by Sophia Sharp
“As long as we can get into the building,” Hunter agreed, “we can get back out. We’ll find what we need as soon as we’re through the front doors. And if the repository turns out not to be there…”
“Let’s not plan for that,” Nora said.
“Right.” Hunter grinned. “After three weeks of searching, it’s hard to be anything but pessimistic, yet this might just be it.”
“We’ll see soon enough,” Nora agreed. The anticipation was killer.
Chapter Four
~A Crooked Building~
Nora walked beside Hunter down the narrow street. Alexander was far behind them, watching from a distance in case they should stumble upon any trouble.
The street they were on was one of the back alleys of a very poor neighborhood. The buildings lining them on either side were broken and old, and the few windows that overlooked the street were devoid of glass. The outside façades of many of the structures were covered in ancient graffiti, and the ground was littered with trash. The main streets would be busy at this time, and to avoid attracting attention, Hunter led her and Alexander on a winding, circuitous path that kept them as far away from prying eyes as possible.
One of the first things Nora noticed on entering this part of the city was the horrible stench of the place. She had gotten somewhat used to the very defining and poignant smells of a city, bustling with human life, over the last three weeks, but this area was unlike any she’d yet encountered. The scents that violated her nose were sharp and stinging, dank and corrupt, all in one. They were the scents of decay, of a dying part of civilization. Few who lived in this part of town seemed to care anymore, and their apathy was reflected in the crumbling buildings and dirty streets.
Despite Hunter’s best attempts to avoid notice, they still passed a few people along the way. Most were male, although Nora noticed a few women from the corner of her eye. The females tended to stay away from strangers. Unfortunately, that was not the way of the males.
The first person who spotted them, a cocky middle-aged man with bad facial hair, made no effort to hide his excitement. Strangers were unexpected around these parts, and two teenagers wandering together were easy targets. He got up from the side and stood to block their path.
“Just where d’ya think yer goin’?” he asked casually, pulling back the side of his jacket to reveal a large, evil-looking knife. He smiled unkindly and stepped toward them. “You aren’t welcome around these parts.”
“Let me handle this,” Hunter whispered under his breath, so softly that only Nora’s ears could have picked it up. She nodded imperceptible and stood to the side. Hunter stepped forward.
“Friend,” Hunter began, spreading his arms grandly, “we mean you no harm. Let us pass, and we will not trouble you.”
The man’s face contorted into a wicked smile. Then he started to laugh. “You? Trouble me? That won’t be the case here, boy. Y’know, I find yer smug attitude insultin’. How ‘bout you give me whatcha got in that wallet of yers and the girl. Then I’ll let you be on yer way.” He mocked a bow.
“I don’t want any trouble,” Hunter said. “And I will not give you the girl. But my wallet should more than make up for it.” He reached his hand slowly into his pocket to produce a leather wallet. He tossed it onto the ground in front of him. “There. Take a look inside, I’m sure it’s more than you need.”
The man grinned and threw himself at the wallet. Hunter made no attempt to move. Scooping the wallet up in one hand, the man greedily ripped it open. His smile quickly faded.
“Why, this is empty! You lyin’, deceitful son of a bitch!” He grabbed the knife buckled to his belt. “I’m gonna make you pay for that. I’m gonna kill you and the girl too!” He lunged at Hunter with the knife.
Hunter, of course, stepped smoothly to one side to avoid the blow. He caught the man’s wrist and swept it upward, using the man’s momentum to lift him high into the air. In one easy move, Hunter had the man flat on his back.
The knife rebounded from the man’s hand toward Nora. The man reached out for it, but Hunter had him pinned.
“Nora?” Hunter beckoned, extending one arm toward her. “The knife, please?”
Nora picked it up and handed it to him. She didn’t like the grimy feel of the hilt, nor the dirt on the blade. The knife had been used many times before, it seemed.
