The darkness calls, the mind reels, sanity wains. Ignore her, run. She is looking to breed.
Excerpt: Progeny of the All Mother
By HPL
Raya did a slow walk through the streets as she inspected her work. Looking for any missed garbage. She had run the sweeper and polished the cobblestones and wanted to double check her work. The opportunity was appreciated and she didn’t want to let Gideon down after the favor he’d done for her. Raya played dumb in the moment, but she understood he was sacrificing his earnings for her. The memory of earlier brought a smile to her face, her hand subconsciously going to the spot he had held her wrist, touched her hand.
Her trust for people didn’t come easy, but Gideon was wearing on her. Breaking down walls slowly over the years. She’d never caught him doing it, but suspected he is the one that would sneak into her sewer hideout, leaving bread and meats. Once, she had returned home to find a new blanket folded neatly on her pallet, a gift for Grand Awakening. The irony in her receiving a gift to celebrate the system wasn’t lost on her. They celebrated when the System went live in the world and had awakened abilities in the populace. It was the day that she was forgotten, but someone remembered her, even if the System didn’t.
She sat on the bench enjoying the sun as she admired a job well done. The hope was that Captain Daniels agreed, otherwise he may give Gideon a hard time. She was startled from her thoughts when a shadow passed over her. Looking up she discovered and the captain was standing in her sun. Weird, it's like thinking of him caused him to appear. He must be some kind of boogie man, she thought. She chuckled at her own thoughts as she looked to the captain. There was nowhere to run and not much point in trying. The captain could catch her if he really wanted to, so she relaxed and waited.
The captain stood at the opposite end of the bench. He said nothing, just looked at her. He slowly placed a bread roll on the opposite end of the bench and quietly walked away. “Thank you,” she whispered in a barely audible voice. It’s the thought that counts and her appreciation was genuine. She knew Captain Daniels meant well and he worked with many of the children of the lower district. He gave so much of his own time and resources back to the children. She wasn’t sure if the work they did was paid for by the city or by the captain himself, but the programs were surely the captain’s ideas. I should try to find a way to trust the captain, he seems a good man. This thought brought her full circle back to Gideon. She would start with trusting him first.
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She slid down the bench and grabbed the bread after it’s rich smells caused her belly to growl. She tore a small knot off and slowly ate it, savoring each bite. “Yum, so good” she said, the enjoyment written on her face. She watched people walk by and listened to hawkers shouting their services. Raya was a people watcher, but from a distance, from the shadows. Sitting here in the open like a regular person felt odd to her. She didn’t like it. Too open, too many angles for people to approach. She stood and started to head toward an alleyway, toward comfort.
“Well hello little mouse” a voice said, startling her. She turned abruptly toward the voice and met the shifting eyes of a nondescript boy. The smirk on his face was disarming.
“Grifter,” she said. She looked around, searching for the rest of his group. “Where are the other two? Or are you going to hassle me by yourself?”
“Hassle? Since when do I hassle you? I don’t believe I’ve ever troubled you little mouse. So don’t be too upset with me.”
“Just because you do nothing when the others pick on me doesn’t make you free of guilt. If you have two bad eggs and there is a third egg, the third egg is bad as well. Now get lost, I was having a good day, I don’t want you to ruin it.” Her voice raising near the end. She turned and started marching away, not interested in what he had to say anymore.
“Tsk tsk, I thought you’d want to know your boyfriend has been a naughty boy.” He said with a laugh.
“What!” she said as she turned, but he was gone. She grunted in annoyance. “He creeps me out when he disappears like that. I wonder what is going on with Gideon.” She continued toward the alley, irritated that she had acknowledged Gideon as the boyfriend in her head so quickly. She would need to think more on what that meant later. For now, she had to figure out what was going on, what Grifter was talking about. In the alley, she scaled the walls to the rooftops. She hoped the better view would help her figure out what was going on, help her find Gideon.
After a time she Spotted Captain Daniels as he lead Gideon on the far side of the market square. It was hard to determine from this distance, but the Captain did not look like the helpful and caring man that had given her bread a short while ago. He walked with a purpose now. Gideon followed behind the captain dragging his feet, an anxious expression on his face. “Crap, what did he do? I hope Captain Daniels isn’t punishing him for letting me do his work?” she said quietly. The guilt crept into her stomach as she watched them march into the City Guard’s Compound. Before they entered into the compound, Gideon looked her way. She swore and stepped back into the shadows. Had he seen me? It sure felt like his eyes met mine, but how could they. He couldn’t have known I was up here.
After they disappeared inside, Raya decided it was time to go. It is time to get scarce until things return to normal. I have had enough of people for the day, maybe for the week. Raya could feel the chaos stirring. Big changes were coming and she didn’t want to be around when they got here. She made her way back down to street level. From there she took a circular route to make sure she wasn’t being followed, finally making her way back to the sewers. When chaos reigned, it was easier to endure from home.