Chapter 7:

A Dark Night

The Melancholy of a Whimsical Half-Elph


“Absolutely, fucking not!” Alejandro replied to Enne’s question. Her ears lowered to his harsh rebuke.

Alejandro sat across Enne. The drone’s parts were scattered neatly on the round table. Next to it were fruits Enne brought back from the market. Once again, guilt dwelled within Alejandro after realizing his response was too harsh. At every turn, his companion always drove a case to intervene where they weren’t needed. Enne glimpsed the room they stayed in; a bed and a patio with chairs outside. Her hand felt for an apple while averting eye contact.

“All right,” he said. “Maybe that was too harsh.”

“Too harsh?” she mocked. “It’s every time. I feel like we have the same back and forth.”

“What we’ve experienced so far is tame compared to this. We can draw all the wrong attention. We’re in Ethoxian territory. This outpost is practically backed by them to maintain order.”

“Order? Right.”

“En, I don’t like this any more than you do.”

“Allie. Who is Janus to you? Because he’s letting on a lot more than I imagined.”

Alejandro was reluctant to reply, and Enne noticed. Her eyes slowly trailed toward him to see his expressionless gaze.

“That’s not something I want to touch on. Not now, at least.”

“Not now? You’ve kept me in the dark on a lot of things.”

“En, you don’t have to know everything.”

“I don’t. But I expect you to be a little more forthcoming with me. After everything we’ve been through, it’s all I’m asking for. I’ve even risked my life for you—”

“And no one asked you to do any of that! You just do whatever the hell you feel like because it makes you feel good.”

Enne stood, having crushed the apple in her hand. Alejandro looked into her eyes, lowering his gaze finding their intensity too much to handle. It was the same conversation they’d have whenever she wanted to get too involved. For whatever reason, he thought he could change that. The world didn’t reward good samaritans. Kind acts could only get so far. Enne walked toward the window, taking a deep breath.

“For once, I just wish... You’d just stand by my side without arguing like I’ve always done for you. But that’s not how this should work. That isn’t unconditional love at that point.”

“En, I love you. I don’t want anything happening to you.”

“To me? How about you? Allie, if we do nothing about your health—”

“That’s for me to worry about.”

“No. No, it’s not. Not while together. Throughout this whole time, I’ve only ever shown you the side I wanted you to see. Hope, compassion, joy....”

“What are you saying?”

“I had to move passed the person I thought I was to become the person you’d need. My doubts and fears needn’t apply.”

Alejandro didn’t reply. Her eyes began to tear as she looked over. She continued: “I know you’re going through your own fight. That’s the only reason I ever wanted to travel. Those nights we spent chatting about your experiences encouraged me to do more. It was all to—Help foster that world you always dreamed of. I thought what I was doing meant something... Meant something in your eyes.”

“En, I...”

“You don’t have to speak. If you don’t want to do this, I’ll go on my own! We can meet up later.”

Alejandro felt a painful jolt in his chest. When he looked up, Enne began walking out the door. Memories of his past filled his mind, but he was left in a stupor as the door shut. He was relieving everything again. His hands trembled when he tried to stand. The man’s body couldn’t take the pain as he stumbled forward.

He was left with the silence of the rain. He sat down, fixating on the crushed apple she left behind. His breathing quivered as he reached for the bottle, but his fingers had stopped short from grasping it. Alejandro reflected, slowly detracting away from it. This was how he always dealt with setbacks. He wondered how pathetic Enne thought of him at this moment. The wanderer was too afraid of his past. No, he’d dwell on it.

Their motorcycle screeched away into the distance.

“I can’t keep doing this,” he muttered.

Alejandro stood up, barely gaining a footing as he did. He needed to act, but the person who came to mind was Janus. The Ethoxian wouldn’t do anything to him, not while Enne was around. Yet again, Janus was too concerned about maintaining his hold on the city. He threw on a shirt and overcoat, heeding little to his haggard appearance when passing by the bathroom’s mirror. He glimpsed the cat ears she left in a small bag.

Sometime later...

The neon lights glowed under a drizzling night. Electronic music thumped despite the damp weather. Travelers from afar were ready to partake in the night’s festivities, feigning ignorance of what was happening around them. Despite the district's eye-catching scene, the homeless hid in the shadows. In one of the alleys stood Salem, who pressed against the building’s wall. Her eyes caught glimpses of movement in the next street over. It appeared they were searching through all the crevices. The rough treatment of the impoverished was hardly audible over the lively passerby.

Salem was drenched. Each breath came steadily, though her heart raced. She had been evading her pursuers ever since she left her job. Somehow, they haven’t caught her. Her body shivered as she took off her drenched jacket. It revealed the bruises on her arms from the moment they saw her. She swept her hair away from her face, revealing the bruise on her cheek.