“Thank you. Now, then.” Hunter had one knee on the man’s chest, and the stranger squirmed ineffectively under the pressure. Hunter took the knife and brought it close to the man’s face, so the sun’s rays reflected off the blade into his eyes. “I don’t want you threatening any more passersby like you did us, got it?” Hunter began in a menacing tone. “Do you have any more weapons on you?”
The man shook his head vigorously. His eyes looked like they were about to pop out of their sockets. “Good. This is your only one?” Without waiting for the man to answer, Hunter lifted the knife high above him and thrust it at the man’s forehead. Nora didn’t even have time to gasp. The man cried out in fear.
Hunter’s extraordinary reflexes showed as the blade stopped just a hair’s breadth away from the man’s skin. The man’s eyes rolled up so that only the whites showed, and he fainted.
Hunter stepped off him and grimaced. “A loud mouth and no courage. Men like him disgust me.”
“You didn’t mean to kill him, did you?”
“Out here?” Hunter laughed. “Absolutely not. No matter what he might have done, killing in daylight is a surefire way to attract unwanted attention. Besides, I don’t kill needlessly. You know that. Only…to feed.”
“That’s what I thought,” Nora replied breathlessly.
“We’ve got to figure out what to do with him,” Hunter said, motioning toward the still body. “We can’t just leave him here for anyone to find.”
“Maybe we could make it look like he passed out from the sun?”
“A good idea, actually,” Hunter said. “Come on, let’s move him back to his corner.”
Nora helped Hunter pick the man up and carry him back to where he was before. Close up, he reeked of dirt and human sweat. Despite what she was, the smells disgusted Nora. She would not have taken his blood if he was the last human left alive and she hadn’t fed in years.
They propped him up against a wall. Nora looked around and was relieved to see there was still nobody around. Next, Hunter returned to the spot where the short-lived fight had occurred and retrieved the man’s blade.
“You’re not going to leave it with him, are you?” Nora asked.
“If I don’t,” Hunter said, “he will just find another one, and what happened today won’t even make him think twice. However…” He took the blade between his fingers and began to curl it onto itself. Nora would have expected the metal to snap, but Hunter did it with a natural dexterity. It took him a few minutes, but in the end, the blade was warped beyond recognition. Hunter tossed it to the man’s side. “Let him try to use that against somebody. It’ll serve as a warning. If he even so much as thinks of robbing someone again, he’ll remember what happened this time. And how he was lucky I was feeling generous.”
Nora smiled. Hunter had a fascinating way of thinking. She didn’t know how much of a deterrent the blade would be, but she hoped Hunter was right. She was proud of how he handled the situation.
Hunter winked at her as if he had read her thoughts. “Come on. If we don’t get out of the shadows, Alexander might think something happened to us.”
They went back to the middle of the street, and sure enough, when Nora looked back, she spotted Alexander’s shape in the distance, much closer than he would have been if he wasn’t concerned. She raised her arm to let him know everything was okay, and he immediately turned onto a side street. There was no point in him trailing them if he were visible to their enemies.
They continued the rest of the way without incident. Hunter led her down small, narrow streets that were always behind the main road. They passed a few more vagrants on the way, b
ut Nora had learned her lesson earlier, and each time shot them such a look of danger that they shied away.
“I hope you never use that look on me,” Hunter quipped, after the third time it happened. Nora laughed. Despite the hot, dry air and the uncomfortable environment, not to mention the perpetual threat of danger, spending time with Hunter like this, one on one, was very enjoyable. It’s something she hadn’t had nearly enough time to do since getting here.
After another twenty or thirty minutes of walking, Hunter slowed down and pointed to the skyline. Nora looked up. There, looming over the two- and three-story buildings that made up most of the shantytown, was a lone gray tower. It stood maybe six or seven stories in height and had a single window peeking out on every level. Even the ones Nora could see from where they stood, the ones that were completely out of reach from anybody on the ground, were boarded up and nailed shut.
