Woodside Part 1

There wasn’t much to Woodside. The streets were empty and not once did someone leave their home to greet them, but Mary could tell by the differences in wear and the recency of footprints in the dirt road which of the eighteen houses were inhabited. Some of the house’s wooden beams had already started to rot away. Thatching on many of their roofs was in a similar state of disrepair. Ten nondescript, worn alters lined the road at the heart of Woodside, followed by three shattered ones. The center of Woodside was otherwise open, and mostly barren. It was little more than a crossroads leading in two directions.

Mary pointed at one of the abandoned houses. “Stay in that house while I investigate.” I should have done this alone. “If you need to leave, avoid those hills.” Mary pointed out the three small hills surrounding Woodside to the others. “Avoid the orphanage and farm as well.” Mary looked at each of them to see if they understood.

Vivian was staring up at the sky.

Mary sighed. She can handle herself. “I will be back before nightfall.”

“Goodbye miss.” One of the orphans waved.

“Be careful about that place.” Another added in.

“I will be fine, you do not need to worry about me.” Mary waved back then headed off.

“Hey where do you think you’re going!?” Vivian shouted

“Stay with them and do not worry about it.”

Vivian looked around then at Cassius. “Whatever. It’s not the dumbest thing I’ve had to do.”

“We should do what Miss Mary says.” Fiivon urged the others towards the dilapidated building.

Mary walked over to the orphanage. The nearby farm looked filthy and empty, but crops were being grown and there was a well worn path between its barn and the orphanage. Foot traffic towards the barn from the dirt road appeared to be greater than anywhere else in the hamlet as well. Mary stared at the barn for a while. It wasn’t currently in operation, but at this distance it was difficult for her to tell if anyone was inside.

The orphanage itself was made from a darker, more sturdy rock than any she had found in the area. A brief, pointed spire sat atop it. Stained glass windows on the second floor depicted what appeared to be various religious figures; most featured a robed woman standing alongside a man wearing a dark cloak. There were no windows on the first floor. The door itself was ornate, made of a dark, sturdy wood, and placed between two Corinthian styled columns with decorative leafing covering the miniature roof above it.

Mary knocked on the door.

No one responded.

Mary tried to open the door; it was locked. The lack of a keyhole suggested the lock was likely magical in nature. She knocked again.

“Go away. We aren’t open to the public.” A barely audible voice came from inside.

Mary looked back over to the barn. Nothing had changed. She tied a rope to one of her knives. A whirring noise filled the air around her as she swung it in a circle. She gave the rope more and more slack while continuing to swing it around, until releasing it. The knife flew in an arc then wrapped around the spire, eventually getting wedged between two stones.

She tugged on the rope.

It didn’t budge.

She walked towards the city-facing side of the orphanage while keeping the rope from dangling over one of the windows for too long or resting over one.

She put her foot against the wall and began to walk up it. The second floor overhang would have presented a problem for any of Mary’s shorter companions, but she easily stepped onto then over it, making sure to keep her weight balanced the entire time to prevent the thinner, less sturdy edge from breaking. She walked up the spire to retrieve the knife, placing it back in her jacket and returning the rope to a large pocket inside her coat.

The people inside should be able to hear me, but no one left the building to check what was going on. They are either smart or the building is soundproofed. She looked through one of the windows.

The inside was empty aside from two couches with a velvet appearance separated by a glass and marble coffee table centered between them.

She checked the window on the other side of her. The room appeared Identical.

She climbed between the windows to the other side of the roof. The rooms on this side of the building each had two large metal beds in them, alongside modest, wooden nightstands, dressers, and various personal effects. The windows in the rear of the building contained similar rooms behind them.

From her vantage point, the barn appeared to be run down. Various wooden slats were broken or missing, the once orange paint was faded to the point it was difficult to tell it apart from the light colored wood. Support beams and everything else pertaining to the barn’s structural integrity appeared to be well maintained. If someone is in there, they either are not concerned with what I am doing or are not watching me.

Mary climbed to the front of the building. Both windows led to the same room. There were four people on the left side of the room; none of them seemed to have noticed her. They were too busy playing billiards and drinking. A fifth person was passed out on a velvet couch seated beneath a window depicting a scene where the robed woman is expressing scorn towards a man who abandoned his staff to get drunk.

The right side of the room was less lively, but otherwise mirrored the left. In the center of the room on the far wall was a self-serve bar. They appear unarmed, but a wand or knife could easily be hidden in their clothes.

The window on the right had a latch on it and hinges indicating the window could be pulled outward. Mary slipped one of her knives into the latch and lifted upward, releasing it. She then pulled the window out and stepped into the room. Two poker tables, previously obscured by the outer wall, were in the center of the room, aligned with the bar.

“You seein’ what I’m seein’” One of the men slurred his words.

“How’d you get up here?” Another said.

“Where do you keep your documents?” Mary approached them, they hadn’t noticed her knives yet.

“You ask a lotta question fer a tresp’ss’r.” A third man added in.

“HEY! Yer not sposed ta be here.” The fourth man said, nearly falling onto the table.

“I know.” Mary kicked one of the poker tables. It slid against the plush carpet before slamming into the fourth man’s legs, trapping him between it and the billiards table.

The fourth man vomited.

“You're not here on b’s’ness, are you?” The third man cracked his pool cue against the table and pointed the sharp ends towards Mary. "Get lost."

The first man did the same while the second man stumbled towards the exit.

He will not make it downstairs. Mary appeared to let him leave as she approached the other two. "Whoever brings me your sales logs and operation documents gets to live.”

“We’ve got mages on our side. What makes you think you'll even be walking out of here alive?” The first man walked around the table.

“All we’ve gotta do is distract you long enough.” The third man stabbed the broken cue at Mary.

With a single hand, she ripped the cue half away from him and thrust her dagger into the side of his head killing him instantly. A squirt of blood fled his head when she removed the dagger. His body fell to the ground with a thud.

The fourth man tried, and failed, to take a swing at her with his fist. She cut his throat then grabbed his pool cue and jabbed it into the first man’s neck before he could get close enough to swing his cue halves at her.

He dropped the cues and reached for his throat, falling to his knees as he struggled to breath.

Mary drove a knife between his Hyoid bone and jaw as she walked past him.

Once the man's body fell to the floor, she sprinted to the door and kicked it down.

The Second man had just barely reached the stairs. He tried to hurry down them only for Mary to leap over the railing and tackle him before he even managed to make it three steps down. The pain of his head crashing into the carpet at an odd angle dazed him.

“Where are the documents?”

“They’ll be up here soon, there’s no way they didn’t hear that. You’re never get—”

Mary drove her dagger into the space between his temples, silencing him.

She walked down the stairs, keeping her feet as close to the edges as possible to reduce creaking. Once at the bottom she pressed her head up against the door. No voices or footsteps could be heard on the other side.

The knob turned noiselessly and the door failed to creak as Mary gently pushed it open.