The girl dressed in red puts her palms against the unkept wooden door. She pushes the door open with minimal effort and it swings open without much resistance. She’s about to call for her parents but she notices two figures lying on the floor just a couple meters in front of her. Then she looks down a bit further and sees a stream of liquid coming from the two figures. A sudden shock runs through her. She hesitates before slowly walking towards the two figures. She kneels in between the 2 figures and turns the figure to her left around to see its face. She starts trembling as a very familiar face turns around. She lets out a soft laugh. Inaudible murmurs can be heard from under her breath. “...wake up...” she says softly, “this isn’t funny... Wake up!” she yells as she shakes the figure. She stops, and then nudges the figure once more which was replied with no response. Tears roll down her cheeks as she begins to wail in the silence of the night. Nothing replied to those wails. 

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Limping down the dark alleyway as fast as I can, I turn left and continue limping until I find a small crevice in the run-down brick walls that I could fit in. The sound of shouts and loud boots striking the brick floor comes closer. I quickly slide myself into the crevice and wait. The boots stop at the intersection in the alleyway, and there are a few shouts before the boots can be heard heading the opposite direction from me. Sighing a sigh of relief, I wait a little bit longer just in case.  

I can’t believe I managed to shake them off. I don’t want to jinx it, but my luck has been really high today. I smile, “Well, I guess we should get going then” I whisper to myself. 

I slide myself back outside of the crevice and continue quickly limping away from the slave hunters. Dragging my left foot, I haul myself left and continue forward until I reach out into the quiet dimly lit streets. 

A gust of wind blows and my rags flutter in the wind. The moon peaking around clouds is the only major source of light. Aside from that, there are dimly lit candles behind the glass of the buildings lining the street. I look left and right wondering which direction is best.  

Well, Right is always right! So I turn right and head down the street.  I look for a house or inn that looks like they won’t care for who their patron is. Most of these dull wooden and brick buildings look very uninviting, and I definitely do not want to go into any of them because... well... scary. Most of the signs on the buildings are related to  

! I hear shouts in the distance. Looks like I can’t dilly dally around anymore. I limp faster and frantically look around for the nearest not bad looking building. I notice a small inn that seems different, almost like it’s calling to me for some reason. I quickly reach the doors, but the doors are locked. I shove myself against the door repeatedly, hoping the owners do not wake up from the noise I am causing. Then, with one more forceful shove, the doors swing wide open, and I fall into the building. Still on the floor, I crawl around to push the doors closed so no one notices that I am here.  

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“hah” I sigh with my hand on my chest. Another close call. If they had seen me, I would’ve done for. Back to matters at hand, I need to find a place to hide from the owners, but well, a pitch-black void is all that stands before me. I feel my way around to a wall to my left and stand up. I start sliding against the wall in one direction. I slide for quite a while before I bump into a wall. I feel my hands around the wall and notice that it’s a door. With my right hand, I twist the knob on the door and enter into yet another pitch-black room. As I continue to feel my way around, my hips bump into something. Lifting my palms from the wall, I feel my way around this object until I am certain what it is, and well, it’s a box. And since it’s a box, that must mean I am in a storage area, which should be good since no one should be here tomorrow morning. I put my back against the box and slide down to my butt. I close my eyes.  

It has been quite a long night, the escape at the auction, twisting my ankle, multiple close calls, and so on. I think I deserve this rest. And quickly, I drift off. 

Glaring light pours into my eyes as a figure loom over me. A woman, who looks like she is in her early 20s with long yellow-green straight hair that reaches her waist. I block out the light with my hands instinctively and groan from waking up.  

“Out of everything, I would’ve never expected a thief to sleep during a heist. Tell me, did you break the door?” She says in a surprisingly soft and calm tone.  

“Ummm, well... uh... yeah... that was me” I say embarrassingly. I get up from the floor and look at my surroundings. Turns out this place isn’t a storage room, it’s a kitchen. This box just happened to be here in the corner of the kitchen. 

She bends over just a little bit so our eyes are at a similar level. “Here I’ll get to the point. You don’t look like you’re very well off and I need help with errands for this inn, so I have a proposition. Either I can report you to the city guards, and they’ll take you away. Or you can work for me, and we both profit. Hm?” 

I’m not sure if I can trust this woman or not, but if what she is saying does not have any secret meanings, then this is possibly one of the best opportunities that I can get. Considering the alternatives, this offer is definitely my best choice. Worst case scenario, I will just have to run away from here. I stare into her orange cat-like eyes, “If you really mean it, I accept. Oh, and... is it fine if I stay here? Like live here”. 

“Yes of course, as long as you work. This is an inn after all, so there are many spare rooms.” 

I smile, “Thank you. Actually, if you don’t mind, can I settle into a room right now?” 

“Sur- No! you have to clean yourself up! I'm not about to get a perfectly clean room dirty for no reason! If you want to settle into a room, you have to go get clean. Here, I'll take you to the baths.” She gestures for me to follow. “By the way, I’m Lisette, what’s your name?” 

“Engel”