Chapter Three

"What are you doing?" I walk to to the opposite side of the table and pay attention to his every movement, curiosity enabling me from looking away.

"I am cleaning," I raise a brow at his simplified answer. Honestly, why is he cleaning at a time like this? Don't we have business to attend to? "I know yer eager, but having a clean workspace and environment can boost concentration and give you better results on yer work." I roll my eyes at him as he puts up his final tool. "Now, what is it you chistyy need this time?" I rub my hands together nervously, my eyes following him as he moves to clean the nearby desk.

"Well," I respond, following him to his next destination. "We just need the papers this time. Maybe some medicine and bandages, I noticed our stock was low." Daniel pauses his cleaning frenzy and takes out a file. He scribbles some stuff down and gestures for me to continue talking. "Nothing serious of course, just disinfectants, pain meds, maybe some sleeping meds for Ben."

"Ben?" Daniel stops talking and quirks a brow at me, a pink tint crosses my cheeks. I shuffle my feet and glue my eyes to the ground. "Who is Ben?" I chew on my bottom lip.

"He's a friend, a good friend. It's just, he's been complaining about nightmares keeping him awake and I thought that...maybe...you could help?" My voice gets softer and softer the more I speak. My blush only becoming more prominent until it takes over my entire face.

"You know, you need to keep personal life and business separate." I nod, shame and embarrassment acting as weights and making my heart sink to the pit of my stomach. Daniel sighs and rubs the bridge of his nose, "Alright," He finally says. My head snaps up and my eyes widen in shock, "but just this once, I don't ever want this to happen again, understand?" I nod my head wildly and he shakes his head, mumbling something under his breath.

"Thank you!" I take his hand in mine and shake it wildly, a wild grin spreading across my face. "I swear this is the last time, scouts honor!" Daniel rips his hand out of my grip and waves me off, walking past me to nearby cabinets. Grabbing a sack he begins to shove items in before handing it to me. I take the sack with my head held high.

"Before I give the file there's something else you need." My brows furrowed in confusion as he opens another cabinet, this time pulling out a necklace. The necklace is strange: a red, circular dragon eating its own tail. The eyes of the dragon are an onyx black; I can't look away. He hands it to me and I eagerly accept, the dragon metal feels cold against my hand.

"It is called an Ouroboros." I tear my gaze away from the necklace and up to Daniel. "It has a lot of meanings: the circle of life, infinite wholeness, the list can go on forever. But when you wear this, it means you are proud of who you are. Not just a chistyy and not just a zabyty, you are both and so much more." I smile fondly at Daniel and clasp it around my neck.

"Thank you, Daniel," he smiles and pats me on my back.

"Come on, let's get yer files so you can go home." I nod and he walks to the file cabinet, pulling out a sealed envelope.

He walks me to the door and we part ways with a handshake. When the door closes behind me excitement fills my chest. My mission is almost over, so far so good. I turn on my heel and begin walking away, a slight skip in my step, but as I walk, the same sounds from earlier fill my ears. I stop walking and stand still, biting my bottom lip. Curiosity weaves a dangerous web, a web that I'm slowly falling victim too. How bad could it be? I'm sure it's just a friendly spar, there's no harm in just looking.

Unable to resist my curiosity, I walk to the sounds. It didn't take me long before a crowd of people came into view. I stop walking as a gasp stumbles past my lips, the sight is breathtaking. Everybody looked different, some were humanoid and others not human at all, a few even looked like me. The only thing everybody in the crowds had in common was what their attention was focused on. Taking a deep breath, I approach the people until I can get a good look at what I'm looking at.

For the second time in just two minutes, I gasp, this time in utter horror. In front of me a deadly braw wages. With lightning speed a vampire picks up a giant wolf and throws it across the arena as if it weighed nothing, earning a yelp from the poor creature. In an instant, the vampire was back on the werewolf. People boo and hiss, with one look into the crowd the vampire bites the wolf. Screams and shouts grow as the wolf howls in agony. Using what can only be the last of its strength, the wolf bites into the vampire and rips it off.

Before I can stop myself, a cry of horror escapes me. Everything stops, all eyes are on me. I stumble back, my heart pounding against my chest in fear of what I had just done. I look around, my eyes landing on a pair of cold silver orbs that hold no emotions in them. It's as if there's a wall, preventing anyone from coming in. Shouts bring me back into reality and I dart away, the sound of footsteps resonating behind me as they give chase.

Fear pumps through my veins, willing me to run faster and harder than I ever have before. That's exactly what I do, I run until I can't hear the sound of footsteps from behind me, even then I run some more. When I finally stop, I duck into a dimly lit alleyway and hunch over, placing my hands on my knees. I breathe heavily and close my eyes, the image of everybody staring at me flashing through my mind.

I sit up and tilt my head back, fear mixing with disbelief. I can't believe that happened, why on earth would I do something like that? I peak my head around the corner of the alleyway to see if I was being followed. When I confirm I'm alone, I allow myself to relax a little. I run my fingers through my hair, expecting to readjust my wig, but to my greatest shock, it's not there. It must have fallen off while I was running! "Son of a-" I get cut off as my body is slammed against the brick wall. The air gets knocked out of my lungs and I grunt in pain, my world spinning and blurring at the edges.

"Who are you?" The voice is deep and harsh, so much so that I feel the words can cut me like a blade. I don't respond and my attacker's grip on my wrist tightens. The pain from their fingers digging into my skin steadies my vision. "Answer me now!" The dimly lit alleyway hides the prominent features of the person interrogating me. All I can make out is his masculine jaw and cold silver eyes that match his voice.

"Let me go!" I shout at the silver-eyed man. He opens his mouth to say something but closes it, a look of concentration settling onto his features. "Let me go, damn you!" I command once more, using my weight in a lame attempt at pushing him off me. He shushes me and I gasp at him, my cheeks tinting red in anger and fear, my heart pounding so loudly against my chest I'm sure he can hear it. "What the hell is wrong with you?" The man groans and pushes his body against mine, holding both my wrists above my head with one hand and covering my mouth with the other, muffling my cries of protest.

"Shut up, if you don't want to die," he whispers softly, his lips brushing against my ear. Falling into silence, the sound of heavy footsteps and the voices of men can be heard as a group of soldiers pass us by. Just as the silver-eyed man relaxes I violently bite his hand, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth. The man curses and shakes his hand, I use his moment of weakness to punch him across the face and shove him away from me. When he's a safe enough distance away I dart out of the alley as fast as my legs can carry me. I don't stop running until I reach the safety of trees and my lungs burn in protest at the lack of air.

Stopping to catch my breath I wrap my arms around my stomach and wheeze. After what feels like an hour, I start breathing normally and my heart stops pounding against my chest. I lean against a tree and look up at the sky, smiling at the sight of a million twinkling lights winking down at me. It's funny, I don't think I even saw them down in the city. With a shake of my head, I continue my long journey home.