Dante did not think he would ever get used to places like this. After all, he would never fit in. He could just feel all the judging gazes on him from all the velvet wreathed windows on the street, then probably drawing those curtains and locking the door. A nervous drop of sweat rolled down his face and he fought the urge to hunch. He risked a glance, raking his eyes over the lush green lawns and the immaculate facades of nearly identical houses. Must be the work of an homeowners association, places like this always had them.

Contrary to what his expectations, no eyes met his. It had all been in his head.

One of the pillars of a nearby house caught his eye and he squinted at it. Was that … marble? It was always marble with the rich, no matter how gaudy it looked to everyone else. This place just speaks money, he thought while eyeing what looked to be a brand new Mercedes-Benz. Of a make and model that he did not recognize — and he had seen a fair few.

He reckoned that it was worth easily a hundred grand. He allowed himself to imagine for a moment just how that leather clad steering wheel would feel beneath his fingers, the air breezing through his hair. Bliss.

Now, If it was a few years ago I would … he would what exactly? Even in his prime, he knew better than to target such neighborhoods. This is where real power lay, and you just did not mess with that.

At least that fantasy took the edge off. He breathed out a sigh of relief and “ — You lost sonny?”

Dante jumped and snapped his attention back to the road where a car had pulled to a stop in front of him. This one wasn’t quite the gem that had caught his attention before, but was still a classic antique. Driving it, was an old woman who likely was older than her vehicle by an order of magnitude. She was gazing at him through tortoise shell spectacles in a manner reminiscent of a disapproving librarian.

She cleared her throat and said rather pointedly, "It isn't that long until the curfew hon, shouldn’t you be getting home to your parents?" The old harpy gave him a meaningful look and Dante repressed yet another sigh and pushed down a familiar surge of irritation. He had even worn his best slacks, dress shirt, and cleanest pair of sneakers just to try to avoid this situation. Wasted effort it seemed …

“Thank you for your concern maam” he said, not meaning a word of it. “However, I am not underage so the curfew … ” He trailed off as he saw her disbelieving look and resignedly reached for his wallet, flipped it open, and showed her his license. What a nosy old bag, he thought as the old woman leaned out of her window to peer skeptically at the card. Dante wrinkled his nose as he caught a whiff of a strong floral perfume applied way too liberally.

“I’ll be darned, so you are 23. You don’t look it.” She gave him a sidelong glance. “If that's the case, then why are you here? I certainly don’t recognize you and I know everyone on the block”

Of course she does.

“I am here to visit my sister. In fact, I am now quite late. Now, If you don’t mind?” Dante began walking off, fully intending to leave this fossil behind before feeling something snag his sleeve.

A wave of burning anger swept through him and, fighting to keep a snarl off his face, he turned around to see that the women had taken hold of his sleeve with a surprisingly strong grip. He had given black eyes for less. His breath came in short and fast and he almost made that mistake before he caught himself.

I am not that man anymore.

Something of his struggle must have made its way to his face despite his best efforts as she gently let go of his sleeve.

“Look I just want to make sure that you are for the right reasons, if you would just say who you are going to — ” Dante interrupted her, just about out of patience.

“The McClellans place, I believe their house number is 1467?”

The woman blinked rapidly, obviously caught off guard. “Yes, that’s correct. I see that — ”

Dante did not hear the last of what she was saying as he had already turned around and started walking away. Checking his phone, he cursed. Half an hour late! She is never going to let me live this down.

Now that he was away from that encounter, Dante now felt a pang of regret. He could have handled that situation better. She had been the one to escalate things when she had touched him, but he knew that was no excuse. Now it was just going to be awkward every time he visited this neighborhood. Now he knew for sure that there was someone who disliked him here. He just hoped the old woman did not spread any rumors.

It hadn’t helped either that his new Demesnes & Daemons game with Ray had run overtime, as nearly always happened. Really, who could have expected that necromancer had hidden zombies in the swamp water and that baseline zombies were THAT strong. Battle rating one quarter his ass, just six of the bastards had taken down him and half the party before he had excused himself. Dante wouldn’t be surprised if they were still at it.

