8

Tiv

Tuesday 23rd January, Year 825

I found myself looking for Alayna whenever the opportunity presented itself. We shared no classes so I had to hope we had some free periods together. She had not replied to my correspondence which somewhat disappointed me. Despite this, by lunch break I'd resorted to spending time with Marco in the hopes she may see him.

"You're going to be two grand down in eight days, I think," Rob joked with Marco.

"It's nothing to me," Marco lied. "You clearly need the money more than I do."

I listened to them talk about Alayna and Sarah like objects and felt anger flare up.

"I even got Andy to nick her bag! I was helping you and everything," Rob laughed.

"I feel sorry for whoever you two end up with," I interjected.

They both looked at me. Rob shut his damn mouth, as he should have. Marco was about to retort before something behind me caught his eye and he was off in a flash. Rob started laughing. I turned to see Alayna on the other side of the courtyard, trying and failing to walk away from Marco. I observed her subtle mannerisms, her gestures inconsistent with the boldness she usually projected. There was a tension in her shoulders, a rigidity to her stance whenever Marco entered her orbit. The artificial brightness of her smile that never quite reached her eyes betrayed an unease, a silent plea for escape I felt thrumming over my skin.

"Do you reckon he'll manage it then?" Rob said, elbowing me.

I swore at him and he did not speak to me again.

Marco put an arm around Alayna's waist and kissed her. She didn't pull away. Instead, she stood there limp with her eyes open. He eventually pulled back and she put the false smile back on her face. Her evasion was subtle - a dip of the chin, eyes that darted to settle anywhere but on him - as they conversed. With every shake of her head and each downward glance, a mosaic of discomfort painted itself across her features until it was unmistakable even from this distance.

Our eyes met for a fleeting moment before she braced herself, straightening as if electrocuted. The ghost of a smile graced my lips in response but her eyes simply fell back to the floor.

It dawned upon me then - not with the blunt force of sudden understanding but as the gradual unravelling of a knot.

I don't care that you're a Hawes, piss off! That's what she had said.

But she did care. She had lied because she was angry. She was just like everyone else at this bloody college. Placating us because of our last name. She was scared of us.

With a sense of urgency that overpowered any attempts at indifference, my feet traced the invisible thread connecting us across the courtyard. Her name was a ready whisper on my breath when I approached.

"Hi Alayna," I offered gently, willing her to lift those guarded pretty eyes and meet mine squarely as she had done before.

She didn't, instead muttering a greeting but kept her head down. The firecracker with all the energy and passion from the previous day was gone. Oddly, I wanted her to throw a book at us.

"I've been looking for you. You said you'd help me with Mathematics," I lied. Her head shot up and she glanced quickly between my brother and I. I turned to Marco, "Would you like to join our little study group?"

He did not seem convinced but didn't say anything other than, "No. I'm fine."

"Alright, see you tonight then," I said before turning to Alayna and nodding to the nearest building.

"See you around," she mumbled to him, following me.

Marco grabbed her arm, pulling her back into him and kissed her again, using his free hand to flip me off. I rolled my eyes and waited patiently for them to finish, all the while feeling a red hot poker sticking in my stomach. This time, Alayna's hands found Marco's chest, pushing assertively. Deep crimson flamed her cheek - in anger, not embarrassment.

"I'm not a toy," she snapped.

Marco flashed an insolent wink suggesting she was just and said, "Oh but you're such fun."

Her face was stone as he walked away tossing a warning over his shoulder in Lambentian, "I've warned you already. Back off."

Ignoring him, we went into the nearest unused lecture theatre, noticing her checking he was gone before she closed the door. Alayna leant her back against the door, still flushed scarlet, and took a deep breath with her eyes closed. When she opened them a moment later, we stared at each quietly.

"Listen, I-"

"Why are you scared of my brother?" I interrupted.

Immediately, she changed from a timid little woman; she stood up straighter and cocked her jaw upwards. I had pushed a button.

"Listen weirdo, I am not scared of him. I just need to tread carefully around you people," she spat.

"Why?"

"You are not that dense," she barked.

