With a creepy smile, Circe turned her head to face him, her eyes flashing. The boy's mother quickly noticed her son's rude behaviour and apologised profusely. "I'm so sorry, he doesn't know what he's saying. He's just a child, please don't mind him." She tried to pull him away, but he resisted. He was still staring at Circe with more insults at the tip of his tongue. She glared at the boy and made a hissing sound. Her expression contorted terrifyingly and the boy's grin vanished, and he let out a shrill scream. He started to cry, as he clung to his mother's leg. His mother looked shocked and scared, and she quickly pulled him away.
Circe's brow arched as she smiled slyly. She was never the type to wrong herself. If one offended her without provocation she would bite back hard. She wasn't a turn the other cheek type of gal. She was the kind to flip tables and she would enjoy watching the chaos.
Circe felt a slight satisfaction, as she stood up walking towards the approaching bus. It seemed things had changed in the past two decades. The alliance had managed to merge human technology and magic which explained the bus hovering above the ground. It was a sleek, silver vehicle, powered by magic. It had a large logo on the side, that read "MagiTech".
Circe boarded the bus, and her card was automatically scanned the moment she stepped in. She found a seat in the back and ignored the stares of the other passengers. This also meant that she didn't notice a figure standing in the shadows outside the window watching her. The figure suddenly vanished into thin air leaving behind wisps of black mist.
The bus vibrated slightly as the runes on the side of the bus lit up. The bus made several stops before it descended from the upper city to the lower city before joining the traffic.
Circe leaned her head against the window her head throbbing. She took out the student card again and flipped it over. She couldn't figure out which stops she was meant to take so she was left with no choice but to ask the old lady sitting next to her.
The old lady was quite nice. She smiled happily while pointing at the address. "Why deary we are going to the same district. We need to take two more buses, then a train and then one more bus. It will take about an hour and a half," she said her voice shaky due to her age.
Circe's face didn't look good at all. When had she suffered such a grievance? She had long been the mistress of darkness for so long that either she used magic or she had minions ready to take her anywhere she wanted to go. But ever since her rebirth it was one suffering after the other.
"Thank you so much, Auntie," she said wishing she had her old body back so she could heal her of her obvious back pain. She wasn't an ungrateful person. If someone helped her she would repay their kindness. It was in her nature.
"Oh stop it, how can you call me Auntie? I am old enough to be your grandma," said the old lady her weathered face a little wrinkled.
The old lady wasn't lying it took well over an hour and a half to get there. By the time she got out of the bus, she was wishing for death already. She just wanted to run into a wall and end it. Her stomach was so queasy from the motion sickness. The wounds on her body and hunger didn't help at all.
"Are you okay?" asked the old lady seeming truly concerned.
"I am okay. I just need to eat something and I will be fine," she said but Circe's face was obviously devoid of colour and she looked like she would pass out soon.
"Here, have some of this," said the old lady placing candy in Circe's hand. "I will be going now, ask in the corner shop for the street directions," she said before waving her hand and leaving with her son who had come to pick her up.
Circe opened her hand and saw three pieces of strawberry candy in her hand. She felt a pang in her chest as she looked at the candy. Once upon a time, someone used to give her the very same candy. Her mother used to give her strawberry candy whenever her father yelled at her.
She felt her eyes sting, but she swallowed down her emotions. She instinctively reached to touch her pendant, the one that had her mother's soul fragment. But she forgot that she didn't have it anymore.
She unwrapped one candy and put away the rest. She crushed the piece of candy with her teeth, feeling the sweetness touch her heart as she walked over to the corner store the old lady had pointed at. Circe touched her stomach which was still uncomfortable, hoping that it would settle down soon.
While walking she suddenly noticed a figure sitting on a bench near the store. The figure was wearing a large cloak that covered his face and most of his body. He was trembling slightly as if he was cold. She had a keen eye for details, and she sensed that there was something wrong with him.
Suppressing the feeling she pushed the door of the corner store and entered. She picked up a sandwich, a bottle of water, some headache pills and first aid kit supplies from the shelves before walking to the counter.
"What happened to you? Did you run into robbers or something?" asked the cashier after glancing at her dishevelled appearance. From the way he was talking, it seemed like he knew her. "You are even wearing the same clothes you were wearing two days ago. Is this like a walk of shame type of thing?"
Circe, "..."
"Someone roughed me up," she said and the man nodded his head like this was the norm.
"You better start learning how to defend yourself otherwise at this rate you might turn up dead," he said and Circe said to herself,
'Too late for that advice.' while absentmindedly glancing at the window. She happened to catch sight of the figure outside again. He was still sitting on the bench with his back towards the corner store, unmoving. It was already chilly, and the wind was picking up.
"Wait, I need to get something else," she said and she walked back to the aisle. She grabbed a cup of warm milk tea and another sandwich. She placed it on the counter and asked,
"Hey, can you give me the directions to my place? They kind of messed me up a little. I kind of lost my sense of direction."
The cashier looked at her for a while wondering if they bonked her in the head because she was quite talkative today. He took out a piece of paper from underneath the counter and wrote the directions down just in case she got confused on the way.
"Thanks. You are a lifesaver," she said with an ethereal smile that he had never seen on her face before. She was a stunning girl but she was too timid. Showing interest in her might appear like harassment so he restrained himself before but now...
He wanted to say something else when he felt a chill spread all over his body like something was watching him. The hairs on his body rose his heart beating fast. He glanced around but only saw Circe walking out of the store.
Circe approached the lone figure at the bench. She smiled and said, "Hi, I bought you some warm tea and a sandwich. Do you want them?"
The figure looked up at her, a little startled. Because of the huge hood, she couldn't see his face. It was hidden in the shadows of the night.
Circe handed it to him before saying, "You need to go home soon. It doesn't look safe here plus it's getting cold."
This man's large black cloak was made of expensive material that only the upper echelons of society owned. Circe didn't know why this person was here but seeing him shiver she couldn't help but feel a little distressed.
"Don't stay here any longer," she said before turning to leave. The man who had his head lowered clutched the warm disposable cup tightly before turning to look at her disappearing figure.