Samantha followed the path prescribed to her by Ol’ Man Whisper at a relaxed pace, and before long reached the bustling market.
“Freshest produce around! Only days old with minimal rot!”
“Get yer second-hand building materials here! Newly scavenged and cheap!”
“Go piss somewhere else, ya drunkard!”
The voices layered and overlapped such that Samantha could hardly pick out anything but the loudest criers nearby. The market was larger and more open than she thought it would be, given the generally cramped feeling she got from The Gutter. In contrast to the close together buildings and trash filled streets, it appeared like significant effort had been put into keeping this area free from the clutter that was so common everywhere else. Solitary run-down buildings stood in a circular pattern around the edges of the clearing with groups of customers migrating in and out of the shops. Looking towards the right side, she found a sign with a stylized hammer, needle, and thread, and she moved towards it.
As she walked through the crowd, she saw a small, dirty child sidle up behind her and reach a wandering arm towards her waist sash. Samantha lightly pushed the hand away without even looking back, and the child looked up at her with shock before quickly fleeing the area.
Sorry, kid. I don’t really have a blind spot there anymore.
Just as she was nearing the entrance of ‘All the Fixin’s’, Aiden rushed out with a parcel in his arms.
“Hey, Aiden!” she called out, but he didn’t seem to hear her.
Samantha watched with interest as he wove through the crowd with expert precision, managing to smoothly travel through gaps in the throng with the occasional twirl or sidestep. She couldn’t help but be impressed with his speed and efficiency.
She did her best to catch up while keeping her speed strictly within ‘mortal’ possibility, but Aiden was fast. Even with her enhanced perception she almost lost track of him a couple of times. He knew the area like the back of his hand, and had nifty shortcuts and passageways that she either couldn’t fit through easily or were too unstable for her to cross without breaking. He utilized garbage piles, precariously placed wooden boards that bridged gaps, and anything else at his disposal to shave time off his delivery, and Samantha had to sneak in bursts of speed in hidden alleys or rooftops to keep up.
Maybe I should hire Aiden as my guide. He seems to know the area well enough.
Following Aiden’s most recent path over a roof and around a corner, she was stunned to see that he was not far ahead as she expected, but directly facing her from a roof only several homes away with his arms crossed and a small frown on his face.
Staring her down, he said, “Looking for me? Actually, that’s a dumb question. I already know you’ve been trailing me for a while. I guess the better question is ‘why are you following me’. I’ve tried losing you several times already, but you always manage to find me—which is proof enough that you’re not just anybody. So, what’s the deal? Murder, robbery, kidnapping?”
He had caught her on her back foot. She had no idea that he had even noticed her this entire time, since he never so much as looked back in her direction during his runs. This wasn’t quite how she wanted things to go, but there was no pretending that this was just a misunderstanding, so she rolled with it as best as she could. “No!” she protested, “I wanted to hire you for a job.”
His eyebrow lifted skeptically at her words, his shoulders tightening slightly as he responded, “I’m reluctant to work with some stranger who’s been stalking me. Besides, you’re giving me the creeps.”
Samantha briefly debated mentioning that she’d hired him the other night, but decided against it. Considering how she’d overpaid him and been so secretive with her identity, that would probably make her seem even more suspicious in this context. She sighed, “Will you at least hear me out? To be fair, I did try to get your attention back in the market, but you apparently didn’t hear me. You ran off and I was just trying to catch up.”
Aiden tsked, “Why should I? I don’t know you. For all I know, you could just be biding your time before you lead me into an ambush or try to stab me in the back. It wouldn’t be the first time that’s happened to me either.” He paused, then his eyebrows scrunched together, “Wait a minute… you’ve been following me since I left the market? You shouldn’t have been able to keep up with me!”
Samantha inwardly groaned. She seemed to just be making things worse and worse for herself. This really wasn’t going how she hoped. If she couldn’t enlist Aiden’s help, he might spread tales of the ‘strange stalker woman’ who was extraordinarily fast and highly suspicious–just the kind of attention she didn’t want or need.
