Humanity, an interesting idea, an interesting word, and a word with no place in this city, a city where the dead dance and monsters wear human skin. A land where your prostitute is your priest, their pulpit granted by the Mafia and Gangs of the city, who rule this labyrinthine of stone, steel and filth like kings. It is not to say that this place lacks happiness, that the people do not love nor smile, it was just that the darkness was seen as a natural part of life within this city.
Within the heart of the city, a girl sat, high above the bay, dressed head to toe in black, as if in mourning. Her legs dangled playfully off the stone ledge she sat upon, eyes glistening as they stared intently at the people below, many of whom rushed about like ants, lost in a mindless routine.
“Alice!” A voice called out, the girl swivelling to face her unexpected guest.
Before her another girl stood, her gentle features and dark tanned skin standing out in stark contrast to the nihilistic grin she wore.
“Rebbecca! How’s our town’s premier teenage arms dealer doing on this wonderful day?” Alice replied, making no effort to conceal the sarcasm and disdain within her voice.
“I think you’ll find I’m this town’s premier arms dealer, age has nothing to do with it. In my line of work it’s the range and quality of the products that denotes your worth and my products... well, they speak for themselves,” she rebutted, her grin breaking into a silent laugh.
This girl! I can’t fathom her no matter how many times I meet her, she’s completely unbalanced. Strutting around as she does, dressed in that white suit and overcoat, as carefree as can be, and yet all the while dealing some of the most deadly weapons ever created, Alice thought to herself.
“No Ko with you today? Is it okay to be walking these streets without your bodyguard?” She continued aloud.
“Brother’s tied up with some business that desperately needed resolving and I just wanted to go for an afternoon stroll. There’s no need to worry about me Alice, I’ll be fine as long as these two are with me.” She motioned gently, lifting the edge of her coat away and revealing the chromed steel of her twin handguns that sat snugly in their holsters.
“Now Alice, I bet you know why I called out to you, right?”
“Haven’t the foggiest Rebbecca, was it to invite me out for tea? Or maybe to go dress shopping?”
“No, silly!” She said, a sickly sweet smile upon her lips. “It was to give you a little warning, about the people you’re after, the one’s in the grey suits.”
“What!? Are they going to murder me with their horrible fashion sense?” Alice quipped back, trying to avoid taking the subject too seriously.
“Murder you? Quite possibly, but not with their fashion sense, much more likely to do it with the crate load of Avtomat Kalashnikova I sold to them a week and a half ago. I know you think yourself indestructible Alice but trust me, a seven point six two round is more than enough to kill someone like you.”
“Oh really! Strike me surprised! You sold them their weaponry but here’s the strange point? What’s come over you to bother telling me that Rebbecca.”
“Nothing too much my dear, murder and death is always a part of my business, it if wasn’t there would be no business. But... let’s just say that I find you and your actions to be interesting enough to value them over the information I just gave you. Free of charge mind you!”
“You’re always thinking about that bottom line aren’t you Rebbecca?? Let’s not bother saying I owe you one and we’ll just agree that maybe somewhere out there someone might just be a little grateful of the knowledge you’ve provided to me, okay?” Alice remarked sarcastically, rolling her eyes as she did so.
“Fine by me!” Rebbecca cheerfully remarked, tossing a black backpack at Alice’s feet. “Anyway Alice, I must be on my way. I hope that you don’t mind? It is just that I still have several jobs that must be seen to by the end of today.”
“Of course I don’t mind, I wouldn’t want to keep you or your clients waiting,” Alice calmly replied, eyeing up the backpack at her feet.
“Such kind words you have my dear, they really do not suit this sullen appearance you’ve created for yourself.”
“It’s all about being unseen Rebbecca. Not all of us can stand out as much as you choose to do and without your bodyguard no less.”
“Alice, in this town! I sell the weapons that allow those idiot Mafioso to do business as well as they do. Not a single one would want to see me harm and not a single person outside the Mafia would wish to garner their fury. Thus I can have the run of the place, doing... as... I... see... fit.”
“Lucky for some...” Alice sneered under her breath.
“And on that note I really must be going, but do stop by if you’re ever in need of something to protect yourself. Hell! Stop by even if you just want a new set of clothes or a cup to tea, I’ll be sure to make you feel welcome.”
With that she turned and strutted off once more, waving goodbye with her hand raised listlessly. As abruptly as she appeared she was gone, dissolving once more into the mindless rabble of the city.
Crazy bitch, Alice thought, grabbing the backpack and beginning to rifle through it, half expecting it to contain a bomb or something else equally insane, yet inside there was only a single hastily written note on a small scrap of paper.
Samuel Jones, construction site on the corner of 5th street and Hounds-ditch. Be careful and stay to the backstreets, it read, its words causing Alice to break out in a fit of laughter. “Haha! That crazy, crazy girl! Now I really do owe her one.”
Though from her information it won’t be an easy job... Oh well, I’ve never been known to give up when I should, she thought, cracking her fingers.
"I guess I’ll have to do this the hard way," she mused aloud, hoisting the backpack to her shoulder and dropping from her ledge, falling downwards to the street below.
It was a good few meters to the street, more than enough to to cause serious injury, yet she didn’t panic, spreading her hands outwards and feeling the air that ran across them, grasping it’s flow, turning the currents towards her, connecting them and making them hers to command. Below, the ground rapidly rushed up to greet her, seeing this she flicked both hands away from herself, the currents wrapped around her, slowing her down and allowing her to land safely. Smiling, she sprinted off towards the financial heart of the city, her feet pounding off the cobblestone walk ways, the excitement growing with every step.