Chapter 8

My back is straight as I prepare myself to flee at a moment’s notice. What am I running from exactly? I don’t know. But these people look suspicious.

‘They’re not a threat to you. At least, not a threat yet,’ the voice supplies uselessly.

Well thanks, that’s useful.

The man tries to ask his questions taking my silence as confirmation to keep going. “I’m looking for someone. They—”

“I’m sorry, we’re not open yet. The gambling houses are though. Maybe you could ask them for assistance.”

The man doesn’t get mad when I cut him off, he just looks a bit troubled. His friend, however, clearly did not appreciate my dismissal. They shuffle around him and if I didn’t know any better, I would think that they’re blocking the door to keep me here.

“He didn’t even ask you the question yet. Shouldn’t you at least hear him out instead of trying to throw us out?” From under one of hoods, I hear a woman’s soft voice and it’s not what I expected. Well, I thought she was a man so clearly, not what I expected.

“I—” Before I get to finish, a kid peeks out from behind the legs of the leader.

He has a hood on, but I can see tufts of brown hair sticking out from all directions underneath. I also spot a deep scar on his face that healed in a jagged pattern causing the corner of his left eye to be tugged down.

If he’s with these soldiers, then he’s probably a runner. Children are often tasked with running back and forth on battlefields carrying medicine, weapons, messages, or anything that’s necessary. It’s unsettling to know that there are kids that lose the opportunity to just be kids because of a war.

“Hello.” I soften my tone when I talk to him and offer a warm smile.

Despite my desire to get these people out of here as soon as possible, I’m not about to start an argument with a kid in the room.

He stares at me warily trying to decide if I’m friend or foe. I step from behind the counter and bend down so that the kid and I are eye level. I’m not fond of being this close to the strangers, but they haven’t made any moves to harm me. If anything, they seem to be just as cautious of me as I am of them right now.

“My name’s Blue, what’s yours?”

The kid takes a few seconds to answer. “I’m not allowed to tell my name to strangers.”

I nod my head as if to say, ahh, that makes sense, while holding back a laugh.

“In that case let’s make a deal, if I show you something really cool then you have to give me your name.” I lean in before whispering, “and it technically could be a made-up name since I wouldn’t know the difference.”

His mouth and eyes open wide as if I just told him something revolutionary. It’s at this moment that the leader of the group and the other woman relax. The other person though, seems to have been staring, no examining me for quite some time now. I can’t actually see if his eyes are on me, but it feels like it. It’s unnerving, but I act like I don’t notice hoping he’ll get the hint and stop.

“Alright. Now pay close attention or you might miss it. In my right hand I currently have a silver coin.” I flip it back and forth to show off how ordinary the coin is. Despite his best attempts to look uninterested, the kid can’t help but follow each movement of the coin.

“Are you watching?” When he nods his head, I toss the coin into the air and then make a show of crossing my hands before catching it. “Now, where is the coin?”

“Left hand.” The kid didn’t hesitate for a second. With his eyes pinned on my left hand, I open it and feign remorse.

“Sorry, it’s not in this one.”

His expression changes to one of annoyance. I can tell he thinks I’m looking down on him because he’s a child. It reminds me so much of the expressions Sai used to have when I played this trick on him that I’m fighting back a grin.

“You slipped it in your sleeve obviously.”

Nh, I was waiting for him to say that. “Now how can that be when it’s in your pocket right now?”

A little uncertain, the boy reaches into his pants pocket to find a silver coin. He stares at the coin in utter fascination before popping his head up to look at me, eyes shining with wonder. That’s when I see it. Under his hood, something shifts and the unmistakable outline of ears are visible. I notice the leader and the woman flinch, but I continue on as if nothing happened.

“What to you think? Was the trick cool enough to deserve a name?”

“How did you do that?!” His eyes are bright as he steps closer to me. He hasn’t noticed that his ears are standing up, and I don’t have the heart to say something.

“Well,” –I hold my finger up to my lips– “I unfortunately cannot reveal my secrets. Sorry.”

