Lost In Red Lights

Author’s note

This short story tells the adventures of Alexa and Levi who were introduced in the short story “The Black Rose Society”.

*****

The horrid whistle coming out of the kettle made Alexa wince in pain as it mingled with the sound of laughter and drunk exuberance coming from outside the kitchen. The smell of sweat and something else she didn’t want to pinpoint didn’t stop the joyous crowd of the Limnomedusae to start fights, indulge in the pleasure of being in the company of the red ladies and gamble everything they had including their own life. Londyn, the owner of the establishment, lifted the kettle from the stove and placed it on the table. She then proceeded to serve Alexa and Levi some tea after spitting in both of their cups before wiping them with a questionably clean cloth. To say Alexa was mad was an understatement. She was furious. Being his usual self, Levi didn’t seem bothered at all by the situation they were in. “Don’t make that face, Alexa. I know you prefer coffee but lovely Londyn right here was kind enough to provide us with shelter and food.” Levi winked in the direction of Londyn who blushed in return. Alexa rolled her eyes. “I’m not making that face because of the spit in my tea”, she said through telepathy. Turning to the young owner, Alexa added aloud: “Thank you Londyn. You know how grateful I am that you are helping us out. Don’t listen to Levi’s lies.” Londyn smiled and responded: “Well, how can I not help an old friend and his …companion on their journey? Let’s just say that’s my way of undermining the filthy rich in this town not to mention I had an old dept to settle with Levi.” A sudden crash coming from the dining hall made the three of them jump. “Ugh. Those bastards are going at it again”, whined Londyn. “I swear running this place is exhausting. I feel like I’m taking care of children.”

 As soon as Londyn left the kitchen in a rush to assess the damages, Alexa put down her cup of tea with such force the porcelain chipped away. “Did you tell her about the real reason we are here?”, she coldly asked. Levi leaned back in his chair and propped up his legs on the table as if he found their predicament amusing. “Of course not. She thinks I’m on the run from some dept collectors and you followed me because you’re madly in love with—" Alexa shoved her elbow into his ribs to shut him up. “I’ve heard enough.” When they fled after Wyatt’s death a week ago, they went to Circe’s underground apothecary in the Red Light District but the place was in such a mess one would think something terrible happened to her. Love potions (Alexa believed them to be nothing more than jasmine tea mixed with honey), herbs and books littered the floor. Her room shared the same faith with her belongings scattered in all directions. “The charlatan seems to have fled the city”, Levi had said. “She’s not a charlatan. Since magic is prohibited, Circe only sells the real deal to the people she can trust”, Alexa had replied. “That’s exactly my point. She scams most people in making them believe she’s selling them her magic.” “Well if she did sell her magic to everybody who entered her shop she would be dead by now…” Alexa had stopped mid sentence, aware that Circe being dead was a very probable possibility. However, only a selective few knew she was a real witch. In appearance, she was what Levi had called her: a mere charlatan who scammed widows, gamblers, lovers, drunks, addicts and whoever else roamed this part of town. It’s true that she ran into trouble with the authorities a few times in the past but it was always because of angry customers who didn’t get the results they were promised. If she was still alive, why did she disappeared? Since then, they’ve been staying at Limnomedusae, trying to find her, but chasing after a witch proved to be much harder than one would expect. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack or as the people here liked to say: looking for crystals in a glass market.

“Don’t worry too much”, Levi said while putting his hand over hers, pulling her back to the present. “We will find Circe. If she wants to be found, that is.” Alexa lifted her head up to stare into Levi’s eyes, trying to figure out if he was being sincere or not and noticed something strange. “Are you all right? Your eyes are bloodshot…” Levi rapidly let go of her hand and looked away. “Yeah. I’m just a little tired. It’s nothing.” He didn’t think rationing their gamma intake would be this hard. He could feel every fiber of his body craving the drug. They were only able to take out a small amount of their savings (gammas and crystals) before their bank accounts were shut down by the BRS. They made the withdrawal in Proton district in order to cover their tracks before breaking their digital watch. Without it, they could no longer access their bank accounts, purchase items, weapons or food on the virtual market as well as use the internet. On the bright side, the counsel couldn’t track down their virtual location anymore. They would need to resort to more ancient ways such as hire a private detective or an assassin. Frankly, Levi was more scared about them hiring a detective. Those neurotics were a real pain. The counsel also didn’t upload a wanted poster of them in the digital world which was a good thing. The BRS was a secret society who manipulated historical events behind the scenes. Even though they mostly worked for the government, they also had their own agenda. Hence, they would never do something that would break the “seal of secrecy” which was why Levi doubted they would put up wanted posters all over Electrica or the galaxy, for that matter, but one could never be too cautious. They could easily infiltrate the police and make them look like dangerous murderers, which technically they were, and put a prize on their heads. For now, despite the fact the Red Light District was crawling with criminals, the safest place for them to hide was here. Circe was not the only person they were trying to find. They also needed a tech genius to open that damn briefcase. Alexa squinted her eyes in suspicion, not buying his lie one bit. “It’s because of the—"