“Is that it?” Nora asked.
Hunter nodded. “That’s it. We have to be careful now – the area may be guarded.”
“Guarded? By whom?”
“Street gangs run this town,” Hunter replied. “And I think the tower marks one of their key strategic holds. They’re very territorial.”
“But as far as they know, we’re just tourists walking by,” Nora said. “They shouldn’t trouble us.”
“A dangerous assumption. What would tourists be doing here?”
“Well, even if they decide to trouble us, they don’t really pose a threat.”
“No? Thirty armed men with guns don’t seem like a threat to you? We’re Vassiz, Nora, not invincible.”
“Well, when you say it that way…”
“Trust me,” Hunter said. “It’s best for us to be careful. That was your mantra this whole trip, wasn’t it?”
Nora nodded. “You’re right. What do you think is the best way to get closer, then?”
“Let’s wait for Alexander first. “We’ll need to coordinate with him.”
“Sure,” Nora replied.
“I’ve already been there,” Hunter continued. “So I know the area a little bit. The tower stands in front of a five-way intersection, which is one of the things we’ll have to watch out for. The streets line up before it to open up somewhat like a town square. The tower itself is at the very end of a triangular block, overlooking the juncture. The only way to get to it without being seen is down either of the two streets that line its block.”
“There’s going to be three of us,” Nora said. “Does that mean two go together?”
Hunter shook his head. “No. I think it’s best if we all go separately and all go down a different route. One of us is going to have to pass through the square in front of the building.”
“Is that so problematic?”
Hunter bit his lip, considering. “I’m hoping it’s not, but I’m afraid it might be. Anybody watching the tower will instantly recognize three strangers coming toward it. Especially when we’re so obviously not from around here.”
“Do you think anyone would be watching it?”
“One of the gangs, potentially. We don’t want to cause a stir. And if we’re unlucky, there might even be…something else.”
“Something else?”
Hunter nodded. “Yeah. I’ve been thinking about what we know of the repository. The torrial were put there because they were too dangerous to be left accessible to anybody who wanted them. I’m sure the decision to put them away was not taken lightly. I’m sure, in fact, that there was disagreement between the deciding parties. It would have been foolish for whoever stowed them away not to put any defenses up.”
“Defenses?” Nora asked. “Like what?”
“I don’t know. All I know is we have to be careful. Expect the unexpected. We don’t know what any of the torrial can do. If the repository really is in that tower, who’s to say that there aren’t some sort of torrial set up that activate only when a Vassiz is near, and not a human?”
“You’re right,” Nora said. “We’ll have to be very careful.”
Chapter Five
~Watchers~
Once Alexander caught up to them, Hunter explained the plan, as well as the potential danger. Alexander took it all in stride and even made the suggestion that he should be first to go since the elders were not looking directly for him. Nora dismissed the idea. Hunter should go first, since he had already been there, and would see if he could find a way in. Then he would return, letting both Nora and Alexander know whether or not he’d been successful. If he had, they would all go on different routes, staggering their times so they would arrive at the tower one after the other. And if not, well, then they would have to reassess their plans.
When Hunter left, Alexander and Nora both agreed to stake out the surrounding area for any danger. If they were careful, Nora hoped they could avoid running into trouble. She set off on a small path to the right, while Alexander went left.
The street Nora was on curved widely and then straightened into a narrow bend. Small alleyways and back passages stood behind nearly every building on either side. Most of them were tight and littered with discarded trash, but in a pinch she should be able to get through. She kept her eye constantly on the tower, making sure she circled around it without getting much closer or farther away.
As she looked around, she noticed one peculiarity about the area. The buildings were marked with graffiti, though there was no consistency to any of it. Except for one thing. Every three of four buildings, she saw the same marking, repeated over and over again. Compared to the rest of the tags, it was fresh and painted with a superior hand. It was a stylized marking of a fist, clutching two ends of a spear. Although when looked at from a different perspective, it could have easily been two fangs ensnared by a serpent. For some reason, that second interpretation made Nora uneasy.