She didn’t know how she managed to slip away from the egregious interrogation. The violence they displayed just for answers. She knew they were going to kill her, anyway.

W—where the hell do I go? she thought. I—I can’t go home! I’m fucking dead. All because of that...

Salem felt for her pockets, pulling out a small piece of paper. It was the directions to where Enne and Alejandro stayed. She panicked when footsteps approached. She slipped under its lid and rested upon the garbage with nowhere but the small dumpster to hide in. Her nose flared from the awful stench. Their weapons clinked against the belt as they came to a stop.

“That bitch ain’t here,” the man muttered. “Continue the sweep. There’s no way she got far.”

Though his footsteps disappeared into the crowd, she was too scared to move.

Alejandro arrived in the district. He glimpsed the penthouse that oversaw the district; Janus was the man in the high castle, watching for those that would be a threat. Enne had yet to return, and Alejandro grew wary of where she went. Holograms bombarded his visual, projecting figures in the likeness of Enne. How these establishments had marketed had come a long way. However, it was harder to ignore the bandit’s movements in their apparent street sweep.

“What the hell is going on?” he said under his breath.

Alejandro couldn’t proceed with all the warning signs. He immediately faded into one of the alleys, watching from the shadows. A splashy thump and the clattering of a dumpster lid prompted his glare. A meek woman covered in trash cowered from the light. Her pale skin and deep blue eyes were unmistakable. He walked toward her, but she looked past him, expecting the bandits to return. Her shuddering body wasn’t just from the cold.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked. Her lips quivered. His hands reached toward her. “Fine. You don’t have to answer, but let’s get you h—”

“I have nowhere to go,” she replied.

“What happened?”

He helped her up when she heard footsteps approach. “H—hey?”

Alejandro pressed her against the wall while hiding part of her body with his coat. Her dark hair blocked off their flashlight. Their weapons cocked as the light hit them. Salem’s heart raced as the wanderer leaned closer. His body was uncomfortably close, but her lingering odor nearly repelled him. His off-putting alcoholic breath made her clam up.

“Hey, you two,” the bandit shouted. “The fuck is going on here?”

“The hell does it look like?” Alejandro replied. His voice became uncharacteristically gruff. His amber eyes glared at the pair of bandits. “I’m trying to get one in... You know how it is.”

He heard an audible gulp as they nodded.

“Eh, carry on.”

Their footsteps disappeared into the streets once more. Alejandro leaned away to give her space to find her flushed face.

“The fuck was that?” she growled.

“Improv,” he replied as he kept his eye on the street.

“Get one in? Pfft. Real fucking charmer! Where’d you rehearse that? Roleplaying with that half-elf?”

She turned to find his bemused smirk.

“Oh, shit. It is?”

“Why are they after you?” he asked. Salem pulled out the paper with directions.

“Enne. They must’ve been onto her... Well, she figured as much.”

“We need to get you out of here, but—Do you know where she went?”

“No. I thought you’d be together.”

“We’re—Going through the motions.”

“Trouble in paradise?”

“I’m not gonna get into all that.”

Alejandro passed her his cloak. She stared at it before looking at him; He insisted as she took it. His arms had little muscle left, and his body seemed emaciated. He looked away as she threw the cloak over her shoulder. Her shuddering quickly eased from its warmth. Alejandro proceeded down the alley.

“We can’t stick around. We need to find her.”

“Where are we going?”

Alejandro noted the heavy footsteps circling back. The drizzle turned to steady rain, drowning out the crowds. Salem knew there was no turning back. She had nowhere to run to, knowing her fate. Death seemed to be a tame option. The wanderer could sense the fear behind her eyes.

“Just throw the hood over and stay close.”

Salem had little choice in the matter as she scurried after him. They disappeared before the bandits arrived. Salem stayed by his side as they entered the street. The sidewalks were congested with foot traffic spanning blocks as people sought cover from the rain. The wanderer remained aware, tracking each camera or drone that flew by; They were onto them. They’d strike once Salem and him were out of sight. Alejandro led the way into another cut closer to his building when he noticed the approaching bandits. He knew the likelihood of confrontation was inevitable. His head raised at the gray skies, closing his eyes.

“The hell are you—” she asked.

“Get behind cover,” he said.

Salem complied. The voices of men echoed from both ends with measured footsteps. They walked in cautiously, Their weapon’s red dots covering his back and chest. Salem watched helplessly as he slowly raised his hands. One false move could give an excuse for an itchy trigger finger. Alejandro glimpsed her through the side of his eye, brandishing a tired smile. A bandit leader with a prominent 5-o’clock shadow stepped forward, noticing the protective cover of the dumpster. Yet he also recognized the man before him.