I wasn't. I knew why scabs hated us - we had everything and they had nothing. Yet I didn't wish to speak the words aloud. At my silence, she glared at me with the same venom her brother had the previous evening.

"Do you know Mr Hall is going to be hung?" she said.

"Who?"

"Sarah and Lucy's dad. He criticised your dad and the Guard has arrested him," she hissed.

My jaw popped open at the influx of information and I stood in stunned silence. So much so I almost hadn't noticed my stomach clench at Sarah and Lucys' names.

"I… I- I didn't know." My words feel over each other in an awkward stammer.

"Obviously," she said scornfully.

"I can try and fix that."

"That doesn't surprise me either," Alayna replied shortly. "So yeah, I don't want to hurt your feelings or Marco's because I quite like my neck."

"Wait, so you think we'll kill you if you don't hang out with us?" I was starting to wonder if Alayna was all there mentally. "You have an imagination."

"You don't have a clue, Tiv. Honestly, you don't. Your lot do nothing short of torture me here. You must know how your parents treat scabs. Your family is dangerous. Spend an afternoon in The Grange and see for yourself what life is like for us."

"Let's go then," I blurted out.

"What?"

"The Grange. Show me," I asked.

She looked at me as if I had developed several heads.

"Sweetheart, with eyes like that, they'll pull you to bits there," she smirked.

"Well it's your job to hold me together then. Let's go," I grabbed her hand to lead her out the lab, ignoring the static shock.

"Are you mad? We can't just leave?" she hissed.

"Why not?"

"You and Marco are like the same person sometimes," I glared at her comment and she continued, "You both are determined to make me skip but you can afford to pay the fines if you get caught."

She was right but it's not like the Guard would issue me a fine in the first place. She was protected by association…

"Stop worrying and trust me. I won't get us fined and I won't get pulled to bits by… your people in the Grange." I needed to find a better word to replace scab.

"I haven't eaten," she complained, though didn't release my hand.

"Can't you eat at The Grange?"

"Yeah but the food here is nicer," she sighed.

----------------------------------------

Alayna worried out loud for the entire journey however not enough to actually stop us going. She did warn me that my car would be stolen or vandalised if I parked anywhere near The Grange and suggested I pull up in an old, empty parking lot and walk. We got out of the car and I looked at my car, parked up in the mud in the middle of nowhere. Nothing but fields and trees in every direction.

"You're being ridiculous. I'm not leaving my car here," I challenged.

She raised an eyebrow and slowly placed both of her hands upon my chest, bringing herself close.

"You're in such a little bubble. You really have no idea, do you?" she said.

It was like my brain shut down having her that close to me. I was fairly certain she noticed the reaction she had on me as she slid her hands from my chest, wrapping her arms around my neck. I wanted to kiss her.

Marco will destroy you.

"You think I'm being ridiculous?" she asked with a coy smile.

"Yes. I think you're being dramatic," I said, trying to regain my composure somewhat.

Again she got too close for my brain to function and put her lip to my ear, sweeping her hands to my hips. Resisting the urge to pin her up against the car and run my hands all over her was the hardest thing I'd ever done in my entire life.

"Dramatic, am I?" she whispered.

The more rational part of my brain knew this was a trap however a much larger part wasn't paying attention to rational - especially not with her lips on my earlobe.

Without warning, she danced away from me, dangling my car keys in front of her. I patted my pockets stupidly as she jumped in my car and sped off before I made it even close to the door, leaving me alone in the muddy field. I beamed at my idiocy and her deft fingers.

A minute later, she sped the car back into the lot, swerving into a bay and stopping abruptly. The entire car jolted violently and I grimaced. She opened the car door and swung her long legs out.

"This is amazing," she grinned.

"I know," I replied, pulling her out of the driver's seat. "Don't steal my car."

"No promises. It's a good one," she giggled trying to hand me the keys.

"Oh no, you keep them. I think they're safer with you," I said with a broad grin.

Our altercation in the science lab seemed long forgotten. She chirped happily beside me as we walked towards The Grange, bringing a smile easily to my lips. I simply needed to clear her enormous misconceptions of my family.