He shook himself out of his reminiscing. He had to be careful as the first time he had visited the house he walked right past and had gotten lost so badly that his sister had to fetch him.

If I remember correctly, the house should be around here. Let’s see … 1463 … 1465 … There, 1467!

In front of him lay a house much like any other in the neighborhood. It was a rather large house, bordering on a mansion, that was primarily made of white stucco, brick, and marble. It fit in perfectly with the aesthetic of the neighborhood. Personally, Dante thought that spoke to a lack of taste.

The grounds in front — it was much too large to be called a yard — bore an extensive garden full of blooming flowers, landscaped trees, and even an artificial stream. Even the air smelled better here, laden with that fresh cut lawn smell and blooming flowers. All together, it gave off the sense of a natural oasis that Dante knew for a fact was the result of many thousands of hours of painstaking care. He had seen the gardeners at work.

Was it any surprise that he always hesitated there on the threshold?

In that moment, he realized that something had changed since his last visit. A sign had been staked into the landscape where it was easily visible from the street. Dante squinted in the twilight to read it.

Protected by … Vantage Security Systems? Seriously? He began the rather long walk to the house entrance and wondered if he should bother informing the McClellans about the massive mistake they’ve made.

Honestly it was quite like them to fall for the advertising without doing their research. Even a cursory search would find that they had been under a number of lawsuits concerning just how ineffectual their systems are. Problems that he knew for a fact were never fixed. There were even some criminals that targeted only marks with Vantage Security.

They did have effective advertising though.

Any further considerations were cut off as he neared the oak and wrought iron door. Well this was it.

Dante took a moment to try and straighten his now unruly hair and quickly realized it for the futile effort that it was — his curls could be so fickle. Not giving himself a chance to overthink, he depressed the doorbell and heard its crystal chimes resonate through the house. Just as he was wondering if he should press it again he heard quick footsteps on the other side and then the sound of the latch opening.

Please, please, please let it be Sis and not —

The door swung open to reveal a tall man with a rather severe expression on his face.

Him.

Reginald McClellan was a broad man with sloped shoulders and a generous gut. His black hair , peppered with white, revealed that he was well into his sixties. He looked every bit the college professor that he was with his casual slacks and a sporty dress shirt with a half done tie.

It was likely that he had just arrived home. After all, Dante had planned to arrive at the house just before he was slated to return home simply to avoid such a situation

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Mr. McClellan eyed him sternly, looking him up and down. His gaze caught on Dante’s right hand, as it always did, and Dante subconsciously covered his two missing fingers. Dante had never quite figured out why this always happened and would probably never know. He certainly was never going to ask the man. Looking up, he nearly missed a flash of something on Mr. McClellan’s face — was it sympathy? — before the perpetual frown replaced it.

A frown that he leveled straight at Dante.

“You are late Mr. Embry.”

“Sorry Sir, my …” Dante hesitated. Likely talking about the encounter with that nosy woman would color Mr. McClellan’s view of him even further. “That is, I missed my first bus. Because I overslept, because of the new job.”

The frown deepened and Dante winced. Smooth.

“Well, not that it seems to matter, Sofia is still getting ready.” Mr. McClellan eyes flitted from his sweaty face to his untamed hair, his expression hardening. “She wants to look good for her brother’s big day after all.”

“Ah I see. That’s a relief.” With that, the silence that he had been dreading descended upon the two of them.

Is he not even going to invite me in? Dante gazed from the still mostly closed door to the fact that Mr. McClellan was hiding most of his view of the house with his frame. Dante had only ever been inside that house a couple of times, he should not have expected today to be any different.

Still, this is so awkward. Dante shifted from side, fighting the urge to peer over the man's shoulder.

Is Sophia seriously not ready? Well I can’t just stand here and stare down her father. C’mon think Dante think, there has to be something that you can talk about with him!

