Blood Soaked Metal: Ironblood

Chapter 3 - Red Angel

Much like the Institute, Anna's house wasn't too far away. The way the colleges and Universities were scattered around Lassford allowed the four friends to always be close to each other.

The worst case was probably Kelvin who lived the furthest away from their University. Most of the days he had to resort to the bus network of the city.

Anna's apartment was located on the second floor of a twelve-story building. It had been built recently but lacked a lot of the modern style other buildings had adopted. The apartment complex was rectangular, painted white with some details in light gray.

Daniel and Bruno were able to pinpoint where each apartment was located, just by the display of the windows.

As they walked inside, they were met by a large corridor. They saw, as they had thought, two rows of apartments: one to the left of the corridor and one to the right.

In the middle of the corridor, there was some space reserved for the stairs, on the right, and two elevators, on the left.

As they approached, Bruno swiftly turned to the left, almost clicking the button to call the elevator, but was interrupted by a comment made by Daniel:

-It's one floor, Bruno... - he said with a slight laugh.

- Ah... - Bruno exclaimed as he returned to Daniel's side, in front of the stairs - Yeah... Sorry, I forgot.

The two boys started going up the small set of stairs, being faced with another corridor practically equal to the one on the ground floor.

They looked around the number above the doors, looking for Anna's apartment. The door to it was located at the end of the corridor, on the left. Above it, there was the number they were looking for, in a metallic yellow tone.

-206... - Daniel looked at the numbers above the door - Should be here, right?

- Yeah, I think so. I haven't been here before - Bruno told him.

-Yeah, well... - Daniel turned to face him - It's what she said, right?

- Yes, Daniel - Bruno said in an exaggerated tone - I think it is here.

A few seconds of silence came as the two friends awaited to see who would ring the bell.

-C'mon! - Daniel protested - What are you waiting for?

- I thought you wanted to... - Bruno approached the door and pressed the button next to the door - ...ring the bell.

The bell made a quiet electronic sound, heard inside the house and through the door.

A few seconds passed, as Bruno and Daniel waited patiently, but also with some angst.

Daniel looked at Bruno and noticed he was a bit odd.

Bruno was sweating lightly on his forehead and it seemed like he couldn't stop moving, always rocking side-to-side with his feet.

-Wow bro, you okay? - Daniel asked concerned - You're a bit... energetic.

- Uh... yeah, I'm okay - Bruno eased Daniel's concern - I'm just excited to see her.

- Ah, okay - Daniel said as he made a mental note in his head - I was just checking...

- It's been almost a year since we've been with her... - Bruno concluded as the door started to open.

And behind the door, there stood Anna, imposing over the door, dressed in some sweatpants and a shirt. It was clear she was coming home from a long day.

Anna was taller than both Bruno and Daniel, as she always had been since they met. Maybe it was the fact that she was two years older but even amongst other girls, Anna had a relatively tall figure.