As Cold As Ice

Abandoned

We walked through the empty apartments, choosing to take the stairs over the sketchy elevator. I'd rather not get stuck and die in an old elevator. There was so many flights of stairs and Dante was already sweating by the second one. The paint on the walls had peeled so it was a patchy mess. The stairs themselves were dirty, as if a cleaner had not been here in months. I didn't dare to touch the handrails.

As we trudged our way up the stairs, a man who was clearly a drug addict passed by us, throwing us a glare. Dante took it to heart.

"Why did he look at us like that? I'm offended." He muttered, slightly out of breath.

"Dante only people that struggle live here, and I'm sorry but we don't struggle anymore because of Ace, you came here in a suit for godsake!" I rambled, which only made Dante more defensive.
"What's wrong with my suit? I like my suit, thank you very fucking much!" He argued, rolling his eyes like a child.
"I like the fucking suit Dante, but I'm just saying, these people don't have any money, and you walk in here with a big flashy red suit" I stated, and Dante knew I was right. He glared at me for a moment, and I wondered what he was going to reply with.
"So there is something wrong with the suit" He scowled, looking for an argument.
"I will murder you, we don't belong here and they know that. I wouldn't be surprised if we got stabbed just walking up these stairs. People could get a lot of money for that suit Dante" I spoke, rolling my eyes.

Then we both noticed after all of our arguing, that we had reached the 70th floor.

"I'm never walking up that many stairs ever again!" He said, swinging the block door open, causing it to smash into the wall. I cringed as Dante laughed.

Dante pointed at the door with 79 marked on it. The 9 was broken though, so it looked like a 6.

"How do we approach this?" I uttered, realising neither of us had a game plan.
"You hide because if it is her, she'll know you instantly, Jack Frost" Dante joked, making me stand behind a wall as he knocked repeatedly.

I heard Dante speak for a moment, before a voice that I hadn't heard in years spoke also.
"I already gave them what I had" She croaked, as I peaked my head around the corner. I could only see Dante.
"Listen, you seem like a nice man, but I have an even nicer man in my bedroom so if you'll excuse me" she said and before she had a chance to shut the door on Dante, I ran over and slammed my hand against the door.

The woman opened the door again, seeming offended until she saw who I was. Her son who she had abandoned all those years ago.

She was still as frail as I remember her, her hair long and ratty. She had definitely aged though. She was wearing a dirty silk robe, that was tied around her waist and no shoes or socks. She looked sickly, as if she was dying.

She froze for moment, wondering if it was actually me.
"We want the rest of the payment and we want it now, otherwise we'll have to kill you" I smiled at her shocked expression.
"Where's my baby Alex, where's Avery?" She asked, grabbing my arm. I grabbed her wrist with my other arm and I squeezed, I could've sworn I heard something crack.
"He's back at that house you abandoned us in" I spat, still crushing her wrist.
"Okay okay I'm sorry" She winced, crumbling to her knees in pain.
"I won't hesitate to kill you, give us the fucking payment now" I yelled, forcing myself inside.
"No Alex, don't go in please!" She begged but I didn't listen.

Before I knew it, something had smashed over my head and I was unconscious.

I awoke next to Dante, who was still unconscious. He looked worse than me though, his eye was swollen, and he had a busted lip. Dante was never the best fighter but he always tried his best.

I had tape over my mouth, as did Dante. What the fuck happened? How long were we out for?
I know it wasn't my bitch of a mom who hit us. Then I remembered she said a man was in her room. Anger burned in my veins as I tried to move, but I was stuck; my hands tied behind my back. I watched as Dante awoke, and began to panic. All I could make was a mumbling noise to let him know I was here. He looked at me with his eyes widened.

That's when I realised he wasn't looking at me. He was looking behind me.

I turned my head as far as I could.

Reality hit me like a truck when I saw the ice blonde hair. Of course it was Andrew. Of course it had to be Andrew. I wanted to scream with anger. He couldn't have bested me like this. There's no way this was all a plan and I fell for it.

I'm such an idiot. I saw fear wash over Dante's face. He thought we were going to die.

He should've known that no matter what, I'll never let Andrew kill me. I was determined to kill him, and I wonder how he was standing here right now because I swear my determination alone could've murdered him.

We were sat in the living room on the floor, tied up and trapped.

Andrew smiled as he ripped the tape off my mouth.

"It's like a family reunion", he laughed and the worst part is that he wasn't wrong. We were just missing one person.

How could she sleep with the guy who murdered Avery?

"Are we sure you're my father, after all, this whore was sleeping around with other guys?" I smiled before Andrew laughed, his fist colliding with my face. My face hung to the side as I laughed.
"Is that all you've got, you hit like a bitch?".