We walked for about ten minutes before reaching a tall, black-bricked wall, covered with rusted barbed wire. Following the wall south, it was eventually replaced by a chain link fence. She dipped through a gap in the fence and I followed her, a lot more haphazardly.

"Your people don't use doors?"

She smiled maliciously, "Your dad had the Guard are posted on the main entrance. That way they can keep better tabs on us."

I felt uncomfortable which was definitely her point.

"Also this way we don't need to go through the checkpoint. I'd rather not have to scan in when I'm supposed to be in college," she explained.

She held up her arm as she spoke, the tattoo all scabs had etched on her wrist, her number written below it. Guilt churned in my stomach. It was easier to ignore the fact they were branded like property on their sixteenth birthdays when I was not face to face with someone from Outer Harroworth.

"Don't look at me like that," she snapped. "I don't want your pity."

I pressed my lips into a hard line and let her drag me into the marketplace. Sneaking in through the back was certainly the cheaper option for me. Although most of The Guard didn't take much to make them happy; usually no more than one hundred ven to keep them off my back.

On the other side of the fence there was a huge cobblestoned clearing, lined with narrow rows of makeshift stalls made from scrap and salvaged materials. The pungent aroma of street food mixed with burning waste sullied the air. The black brick wall on our left ran the whole length of the busy market. On the far right, a large concrete slab of a building created a caged in feel to the place. There was no way in or out apart from the heavy metal gate at the far end of the cobblestone clearing or the hidden fence we'd sneaked through.

Making our way through the winding alleys of stalls, we were jostled around by the crowd of people who had come to make a trade. Vendors were shouting out prices as people haggled fervently, trying to get the best deal. The Grange sold everything. People were trading sheep at one shack. It was mediaeval. The stalls were vibrant with foods, fabrics and many other trinkets on display. I didn't even get close to getting into The Grange last time I was here. The Guard ensured that I didn't see any of this. Further into the cobblestone clearing, I spotted an older woman cooking meat on a grill. Flickers of flame curled from her fingertips with a finesse that left me dumbfounded. A familiar.

I felt my brow furrow in wonderment at this uncontrolled exhibition of power; how casual it all seemed in Outer Harroworth where magic I had deemed extraordinary melded seamlessly into daily life.

"Close your mouth, it's rude," Alayna giggled.

"You're enjoying yourself," I beamed.

"You look amazed. It's funny," she shrugged.

"I thought there were only three registered familiars in Harroworth," I said.

"Registered," Alayna repeated. "If you had to be on a register just to exist as you are, would you? Or would you just avoid the people with the register?" She flashed her wrist again at me, her smile wide but eyes hardened with a bitter jest, "Although some register you can't escape."

I swallowed my words and tried at all costs to keep emotion from my face so she didn't scold me again. Instead, I let Alayna lead me through the busy marketplace. It was like another world. People were laughing and everyone seemed to know each other. I saw another familiar conversing with a dog and smirked. The Grange was a bizarre place.

However, soon after I had the thought, I noticed something that went over my head the first time I was there: a few people greeted Alayna warmly until they realised who she was linked arms with. Then they put their heads down and scuttled away. Alayna ignored their response and did not stop directing me.

Beyond the vibrant chaos of trading and haggling, we gradually drifted toward an area where the clamour of commerce fell away, replaced by a steady hum of communal life. We reached the concrete slab of a building. It was several stories high and stretched the entire length of the marketplace, however the ground floor appeared to be filled with bars, casinos and even a brothel. Each floor of the solid monstrosity looked precariously balanced on top of each other with haphazardly cobbled together with corrugated metal and makeshift curtains rather than doors. Heavy metal shutters hung above the lower floor, keeping out anything that didn't belong. It looked like an awful place to live.

The half naked women outside the brothel braved the cold, gyrating to music I couldn't hear over the noise of the busy marketplace. However even the whores took one look at me and scurried back inside their concrete haven.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

The gossip columns are going to love this.

I looked around and realised the place was free of cameras for the moment. They would not expect a Hawes to be in The Grange.

