by Mark Mulle
Chapter Six
“So that’s what happened. I’m sorry I lost the goods,” Steve said.
Wendy smiled. “Are you kidding? You single-handedly took down a gang of thieves. I don’t care if my stash had to be sacrificed for it. Because of this, I don’t ever have to worry about those guys ever again. I’m going to pay you some good money when I get it; that’s for sure.”
Steve smiled, but he was sighing inside. Despite the fact that they were thieves, Steve hoped that all of them somehow made it out of the cave alright. He didn’t like the idea of anyone dying because of him.
By the time he went outside, the sun was setting and it was dark. Despite his long day filled with adventure, Steve wasn’t tired. Maybe a little exhausted but not tired. Steve decided that his best course of action would be to explore Chance a little more, as this was a big town, and he wanted to see all it had to offer. Steve began to walk away from the blacksmith’s and decided to walk toward the castle again. It was still guarded, but he just wanted to look at it. Something about the castle just seemed odd to him. He was interested in the new king because for some reason he couldn’t shake off the feeling that something bad was about to happen to Chance. Oh well, he thought as he went down and looked at the water wheel that was located near the corner. This water wheel delivered water to all of Chance, and the water was then pumped to an underground water system located under the kingdom. How bored he must be to be fascinated by that, he thought. Perhaps all he needed to do was just go home and perhaps work a little bit on his house before he decided to go to bed, or maybe he would just plop down and go to sleep. He didn’t know anymore, and quite frankly, he was suffering from post-adventure blues. He found infiltrating the thieves’ base to be quite fun, and he was wondering if all of his tasks would be as good. Hopefully he could find some more adventure because he had the talent.
He eventually stopped at the park and plopped down on the bench. Why he was here, he didn’t know. He watched the night owls as they went about their daily lives, and one of them stopped and looked at Steve.
“Didn’t I just see you a few minutes ago?” he asked.
Not that Steve could remember. “Nope, why.”
“There’s this guy who looks like you, then. He was heading toward the housing district.”
Steve’s curiosity and his annoyance peaked. He wanted to know who this guy who looked like him was, and his energy was replenished. This was an adventure he could not get behind. He got off the bench and decided to head toward the housing district, which wasn’t too far from here.
Steve kept his guard up as he approached it, looking behind, in front, and to the sides. He wondered if this was a wild goose chase. Maybe everyone was seeing things, or there was this guy who had a similar haircut, but nothing more. But Steve, for whatever reason, thought there was something more behind this, something that was, in all reality, a bit suspicious. Steve continued heading toward the district, and that’s when he saw someone ahead of him who was wearing a hood. He approached the person and turned to face him.
“What are you looking at?”
It was simply an old man who didn’t look anything like him. For a second, Steve breathed a sigh of both relief and disappointment. He began to walk off, and that’s when he saw another person ahead of him. Against the moonlight, his eyes almost seemed to glow, and as Steve approached him, he discovered that the person looked exactly like him.
