Mad as Jazzmen |1930s Ryden AU| ✔️

-17-

Jynx trotted along ahead of him like she'd walked this route dozens of times, her muscles rippling beneath her smooth black coat.  Not once did she stop to sniff the air or get a sense of direction.  As soon as they had left the hut, she turned left, and she hadn't stopped slinking down the damp streets since; Brendon had no choice but to keep following her and wonder where she was taking him.

The sky was already turning dark by the time Brendon started to get worried.  They'd been walking for what felt like hours, and Jynx kept leading him down abandoned alleyways, to even more sketchy sides of the city.  Yet, she didn't seem frightened in the slightest.  Brendon hated to admit he was more jumpy and afraid than a cat.

As thick clouds rolled in overhead, masking the inky blue of the evening sky, Jynx turned a sharp corner and led Brendon toward a small collection of buildings.  Except, these buildings were completely run-down and probably the shadiest buildings Brendon had ever seen.  Shouts and yells echoed from the open windows, the distant barking of angry dogs filling the evening air around them.  Brendon even thought he heard glass shattering from somewhere.  Whatever it was, he knew that this place was easily the headquarters for some kind of dangerous activity.

He didn't want to keep walking forward.  His throat was dry, his palms growing cold and clammy.  Suddenly his plan for playing the hero and trying to save Jon didn't sound so appealing.  What he wouldn't have given to turn on his heel and run back home, back to the safety of his apartment in the French Quarter.

But he knew he had come out here for a reason, and Jynx wouldn't let him turn back, not when she had done the unthinkable and led him all the way to this section of the city.  He had to keep pressing onward, despite the uncontrollable fear bubbling deep in his stomach.

Not once did he let his guard drop as Jynx padded down a threatening alleyway, up to an old rusted door.  She came to a stop just before it, sitting down and wrapping her tail around her paws.  Brendon tried to swallow the lump in his throat at the terrifying thought of what monstrosity lied behind that door.

With the muffled screams and the furious barks still in the distance, Brendon raised a trembling hand and knocked three times on the door.

There was no answer at first, much to Brendon's relief.  He heaved a sigh, glancing down at Jynx's slender form as she stared at him with curious eyes.  She must've known what was behind the door, and although she didn't seem concerned, that didn't mean Brendon wasn't.  He was petrified.  The fear of the unknown made his skin crawl, and it didn't help that the possibility of Jon being in there was high.  He had said these were dangerous people, and Brendon was knocking on their front door.  It was an idiotic thing to do, and he knew that, but what else was he supposed to do?  Sit around and let Jon get himself into even more trouble?  Brendon didn't think so.  He just had to swallow his fears and play the hero.

If only it was as easy as it sounded, though.

Just when Brendon thought no one was going to answer, the rusted door swung open with such a force that it nearly knocked Brendon back.  On the other side stood the largest, dirtiest, and scariest looking man Brendon had ever seen in his life.

If pigs were suddenly transformed into humans, Brendon was sure this man would make the cut.  His skin was blotchy and pink, his stomach protruding rather hideously from his too-tight tank top that was probably supposed to be white.  His dark eyes were bulbous, and his fat lips were almost entirely covered by his unkempt beard.  Nausea flooded through Brendon as the man scrutinized him with those disturbing eyes.  Had he even showered in the past ten years?  Brendon could smell the pungent odor from where he stood.  Even Jynx crinkled up her nose in disgust.