July 20, 2015
July 22, 2015
On a moonless night part one
The wind dragged iced knives across X’s bare neck and howled in her ears. A shiver ran down her spine as she threw her finished bottle into the alley, watching it fall the 6 stories to the ground and shatter.
On a moonless night part one
by Benson P Night
The wind dragged iced knives across X’s bare neck and howled in her ears. A shiver ran down her spine as she threw her finished bottle into the alley, watching it fall the 6 stories to the ground and shatter.Reaching down against the wall she retrieved a new bottle, all the while racking her memory for the reason she was on the rooftop to begin with, coming up blank.
“It’s something to do I guess,” she said her voice lost in the howl of the wind “always have to be doing something. In a world as repetitive as this one, got to keep oneself busy or else you could go quite mad. Talking to oneself and what not” X laughed to herself, short and sharp adding more ice to the night.
X swung her legs over the ledge to sit down, letting them dangle over the 6 story drop into the dark, dead end alley below. The city shone with a thousand lights, all of different colours and intensity mirroring the night sky above. A fog had descended over the inner city giving each light a halo. If not for the dozen nearby clubs and bars competing to be the soundtrack of the night, it could have been beautiful. X took a swig of the new bottle and sighed.
Below her, two men entered the alley.The first muscular and short with an angry gait to his walk, the sort of man that would pick a fight with a brick wall if he felt insulted by its graffiti. The second man tall, calm, walking with a slink. They brought an intangible air of slim to the place as they spread themselves through the alley. They made the dirty and trash strewn alley feel unclean somehow.
X watched them enter. Curiosity rearing its head through the blanket of the drink. The two men reached the dead end of the alley, looking around to confirm their privacy. The tall one retrieved his phone from his pocket, before he could use it someone new entered the alley. A woman walked towards them, uncertainty tainted her every movement. She was young, tall and skinny with glasses too big and clothes too baggy. She steadied herself and continued on with determination.
X’s curiosity rewarded she watched on with interest.
The women spoke, her voice carried on the wind, confronting the two men.
“Where’s Kevin,” she said fear shaking the edge of her words.
The men turned, paying attention to the girl for the first time. The tall man looked her up and down, the short man stepped towards her but it was the tall man who spoke.
“What, No Hello? No, how are you? My name is….?”
The short man began to circle the woman, with a grin that did not touch his eyes.
She spoke up again ignoring the tall man's taunts, trying to keep the short man in sight at all times and out of arm's reach.
“Where is Kevin” her voice had lost all fear now burning with true anger.
X watches the scene unfold from her perch atop the wall with a knot growing in her stomach.
Whatever the fate of the girl in the alley tonight; it would not be a good one. She watched as the tall man taunted her and the short man circled her.
The girl struggled with, then produced what looked to be a cell phone, 15 years out of date.
X jumped, with a show of agility that was more skill and memory than effort; she landed without a sound on the outside of the fire escape. She made her way to the alley floor in silence.
Landing in the alley, X steadied herself. She began to formulate the best and most dramatic entrance. ‘Choices, choices’ she thought. There was the always classic ‘leave her alone’. To the point, but not much flair and a bit overused. The small cough from right behind the target, always good, catches them off guard, very impactful.
'No, this calls for something classic, a show of some old school cool' X thought as she lent against the wall, hidden in the shadows, still unnoticed.
The two men and the woman were in a stalemate. The short man circled but moved no closer, the girl keeping him in sight, endlessly turning, while the tall man watched on, making no moves to interfere, treating the whole performance as a show put on just for him.
X carefully took a cigarette and matches from her top pocket, placed the cigarette between her lips and struck the match, just as a gust of wind tore through the alley, stealing its flame and silencing its flair. X sighed took out three new matches and struck again. The wind returned with a vengeance and a howl choking the three sticks of fire and flair from the air.
“Oh for fucks sake” X exclaimed
This they finally heard.
The tall man spun around to face X, a look of surprise on his face.
“Who the hell are you?” the tall man asked,
“Let’s just say, a concerned citizen.”
The tall man composed himself.
“Well then, how about you concern yourself with fucking off.”
The short man had stopped circling the girl, watching the exchange between X and the tall man. The girl risked a quick glance in X’s direction then snapped her full attention back to the short man. X took this in then returned her attention back to the tall man.
She smiled, “hmm witty but no. How about I just take my new friend here and leave.”
the short man was looking back at the girl with a smile, void of either mirth or merriment.
X watched as the girl made eye contact with him and her resolve melted
“Yeah I think that sounds like a good Idea,” the girl said
Laughter, low at first, started from the tall man. It built until it infected the short man as well, it did not stop until X joined in. This seemed to annoy the two men, which pleased X so she continued well after they had stopped.
“Listen pup,”
the tall man's face had began to redden
“stow the shining armor. Get out before you get stuck.” With this and a twist of the man's wrist, a flick knife was produced, blade extended.
X wiping a tear of laughter from her eye, looked at the knife and smiled.
“Cute,”
her only comment on the new threat.
Out of reflex, she reached to her belt. Her hand gliding through the air where a sword hilt would have sat. Sighing she cursed inwardly, God she hated this century sometimes.
