Who: Esme and Ileana What: Sisterly Reunion! Where: 1203 When: This evening. Warnings: TBA
It had taken a great deal of strength for Esme to climb the steps into Bellum Letale, but she managed it.
She had a leather bag slung over her shoulder to carry everything she'd taken with her when she left and everything she'd picked up in her travels. She had her deck of tarot, still kept in a velvet bag, in the back pocket of her pants, tucked into riding boots despite the still-cooling heat of the day.
When she pushed the front door open, something flickered down the hall and was lost.
She took the stairs up to the twelfth floor, taking her time as she walked. She was humming as she went, a little trick she'd picked up while traveling. It helped to keep her focused, keep her steady.
The apartments were deserted enough that the humming carried a little into the hallways as she peeked into them.
Everything looked so much the same. Logically she knew that made sense, but in her heart she felt as if every stone had been taken out and replaced, the whole building rebuilt for her benefit.
She had a hitch on the eighth floor. She stopped on the landing, looking down the hall, for a long time-how long, she couldn't say.
Then she kept climbing.
When she reached the eleventh floor, she opened the door to her apartment with her new key. The place was sparse, the only furniture inside the bed she had ordered and a well-used couch in the living room. Later, there would be time to decorate. Thinking the word sent butterflies careening around inside her stomach. Decorating. Yes. She was here to stay.
She dropped the bag in the living room, walked back out, shut the door. Then she climbed the last staircase, walking into the twelfth floor hallway and knocking on the door to 1203.