5 - Julian
"Julian! We need to move! Ray is missing!" Alice had burst into my room, yelling like a maniac. Her hair was a mess, probably the wind from her running up the stairs so fast, and her sky blue jacket was starting to slip off of her delicate shoulders. I immediately got up and dashed out the door with her.
We turned left from my quarters into a room with a big tacky "R" smack dab in the middle of the door.
The room was a mess, claw marks plastered the walls, and there was blood all over the sheets and blankets that lay on top of his bed. Also, the window was wide open, the glass was shattered and strewn across the floor, something had happened here and by the looks of it, it wasn't a friendly interaction. Was there an attack or something?
"Oh no... Ray." Rico clutched the blanket that lay on the bed, he was almost in tears but I could tell he was trying to keep it together.
Corra was searching the room like it was a crime scene, dusting off shelves, taking fingerprints, the whole bit.
"He was captured, or assaulted." Corra sat down on the bed, her face even more stern than it normally was. "He probably escaped or was taken out the window and then went down the streets towards the eastern docks. It could have been… someone from the other side."
"The other side? How could it be the other side? That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" Rico had snapped, his eyes were searing in anger as he traced the scratch marks on the walls with his hands. I could almost feel the blazing heat emitting from his body, kind of like a really pissed off fireplace. "They haven't come to Grustenburg for over ten years!"
The other side? I'd lived here for over a year and I'd never heard of anything called that. Before I had the chance to ask any questions, Corra had already jumped out of the window. I gotta hand it to her, that kind of tenacity makes you a great thief, exactly what we needed for this job.
"Wait!" Cornelius called, "We need to make a plan before we jump in blind! We'll be slaughtered!" But it was too late, she had already disappeared into the night.
"Dammit." Rico slammed his fist on the wooden nightstand Ray kept beside his bed and jumped out the window, feathers flying.
"Well," I sighed, "If everyone's doing this I guess I'll come along."
I jumped out of the shattered window, and my feet hit the wet stone ground. The air smelt wet like freshly fallen rain and the sky was pitch black, no stars to be seen. Buildings lined the alley like it was going out of style and it was as quiet as someone who met the end of my blades. I quickly checked back to see if Alice was going to tag along and I watched as she reluctantly flew out the window, her wings flapping, sometimes I really envy those wings of hers. She touched down ahead of me and shifted into a sprint to catch up to Corra who was only a few feet ahead of her.
Great, now I was going to look like the slow one. I dashed as fast as I could along the dank stone ground, making sure to check for potential hints along the ground at who may have taken what was his name again? Reg? No, that can't be it. Anyway, I had caught up to Rico, Corra, and Alice. Corra had her jacket tied around her waist and her hair was tied back, a look so serious in her eyes, that she could kill someone with it in a single glance. I gave myself a quick reminder to not mess with her in the future.
After passing by many drab looking buildings, something caught my attention. My nostrils flared as the smell of blood overrode my senses like a dam bursting and overflowing with water.
"Wait!" I hushed.
"What is it Julian?" Alice asked, her breathing slowly steadying as she slowed to a stop.
My nostrils flared, "I smell blood."
"Don't just stand there, from where?" Corra snapped.
"Don't rush me." I snapped back. I sniffed the air, the stench of iron filled my lungs as I followed the scent. Closer, to the scent I crept, the rest of the party in hot pursuit. Finally, after a while of following the blood scent through many back alleys, we arrived at a dead end. Three dark, brick buildings stood towering before us in the moonlight, they seemed almost sentient, as if they wanted to eat us for a quick lunch. There was, from right to left, a restaurant, a supplies store, and a tavern.
"One of these three." I said, "The smell is so overpowering, I can't tell which building the smell is coming from. We'll have to split up, as soon as you see something the least bit suspicious, get the hell out of there and call for whoever is closest? Got it?" They nodded in agreement. "Alright," I continued, "Corra, you go to the house on the right, Alice will take the house in the middle, and I'll take the left house."
"What about me?" Rico asked.
"I don't know," I sighed, "You pick or something, just hurry up!"
"Uh…"
"Oh for the love of… you're coming with me then!"
We headed into the tavern labeled, "Raven", just plain old raven. Kind of lame if you ask me but I guess I'm not one to judge. As I walked into the bar, the smell of ale and even worse, blood hit me straight in the face. I toppled back as the smells overwhelmed my senses but I caught my footing and trudged on, trying to only focus my nose on the smell of blood. Rico just kind of sat there like the useless thing he is.
