Carter's eyes scanned the room, darting from one corner to another. His pupils dilated, his central heart raced, and his breaths came in short, shallow gasps. He knew he had to get out, and he knew he had to do it now.
"I KNOW YOU ARE IN THERE!" a deep, groggy voice declared from the other side of the door.
Carter's eyes darted around, looking for a hiding place, a path of escape, anything that could get him out of the situation. Then, his emotionless eyes caught the glimmer of Morin from the closed window in the back of the room.
His dull eyes locked on the window as he scrambled his way there.
"HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE!" The shout from the other side of the door echoed into the room, giving Carter a cold chill down his back, but his eyes stayed locked on the window as he tried to decipher how it worked.
He tried to slide his fingers under the sill of the window, but no matter what he did, nothing could lift the window.
The doorknob rattled as the individual on the other side attempted to gain entry. The sound echoed, causing Carter to feel uneasy and panicked as he fiddled with the window, no longer hiding his actions.
"WHAT ARE THOSE NOISES! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THERE!"
Hearing the shout and violent shaking of the door, Carter began to panic more. Left with no other option, he took a few steps back and ran.
The sound of shattering crystal echoed. Carter, who expected to fall, found himself safe lying on a stairwell outside the back of the building.
"WHAT WAS THAT NOISE!" The voice screamed; they started to apply more force and shook the door with greater intensity to get it to open.
Carter jumped up in a panic and began to descend the stairwell, but he could feel the presence behind him burning a hole into his back.
Carter's hearts raced and pounded as he moved down the stairs, his mind already racing ahead to what might happen next. The loud thud of something hitting the metal stairs above him echoed, followed by the patter of steps. Carter braced himself as he heard these rushed steps above him. He took a deep breath before leaping over the railings and landing on the ground with a dense thud, knocking the breath out of himself. His first thought was that it was a mistake to ignore the last few flights of stairs for just a few extra seconds, but seeing the panicked face of the person following him might make it worth it.
Carter jumped to his feet, and to his surprise, there was no pain from the fall. Glimpsing around his surroundings, he frantically searched for the safest route to escape. His eyes darted toward the numerous alleyways around him, but he could not determine which path would be best.
The patter of steps came to a sudden halt, and Carter knew from the warping scream above him that his pursuer also jumped. Left with no choice, he ran to the closest alleyway, turning the corner just as the thud of a body hitting the ground echoed behind him.
Carter dashed through the alleyway, throwing boxes and anything else in his way to the ground, trying to block the path behind him. The increasing sound of the steps behind him only made him more panicked as he exited the alley and ran into the middle of the street. Lucky or maybe unlucky for Carter, this was a barren street with only a few Seedlings walking on the sidewalks and a couple of carriages parked in the distance.
Carter glanced around, trying to find his next path, but as the hurried sound of steps echoed from the alleyway behind him, he was left with little time to think.
Morin had only just risen above the building, so most of the businesses on the street were not open yet; as one could see by the light, there was almost nonexistent traffic. This only cut more into the options that Carter had. The carriages were too far away to hide, and there were not enough people to blend into the crowd. He could run to the nearest alleyway, but that would lead him back to where he started, and someone was likely waiting for him there.
Carter's thoughts stopped there, and a brilliant plan formed in his mind. His dull eyes darted around the other side of the street, looking for the closest alleyway. Then Carter saw a small, narrow alley. No, it was more of a nook than an alley, as the buildings were so close together that moving between them would be impossible, at least for anyone fully grown.
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Making a clumsy dash for the nook, Carter could hear the screams of his pursuer from behind him. His dull eyes glanced over the faces of a few pedestrians, who stared at the running child with wide eyes before they all turned their heads to where the screaming originated.
Slipping into the nook, Carter could hear shouting from behind him. Turning, he could see his pursuer halted by a small group of Seedlings. Turning back, he began to shimmy his way through the nook and out the other side. When Carter managed to shuffle to the other side, he doubled back into another alleyway and listened to the argument the adults were having with his pursuer.
After a few minutes, the distant argument stopped, and the pursuer began to chase again. The pursuer tried to push their body into the small nook, but after failing a few times, they gave up and took another alley close to it. Carter took this opportunity to run back and go in the opposite direction, right back where he started.
Carter was slow on his trek back, afraid of one of the pursuers finding him. He was not meticulous in his hiding, only barely hiding. He walked with light steps like he was taking a stroll.
Suddenly, a loud sound and a scream echoed around him. Carter jumped in a panic and hid behind some containers behind one of the local businesses.
A woman came running out of the back door of a building close to Carter.
"Leave me alone!" The woman screamed, but Carter could not see who she was yelling at.
"We don't want any trouble, lady. Just pay up, and we will leave, " a large man said as he walked out of the building, followed by another woman.
The woman stood beside the man and sighed, "If you request a service, you need to pay for it."
"I did not ask for this!" The first woman screamed
Carter watched the exchange, his head bobbing side to side as he tried to figure out what was happening and when he could start to run again. Unfortunately for Carter, his unconscious movements knocked one of the boxes over, bringing attention to the child swaying behind a group of boxes.
The argument stopped as the pair of man and woman stared at the pile of boxes.
"Go and look." The man said to the woman.
She clicked her tongue and gave a glare but walked over to the boxes with shallow breaths and cautious steps, where she saw a child with dull eyes and a bouncing head. She grabbed the child by the back of his collar and pulled him out, his head still bouncing.
"I think it's broken." The woman said as she gawked at the child.
The man gave a sly smile to the other woman, "Is that thing yours?" he asked
With her mouth slacked open, the woman shook her head as she stared at the child.
The man snorted before waving his hand to the woman holding the child, "Bring it here." he demanded
"Oh My!
"What have we."
"Found here."
The odd sound of two voices intertwining together and splitting apart came wafting into the alley.
Standing at the entrance of the alleyway were two figures draped in white cloaks standing shoulder to shoulder.
The emotionless and dull eyes of the child began to look around him. His mouth hung open as his head swiveled around.
"What's wrong with this thing?" The man said with a sneer as he tried to grab the child.
"We can."
"Not."
"Allow that."
The figures draped in white appeared between the child and the man, but it was hard to discern who was speaking as the sounds came from under the hoods.
A simple push by the pair and the man fell on his back. The woman who was getting assaulted dashed behind the couple in white while the other woman helped the man to his feet.
"We will be back for our payment." The man screamed as he ran off.
"Thank you for the help." The woman said with a slight bow.
"We did."
"Not do this."
"For you."
The mixed sounds of two voices alternating and intertwining came from the pair in white.
The woman squinted as she glanced at the pair before turning to the child lying on the ground.
"Ah, but I still thank you for this." The woman said as she reentered the building she had run out of.
"Child?" The pair spoke with splitting and smiling voices.
Carter's eyes locked onto the pair. The dull, emotionless eyes hid his inner thoughts as he glanced around the area.
"Child."
"We have a place."
"That has others."
"Just like you."
"Would you like?"
"To see."
Carter stared at the pair as if thinking, his eyes never moving from the space between the two hooded figures.
"We shall take."
"This as a."
"Conformation."
As Carter sat with a dazed expression, one of the two figures walked and grabbed his hand. The firm grip pulled him up, and he found himself standing. The other figure remained motionless, watching as the first one led Carter away from the deserted alley.