After searching around, I found an alleyway to hide in and ushered the girl into it. Back against a wall, I slowly slid down it, the reality of what just happened settling in. I threw the coins aside and slid my hands down my face. This was so not what I needed. Glancing up, I caught the raven-haired girl sorting the coins, dividing them evenly. I grabbed her hand to stop her.
“You can have them,” I told her.
“I’ll have half,” she insisted, pushing the coins towards me. She continued dividing, ignoring my words. Not caring to argue, knowing I wouldn’t win, I slid the odd coins back at her, making sure I got the rounded-down values on odd numbers.
“What was that?” A familiar voice questioned from behind us.
I winced. Slowly turning around, I found that the Orc from the bar, along with the other human, had followed us here. The Orc stood in front, bright violet eyes peering down at us. Now that she was standing, I realized how tall she was. I was used to feeling small, my barely over five-foot statue not giving me many opportunities to feel tall, but she even dwarfed the chestnut-haired girl next to her, who couldn’t have been shorter than 5’7. I panicked against the glare, hoping she wouldn’t try to turn us in.
“Well?” The Orc pushed.
“I-I don’t know, she’s awfully pretty-”
“What??” The other human interjected. I shot her a glare.
“Listen, it was a heat of the moment thing alright, I’m not usually-” I caught myself on the thought. Not usually what? Like this? Because you’ve never made panicked decisions with dire consequences- I took a deep breath as I sent the thoughts away. I turned to start picking through the coins again, recognizing the conversation moving on but not having it in me to listen. After a minute, I tuned back in to hear,
“Sybil, and you?” From my accomplice.
“Elizar,” the Orc responded.
I waited for the human to say something, but I guess she didn’t feel the need. I knew the feeling.
The rest was cut short by a distant sound of sobbing, followed by the barrier’s hum as it shot up and encompassed the town. Whatever was happening, we were stuck in here until it was over.
“The sobs sound like they’re coming from the town square, I’m gonna check it out,” Elizar decided, moving out of the alley. Sybil moved to get up, but I stopped her.
“We might wanna lay low for a bit,” I explained, referencing the robbery we just committed. She eyed me with wide eyes, looking to Elizar and the human. When they both gave an affirming nod, she sat back down with a pout. “Please come tell us what happened when you know.” Elizar left the alley, giving me a slight nod before going in the direction of the sobs, but to my surprise, the human didn’t follow.
“You aren’t going?” I asked, barely containing the venom in my voice.
She shrugged, sitting down across from Sybil and me. Her violet robe top contrasting her dark, armored legs. She had a bunch of weapons in holsters, so I doubted she was a magic-user. “I don’t see why I need to, you have that girl coming back here for you guys anyway.”
“Yeah, but who said she’d help you?” I hissed.
Taken aback, the girl studied me intently. Leaning back against the wall, she tilted her head to the sky.
“Cool eyes,” she told me.
I paused, sending a suspicious glance at her before conceding a small, “thanks” in her direction. No one had even complimented them. No one except him.
I turned my attention to Sybil, who was still counting her coins, totaling up all her money. She didn’t seem to have a lot, and a part of me wondered where she came from. What drove her to such an extent, such a want for money, where others might, you know, follow the laws? But I guess I wasn’t one to talk. Even still, whatever drove her to such an extent didn’t age her, she still had childish mannerisms and a seeming ignorance to consequences. She caught me staring at her, and threw me a concerned smile before going back to her work.
My gaze shifted to the other human, and she raised an eyebrow at me, a slight smirk on her lips. Slightly red, I shifted my arms over my chest.
“Why are you here?” I finally asked after an extended silence. Both of them looked up at me, but upon realizing I was talking to the chestnut-haired girl, Sybil turned her attention to her.
A faraway look passed over her eyes before an irritated glare took over. I knew she had the wrong idea.
“I mean, why are you here in this alley, with us?” I corrected.
A grateful look flashed over her face before she answered. “I just got here the other day,” she explained. “I was gonna help you rob the bar before the fog cloud appeared and I couldn’t see shit. I ended up tripping over my own feet, and by the time I was all oriented again you were gone.”
“Aw, you wanted to play with us?” pestered Sybil, a genuine grin on her face.
“Absolutely not,” she snapped, a slight red turning to her cheeks.
I was completely taken aback. She was a complete bitch in the bar, there was no denying that, but maybe she was just lonely. She seemed nice enough now.
“It’s fine if you did, “ I said slowly. “We’re practically besties, now that we’ve shared this alley together.”
She perched an eyebrow, before sinking into a grin, “Besties, huh?”
I nodded in affirmation. Looking over at Sybil, I added, “and of course, my partner in crime,” which earned me a toothy grin on her part. We sat in comfortable silence for no more than three minutes before Elizar returned with a determined look on her face.
“There’s been a murder,” She informed us, earning gasps from the rest of us. “The girl’s name is Alfira, she’s the Mayor’s daughter, and she’s been killed. And I’m going to solve it.” I peered at her with wide eyes. A murder? “I’m going to investigate the Mayor’s house, I heard her body’s in there, maybe there are clues.”A body? “If any of you wanna come with, feel free.” Oh no, oh no oh no oh no, oh fuck.
“I don’t even know you,” I deadpanned, the words escaping me before I even knew what I had said. Sybil and the human gave me strange looks.
