The financial district was a constant heaving mass of decay and renovation, all around buildings stood in various stages of demolition or construction, each being tailored to fit their owners requirements. Far below the skyline, Alice ran, a sea of people obstructing her, but Alice was a street rat through and through, knowing all the best shortcuts and being more than athletically skilled to break through the crowd. Seeing an opportunity, she ducked down a back alley, hoping over broken and rotting crates and even more broken and rotting people, their lives wasted away to some drug or another.

Ahead at the end of the alley a chain-link fence blocked her way, Alice chuckled, spreading her hands out against the air, grasping it within them. Ten meters, five meters, a meter, the fence bore down towards her, then, right at the last second she leapt, flicking her hands downwards and propelling her up and over it in one clean, seamless motion. Landing softly she rolled, propelling herself into cover. She was near her destination, and this was no time to be caught in the open, exposed to her target. Within the dark alleyways Alice continued to darted from cover to cover, trying her best to stay within the shadows of the buildings that towered above her. Slowing up, she dropped behind a large industrial rubbish bin, noticing something up ahead, off in the distance.

There they are, Alice silently exclaimed, her excitement growing at the sight of the men before her.

They moved swiftly, acting not as individuals but as part of something larger, with each man covering the movements of his partner, their grey suits quite out of place in this passageway of grime and filth. Amongst the group two men casually strolled, chatting away happily, their every movement watched and guarded as they filed off into another alleyway. Now, which one of those is Samuel?

Alice waited patiently, remaining hidden until the last of the footsteps disappeared into the surroundings. Sneaking up from behind, she made her way to the corner - her steps light, distributing her weight evenly across them, attempting to reduce the sound of her footsteps as much as possible - before peering gingerly round the corner and catching sight of something worthwhile. Down at the end of the alleyway a set of double doors stood, guarded by another set of men, their presence stopping anyone who wished to intrude into the abandoned building beyond. As the initial group walked up upon the door the two men in the centre presented a set of silver cases. Seeing this the guards quickly strolled over, checking that none of the men who had arrived where hiding anything suspicious. A few moments later, after they confirmed everything was correct they opened the doors allowing the men to slowly disappeared into the darkness beyond, their silhouettes quickly vanishing, the guards solemnly following them.

Standing up, Alice leapt from her hiding spot, sprinting up towards the entrance, keeping her head low, just in case. Not wanting to be caught. Quickly clearing both corners Alice plunged headlong into the interior of the building, the darkness instantly swallowing her. Inside, the walls lay bare, their paint and paper stripper from them, revealing the damp plaster beneath while overhead fluorescent light tubes hung limply from the ceiling. Most seemed to have broken long ago while the ones that still worked barely lit up their surroundings, irradiating the halls in a sickly glow.

Alice slowly stumbled through hallways, her eyes still adjusting the the dimly lit interior. She kept her hand planted against the wall, using it to feel her way through the darkness. Being unsure of where the suits had gotten was one thing, letting them know she was even there was worse but letting them know by tripping over something was a whole nother matter entirely.

If that did happen Alice was sure she’d die of embarrassment well before they would kill her, and they would kill her. These gangsters might not be anyone she knew of, but they were gangsters all the same and wouldn’t think twice about killing an eavesdropper like herself. Especially when they seemed to be dealing with something of an extremely high value.

Ahead of her Alice could see a dim glow, it was different from the light that illuminated her way till now, glowing green like some alien ichor. Fumbling she made her way towards it, stooping down to grasp the light source as she came upon it.

Huh... a chemlight? What is one of these doing here, she thought, immediately beginning to formulate an understanding of the situation.

"Ahhhh, they left it! Which means that I’m back on the sent. wait till Noelle hears this, she always keeps saying I have no sense for subtlety or stealth!"

Down the hallway she could seem more chemlights, like a trail of breadcrumbs leading deeper into the building. Tossing the chemlight in her hand to one side she eagerly began to follow the trail, her heart racing as she darted through the shadows.

After a few winding turns the trail lead her towards what seemed to of been the building’s main stairwell. Stepping into the stairwell Alice immediately felt a chill run down her spine, glancing upwards she strained her eyes, just barely making out the silhouettes of several men shuffling about a dozen floors above.

"Bingo!" She whispered.

