sure, I'll take them for a quick tour. I don't have much time, it's late." I wasn't even done talking before she'd left the room, presumably to get her sons.

What on earth is going on? Why is everyone being so weird?

I stood up as Lydia returned, bringing a surly Lukas and Adan, the latter of whom was clinging to her like a monkey. He was whining that he didn't want to go. But however much Lydia tried to convince him, he made it very clear he wasn't going to budge. She sighed heavily and waved at me and Lukas to go on without him.

Lukas looked just about as happy as I was to be going, which was, needless to say, not at all. He shot me a look as if it was my fault that his mom had kicked us out. I groaned inwardly and muttered, "We can go to the pool area first, then I'll show you the library and gym." He grunted in response. Oh boy, was this gonna be fun.

***

Thirty boredom saturated minutes later, we were standing outside my apartment. Lukas had oh so generously offered to bring me till my apartment. "Er thanks for coming with me."

"No prob. Sorry bout your glasses. I noticed you could hardly see without them."

"You think? The prescription is negative eight."

His reaction was hilarious. Not waiting for a reply, I unlocked the door with my key card and stepped inside. It took me the next ten seconds to register the scene inside. The turmoil. And so I screamed. Loudly.

***

It was a mess. Ornaments smashed, chairs overturned, curtains and upholstery ripped. The glass coffee table lay in pieces on the floor. My breath caught in my throat. The corner of the tv bench that I hit my head on when I was eleven was hanging off by a single splinter of wood.

It looked like a travelling circus had passed through the apartment.

There was no sign of Grandma or Dad, but it didn't stop me from sprinting from room to room screaming their names. I tried calling their phones, only to find the devices smashed and on the kitchen counter.

Almost as if they wanted me to find the phones. Who's they anyway?

My confusion turned to anger when I saw what they'd done to Mom's portrait. It lay on the ground, the canvas torn through the center. When my head had cleared a little, I finally heard the persistent banging on the door. My heart raced. Gripping my tennis racket, (the first weapon I saw) I inched closer to the door. Taking a deep breath, I pulled it open to see Lukas. I sighed in relief and dropped the racket.

"Why are you holding a... oh lord what happened?!"

He stepped inside, closing the door behind him.

"Robbery I guess. Dad isn't here, neither is Grandma. I- I don't know what to do..." I was beginning to hyperventilate.

"Woah Wren calm down. There's nobody inside?"

I was close to tears now. "N-nope. Lukas, what if they were taken? What if they're hurt?"

"Hey relax. No what ifs right now. Look around, is anything taken? Any valuables gone? Perhaps that'll give us a clue to what happened."

"I d-don't think so. Let's check. You look in the kitchen and living room. I'll check the bedrooms."

We split up. I went to Grandma's room first. The drawers were pulled out, clothes scattered about on the wooden flooring. But her jewelry box was intact. Her gold necklace from her wedding was still there, and her pearl earrings in their little box. Dad's room was the same. His cash and credit card were still in the locked cabinet, though the lock was broken and the door swinging open.

That doesn't make any sense. Why didn't the thieves steal anything? What did they want?

I made my was through the disorder to where Lukas was sitting on a chair.

He looked at me. "As far as I could tell, nothing is taken. I think we should call the police, there's nothing else we can do "

"No wait. Something isn't right about this."

"Clearly."

I shot a glare at him and continued, "I don't think this is an ordinary theft and kidnapping. Nothing was actually taken. And then... ok so, after I saw you at the window yesterday, I told Dad and Grandma we had new neighbours: you and your family. He reacted in the oddest way. He was surprised, and, well, scared. Then Grandma practically kicked me out and sent me to your place. There, as soon as I told your mom which apartment I was in, she panicked as well. She asked me if my dad was Julian Archelatta, then kicked us out too. How did she possibly know Dad? And then when I came back here, this had happened."

I hadn't noticed Lukas' face during my explanatory monologue, but now he was staring at me with a terrified expression before dashing out the front door. My mind suddenly clicked as I connected the dots. I raced after him, chills running down my spine.

Oh God, please don't let this be happening.