Seedy Origins

Charlotte was hugging her pack to the front since she didn't want the risk of her bag being pickpocketed or even yanked off when they got deeper into the streets where more people were out and about with much vigor and boundless energy, and Charlotte nodded slightly at the old man who lifted up his large cup of liquor up at them from his wooden rocking chair.

The pubs were full of life, and Charlotte peeked her eyes into the frosted windows to see the silhouette of people talking and laughing inside. She didn't have to imagine much since the doors were propped open as well, so the raucous laughter was easily making its way outside and into the streets.

There were no streetlights but instead lanterns with an orange glow along with LED lighting from various buildings as well which clashed, and Charlotte walked alongside Lucia making sure to not make eye contact with anyone since it didn't go so well last time when she did so and almost had to shoot.

Charlotte made sure to take in her surroundings as much as she could though and found the area to be extremely diverse in terms of architecture and people. Lucia quickened her pace, and Charlotte trailed behind when someone yanked on her arm, and she glanced back in surprise ready to fight if needed so.

The man ducked his head. "My bad. I thought you were someone else."

Charlotte didn't respond but instead pushed his hand off of her, and Lucia whisked her away from the suspicious man with a wink to the man that was quite charming before Charlotte could do anything worse to him. Lucia suddenly linked arms with Charlotte and leaned in to whisper in her ear.

"Be careful of the scams around here. His type is notorious around here. They wait for fresh faces passing through to choose their prey."

She frowned. "What was his plan?"

"He was going to run off with your items if you only looked away for a second."

"A pickpocket?" Charlotte clarified.

"Similar to a gang of bandits."

"That sounds," Charlotte paused. "Lovely."

"That's a nice way to put it," Lucia muttered.

Charlotte turned back around to scan the area, but there was nothing but the blurry images of other faces around that she didn't focus too heavily on and the buzzing of the LED lights above.

The man from earlier was gone. It was good for him that he at least had some brain in there that she wasn't in the mood to be played around with.

Lucia put out her hand. "Can I look at the map again?"

Charlotte placed her phone down with much suspicion. "Do you actually know where you are going?"

"Well, of course."

Charlotte shook her head and watched as Lucia zoomed in on the map again except at another corner that she didn't look at earlier. To her, she couldn't even tell the difference but judging by Lucia's face there was another obstacle to come when Lucia finally handed her phone back to her.

"I was just double-checking," Lucia said. "Don't worry. We'll be there in another hour."

Charlotte grimaced. "Jesus. Give me a heads up will you?"

"It will be fine. Unless you want to hijack the car?"

Charlotte slid a glance over to her. "Would it be worth the hassle?"

Lucia lifted a shoulder. "You ditched your vehicle a while back. Someone has definitely taken it by now for the parts."

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Once again, thanks for the reminder."

"Let's see if we can find one still running nearby the bars. Drunks always leave their guard down."

Charlotte shook her head but ended up following wherever Lucia went, and they passed other various buildings that were full of seedy origins, but Charlotte didn't want to ask anything further. The entertainment hub such as Lucia called and quoted earlier wasn't exactly what one would describe as lively.

A woman came running out of the street and collided with Charlotte, but since the woman was as light as a feather, the woman fell down instead with Charlotte losing her balance. The woman had a lit cigarette in her mouth, the smoke pluming up above into Charlotte's nose much to her displeasure.

On closer inspection, Charlotte stared at the woman's eyes and condition and realized that the woman was on drugs. And it hadn't served her well with the large bags under her eyes and the discoloration of her face. Charlotte looked down at the stranger coolly and tilted her head to the side.

The woman had a purse tucked underneath her arm that she clutched tightly despite having landed wrong on her legs and causing much pain. With that, Charlotte knew that the bag was not hers and one that she had definitely taken.

She was about to kneel down to ask more about the woman since she would have felt bad to leave her there when she had literally ran into her when Lucia touched Charlotte's shoulder and shook her head.