Blind To Reality

17- unlikely coincidence

Jay/Mute P.O.V

When working for the underworld, there were some very common jobs you are expected to do:
1. Scare the living daylights out of people who got greedy, stupid or thought too well of themselves.
2. Kill loose ends, or various kinds of, well, stupid people. Why are they stupid? Because they got killed for doing something they shouldn't have or seen something or heard or- well, I guess a few of them could have been called unlucky bastards then, I guess.
3. Steal cool shit. Yeah, totally spy stuff, but less fun and more kill-y.
4. Guard stolen shit.
5. Guard around people who want the stolen shit.
6. Guard people that buy the privilege and often also have expensive, often stolen, shit.

Not sure if I was missing anything- note to self: add to the list if I remember anything. Oh-
7. Get the shit beaten out of you for the sake of 'training'.

There wasn't much for me to do but ponder over the suckage that is officially my life, while performing- can you guess it?- guard duty. Yep, me and two others were guarding the surrounding lands around a large innocuous building, hidden from view by trees on private, fenced land. And this building was right in the middle; a large, almost warehouse-like structure, especially if you were to see all the gates for truck deliveries. The building was several stories, but was much bigger than it was tall, if one were to not count the several floors below ground.

This building was one of many used for different auctions and business dealings, and often where the sickest of the sick got their jollies on however they liked to. Yes, I was sure you could even buy a room and just as easily, if you were a guest, someone to kill. I was sure there were rooms filled with tools just for things like that. You can only clean so well, before layers of refuse and misfortune soak into the building and its surroundings.

At this point, we were only a deterrent, just walking around and following any orders given to us. So far, it was mostly, 'make yourselves seen by such and such people' or... Well, there are two inside that are dealing with various other orders, but the on,y other real order given to us three outside was to keep up surveillance... Which was pretty much just listen to the wind blowing through the trees and keep trudging around.

I stopped suddenly, not sure exactly what was different about this area now. The night creatures were still noisy, the wind still blowing... But... I bent down, looking carefully at the ground and concentrating on the scents floating past me. The area smelled more... woody and mossy than before; more earthy and fresh. The tracks were, while well tried in covering them, still showing that they came from the back of the building where trucks had earlier dropped off the merchandise and led straight into the surrounding woods. Just when I was about to send up a call, something else swept past my nose. Something familiar. I couldn't remember what it was from, but the attached emotion was guilt and nostalgia...

And I did something I knew I was going to make us all regret, except, perhaps, those that escaped.

I helped cover their tracks and scents much better. Good enough to where I couldn't necessarily be blamed for not noticing. But, I also couldn't fully remove all the signs, because anyone in a hurry for their life wouldn't take as much time to cover their tracks, especially when there was a group of them. So, I covered the tracks and then reset my own so that I walked through a small portion that was almost scentless, continuing my surveillance. Luckily, there weren't any cameras outside the building, and those inside were rare and vague, or only used purposefully in some rooms. At least, from what I can tell and was told.

And so continued my evening, trying my best to keep my worries from getting the better of me.

Ashe P.O.V

We traveled so far that I was running on empty. The drugs, because I was sure there was more than one used, were still clinging to me and causing hot and cold sensations and causing me to shiver despite myself. I felt sweaty, clammy and shaky all at the same time, my gait stumbling regularly. And then we stopped.

"Sit," 'Ah' guided me to a tree trunk and helped me remove my backpack and keep me from accidentally sitting on the critters. "Wait."

I heard weird sounds coming from the little critters moving about around me, while a larger creature but smaller than 'Ah' spoke in a lower, more elegant version of the sounds the small creatures were making. It was kind of like what the sound of nature growing would be like in words.

I leaned my head back against the tree trunk, my body so heavy, I was surprised I hadn't sunken into the ground yet. At some point, I was fed water and some of the food from my backpack by someone, and it seemed like only a couple minutes had passed before we had to get back to it. At least, that was what I thought.

We changed our path and went right instead until my backpack was taken off once more and 'Ah' moved me forward and guided my hand to the ground, "Down. Crawl."

I followed his instructions and went down, realizing that 'Ah' had actually dug deep to get under a large fence or wall, considering that the bottom, from what I could feel was about the size of my hand in width. Whoever made this definitely wanted to keep some things out and others in.

I crawled to the other side by myself without the backpack or jacket and a smaller one like 'Ah'  helped me after. I sat and waited out of the way until everyone got through, then listened as it sounded like they were filling it in again. After, my backpack and jacket was given back, with the creatures once more packed within. I suppose they had gotten used to what to do. It wasn't until I stood once more and took a fortifying breath, that I realized how lighter and fresher everything seemed. Well, not me, because I knew I still stunk of drugs, sweat and who knows what else... But the area just past the wall behind us, was what I could only imagine freedom could smell or taste like.

The only worry now, was how to keep it.
And so we continued on- I just hoped they knew where to go...
I just hoped I would be welcome there too.