The Orc scoffed. “Fine then.” She stalked out of the alley, both humans moving to follow her.
As they left, I slammed my head into the wall. I was stuck in there, in that town, which wasn’t ideal. Until the culprit was found the barrier wouldn’t go down, and I’d be trapped in here. Who knows how long it could take for the authorities to find them. Who knows what could happen in that time? Who could happen in that time? Not to mention the first friends I’d made out here were walking away from me, most likely thinking I was a coward.
I sighed, picking myself off the ground. I ran a hand across my eyes and rolled my shoulders back. With a deep breath, I walked out of the alleyway. I needed to get out of there. I needed to find a match to the ring and find him. Or, who he was. It can’t hurt to have one more person looking. And I mean, Sybil’s bound to get herself in all kinds of trouble. Lifting my chin, I headed down the street towards the Mayor’s house.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
I arrived at the Mayor’s house to catch Elizar talking to two guards stationed around the entrance, Sybil and the chestnut girl standing not far behind them. The house was big, but I wouldn’t go so far as to say it was a mansion. Of course, these Neutral Territory towns aren’t that big. Or organized, for that matter. I hung back, close enough to hear the conversation while remaining unnoticed.
“Here.” Elizar handed the guards a sheet of paper, and they eyed it over before giving it back. Hesitantly, they opened the door.
“Don’t do anything stupid,” one of the guards warned, Elizar giving a blunt nod in response. Once she was through the door, the guards turned their attention back to us. “These people with you?”
She turned back, only giving it a short thought before narrowing her eyes. “No.” She walked off, the door slamming shut behind her before the two humans even thought to protest.
I stepped in, cutting off their groans. “I got this,” I whispered to them, and their heads swiveled in surprise. I walked past the both of them, smiling sweetly as I sized up the guards. The one on the right seemed to be an elf, a bit tall with dark grey eyes and long light hair. He was stoic as a statue, practically looking through us. Though I could’ve broken him, I saw some much more low-hanging fruit on the left. This man was shorter, with dark skin and dark hair, but his light eyes shown in contrast. I met his eyes with my smile, and he looked me over before meeting my eyes again, and the slight movement in his throat signaled a gulp.
I smirked. Too easy.
“We only wanna help, sir. This murder has just, frightened us all to death,” I claimed, looking up at him through my lashes. “I mean, if it’s not safe for the mayor’s daughter, then who is it safe for? I wouldn’t wanna be next, do you?” I saw him shift from side to side, obviously nervous. Now. “If you could just let us in…”
He looked to his partner, who was eyeing him with disdain. He eventually rolled his eyes and opened the door for us. “I swear, if anything goes wrong, this is on you,” he muttered to his comrade.
“Yeah, yeah…” I heard the bright-eyed man sigh.
As we passed through the door, I heard the elf guard ask, “What’s up with your eyes?”
I froze, panicked. What do I say? What will they do if they know? Who will they tell? Forcing my thoughts away, I sent a weak, “they’re contacts,” his direction, before turning and stalking into the manor.
But I didn’t take more than three steps before I bumped into something. Stepping back, I realized I had stalked face-first into Elizar. Biting back my embarrassment, I looked up at her.
“Oh-” She started.
“Don’t you have a murder to solve?” I asked, letting a bit of venom seep into my tone.
She rippled with uncomfortableness before locking her eyes on mine. “I was coming back for you guys.” We all stood in awkward silence before she spoke again. “I found the door to the cellar, I’ll show you guys the way.” She turned, showing us past the ornate vases and decorations to a doorway not far from the entrance. She opened the door, and we all made our way down the stairs.
Unlike the rest of the house, the cellar was dark and unfinished. A dim light cast just enough light to make out the room. The dull walls had never been painted in years and the residents had never bothered to put flooring over the hard concrete. Crates were sprawled across the floor in a haphazard fashion. Some were open, some were closed, but in a corner, isolated from the rest of the boxes, one was definitely open.
The box was filled with limbs. Red, bloodied, dismembered. An arm, jaggedly cut, fingers legs arms, dead lifeless and so much blood.
My feet froze and stumbled, falling back, my head barely scraping the wooden stair before I’m yanked back onto my feet. The chestnut girl caught my eye, a mix of concern and irritation flooding her face, but I didn’t care. My breathing was shallow as I melted down to the floor, Sybil and Elizar busy inspecting the basement. They either didn’t hear, or didn’t care. I gripped my straggled bangs in handfuls and yanked down, covering my vision in my raven-black hair, dragging my head to my knees. Deep breath in, deep breath out, deep breath in- the images were swirling around my head so fast I couldn’t breathe. The set of green and brown eyes, my father, my families’ steel flower crest, my father, fury, lifeless eyes, covered in blood, I'm covered in blood-
Two hands slapped the sides of my face and pulled my head up. Not hard enough to hurt, but the force was shocking nonetheless. Neon blue eyes pinned me in place, a hard stare that burned through my soul. “You’re alright.” That’s all she said. She let go, turning away, but I grabbed her hand to stop her. She hauled me off the ground with one pull, making sure I was steady on my feet before letting go.
I faced the stairs, not knowing what to do but knowing I couldn’t turn back there. When they all started up the stairs, I mindlessly followed.
Comments (0)
See all