Time was when no one would look twice at a girl carrying a sword minus a few countries and a few time periods, but not nowadays. This was one of the changes she felt she could never get used to.
The tall man was getting antsy.
The complete lack of fear or concern that X showed at the introduction of the knife had taken him aback.
Now wrong-footed he intended to get back in control and in his simplicity, this left one move, attack, and so he did.
The tall man lunged forward knife in hand, X quickly blocked, the knife plunged into X’s outstretched hand, she tripped the tall man and took his knife.
The tall man stumbled, turned around confused. Shock spread across his face as he watched X pull the bloody knife from her hand, face calm, still smirking.
“What the fu… why… how did you do that.”
“Easy I'll show you. Now this is what you tried to do.”
X jumped at the tall man.
“Stab, Stab, Stab” yelled X as she punched the tall man in the ribs with the handle of the knife, holding the blade towards herself.
The tall man fell to the ground, hands rushing to the blood that failed to appear, growing steadily more confused as the pain numbed.
He looked up at X who began to laugh again.
“I wouldn't stab an unarmed man. That’s almost as shitty as kicking a man while he’s down,” she said, stepping forward, kicking him in the head, knocking him out cold.
The short man turned, he had just watched his friend be thoroughly dismantled, now lying on the ground. He spoke, his voice was gruff, unused to big words or long sentences.
“Ya ganna regret that ya fucker.”
He stepped forward, taking a fighting stance. Feet evenly apart, body mass low, smart enough to keep his eyes on the knife that X now wielded.
Just not smart enough to keep an eye on the girl, now right behind him. His eyes went wide as the taser looking remarkably like an out of date cell phone bit into his neck. He did not stop twitching until he was on the ground and the girl found it safe to remove the device from his skin.
“Ha” X laughed throwing the knife into the nearby dumpster clapped once and winced.
The girl smiled weakly
“Thanks, miss, could have been a lot worse.”
Eyeing the two men on the ground
“could have gone a lot better as well .”
Looking X over for the first time something clicked behind her eyes.
“MY GOD YOUR HAND.”
The girl ran forward pulling off her scarf and attempting to wrap X’s hand. X looked down at her and chuckled, bringing her uninjured hand to its wounded and bloody sister.
“Want to see a magic trick?"
“No. what. NO. We need to get to the hospital.”
“Watch this.”
With that X took the scarf that was half wrapped around her bloody hand, wiped away the blood to reveal new skin, no wound.
“wha.. how. what?”
“Let’s just say I heal fast.”
X looked back at the two prone bodies then looked back at the girl.
“We should get out of here. We can grab a coffee and you can tell me what the hell you were doing in this alley” X smiled down at the girl and walked out of the alley.
The girl, dumbfounded, watched her go, looked behind her, then quickly followed.
“It’s something to do I guess,” she said her voice lost in the howl of the wind “always have to be doing something. In a world as repetitive as this one, got to keep oneself busy or else you could go quite mad. Talking to oneself and what not” X laughed to herself, short and sharp adding more ice to the night.
X swung her legs over the ledge to sit down, letting them dangle over the 6 story drop into the dark, dead end alley below. The city shone with a thousand lights, all of different colours and intensity mirroring the night sky above. A fog had descended over the inner city giving each light a halo. If not for the dozen nearby clubs and bars competing to be the soundtrack of the night, it could have been beautiful. X took a swig of the new bottle and sighed.
Below her, two men entered the alley.The first muscular and short with an angry gait to his walk, the sort of man that would pick a fight with a brick wall if he felt insulted by its graffiti. The second man tall, calm, walking with a slink. They brought an intangible air of slim to the place as they spread themselves through the alley. They made the dirty and trash strewn alley feel unclean somehow.
X watched them enter. Curiosity rearing its head through the blanket of the drink. The two men reached the dead end of the alley, looking around to confirm their privacy. The tall one retrieved his phone from his pocket, before he could use it someone new entered the alley. A woman walked towards them, uncertainty tainted her every movement. She was young, tall and skinny with glasses too big and clothes too baggy. She steadied herself and continued on with determination.
X’s curiosity rewarded she watched on with interest.
The women spoke, her voice carried on the wind, confronting the two men.
“Where’s Kevin,” she said fear shaking the edge of her words.
The men turned, paying attention to the girl for the first time. The tall man looked her up and down, the short man stepped towards her but it was the tall man who spoke.
“What, No Hello? No, how are you? My name is….?”
The short man began to circle the woman, with a grin that did not touch his eyes.
She spoke up again ignoring the tall man's taunts, trying to keep the short man in sight at all times and out of arm's reach.
“Where is Kevin” her voice had lost all fear now burning with true anger.
X watches the scene unfold from her perch atop the wall with a knot growing in her stomach.
Whatever the fate of the girl in the alley tonight; it would not be a good one. She watched as the tall man taunted her and the short man circled her.
The girl struggled with, then produced what looked to be a cell phone, 15 years out of date.
X jumped, with a show of agility that was more skill and memory than effort; she landed without a sound on the outside of the fire escape. She made her way to the alley floor in silence.