A bar came into view just as we navigated past the shunned brothel. A man outside flashed Alayna a grin full of gaps where teeth once resided. She returned his greeting only for her jovial expression to vanish instantly as she sensed his other intention, her hand shooting down behind her. I followed her arm to see her fingers wrapped around the man's wrist… at my pocket.

"Nice try." Her voice hitched with rage.

He shot her another wide grin and I gawked as his wrist seemed to shimmer unnaturally for a second, Alayna's hand falling straight through it until he materialised again outside of her grasp. I tensed, every muscle locking in place, not wanting to be anywhere near a familiar. The casual display of magic here unsettled me.

"I mean it Ian, leave him alone or I'll set Ben on your incorporeal ass," she snapped.

"No need for that," Ian smirked. "Bye, gorgeous."

Trying to appear unfazed, my eyes narrowed at the would-be thief. He winked at me before phasing through the throng of bodies as if he were mere wisps of smoke. No one else paid mind to a familiar weaving through their physical forms. My hand clutched my pocket, fingers curling around the leather wallet still safely tucked inside. Without thinking, I handed it over to Alayna.

She giggled, "You better hope I give it back."

"I'd notice my wallet missing. I'll hardly forget," I said stiffly, wholly uneasy.

"Are you sure you'd notice? You haven't noticed your phone is missing yet," she teased.

A jolt went through me as my hand dove into my empty pants pocket. She was right.

"Crap."

"And your watch," she added with a sparkle in her eye.

My gaze dropped to my bare wrist where only the soft indentations of a recently worn timepiece remained.

"Shit! My mother gave me that for my birthday," I stammered, heat flooding my face as panic gnawed at the edges of my composure.

"I took them off you before. Couldn't get to your wallet though. I wanted to see how sharp you'd be here… Not sharp at all apparently." Her beam lit her entire face, making it hard to be angry with her. "Don't worry. You'll get them back. Better I have them than someone who will have sold them before you even knew they were gone."

"How the hells do you live like this?" I asked.

"We don't steal from our own," she replied simply.

Of course. Just me

We carried on as if the people in The Grange were not trying to strip me for parts and arrived at a bar. A once neon sign read "Piker's", though the fluorescent light it once emitted was long gone. As we entered, the creak of unoiled hinges greeted us and a musky scent filled our nostrils - a blend of old wood and stale beer. The arched valance curtains covering the windows looked ancient and moth bitten. None of the furniture matched. All of the chairs were a mix of shapes, sizes and materials - some were threadbare, others patched up beyond recognition.

Alayna guided us to an alcove by the window where two armchairs sat bathed in diffused light: one a cracked red faux-leather and another green fabric hole-ridden with age and use.

"Charlotte, can we grab two beers please when you've got a second?" Alayna called to the brunette girl behind the bar.

Without looking over, the barmaid said, "Coming up, Alayna."

"Also, you got any food left?"

"Nah, sold out at lunch. You eaten today?"

She shot me a quick look which told me the next words out of her mouth were a lie, "Yeah. Had breakfast this morning."

From the look on the barmaid's face, she didn't believe her either, however didn't press the point. My mouth pulled down at the corner as I eyed her skinny frame. The longer I looked, the more I realised she was a bit too skinny. Not noticeably. Yet enough to realise that my taking away her opportunity to eat for free at college was a very bad thing.

"Let's go elsewhere for food?" I suggested.

"Nah I'm fine," she smiled.

"It's two in the afternoon and you haven't eaten today-"

"I had breakfast. I'm fine," she snapped irritably.

I shut up.

"Ok, maybe a little hangry," she smirked when I didn't speak. "But I'll get something at home."

I didn't know if that was true either. I opened my mouth to press her however she didn't let me, cutting across me.

"What do you think of The Grange then?"

"I think there is no way you're not getting caught skipping," I told her. "Everyone knows you."

"They won't tell anyone," she shrugged. "And it's not my family I worry about catching me."

I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "I know people from Central are uptight but you make it sound like we bathe in blood."