From her best guess the men had just approached the seventh floor and seemed to be a smaller, separate force, possibly three of four strong. From what she could tell this meant they must be some sort of patrol unit, lightly armed and only intended on being used to report the arrival of any visitors. It was highly likely they were in communication with the rest of their forces, meaning Alice would have to sneak past them if she had any hope of getting herself anywhere near to the actual meeting room.

"Hopefully if this goes all to plan, I won’t even have to test out the full capabilities of Noelle’s handy work... I just hope everything is functioning as intended, if not she won’t be getting any of those payments I owe her," Alice mused, chuckling to herself at the whole situation.

Taking a deep breath, she readied herself and began to get everything in order, her hands quickly pulling on the mask to cover her mouth. Once it was in position she then fastened the buckle on her collar, securing it all tightly in place and without pause she swiftly unfurled her hood, drawing it down and affixing it in place, leaving only her eyes exposed. With everything in position Alice began to pour mana into her clothing, the magical energy quickly latching itself onto the runes and symbols engraved within the material’s surface, causing it to glow faintly in the darkness.

Alice stretched, standing upright, her hands pushed out before her, fingers intertwined, as she forced her palms outwards, her hands giving out a satisfying crack. Hearing this Alice smiled, before continuing to confirm the clothing was operating as intended.

After completing her checks, she looked up, making sure no one was paying attention, and then, without hesitation, she sprinted forward at full speed. As she neared the stairs she spread her hands out, grasping the currents of the air around her, bending them to her command, ready for her next move. A manic grin breaking across her lips as she jumped, bending the air around her and propelling her several feet upwards. Quickly planting her foot upon the banister she jumped once more, launching herself further into the air, lifting her towards the next bannister. Swifty Alice repeated this process, arriving at the seventh floor in just a few seconds. She rolled as she landed, softening the impact and using the momentum of the roll to fling her into an open doorway off of the stairwell.

Alice glanced around herself, checking that all was clear before standing up, her body pressed up against the wall. She could still faintly hear several pairs of footsteps the echoed around the building, yet it didn’t seem that any of the men had noticed her presence yet.

Now where has the main attraction gone to, she thought, moving deeper into the corridor.

In front of her, the corridor spilt, branching off into two, each as decrepit as the other with loose tools and building material strewn about the place. Alice paused for a second, unsure of which direction to take, her mind hesitant to make an ill informed decision. Calming herself she breathed deeply and noticed a dusty noticeboard that hung crookedly on the wall. When she walked over to it she realised that it was the old fire evacuation plan for this floor, detailing all of the rooms, and the passageways as well. She glanced over it, frantically searching for a lead as to where the meeting might be taking place. Quickly she spotted a large room located on the left of her, far away from the staircase, it seemed substantial enough for a meeting to be able to take place, with a single entrance, allowing it to be easily guarded. Alice almost cursed at the unfairness of it, but then just as she went to she saw it, a small access way that ran beside the room. It could only be accessed from the far side yet they most likely wouldn’t have anyone guarding it as to get to it you’d need to go past their position anyway. Seeing this she brightened up breaking off down the left passageway.

She continued to cautiously head through the shadowy passageways of the building, ducking into rooms and alcoves when needed, to avoid the roaming patrols that operated across the floor. Off into the distance she could occasionally hear whispered conversations, aiding her in her progress.

Within a couple of minutes Alice found herself in the access way, while next door to her a heated discussion was beginning to take shape.

"What do you mean you want to raise the agreed price Olivier!? Didn’t we agree on a price at Dullahan’s?" A man exclaimed, failing to retain his calm demeanour.

"That was before you whisked us away because of some incident... and now I’m not so sure this security is as safe as you thought it was Samuel."

"What has that go to do with anything?"

"These are some pretty important items, items which some people may wish to have no matter what they have to do to get them... and I set this deal up initially because you said you could guarantee no one would find out about it," the man called Olivier dryly replied, his patience seemingly wearing thin.

"And no one has! Look you’re worrying over nothing... we made the move to here to ensure that, Olivier..."

"Still, I can’t go forward unless I at least get some sort of deal on top here. I need either the protection guaranteed by you or the money goes up to compensate me, it’s your choice."

"Who could you be so worried about to raise the price that much?"

"The people who I originally planned to sell them to before I found out who they were.."