The sound of the celebrating crowd washed over them once more as Londyn opened the double doors to retreat back into the kitchen. Alexa immediately closed her mouth as the over energetic woman sat down at the table. Talks about gammas could blow their cover or worse, get them killed. “I think I’ll go to bed now”, Alexa said, feigning fatigue. It really annoyed her to watch the both of them flirt with one another not because she was jealous but because she didn’t understand how Levi could be so carefree. All she could think about was her friend Circe, the potion and the BRS. Those three entities were circling over and over again in her mind. Levi seemed surprised at her sudden retreat but didn’t say anything. “Oh well good night to you Alexa!”, said Londyn. “Yeah, good night”, she mumbled back while climbing the wooden stairs that lead to the private sleeping quarters usually reserved for more “important guests”. Londyn didn’t elaborate but Alexa knew she was referring to drug lords and corrupted politicians. Luckily for them, Levi and herself were the only ones lodging there for now.

Like the rest of the establishment, her room had a musty feeling to it but Alexa was not picky. She had other things to worry about. She let herself fall on the thin mattress after making sure the briefcase was still hidden under the loose floorboards covered by the rug and lifted up her right hand above her head to observe her bracelet under the moonlight. She always covered it to conceal her real identity. “Tow hundred years of servitude”, she thought. Every time she looked at it she had this fire burning inside her, ready to consume her whole. One day, she would be free. The sudden sensation of being watched made her jump to her feet, her flying knives already in hand. Even with her acute vision, she couldn’t see the intruder. Relying on her other senses, she closed her eyes and threw a knife in the direction of the wooden chest near the window. A grunt resonated in the room and a cloaked figure appeared with her weapon stuck in their thigh. Alexa was about to throw another knife but the stranger removed their hood and screamed: “Wait! I mean no harm. Please!” The stranger turned out to be a man about her age with disheveled blond hair. He was trying to stop the bleeding by pressing his two hands on the wound. Alexa paused. He was right. She shouldn’t kill him right away. A thorough interrogation was in order. She slowly approached him like a tiger would after seeing a deer. “Who are you?”, she asked. “My name is Elijah”, he immediately responded, heaving his chest. The fact that he was visibly in pain didn’t bother her the least. “Who do you work for?”, she continued. Elijah shook his head. “No one.” “What did you see?” This time, he seemed to hesitate. “I said, what did you see?”, repeated Alexa. “I saw you check something under the rug and... your red bracelet. You’re an Oxalis aren’t you?” Alexa froze in her tracks. Nobody knew about the Oxalis unless they were part of the BRS. “You lied”, she coldly said. “You work for them don’t you?” Elijah started to panic under Alexa’s murderous stare. “I already told you I work for no one. Elijah is my real name but in the digital world I’m known as Chaos.” Alexa almost dropped her knife at his confession. He was Chaos? The infamous hacker who the BRS had been trying to track down for years now? That explained why he knew so much about her but not why he was here. “Why did you come find me?” Elijah winced in pain. How could he be this weak? “I saw you ask around for a hacker. I was able to follow you here thanks to my acquired invisibility.” Alexa kneeled in front of him and put the tip of her knife to his throat. Elijah turned even paler. “Alright Chaos. What’s in it for you?” Surely he was after something if he came to her and revealed his virtual identity which was, in Electrica, the equivalent of baring one’s soul. “I want what everybody wants, gammas.” Alexa arched an eyebrow. “Fair enough.” She got up not without taking back her knife still stuck in his leg. He let out a scream of pain. “I’ll let you live to see another day.” She then threw at him a cloth she found laying on the dirty nightstand. “Here, take this to bandage your wound.” All things considered, Elijah or Chaos, to be more precise, was exactly who they needed. Not only would they be able to open the briefcase but they also would always be one step ahead of the Black Rose Society. For now, Elijah didn’t know they were low on gammas and Alexa planned on keeping it that way. “Get better soon”, she said over her shoulder. “We’re leaving at dawn.”