“I admit that I messed this up. Is there something I can do to prove to you I’m sincere, then?” she asked hopefully, feeling a bit desperate.
He squinted his eyes at her, “You want to prove to me that you’re being honest about wanting to hire me?”
“Yes, if you’ll accept that.”
He shifted the package he carried to sit under one of his arms, while his free hand went up and tapped his lips a couple of times as he contemplated her words. Keeping her in the corner of his eye, he took a few steps towards each side of the roof he stood on and peeked over the edges, presumably searching for some trick or trap he suspected she'd hidden.
Samantha could see his shoulders loosen slightly as he confirmed there was nothing immediately suspicious around, and she tried reasoning with him, saying, “Look, if I wanted to do you harm then now would be a fine time wouldn’t it? There’s hardly anyone around, yet I’m spending my time trying to talk this out instead.”
“Doesn’t mean much.” he said dismissively, “Like I said, maybe you just don’t want to do the deed yourself and you’re going to lead me somewhere specific.”
“If it’s going somewhere that bothers you then we can stay right here.”
“And wait for whatever group you’re with to catch up with us while I sit here? No thanks. Besides, I have a delivery I still need to do.” He said, gesturing to the package under his arm.
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Samantha was on the brink of giving up this whole endeavor. “So, nothing I say or do right now is going to work for you. Is that it?”
“Yup, that about sums it up!” He replied glibly.
Samantha huffed, disappointed. She supposed she’d just have to find a different courier to do the delivery to Thomas and hire someone else as a guide. She probably earned herself some unwanted attention if he did decide to spread rumors, but it wasn’t the end of the world. She didn’t have any major features that would make her instantly identifiable compared to other short-haired women, but she’d need to be more careful in the future.
“Fine. Have it your way. Good luck on your delivery, Aiden. Sorry to bother you.”
She turned around and glumly started heading back the way she came. Just as she was about to leap down to the street, Aiden called out to her, “Wait, that’s it?”
She paused, looking back with a somewhat bewildered expression, “What do you mean, ‘that’s it’? I wanted your help, you said you wouldn’t, so I’m off to find someone else.” some of her irritation at the situation bleeding through to her tone.
“I mean, you’re going to leave just like that?”
Somewhat exasperated, Samantha incredulously asked, “What else am I supposed to do in this situation? I’m not going to try and force you, and I’m certainly not going to stoop to begging, so that leaves, well… leaving.”
Aiden seemed somewhat taken aback by her behaviors and her actions, and he looked at her with a complex expression that was difficult to parse. Eventually he spoke up again, “That’s… that’s not how people do things around here. Most people would at least yell and chase me, even if they know I’ll outrun them. That’s how this goes.”
Samantha shrugged, “Well, not this time. I know how to take ‘no’ for an answer. Sorry that the other people you know don’t.”
With those words, Samantha hopped down from the roof and got to walking. There was no point spending any more time on this lost cause, and she needed a new plan.
She pondered the dilemma as she wandered through the streets. Traversing a particularly narrow alley, she saw four familiar teens turn onto her street and begin approaching her. They had been chasing Aiden the other night, and if she recalled correctly each had a sort of code name. One was definitely named Spider, but were they all bug themed? She couldn’t remember. They were far enough away where there was a chance that they hadn’t spotted her, so she turned around and started moving in another direction.
She made several turns in the hopes that the group would travel a different path, but it didn’t take long to determine that she was definitely being followed. Not to mention that their group shrank each time she saw them again, meaning that they were likely trying to get ahead of her to surround her. Unfortunately, all the buildings around here were the flimsy kind that would break as soon as she tried to jump on them, so she would be somewhat limited in her ‘escape’ routes. She didn’t really feel like fighting a bunch of mortals, and preferred to just leave and go about her business without being delayed further. However they seemed to have other plans. As she scanned her surroundings, the missing group members stepped into the adjoining alleys, cutting off the standard roadways she could have taken to get away.
“You’re in the wrong part of town.” The smallest of the group called out. He attempted to sound menacing as he spoke, but his voice breaking in the middle of the sentence really ruined the effect. Realizing this, he brandished a long dagger to try and bolster his intimidation attempt and cover up his mild embarrassment.