“We don’t want any trouble with you, wanderer,” he said. “We just want the witch.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Alejandro replied.

“We ain’t stupid. We can see and hear your every move. I don’t know why you told her to hide.”

“I never told her to hide.”

With a subtle shift of Alejandro’s hand, the leader accidentally opened fire. Alejandro shifted to the side as a stream of bullets struck those on the other side. The soldiers shouted over the other. The gunfire that pierced through the unlucky few sent those who watched into a panic. Using the chaos to his advantage. Alejandro disarmed the leader. A thud against the wall slams against the pavement cleared one end. Alejandro hid behind cover as their pursuers finally fired back.

Shit, can’t use mana, he thought. But these guys are sloppy.

Alejandro glimpsed the nearest assault rifle, snatching it once the bandits stopped to reload. He examined the gun: a Colt M5 Carbine. Its lightweight was easy to swing and easy to reload, just as he remembered. Unlike the days of his service, the trigger came with identification software. He winced with annoyance. He wondered whether tampering with it would render it useless, but he took his chance. He short-circuited it, releasing the safety lock. Alejandro grimaced. He swung from cover, gunning them down with surprising precision.

Salem rattled to the glimpses of gunfire that revealed his cold gaze. The eyes of death lurked behind the aging man. The stories of her ancestor’s killers were true after all. When the last bullet clanked against the wet pavement, she was frozen with fear. His calm footsteps approached as her heart raced. Salem emerged, looking down both sides of the alley.

“It’s over?” she asked.

“For now,” he replied. Alejandro unloaded an empty click before reaching for the others. “But we probably got their attention.”

“Holy… I didn’t think I had batman by my side.”

“Batman didn’t kill.”

“We both know that’s bullshit.”

“Wait a second. I thought you looked familiar. The stories I heard... you killed—”

Alejandro winced, finally looking over at the young woman. He asked coldly: “Do you wanna live or not? We can talk about this later.”

“I know exactly who the hell you are.”

Alejandro paused. A jolt struck him when he saw her scowl. Her tone seemed personal and laced with disdain. Salem walked over with an unsettling silence between them. Her piercing blue eyes were unlike what he’d observed from her. Alejandro awaited her claim as she shook her head.

“You’re the asshole that killed my family members when the bandits took over.”

He lowered his head.

“Alejandro, the Executioner, they called you.”

Salem looked at him through the side of her eye, expecting a response. His lips quivered. A pair of amber eyes glanced at her. Her patience quickly waned when his eyes teared up. She yelled: “Are you going to answer?”

“I was just following orders,” he replied. His voice cracked lowly as he looked away. “Like everyone else did today.”

“Does she know about your sins?”

“Sins? No, she doesn’t. But I do need to answer for these... transgressions.”

“She deserves better than to be with a murderer.”

Alejandro looked over, gritting his teeth. He replied: “Don’t think for a goddamn moment I’ve been living well. I live with it—The blood in my hands. There isn’t when I haven’t thought about what I’ve done. Enne may have been the best thing to happen to me, but I know... I don’t deserve her.”

“Makes the two of us.”

“If you want to kill me... Go ahead... After I get you out of here.”

“Why help me?”

“I wouldn’t have known who the hell you were until you told me. But if I can do right then, it would put me at ease. There’s not much for me to fight for. I’m just dead weight to Enne.”

Salem glimpsed the defeated expression he wore as he pondered. She couldn’t believe he’d shed an ounce of remorse after over a century. He was a man waiting for death, or rather, at death’s door, but somehow she pitied him.

“But your partner feels otherwise.”

Alejandro chuckled as he looked toward the other end. Salem winced.

“What did you tell her... About this area?” he asked.

“I only told her what she wanted to know,” she replied.

“You realize what we’re meddling with, don’t you? This network has ties with the Ethoxian government. The rebels were always misguided... Fighting a goliath. Enne doesn’t understand the consequence of power. Even if we dismantled the bandit network, then what? Do you think the Elven government will just let the rebels take control? With all the weapons they have? We might be doing them a favor by bringing them to light.”

Salem furrowed her brows as he looked over his shoulder. He quickly reminded himself: “That’s the way of the world. I can’t stop her once she feels strongly about something.”

“Maybe you can make yourself useful instead of pissing away whatever time you got left. Maybe... You can answer for your sins by giving back.”

Alejandro nodded with a bittersweet smile.

“So, again,” he said. “Are we gonna get moving or not?”





Trouble in Paradise~
Allie and Enne's dynamic definitely blend well With Salem thrown into the mix, there's an extra layer of character provided. Leave a like and comment/feedback. I'd greatly appreciate it, and thanks so much for reading! ^^

kazesenken
icon-reaction-1