☂︎︎ HOUSE OF SHADOWS ☂︎︎ - five hargreeves

* 𝙿𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚞𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝙵𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎 *

[011]
- ☾ '☂︎︎' ☽ -

Five Hargreeves marched up to a tall sleek building, determination in every stride. Inside the building, men and women in white lab coats flitted from room to room and refilled their coffee cups from a machine in the corner. One such person approached Five with a curious look on his face.

           "Can I help you?" he asked.

           From his pocket, Five withdrew a glass eyeball and held it out.

            "I need to know who this belongs to."

            The man raised his eyebrow in surprise.

            "Where did you get that?"

            "What do you care?" spat Five, then sighed. "I found it . . . at a playground actually. Must have just" — he clicked his tongue — "popped out. I want to return it to its rightful owner."

           The receptionist at the front desk smiled sweetly at him.

           "Oh, what a thoughtful young man!"

           "Yeah, look up the name for me, will ya?" Five said, his jaw clenching in annoyance. He obviously did not like being treated like a toddler, no less being called 'young man.'

           The man frowned at him and shook his head.

           "I'm sorry, but patient records are strictly confidential. That means I can't tell you . . . "

           "Yeah, I know what it means," snapped Five.

           The man looked taken aback for a moment before leaning down to his level and talking in a would-be-comforting voice.

           "But I'll tell you what I can do. I will take that eye off your hands and return it to the owner. I'm sure she or he will be very grateful, so if I can just —" he began reaching for the eye. Five retracted quickly and hid it from view.

           "Yeah, you're not touching this eye."

           "Now you listen here, young man . . ." But before he could finish his sentence, the man was grabbed by the collar and pulled down so his terrified eyes meet Five's feral green ones.

           "No! You listen to me. I've come a long way for this, through some crap your pea brain couldn't even comprehend, so just give me the information I need, and I'll be on my merry way," he exhaled sharply trying to regain his composure while the man spluttered.

           "And if you call me 'young man' one more time, I'm gonna put your head through that wall."

           "Oh, dear!" gasped the receptionist.

           Shaking madly, the man said, "Call security!"

           Angrily giving him a little shake, Five shoved the man away scowling but left the building quickly. He did not want to attract anymore unwanted attention, or possibly make a scene that would send people asking questions. On the low was what the boy preferred, especially since the object that was resting in his pocket was the only clue as to why the apocalypse happened — or will happen — in the first place.