“This is Pack Rat territory, idiot. Don’t you know anything? Or did you come to bring us tribute of your own free will? If that’s the case, we promise to only rough you up a little before letting you go.” The largest one confidently declared, comically oblivious to the fact that she was not the one in danger here.
She opted not to speak, and decided to let them start the ‘fight’. She was briefly tempted to humble the arrogant group, but winning handily in a four-against-one brawl would garner too much attention. Realistically, as soon as one of them took a swing at her she could easily get past them and leave the area. All she needed to do was wait for the right moment.
“Hey, are you actually an idiot? Or are you just too scared to speak?” one of the other boys mocked, putting his dominant foot forward and his hands in front of him in obvious preparation for a grapple. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He was clearly not properly trained in any martial arts forms–every movement screamed his intent.
A small burst of movement to her left caught her eye, and she saw a fifth person’s head peek out from behind a building near the largest teen. It was Aiden, and it looked like he had some sort of rock in his hand.
What are you doing?
“Hey, ugly!” Aiden shouted, and the startled teens looked towards the origin of the voice on instinct. Just as the leader began turning around, Aiden wound his arm back and threw the lump. It flew true and splatted wetly across the face of the teen.
Immediately, the struck boy began heaving and vomiting on the ground. A split second later when the smell reached her, Samantha understood why. Aiden hadn’t thrown a rock, but she didn’t want to admit what it actually was. There was just no way that he had actually thrown a piece of…
Aiden interrupted that thought as he shouted at her, “You waiting for an invitation or what? Run for it!”
She didn’t need to be told twice. Dipping past grabbing hands and ducking under a stab and a punch from the enraged group, she followed in Aiden’s footsteps.
“She’s with the runt!”
“Don’t let them get away!”
Aiden led the five of them on a merry chase around The Gutter. Thoughtfully, he only moved through routes where Samantha could follow behind him, but that meant that the teens sometimes could as well. However, although the pathways may have been able to hold the weight of their bodies, the Pack Rats did not possess Aiden or Samantha’s Agility. One failed to balance on a plank serving as a bridge and fell, another was too slow to keep up and got left behind, and the last two were stumped by a long jump between roofs that even Samantha felt some reservations about. The entire time, a broad, wicked smile never left Aiden’s face.
As a grinning Aiden led Samantha further away from the incensed Pack Rats, he looked back and praised her, “You aren’t half bad, stalker!”
He slowed his running pace somewhat and led her into a group of fenced off buildings. Given its proximity to the wall and the unusual cleanliness of the area, she assumed that this was the training grounds that Ol’ Man Whisper had mentioned. All the comers and goers appeared to be below the age of 14.
He led her into a warehouse at the center of the grounds, then sighed, “It was really stupid of you to get caught by those goons. What were you thinking, going into Pack Rat territory like that? You were lucky you were approached by those meat heads and not proper members of the gang.”
The truth was that Samantha hadn’t known that those streets were any different from the others she had walked earlier today. Not wanting to admit her total ignorance before knowing more about why Aiden had helped her out, she deflected by asking a question of her own.
“You say I was stupid for going there, but you were there too. Were you taking a turn following me, or was that just a coincidence?”
Aiden pursed his lips slightly, then partially turned his head away and gave her a sidelong glance, “…coincidence.”
“Mhmm.” Samantha hummed, not convinced in the slightest, “Well you obviously did a better job at stalking me than I did stalking you, which I’d love to know how you managed. By the way, is this a safe place to talk? Seems like there’s a lot of people around.”
“This is the courier’s headquarters,” Aiden stated matter-of-factly, “and since I’m one of the top couriers I have my own room in the back. It’s private enough there.”
After following Aiden into a small, office-like room that was quiet and secluded, he took a seat on an old shipping crate. Then, he gestured to another one nearby which Samantha sat on it as directed.
“So,” she started before Aiden could take the lead in their conversation, “I take it you’ve had some sort of change of heart?”