He racked his brain for anything that they shared in common and quickly came to the conclusion that he knew nothing about the man. It wasn’t like either of them had the desire to ever make an effort to get to know the other. Still, there must be something.

So caught up in his thoughts, Dante nearly missed it when Mr. McClellan was the one who broke the silence.

“That job of yours going well?”

Dante stared at the man for a second. He had never shown any interest in his personal life before. Maybe he was finally getting to him?

“Oh yeah! Just started last week. I’ve already been putting in quite a lot of overtime hours. After all, it’s a bit harder for me to type quite as fast as my coworkers.”

He wiggled all three of his fingers on his disabled hand. If it had worked once today, why not try again? He really needed all the points that he could have with the man and he was not above using all of the cards at his disposal.

Mr. McClellan's gaze zeroed in on his hand, then looked away almost guiltily. “That’s … ahem … good. Very good.” Dante hid a smile, so even that man could be flustered. Though it certainly was not the most dignified way of doing it.

“You were fortunate to get a job like that, given with … well everything.” Mr. McClellan coughed again and maintained his gaze over Dante’s shoulder.

“That is to say,” he continued, “That you’ve done good, kid. Certainly made your sister proud. Make sure to keep it up.”

Dante was so stunned that the jab at his past didn’t even register. This was new territory, never before had either Mr. or Ms. McClellan ever showed anything close to approval for him. Though of course he had to add an unspoken ‘or else’ to the end, he thought and smiled wryly.

The silence stretched between them again, though perhaps one not quite as uncomfortable as before he thought.

Still … Where is she?

He was so late and yet she wasn’t ready. Though he supposed he should be grateful that he hadn’t had to endure a conversation like this for half an hour or more if he had arrived on time. It wasn’t like the place he was going to take her too was THAT fancy.

Almost as if summoned by the thought, he heard the pitter patter of quick footsteps, saw Mr. McClellan make a half turn as a shape darted by him.

“Brother!”

He only had a second to get ready before Sofia tackled him. All the breath left him with an emphatic ‘oof’. Despite being in her second year of high school, she was already taller than him by a fair few inches and weighed about the same. Not that he would ever mention that fact in her presence. He had learned that lesson a while ago.

“Hey Soph”, her energy never failed to put a smile on his lips. He reached up to pat her red hair and she immediately scowled, pushing his hand aside. It was then that realized that she had actually grown taller since he had last seen her. Also …

She really looks like mom now. Not that she would remember.

He barely did himself these days.

“Come on bro, I am not a kid anymore. She drew back from him and reached out her fist and looked at him expectantly. “Let’s do something like this from now on”

“What a fist bump? No. Come on, it’s not the 2010’s anymore.” She continued looking at him expectantly and he sighed. Dante lackadaisically drew back his fist and knocked it against hers.

“Boom!” Sophia exclaimed and drew her hand while wiggling her fingers and eyebrows. He snorted despite his best efforts and she returned his grin.

They were interrupted when Mr. McClellan cleared his throat.

“You will be back before eleven, no exceptions. Don’t make me regret this.” Mr. McClellan said, staring unblinkingly at Dante, who did his best to meet his gaze without flinching.

“Oh my god Dad, he gets it already. Besides, I’ll be there to remind him.” Soph walked past him and tugged him back towards the street.

“Come onnnn, we don’t have a lot of time left and we don’t want to miss the bus.” Sophia pulled him at a brisk pace back the way he came.

Dante turned back one more time before they left the sight of the house and found Mr. McClellan was still watching him, who took the opportunity to mouth ‘I am watching you’ while pointing two fingers at his eyes then back at him. Apparently they still had a long way to go.

Dante fell into a quick walk besides Sophie and noticed that his sister had really gone all out. A nice dress, hair down and straightened, and makeup to top it off. It threw him off a bit if he were to be honest with himself. He was much more used to her dressing in stained jeans and a ratty t-shirt. If she hadn’t acted so much like his sister he might not have recognized her at first glance.