Landing in the alley, X steadied herself. She began to formulate the best and most dramatic entrance. ‘Choices, choices’ she thought. There was the always classic ‘leave her alone’. To the point, but not much flair and a bit overused. The small cough from right behind the target, always good, catches them off guard, very impactful.
'No, this calls for something classic, a show of some old school cool' X thought as she lent against the wall, hidden in the shadows, still unnoticed.
The two men and the woman were in a stalemate. The short man circled but moved no closer, the girl keeping him in sight, endlessly turning, while the tall man watched on, making no moves to interfere, treating the whole performance as a show put on just for him.
X carefully took a cigarette and matches from her top pocket, placed the cigarette between her lips and struck the match, just as a gust of wind tore through the alley, stealing its flame and silencing its flair. X sighed took out three new matches and struck again. The wind returned with a vengeance and a howl choking the three sticks of fire and flair from the air.
“Oh for fucks sake” X exclaimed
This they finally heard.
The tall man spun around to face X, a look of surprise on his face.
“Who the hell are you?” the tall man asked,
“Let’s just say, a concerned citizen.”
The tall man composed himself.
“Well then, how about you concern yourself with fucking off.”
The short man had stopped circling the girl, watching the exchange between X and the tall man. The girl risked a quick glance in X’s direction then snapped her full attention back to the short man. X took this in then returned her attention back to the tall man.
She smiled, “hmm witty but no. How about I just take my new friend here and leave.”
the short man was looking back at the girl with a smile, void of either mirth or merriment.
X watched as the girl made eye contact with him and her resolve melted
“Yeah I think that sounds like a good Idea,” the girl said
Laughter, low at first, started from the tall man. It built until it infected the short man as well, it did not stop until X joined in. This seemed to annoy the two men, which pleased X so she continued well after they had stopped.
“Listen pup,”
the tall man's face had began to redden
“stow the shining armor. Get out before you get stuck.” With this and a twist of the man's wrist, a flick knife was produced, blade extended.
X wiping a tear of laughter from her eye, looked at the knife and smiled.
“Cute,”
her only comment on the new threat.
Out of reflex, she reached to her belt. Her hand gliding through the air where a sword hilt would have sat. Sighing she cursed inwardly, God she hated this century sometimes.
Time was when no one would look twice at a girl carrying a sword minus a few countries and a few time periods, but not nowadays. This was one of the changes she felt she could never get used to.
The tall man was getting antsy.
The complete lack of fear or concern that X showed at the introduction of the knife had taken him aback.
Now wrong-footed he intended to get back in control and in his simplicity, this left one move, attack, and so he did.
The tall man lunged forward knife in hand, X quickly blocked, the knife plunged into X’s outstretched hand, she tripped the tall man and took his knife.
The tall man stumbled, turned around confused. Shock spread across his face as he watched X pull the bloody knife from her hand, face calm, still smirking.
“What the fu… why… how did you do that.”
“Easy I'll show you. Now this is what you tried to do.”
X jumped at the tall man.
“Stab, Stab, Stab” yelled X as she punched the tall man in the ribs with the handle of the knife, holding the blade towards herself.
The tall man fell to the ground, hands rushing to the blood that failed to appear, growing steadily more confused as the pain numbed.
He looked up at X who began to laugh again.
“I wouldn't stab an unarmed man. That’s almost as shitty as kicking a man while he’s down,” she said, stepping forward, kicking him in the head, knocking him out cold.
The short man turned, he had just watched his friend be thoroughly dismantled, now lying on the ground. He spoke, his voice was gruff, unused to big words or long sentences.
“Ya ganna regret that ya fucker.”
He stepped forward, taking a fighting stance. Feet evenly apart, body mass low, smart enough to keep his eyes on the knife that X now wielded.
Just not smart enough to keep an eye on the girl, now right behind him. His eyes went wide as the taser looking remarkably like an out of date cell phone bit into his neck. He did not stop twitching until he was on the ground and the girl found it safe to remove the device from his skin.
“Ha” X laughed throwing the knife into the nearby dumpster clapped once and winced.
The girl smiled weakly
“Thanks, miss, could have been a lot worse.”
Eyeing the two men on the ground
“could have gone a lot better as well .”
Looking X over for the first time something clicked behind her eyes.
“MY GOD YOUR HAND.”
The girl ran forward pulling off her scarf and attempting to wrap X’s hand. X looked down at her and chuckled, bringing her uninjured hand to its wounded and bloody sister.
“Want to see a magic trick?"
“No. what. NO. We need to get to the hospital.”
“Watch this.”
With that X took the scarf that was half wrapped around her bloody hand, wiped away the blood to reveal new skin, no wound.
“wha.. how. what?”
“Let’s just say I heal fast.”
X looked back at the two prone bodies then looked back at the girl.
“We should get out of here. We can grab a coffee and you can tell me what the hell you were doing in this alley” X smiled down at the girl and walked out of the alley.
The girl, dumbfounded, watched her go, looked behind her, then quickly followed.
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1 COMMENTS
indrani talukdar
July 20, 2015 - 07:45 Menacing and interesting. Wow!