Convergent realities - Chapter Five - Observer

Two more chappies of CR today. A little exciting because I've introduced the reader stand-in (although she doesn't have a name in this chapter) and I've setup the lore/setting dump for next chapter. Since the setting isn't QUITE normal, I thought it'd be nice to explain what's going on in a broad sense. Soon! tm

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

I thrashed about, trying desperately to reach my phone as soon as the alarm went off the next morning. I was still exhausted after the cleanse yesterday, and was pretty sure I’d set the stupid thing to Do Not Disturb before collapsing last night, so being woken by its shrill ring was infuriating.

By the time I grabbed the device I realized it wasn’t an alarm, but a call coming through on my private line. I stared at the display, trying hard to decide whether to answer it right away. On the one hand, it was only ten pm, on the other hand, it was Maria calling. After a couple seconds of debating I decided to be responsible and answer.

“Keira, fuck me, its about time you answered. I need help… that girl is here, and she’s following me,” Maria blurted out as soon as I picked up.

I felt a cold dread take hold of me, and I slipped to the edge of my bed. “Hold on, who’s after you?” 

“That girl we saw in the Bleed yesterday, the young contractor! She’s here!” Maria hissed. 

“Where are you?” I asked, springing out of bed and grabbing whatever clothes I could find.

“I’m at the market. I wanted to get some air, so I took my bike. I didn't expect there to be any trouble,” 

“First of all, calm down,” I said, trying to sound confident. “”The fae are brazen, but they wont do anything in public.” I wedged the phone between my shoulder and my ear so I could pull on some pants while still talking, which was a lot more difficult than it sounded. “Did you see anyone else?”

“No… but I’m no good at this cloak and dagger bullshit, you know that. I only noticed her because she’s even worse than I am.”

“Well, at least you noticed one of them. You’re at the local market, yeah? Across the park?” I asked as I attempted to pull on a shirt while still holding the phone.

“Of course, they have the freshest vegis,” she replied with a slight pout.

“Alright then, here’s what we’re going to do… pretend you didn’t see her, and walk around the isles for about five more minutes then go pay for your groceries. I’m going to fucking book it to the park, and get ready to ambush whom ever’s following you,” I explained.

“That’s a stupid plan and you know it,” Maria grumbled.

“Maybe, but we don’t have time for a better one! I’m not going to let the Fae do anything to you. Just stay calm, and we’ll get through this.”

“Fine, I’ll trust you with this…” Maria said hesitantly.

“Good. I have to hang up now, I have a lot of prep to do, and not a lot of time to do it. I’ll see you soon,” I told her.

“Promise you’ll be at the park when I arrive,” Maria whispered.

“I promise,” I told her. “I’m hanging up now.”

“Alright, see you soon,” she said softly. As soon as the phone clicked I booked it out of my room and straight to my armory cabinet. I had a bad habit of not immediately securing my weapons, as was evident by the duffle bag still crumpled at it’s base, but I didn’t have time to deal with it now. Ripping open the cabinet I grabbed a handful of magazines with [faeColor] tape on them, before shoving them into a nearby backpack. Then, I fished my Vector out of the duffle and threw it in after them. Once I had my weapon, sprinted out the door.

The park wasn’t that far away, a couple minute walk from our building, and it separated us from the nearest residential area. Normally we loved it for the privacy, but right now it provided the perfect place for someone to attempt to deal with Maria ‘discretely’ I made it to the park in a minute, and across to the entrance closest to the market in four before diving into a copse of trees. I was breathing hard, but I made it before Maria did.

I carefully pulled out my weapon, replaced the magazine, and waited. 

Maria rode by less than a minute later. She was doing her best to appear calm, but I could tell how freaked out she was. To her credit she was keeping a slow, even pace, and not sprinting home. I didn’t reveal myself when she passed, instead I just hunkered down further and waited, watching for whomever was following her.

Sure enough, a couple minutes after Maria rode by the same girl we saw in the Bleed yesterday cautiously entered the park. It was strange, I was expecting a strike or apprehension team, not a single, scared girl. I bit my lip, and hesitated to move for a minute. Although she didn’t look much like a threat, I couldn’t let her find the house.

Once she was about ten feet past my location I slunk out and grabbed her around the throat. “Don’t scream or I’ll shoot you, understand?” I hissed into her ear as I dragged the girl off the pathway.

Despite being obviously terrified by the situation, the girl somehow managed to retain enough wits to nod. 

“Good… I’m going to loosen my grip a little bit so you can answer my questions. Don’t think about fighting back,” I warned. “Now, what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to know who you people were, and why you attacked Agatha yesterday!” the girl managed. “You said some things about her trading lives for power, and when I brought it up to the others they brushed me off. I wanted to know more…” She was leaking snot and tears, which made me feel bad about doing this to her, but I didn’t loosen my grip.

“Are you serious?” I managed. “You came to find us because of that? It didn’t occur to you that it might be a bad idea after we attacked you?” I growled.

“You didn’t kill anyone,” she replied meekly.

“Fucking… how did you find us?” I asked, pushing the barrel of my gun into her back. “It’s my signature power! I have something like a sixth sense, and can track any contractor I’ve met in the last three days. You’re not a contractor, so I had to track your friend.”

“So why did you stalk her, instead of approaching her directly?” I asked with a frown.

“I didn’t know HOW. I didn’t exactly meet you on the best terms,” she blubbered. “Please don’t kill me!” she managed before completely breaking down.

I sighed, and loosened my grip a little bit more. “How long have you been a contractor?”

“A WEEK! I thought I’d be helping people, but the second Bleed I’d ever entered you shot at me and claimed my mentor was a slaver!” At this point the girl’s legs full on failed, and she fell to the ground sobbing.

“Fuck…” I mumbled to myself, before crouching down a couple feet in front of the girl. “Look, I’m sorry, but my friends and I have to be extremely careful. There are a lot of people, like your mentor, that would love to kill us. The life of a contractor isn’t as black and white as many people believe. I’m willing to believe you don’t mean us harm, but I’m not willing to trust you yet.”

“That’s why you’re still holding the gun?” she asked.

“But no longer pointing it at you,” I countered. “Before anything else, you need to promise you won’t try and track my friend ever again. First thing you need to learn is most people do NOT like you looking into things, so don’t ask questions unless you’re willing to deal with the consequences.”

“So, I’m just supposed to pretend that everything’s ok?” Thankfully she was slowly pulling herself together, so I didn’t have to translate the blubbering any more. “That some of the people I’ve met aren’t doing terrible things?”

“Do you really want to know?” I asked. The girl hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Fine, then I’ll tell you the basics. Who knows, maybe it’ll keep you out of the dark side of things, and on the right path. Maybe it’ll even keep you alive. It’s far more likely that you’ll regret it later,” I warned her. “Give me your contact information, and I’ll call you tomorrow. If you haven’t changed your mind by then, we’ll setup a time to meet.”

The girl looked up into my face for the first time. “Why are you doing this?” she asked.

“Because, like it or not, you’ve entered a shady fucking world and you should probably know the truth about it.” With one eye on the girl I opened up the contacts on my phone. “Now, what’s your number?”