He deflates at my refusal, making me feel bad. But, if I tell him it would break the wow factor. Nh, I can’t give in just because he’s cute.

Just when I think he won’t give me his name, he perks up and starts muttering under his breath. Issue is, I catch every word.

“Name, I need to give her a name. Let’s see my names Sarai, my favorite color is green, and I like chocolate.”

Ahh sweetheart, you just said your real name out loud.

“My name is Sweet,” Sarai says with his head held high as if he accomplished something. Guess he went with the chocolate route.

“Nice to meet you Sweet.” I give him a warm smile before addressing the other three again.

I feel calmer now that I know they must have just been on guard since Sarai’s an animorph. The other two that have their heads covered might be animorphs as well making this city, well, this country, a very dangerous place for them.

“Sorry, what was your question.”

The leader of the group offers me a genuine smile. I listen to him and ignore the woman as she signals to Sarai to tuck his ears down.

“He used to work on the other end of the street at Green Bay shop, but they said he moved over to this area. I’m not sure what name he’s using right now. He used to be listed as item number seventeen. Wavy blonde hair, pale skin, purple-colored eyes.

Violet. I only correct him in my head since I don’t want to let on that I know who they’re asking for. Though I no longer feel like these people are a threat, I won’t send them to Rumi without asking him first.

“Let me think.” I put on a face that says I’m searching the archives of my memory trying to find someone that fits his description. “No one’s coming to mind but let me ask next door. The owner of that shop has been here for a while so they may know. If you can step outside while I check for you, I would appreciate it.”

After I manage to get all four of them outside, I promise the woman again that I’ll be right back.

“You better not just run off and leave us here.”

“I won’t,” I promise her as I force her to release my wrist.

As I turn around to head to Rumi’s shop she gives me another warning for the road. “I’m watching you.”

“Yup.”

Right before I make it to the entrance of Rumi’s shop, a hand grabs my arm. At first, I think it’s the woman again and I’m about to let her have it. But when I turn around, it’s the guy that was staring at me.

His eyes twitch back and forth unnaturally as his grip tightens.

“What—”

Before I can ask him what his problem is, I feel a horrible sensation rake over my bones. It feels like there’s something grinding against every bone in my body. It’s not painful, but it’s uncomfortable. And…it feels wrong.

“Who are you?” He asks in a voice that seems too old to be measured in years.

I’m trying to yank free of him, but it’s not working. The grinding sensation gets worse until I want to scream. And then I do. Or, the voice does. She doesn’t scream in pain though. It’s fury, and it’s directed at him.

Whether he heard it, or not, he lets go of me and steps back to where his friends are. Now that his hood has fallen back some to reveal his face, I can see eyes are wide in both fear and wonder.

While I try to process what happened, Rumi calls my name from the balcony. He looks more scared than I do.

“Come on.” The leader of the group gathers everyone and tries to lead them past me to where Rumi is.

A part of me wants to stop them from getting anywhere near Rumi, but another part wants to get away as far and as fast as possible. In the end, my instinct to protect overrides my fear as I step in front of them to block their path.

Not my Rumi.

I’m thinking about what I should do next when I feel Rumi’s hands on my shoulder. He nudges me to the side with a somber smile. His eyes are telling me to let it go. To not ask. And because it’s Rumi asking, I don’t. I step aside and watch as he leads them into his shop.

The leader and the woman turn to look at me with curious expressions. I mean to glare at them, but since I’m still dazed over what happened, I think it just looks like I’m staring. But, when Sarai turns around to give a tentative wave, I force myself to wave back and smile.

Rumi doesn’t look back at me as he disappears into the shop. He won’t like it if I follow him, right?

I spend the next few minutes trying to ask the voice what happened. But when I get no response, I go with option B. Reason everything away.

I tell myself that I overthought the entire interaction earlier. That the grinding sensation was maybe me grinding my teeth in frustration and disgust. And above all, that everything’s fine.

I’m fine, Rumi will be fine. It’s all…fine.