The tavern was a strange one, that's for sure. Not only was it empty, but the walls were wet with spilt beer and other things. Wood beams supported the ceiling, but even so the building looked like it might collapse at any second. The wood was rotting, and bugs crawled across the floor, gross. Tables were crammed into every ugly inch of the place, and chairs were everywhere, on the floor, on top of the tables, and… lodged on top of the wood beams? I'd never liked taverns, the overpowering stench of commoners and alcohol just never appealed to me. Maybe it was the fact that I was a lacertia but still, I don't see how anyone could like something so gross and disgusting.
After searching through the place for a while, I noticed a trapdoor behind the bartenders counter. It was covered in moss and grime, so it was no wonder I couldn't find it until now.
"Rico! Get over here!" I called. "You think you can open up this trapdoor?"
"Sure!"
Rico flipped open the trapdoor, underneath was wet stone steps that stretched into darkness.
I grabbed Ricoo by the collar, "Listen, I need you to go and get Corra and Alice, alright? I think this might be our ticket to Ray."
"Alright." he grumbled.
Once Rico was gone, I went down the trapdoor. The blood smell was so powerful I had to cover my nose to keep myself from passing out. The steps spiraled down into a dark corridor, only lit with a single torch. Blood drops littered the floor and spilt liquids from upstairs dripped through the ceiling, mixing with the blood to make a disgusting rusty red colour. As I stealthed through the corridor, I started to hear the sound of voices, it sounded like… chanting? No, it sounded like there was some kind of debate happening.
I clenched my fist, why was I always forced into these situations? I could just wait for Rico to come back with the others, or I could face whoever those voices were head on. Judging by the volume and the sound of their voices, my guess was that there were around six or seven of them, probably all around my age or older. One of them had a very strong scent for sure, like a mix of wine and spices.
Come on Julian, what would Cornelius do?
Cornelius has always been a father figure to me, especially since I've never had a father or any family at all. I remember growing up in the old orphanage, being shunned by everyone because I wasn't human. "Filth" they'd call me, "You'll never amount to anything. Just a useless creatara." Wherever I walked, they'd all point their grubby little fingers and mock the hopeless creatara.
There was one person that was nice to me though, one of the nuns at the orphanage, Sister Jasmine. She was the most beautiful woman I'd ever seen, her blond hair shone in the sun, and her green eyes were as gorgeous as the glimmering emerald necklace she had hung around her neck. She was too good, too kind and too loving for the likes of us orphans.
One day, I approached Sister Jasmine and asked her a question, "Hey Sister Jasmine?" I asked.
"Yes little one?" She responded, her smile instantly warming me.
"Do you think I'm different?"
She giggled, "Oh Julian, everyone's different. That's what makes us all special!"
That wasn't what I wanted to hear, I wanted someone to hold me and tell me it was going to be okay. Not to tell me that everyone else was shunned and avoided. I understand now that she was just trying to cheer me up, but I didn't know back then. That night I lay in my bed, letting myself cry to mask the pain of living, when Sister Jasmine burst into the room. She quickly scooped me up from my bed and ran through the winding corridors of the orphanage to the front foyer.
"Sister Jasmine? Where are we going?" I asked.
"I'm getting you away from this place Julian." Her eyes were tearing up as we made a break for the doorway, lights flipping on in the building wherever we ran. We dashed into the streets and Jasmine quickly lept into a side alley, cradling me like a baby. She laid me down on the streets, being sure not to scratch me on the rough ground.
"Listen Julian," She handed me her emerald necklace, "I want you to take this. Let it be a reminder of you to always keep running. There are very bad people in this world who will want to use you for your abilities and I don't ever want anything like that to happen to you." She turned her back and ran back into the streets, the brightness of lamps and candles growing closer, "Now go Julian! Don't stop running!"
As I got up and ran, I looked back to see Sister Jasmine get shot with a poison arrow, her delicate body falling to the ground. It was horrifying, her eyes rolled back in her head as she hit the pavement, blood spilling across the ground, like a jar full of wine being tipped off of a table. In her dying breath, I heard her say, "Don't… trust… anyone…."
After a couple years of scrounging for food, Cornelius found me. He fed me, kept me warm, and most of all treated me like an equal even though he was human. He even trained me in the ways of the blade, teaching me different techniques, and when I was old enough we went to the black smith so he could forge me my very own blade. I can still remember it like it was yesterday, the silver intertwined snakes forming a hilt, and the green blade shining in the midday sun like the stars that Jasmine and I used to watch late at night.
I reached back to touch my sword, Jasmine's emerald still carefully forged into the hilt of the blade. I calmed myself, "You can't trust anyone." I whispered, "Not even Cornelius. What would Sister Jasmine do?"
No…
"What... would I do?" I unsheathed my sword and charged into battle, head first. Just the way I like it.