Before Alayna could respond, the barmaid came with the beers, took one look at me and immediately turned around again.

Alayna smirked and sighed, "Charlotte, it's fine. Two beers please."

"Yeah, it's coming. I got the order wrong. I'm fixing it," she called back.

Alayna stood up and went to the bar, covered in empty bottles filled with candles. She had a hushed conversation with the barmaid who kept looking over at me, then shook her head and handed Alayna the beers.

"He better have his ID," the barmaid called after her.

"What? You think I scanned him in? I've been drinking here for years, Charlotte. Cut the crap," Alayna barked back.

Charlotte scoffed and went back to cleaning glasses, though I felt her cold stare on me.

"What was that about?" I enquired.

"I was probably stopping her from serving you piss," she shrugged.

"This place is… different," I said blankly.

She threw her head back in a laugh, "Disgusting. The word you're looking for is disgusting. Stop being so… proper."

"This place is disgusting." A smile I had no control over split my face.

"She'll probably charge you more too," Alayna said matter-of-factly. Then her eyes widened, "Hey Charlotte, can you charge Ben for these?"

"Yeah, for yours," she put emphasis on the last word, "but only if you tell your brother. I'm not dealing with his tantrums."

"Deal," Alayna grinned.

"I can get these," I interjected.

"No thanks. Anyway, I've got your wallet."

"Why can't I pay?" I asked.

"Because I don't want to owe you," she said.

"For someone who is dating my brother because she's too worried about being truthful with him, I find it odd you certainly do not have any issue with being truthful with me," I pointed out.

She took a sip of her beer and I followed suit. It wasn't bad. It wasn't good either.

"I'm not dating your brother," was all she said.

I suppressed my smile and changed the subject, "You've got me here. Now tell me about the place."

She dove into describing the area and its inhabitants, detailing shop ownership and family dynamics. She explained how everything was usually traded, not bought, which was why she could get away with passing off her bill to her brother; he always had something to trade. Her dad had a stall for years however couldn't keep up with both running it and working in the mines. I hadn't realised it was compulsory for scabs to work the mines until she told me. She explained her father instead set a business in the lumber yard so he could work both jobs. It was bizarre. I couldn't name a single business owner in Central. Alayna knew every single person in The Grange. She was also protective of them, being careful with the information she gave me. Only once did she slip up, admitting that the local jewellery shop obtained a lot of its wares through illegal magic means. I assumed there was a lot more about the Grange that she was keeping to herself.

"How many familiars are there here?" I enquired.

"Ah just Ian," she shrugged. Another lie. I had seen proof of that within minutes of being in The Grange. She must have realised as she said, "There's plenty of familiars. Even in Central. They just don't tell the elites because, you know, they don't want to die…"

"They wouldn't die for admitting what they were," I scoffed. It hadn't been an executable offence for two decades.

She muttered something under her breath before sighing.

"What?" I pressed.

Her gaze locked with mine, "Nothin'. Just don't say anything to anyone about Ian or any other magic you saw here today. It's not safe for them."

"I'm not going to tell anyone," I promised.

Charlotte placed down two fresh beers and Alayna immediately switched them before the barmaid scoffed and took Alayna's away, replacing it with a fresh bottle.

"Thanks," she beamed.

Charlotte muttered, "You're nuts, Aly," with a hint of gruff affection as she retreated back to the bar.

"Okay, your turn. This is my life," Alayna gestured to the busy square outside the bar. "What's your life like?"

I thought about her question seriously for a moment, measuring my words carefully before speaking. Her guarded stance around anything related to my family made me hesitate, the words momentarily lodged in my throat.

"I live with my family and the staff in the manor. It's not an exciting life. Father works away and only comes home when something goes wrong. I prefer him being away. He's not easy to live with."

"Sounds tough," Alayna frowned.

"What I lack in father-figure I make up for with my Mother and sisters," I remarked.

"I thought you only had one sister?" she said with a tilt of her head.

"I do. Beau. Meredith simply… appeared one day. Mother found her living on the streets in Central when I was seven. She was fourteen. I don't really know much more about it other than that. We took her in. She was employed as a nanny and is now our housekeeper. She's looked after us ever since she arrived. She is family."