“What’s all this?” he asked, gesturing to his sister in general. “Desmond’s Steakhouse is a pretty nice place but nothing like that.”

She looked over her shoulder to flash a snarky grin at him. “What? A girl can’t look nice every once in a while? Besides, what if the server is cute or something?”

She cackled madly at the expression on his face.

“Nononono” Dante shook his head emphatically. “You are so NOT doing anything like that. Not while I am there!”

Sophia’s laughing just redoubled and Dante just shook his head and picked up the pace. A good many minutes passed before she spoke again, this time she sounded contrite.

“So I hope Dad didn’t ride your ass too hard. He thinks you're a bad influence on me or something.” Damien snorted at that.

“Just the usual amount. Although … I think we might finally be making some progress” he said, still not quite believing it.

“Wait, really!” He looked back and saw that she was beaming at him. A look that he returned in kind.

“Yeah it really caught me off guard. We were having the usual awkward standoff when he up and complimented me.” Dante hesitated for a second then added belatedly. “I know it’s not much, but baby steps right?”

Sophia nodded vigorously. “That’s right! I guess we now have two things to celebrate tonight!” She stopped suddenly and before pointed to the bus stop ahead of them, an alarmed expression on her face.

“Shit bro, that’s our bus.” He followed her finger and saw that the bus was indeed already at the stop. Dante grabbed his sister's hand and broke into a jog. What followed was a madcap dash to the bus, all the while hoping it wouldn’t pull away.

They climbed aboard, out of breath and Dante swiped his pass. He said to the driver, who was an older gentleman wearing a ball cap and a grand white mustache, “Thanks for holding up, don’t know what we would have done if we missed this bus.”

The driver shrugged, “Not like this route is busy at this time anyways,” and gestured to the interior.

Dante could see what the man meant, they certainly had their pick of seats. The only other passengers were a teenager wearing a hoodie bobbing his head to his own beat near the front of the bus and two uniformed school girls at the back. They elected to sit together between the passengers, and the bus rumbled into motion.

It seemed that they had managed to board the bus just in time, as the pitter-patter of rain against the roof soon sounded out as a light rain started. Dante could remember when that would mean a miserable night. It was hard to stay warm on the streets with no roof over your head. All the good spots were always taken and you would likely have to sleep like a half drowned rat. Given how much it rained here, that was a lot of days.

“You know sis, if it weren’t for you, I don’t even want to know where I would be now.” He yelped as he was poked in the side. He turned and leveled a glare at his sister who wagged a finger at him.

“None of that bro. We promised nothing too mushy tonight. We are just here to celebrate you getting your new job.”

Dante massaged his side, he always hated when she did that. “Yeah I know, but don’t act like this wouldn’t be possible without you helping out. You’ve always been there for me Soph, never lost faith no matter how bad things got. Kept me sane.” His voice was trembling and he had to pause to dab at the wetness at the corner of his eyes. “This whole thing … I just want to let you know how much you mean to me”.

Sophia huffed, looking away. “C’mon Dante, you’re embarrassing me.”

She was rolling her eyes at him like only a teenage girl could, though he could spot a small smile despite her nonchalant act.

“I know, I know.” he laughed, “Mushy stuff over now.”

He poked back at her, eliciting a squeal and said: “The real question is what you are going to order tonight! Don’t hold back now, this is as much your celebration as it is mine. Also I got my first paycheck now and man is it waaay more cash then I’ve had, so don’t worry about price or anything.”

Soph started to respond, but then her gaze fixated on something behind him and her expression transformed into one of abject horror. Dante looked over his shoulder, and had just enough time to see that grill of an 18 wheeler mere feet away. In that one eternal moment, he locked eyes with the sallow eyes of the driver. The man had a six o ' clock shadow and dark bags under his eyes. There was a cigarette dangling from his lips and he appeared to slumped sideways and was clutching his chest.

Then Dante’s world was upturned and became nothing but pain.