She returned to her starting point to find Alexander already waiting for her.
“Where’s Hunter?” she asked.
“Not here yet,” Alexander replied.
“Oh. Well, did you see anything?”
“A few things,” he answered. “First, I’m now sure Hunter was right about this being gang territory.”
“How come?”
“There was a marking,” he said. “Over and over. A snake, wrapped around two fangs.”
“I saw it too,” Nora said. “What do you think it means?”
“Probably just the signage of a gang,” Alexander replied thoughtfully, “although something about it raised my hackles.”
“You felt it too?” Nora asked. “I thought it was just my imagination getting the better of me.”
Alexander shook his head. “Too much of a coincidence to be imagined. If Hunter’s right, and the repository really is in the tower, I’m sure the gang that rules here knows something about it.”
“So what do we do?”
“Try to attract as little attention as possible.”
“Do you think the fangs have something to with the Vassiz?”
Alexander exhaled. “It could very well be. Remember, there are Vassiz everywhere. Many of them integrate themselves into normal human society. Perhaps there are Vassiz in this very gang. Maybe the gang is a pack. Who knows? But we best be wary.”
A noise behind her made Nora whip around. She relaxed when she saw it was just Hunter. But then tensed again when she noticed the strain around his eyes.
“What is it?” She ran to him. “Are you alright?”
“Fine.” He betrayed himself by looking over his shoulder. “Come on, we need to get away from here.”
“What? Why? Did you find an entrance into the tower?”
“I did.” He nodded. Then he hissed, “Not now. We need to move, quick.”
“Wha—?” Nora was cut off when Hunter grabbed her wrist harshly and pulled her forward. After stumbling the first step, she caught her feet and went after him.
“Come, Alexander,” Hunter said as he passed him. “Quickly!”
He released his grip on Nora’s arm and sta
rt to jog in the direction opposite the tower. The jog turned into a run, and soon after he was using his full Vassiz speed to move away. Nora didn’t understand what was going on, but she followed after him, as did Alexander.
They ran full speed through the streets, until they came upon an unremarkable intersection. Once they crossed it, Hunter just stopped.
“What was that?” Nora demanded. “Hunter, what’s going on?”
“That was unprecedented,” Alexander agreed angrily. “Running like that could have given us away to Vassiz nearby. If they didn’t know we were here before, they do now. And it doesn’t matter if they know who we are or not – three Vassiz from a different pack are bound to raise questions.”
“Nora,” Hunter said quickly, “do you trust me?”
“What? Of course I do, but—”
“And you, Alexander?”
After a bit of a pause, Alexander nodded. “Yes, I do. We’re all in this together.”
“Then don’t call me crazy,” Hunter said. “But back there, when I got right to the tower, I felt…someone watching me.”
“Watching you?” Nora asked. “What do you mean?”
Hunter shrugged uneasily. “I…don’t know. I first noticed them on the roofs, out of the corner of my eye. They were looking down at me. But every time I looked back, no matter how quickly, they were gone.”
“But what could be faster than your reflexes?” Nora wondered out loud.
“Exactly,” Hunter said. “Which is why it sounds crazy. Even to me. But I know what I felt. It was the most uncanny sensation. Somebody was looking at me, and I felt like...they knew why I was there.”
“That’s ridiculous,” Alexander said, but not unkindly. “Nobody here knows who we are, much less what we’re after.”
“I know,” Hunter said. “That’s what I thought, too. But, what I felt…”
“Hunter, you didn’t actually see anyone, did you?” Nora asked. “You just thought someone was there?”
“Yes,” Hunter nodded. “I only noticed them out of the corner of my eye, but my senses don’t play tricks on me. Even if they were gone when I looked, I’m sure I was being watched.”