Alayna seemed to ponder this for a moment before responding "That explains why she looks at you lot like she loves you."

"She's a lot better to us than we are to her I think," I admitted with a shrug. "She bends over backwards to make us happy. Nobody seems to appreciate that."

"You do."

"Yes, I suppose so. It's easy to take her for granted sometimes though," I said honestly. "I am close with Meredith. Like I said, she and Beau are my sisters."

I told her more about the family: that Mother was from Lambent and both Marco and I had been born there. I described what I remembered of our move to Vakoso when I was five and she listened to every word intently. She asked enthusiastic questions about what I recalled of the Umbrith-free life we had in Lambent, explaining that Father was working between the two counties to develop defence techniques to try and eradicate the monsters.

"Why does your family stay in Vakoso when you don't have to?" she enquired. "I know if I had a choice between living in a monster infested pit or not, well, it wouldn't be a choice."

"Well he and Mother still run Harrowroth. At least one of them needs to be here. Father is never here which forces Mother to stay and enforce his laws. Anyway, I'd much rather live with her than Father. We could go to Lambent if we wanted to, however Father's work visa is granted because of my Mother. He's Vakosian. He cannot live in Lambent permanently unless something happens to Mother and he was our primary caregiver. He does not have the correct visa. It's boring and complicated, however you know they don't let anyone cross their border unless there's an extraordinary reason," I said.

"It must be cool living somewhere that doesn't have Umbrith," she enthused.

"It's a relief, yes," I said stiffly as a vision of a giant winged creature biting into Sarah pushed its way into my mind. "Not like I benefit from it much at the moment."

Alayna noticed my change in demeanour and put her hand on mine. The negative thoughts were instantly obliterated and I smiled. She was a bloody good tonic for misery.

"Your mum and sisters sound lovely," she said, changing the subject. "You're lucky!"

"Grass is greener," I muttered.

She grinned, "Yes, it must be difficult having so much money you literally own Harroworth."

I raised an eyebrow although couldn't muster a smile, "You are not wrong. Money runs the world. Marco and I have very little worries because Mother and Father have always had a lot of money. However I am also very aware of that."

"What does that mean?" she pressed.

"Well, I don't really have many friends, because they're only friends with me because of my surname. Dating is impossible because women simply look at me like I'm a walking ATM. It's hard to have much of a life during the day and we cannot have a life at night."

"I firmly reject the idea that Tiv Hawes has no life," Alayna giggled, the sound clear and bright against the hum of conversation enveloping us.

"Fine. Let me give you an example…" I gestured subtly with a tilt of my head toward a young man who lurked beyond the window between two stalls. He was tall and gangly, his limbs awkward as he tried to inconspicuously wield a camera with a lens that seemed too heavy for his thin frame. "He has been snapping our photo for the last ten minutes. He'll either try and blackmail me for skipping college or he'll sell the photos to a magazine and my latest illicit affair will be plastered all over the place by the weekend. It'll be even sweeter for them because I'm in The Grange and not Central. Encounters like this are frequent whenever I venture outside... I'm seventeen. This shouldn't be my life."

At my words, Alayna's playful demeanour dissolved like mist in sunlight. She turned her gaze toward the photographer, her eyes narrowing as she took in his every move. Her lips pressed into a hard line while her nostrils flared ever so slightly.

Growling a long list of profanities under her breath, I cut in before she killed him with a gaze. "Don't worry. I'll sort it out."

"No need. I'm not going in the gossip mags," she said through gritted teeth. Bolting from the bar, she screeched, "Dan, give me the damn camera!"

I watched, mouth agape, as she approached the lanky man with measured strides. Despite his height, he shrank at her malice and nodded a lot before putting one hand up to me as if to apologise. I reciprocate the gesture. She handed the camera back to him and walked away. Patrons in the bar laughed and made comments about her temper.

"Just like your brother," a stout man boomed.

A sigh escaped Alayna's lips—a release valve for lingering frustrations—as she returned to me. "Please, he'd have actually smashed the camera."

