Moon's Desire

She knew she was being followed. It happened all the time. She’d heard the stories all her life. “Don’t go out alone at night. Always walk with a friend. Park under a streetlight.”

Those were the sentiments that society mostly repeated. However, the sentiments from her father were a bit different. “Vane listen. Lead them away. Hit fast. Hide the body.”

She could hear the footsteps behind her trying to fall into her rhythm. Rubber soles. Not too noisy on the sidewalk. She turned down a wide alley that ended at group of dumpsters for the restaurants on the street. There were lights above several back doors of the buildings on either side. The first two she passed were broken and only had the remains of shattered bulbs in the sockets. That left a swath of darkness between her and the next lights near the dumpsters.

She stepped into the darkness and heard steps quicken behind her. She turned around and faced the figure behind her once she was completely covered in darkness. The figure rushed at her with a knife outstretched in front. Vane sidestepped and the figure stumbled forward. She slammed her fists into the back of the figure’s neck. The figure let out a sharp yelp and dropped the knife.

“Hmm. A girl this time.” Vane looked at the pile of long hair falling out of the figure’s hood.

Vane kicked the knife to the edge of the alley and checked the girl’s pulse. Still alive. She carried the body over to the dumpsters and shoved it inside one.

Only one this time. They must be running low on recruits. This one was not competent.

Vane looked to the end of the alley and saw 3 more figures walking towards her.

Oh.

They vanished for a moment when they entered the darkened area. Vane knew they would capitalize on the time it took for her eyes to adjust to the light difference. She hopped on the dumpster, then jumped reaching for the edge of the roof. No point in fighting at a disadvantage. She pulled herself up and looked around for any others that may have been on the rooftop. Empty. Good.

She heard heavy boot steps speeding up below her. These would be tougher customers. Run or ambush. She could probably escape with this head start. She could probably take out 1 or 2 of them easily as they climbed up, but they would spread out if they were smart. Which they seemed to be doing as she heard the sounds below quiet.

The moon was high, blue aura filling the air. Vane sprinted over to the edge of the rooftop overlooking main street. The street was lit up neon, pushing back the blue aura from the moonlight. Vane hopped down behind a group of people drinking from glass bottles, laughing and hugging. It was a big drop, she aimed for a mulch area where a sapling was held up with stakes and rope. She fell on her hands and knees, covering her pants in dirt and mulch.

One of the people in the group noticed her brushing herself off and took a step to give her a hug. She grabbed the hat he was wearing put it on her head and joined the group hug. Someone across from her in the huddle handed her a glass bottle. Rum. The stranger motioned a swig and grinned, her face already flushed red. Vane put the bottle to her lips and pretended to take a drink. She held onto the bottle swaying back and forth with the group locked arm in arm or arm over shoulder.

Vane listened closely over the cacophony of her new friends. She heard heavy boot steps again, above her this time. She brought her face close to the man that was next to her. She gazed into his eyes and saw the rum tossing his attention back and forth in waves. He looked at her, but his vision shifted as his body swayed, his entire head moving lazily back and forth.

“Where’s the rummm? Dannnniiiiii…” He asked to the middle of the group.

Vane kept her head close to the man and followed his gaze to the center of the group. Her ears were still listening above her, she did not hear any boot steps moving away. They were probably still scanning the street, they may have seen where she dropped off the edge. There were some other people enjoying the nightlife wandering main street. A couple other smaller groups having their own merriment.

Vane wiggled the bottle in her hand. Almost empty. She handed it to the man asking about the rum.

“I think those guys drank the rest of it.” Vane kept her back to the rooftop. She pointed behind and above her surreptitiously.

She couldn’t risk looking up at the roof to confirm where her pursuers were. The man looked behind her at the restaurant, then up the wall to the rooftop. His head bobbed back and forth and eventually settled overlooking her right shoulder still up towards the roof.

“Hey! That was ours!!” The man threw the bottle up at the rooftop and it crashed into the side of the building. Everyone in the group laughed at the man’s yell, then screamed and ducked at the shattering of the glass and shower of shards down onto the street.

“Hey!!” Everyone scattered in different directions as a burly security guard came out of the restaurant.

He started yelling something but his words were lost in the chaos. Vane dashed across the street to another small alleyway in hopes of finding cover quickly. She wasn’t able to track her pursuers in the chaos, but most likely one of them identified her when the group split. She was 4 blocks from her hideout. She couldn’t afford to lead anyone back to it.

She popped out of the other end of the alley and ran down the stairs to the subway. No sound of hurried steps behind her. There was a thick smell of burnt rubber and city people. She tried to look casual waiting for the next train, her eyes scanning her surroundings. The train squealed as it pulled up in the distance. She looked back at the stairs she descended and saw one of her pursuers.

Now in the light she could see a skull cap and tight fit shirt and leggings. All blue, which would normally blend in with the aura of the moon. However, the neon lights of the city made it stand out. They had a slender figure, Vane couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman. It didn’t matter.

Vane heard the train, not quite here yet. Their eyes met and the pursuer hesitated. Vane jumped back onto the tracks and up on to the platform on the other side. The pursuer sprinted forward, the train closed in. Vane ran to the end of the platform where the train would be arriving. The pursuer headed straight trying to reach the other platform, the heavy boot steps echoed loudly all around. The few other people on the platform stared. The train arrived. The pursuer slowed to silent steps waiting patiently for the doors to open. A group of 5 got out on Vane’s side of the platform. No one exited onto the pursuers side. Two people walked onto the train at the doors furthest away from the stranger in all blue.

The pursuer scanned the crowd entering the train. They saw the hat Vane took from the man earlier 3 cars down, the face below was blocked by an advertisement. Could be another fake out. The others in the squad had split up. If there was a chance Vane was on the train one of them would need to follow. The squad could not afford another failure. Six squads wiped out already for one target was too many.

The pursuer sighed and entered the train just as the doors closed. Vane watched the blue torso and legs from halfway up the platform staircase slowly walking down the train car as it began moving down the tunnel.

Buh-bye!

Vane walked up the stairs onto the street. The sun was rising as she emerged. Already morning. The blue aura in the sky was replaced with oranges and yellows.

It would be a long day of creating false trails since she lost track of her other pursuers. She grabbed an espresso from the coffee cart that was setting up for the morning. Her tiny mug clinked onto the small bar.

“Grazie!” Vane dropped an extra euro leaving the silent vendor to continue their morning prep.

A bell rang as the tram pulled up. Vane walked on and sat in the back corner of the empty car. She rubbed her eyes and took a few deep breaths stretching her legs out.

Maybe its time to move again. Too bad. I liked this neighborhood.

The tram pulled away in the opposite direction the subway had left. Vane whistled along as birds began to sing their morning songs.