"Stop being cryptic old man... who?"

"The-"

Before Alice could hear the rest of the conversation she was cut off from it, as a hand grabbed her, throwing her against the plasterboard wall. "Well, what are you doing here," a voice questioned, a torch shining brightly in her face.

Blinking repeatedly Alice struggled to reply. "Nothing... just out for a stroll," her poor attempt at a lie, managing to make even her cringe.

Her captor didn’t seem too amused by this, moving his grip from Alice’s shoulder to her throat, increasing the pressure applied as he did so. "Let’s try to do that again shall we? What are you doing here? As I can tell by your outfit that you’re not here by accident."

"Sightseeing," Alice replied, her voice straining under his grip.

"Fair enough. If you won’t just tell me I’ll get some other men over here and then we’ll make you tell us. Whether you live? Well, that’s not my problem anymore," the man remarked, lowering his torch and unhooking a radio from his belt.

He pressed the switch, the radio flickering into life, "Patrol, this is Siks. Over."

"Come in Siks, this is Patrol. Over." A voice quietly crackled from the radio.

"I’ve just found someone sneaking about the seventh floor. Can you send support to help me escort to you, over."

"Confirm, Siks standby and wait for-"

Before the voice from the end of the radio could even respond the world violently shook and the sound of a massive explosion tore through the air, cutting the radio off. All around dust and debris tore through the air, pelting her and her captor. Luckily for Alice her coat protected her from harm, it’s magically reinforced fabric easily resisting the shrapnel. Her captor wasn’t as lucky and he quickly flinched away protecting himself, his grip weakening as he did so.

Seeing this Alice quickly acted, placing both arms above her head, before bringing them crashing down upon his arm, breaking free from his hold. Quicker than he could react she was upon him, her right elbow raised high, striking down into the man’s temple, the impact sending him staggering sideways.

Alice knew she’d not be able to take him down with one blow, she needed to maintain her momentum, keep him on the defensive. Pushing forward she continued her attack, stepping into his guard and grabbing a hold of his left arm, putting her full weight against it, locking it in place. At this he tried to use his strength advantage to forcibly break free of her hold, but she was already a step ahead of him. Dropping her knees she bent his arm downwards, sliding her hands either side of his elbow as she did so. With her hands now in place Alice shifted her weight once more, and using all her strength pushed her body into the back of his elbow, snapping the joint.

The man screamed in pain, grabbing his elbow, but he did not fall. Instead he wheeled around using his good arm to land a hooked blow directly into her stomach, causing her to stumble, reeling from the blow. Alice couldn’t recover in time, a barrage of reckless blows raining down on her. Seeing an opportunity she tried to dodge, but a wild backhand slammed her into the wall, his right hand quickly wrapping itself around Alice’s throat. She desperately grasped at it to no avail, lacking the strength to break free. Slowly he squeezed tighter and tighter, if this kept up he’d crush her airwaves, starving her of oxygen. Her mind race trying to think of an escape plan, her left hand frantically launched punch after punch against him, trying to get him to loosen his grip.

Yet as each second passed by Alice could feel her strength waning and soon she couldn’t even swing her fist in retaliation. As time continued on the light began to fade and her right arm dropped listlessly at her side, her strength all but spent.

As the light in her eyes began to dim and fade, she mustered all her remaining strength and channelled it, right into her right arm, that sat, lightly placed upon the man’s sternum. Feeling the air, she bent it to her will, connecting the space between her and her attacker and compressing it, shrinking it down, smaller and smaller until it erupted, exploding outwards, jarring Alice’s whole body and sending her attacker flying backwards into the wall behind him, the wind blown from his lungs.

Both dropped to their knees, their lungs gasping for air, their vision blurred and unsteady. Due to the protection from her clothes, Alice recovered first, launching herself towards her attacker once more, landing a flying elbow into his left temple as he tried to stagger to his feet. The blow knocked him back to his knees, his body barely supported by his unbroken right arm. Following this she viciously kicked out, slamming the heel of her boot into his jaw, the force of the impact knocking him unconscious and sending his limp body clattering to the floor.

"Bastard!" Alice coldly remarked, pulling her mask down and spitting the blood in her mouth to the floor.

Next Chapter: 3 - Falling Inside The Black