Alayna's breaths, heavy with the weight of her temper, began to steady gradually. Her fingers unclenched one by one as she drew in a deep breath through her nose and released it slowly through her mouth, visibly composing herself. The tightness in her shoulders relaxed, yet the set of her jaw remained firm.

"Is it safe to speak yet?" I quipped.

Her eyes met mine; any lingering ember of anger now seemed to give way to warmth.

"I'll smash his camera myself if those photos ever see light," she promised.

"You're nuts," I laughed, mimicking the barmaid.

"Careful," she retorted playfully. "Or your watch and phone might vanish."

"Yes darling."

She beamed so brightly I forgot to breathe. Shaking my head, I looked back out at the busy marketplace trying to ground myself.

"This has been a grand afternoon with no fines! And nobody ripped me to bits either so you were wrong on both counts," I said smugly. "In fact our only mishap was that awful familiar trying to pilfer my wallet."

"Ian's harmless. He definitely has a death wish though. Stealing your wallet and showing you his power was very thick."

I took umbrage with the notion she believed me to be the issue in that situation, however not more so than the way she spoke of him like he was a regular person. It was unnerving.

"Familiar's are dangerous Alayna. You'd do well to keep away from them."

She laughed hard before glancing my frown, "Wait? You're serious? There's nothing dangerous about Ian. Apart from maybe his low IQ."

"Familiars could curse you in an instant yet you speak of them like regular people-"

"Stop being stupid," she snapped. "They are regular people. They could curse you the same way you could pull a trigger on a gun. Just because they can doesn't mean they will. Half of them don't even know extra magic beyond the single power they're born with."

"I'm not being stupid, I'm being carefully cautious," I replied stubbornly.

"You're playing at semantics. Honestly have you ever even spoken to a familiar? They have the same aspirations as you and me. The same fears. The same worries. Well, maybe not the same as you. But they live the same way as everyone else in Outer Harroworth. They have the same barcode. They live the same way. They die the same way. Don't ask to come here then immediately start judging us."

Before we could debate further about her naivety, the bustling crowd outside grew louder and angrier. A strange whistling reverberated throughout the busy square. It attracted the attention of the whole bar. Alayna shot to her feet, standing on her chair to get a clearer view out the window. The colour drained from her cheeks as her eyes widened. Swearing under her breath, she held her fingers to her tongue and gave a quick sharp whistle. It reverberated around the room and at the sound several people stood up and left the bar as the barmaid shouted after them for payment.

"Alayna, you gotta move him now," Charlotte said, looking from whatever Alayna was looking at to me. "In fact, everyone out. We're shutting early today."

Alayna rushed behind the driftwood bar into the back room and ran back out with an ugly, black hooded sweater. The barmaid went to the object, then thought better of it.

"Take your jacket off. Get this on," she hissed.

"No thank you," I replied stonily.

"I'm not joking. We're about ten minutes away from a riot and you have the wrong colour eyes to be hanging around here. Put the hoodie on, pull the hood up, and run," she hissed frantically.

I did as she asked, discarding my coat on the table. The sweater stank of stale sweat and cigarette smoke.

"Payment for the drinks," I scoffed at the barmaid, nodding to my coat.

Charlotte scowled but didn't have time to reply before Alayna dragged me out of the bar.

"Care to explain why a riot is about to start?" I joked lightheartedly, letting her pull me through the crowds.

She rounded on me, her eyes furious, yet didn't say anything. Instead, she spun me around and pointed me towards a wooden scaffolded stage in the centre of the cobblestone clearing. There was an older man and a young girl standing atop it surrounded by several members of the Day Guard. Some were pointing their guns towards the crowd of people shouting at them, others were tying a noose around the young girl's neck.

"What the hells is going on?" I whispered, unable to take my eyes from the scene.

"It's Mr Hall and I think that girl is an unregistered familiar. The Guard will hang both of them and the people here might riot. It wouldn't be the first time. Anyone from Central will have their head on a chopping block if they get caught in this mess, especially the ones with gold eyes. We need to get you out of here," she explained frantically.

"Alayna, we can't let them kill those people. That girl is a child," I insisted, pulling away from her.

She threw herself in front of me and pushed me backwards a few paces.

"It doesn't matter who you are, if you approach that scaffold, they'll shoot you. They shoot to kill. Let's go," she begged.

I didn't move.

"There is nothing you can do. You'll never get close enough to tell them who you are. You said I would stop them ripping you apart, this is me holding you together. We need to move," she panicked, pulling me again.

With reckless bravery that I didn't have time to think about, I pushed past her, not daring to tear my gaze away from Sarah and Lucy's father having a black bag dragged over his head. The young girl was already swinging from the neck as the crowd roared violently.

Alayna seized my arm, pulling futilely to try and stop my advance. We didn't make it far before we collided with others who were trying to flee and some who were running towards a fight.

"They will kill you," Alayna screeched, succeeding in pulling me back a few steps. "And if you die then I'll hang for it."

I stopped dead. "You're lying."

I knew she wasn't. I knew. Yet the reality of her words couldn't penetrate the din of my erratic panic over the chaos erupting around us.

Before Alayna could respond, a woman ran screaming towards the scaffold. At the same moment Mr. Hall dropped like a stone, gunfire ran out and the woman stumbled, crimson staining the ground beneath her.

"Lynn!" Someone in the crowd screamed.

Alayna stumbled backwards into me, face ashen.

"Sarah and Lucy's mum," she explained through frozen, pale lips. "The whole family's dead now."

Adrenaline held off the horror. I grabbed Alayna by the shoulders and shoved her roughly ahead of me. The jolt of motion reanimated her and she grasped my hand, pulling me after her. The angry screaming increased its volume as we wrestled our way through the sea of people and reached the broken chain link fence where a few others were escaping through. Alayna shoved me through it and threw my car keys, wallet and watch at me.

"Go straight home," she ordered.

"You are insane if you think I am leaving you here," I hissed at her, trying to drag her with me.

As I pulled wildly, the metal fence caught her wrist, cutting into it. She did not even notice. Her eyes were still fixed on the commotion behind her. More gunfire sprayed overhead and we both threw ourselves to the muddy floor. I knew what she'd decided as she looked between the commotion and I, and I knew I wasn't going to let her do it.

Grabbing her arm once more she fell roughly through the fence into my arms before she had a chance to run back to the fight.

"I need to check on-"

"No. You do not. Come on!" I cut her off sharply, tugging her away from the black-brick wall.

She relented and we sprinted along the outer perimeter of the black wall. Gunfire echoed in the air. Reaching the car felt like it took a liketime. Silence fell between us, broken only by our uneven breaths as they fogged up in the cool air.

"What could he possibly say about my Father... that he'd end up..." I choked out between gasps. "Why... why a child?"

"Your dad... his rules choke us," she struggled for air. "Mr Hall just... he said scabs don't matter when it comes to Umbrith because we can't pay. And kids dying... it's just another day here."

Ice crawled through my veins.

"Sedition," she blew out a bitter laugh and cradled her head in her hands. "Enough to hang if you can't pay the bail. So is being an unregistered familiar. There's no age cut off for that, so yeah the kid..."

Words failed me as she slumped against the car. I couldn't fathom how deluded I'd been.

"They're dead." My voice was hollow.

"Probably not the only ones," Alayna mumbled. "This happens a few times a year. Watch the news more."

I did watch the news on occasion. Murderers and rapists were hanged. Not fathers and children. Riots were reported as entirely of the scabs' own making, usually infighting or trying to attack the Day Guard unprovoked. Yet it was untrue; they were a tight-knit community. The worst the seemed capable of was stealing for fuck's sake.

Hands trembling atop my head, I stood still in utter disbelief. The people in Outer Harroworth were just trying to live, yet my family's boot kept them firmly in their place. It was clear that Father's brutality was not restricted to our household.

"You'd have hung if I died?" I panted. "Why?"

Her wide eyes found mine with nothing but bitter remorse held in them. "Your life is more important than mine. You're Tiv Hawes."