Sweet Felony

Just Like Your Mother

Five weeks later, Aru was on a mission.

Yeah, you heard (read?) that right. A mission.

Well, it was more of a pre-mission.

That's how Rudy had described it, but Aru highly suspected that he had only phrased it that way to make it sound cooler.

Anyway, she, Mini, Rudy, Aiden, and Brynne were out on reconnaissance, scouting out some old train tracks near the edge of the city. The station had long gone out of use, with no trains using those tracks. Or, at least, no licensed trains.

Hanuman and Urvashi had heard of some suspicious dealings that were set to happen between the Ghatakas and another group, whose name remained unknown to the Alus. They'd sent the five out to report any gang activity and determine if the terrain would be advantageous for a sabotage or ambush. Whatever the Ghatakas were having illegally shipped in, Aru doubted it was just a few crates of throw pillows.

"Coast is clear," Brynne radioed over their walkie-talkies. "No sign of anyone. Over."

They'd divided into two groups— Aru and Mini in one, and Brynne, Rudy, and Aiden in the other. Right now, Team Aruni was scouting out the right side of the station, while Team Bryruden were scouting the left. They had plans to meet up in the middle after their initial recons. Each one was equipped with a walkie-talkie, a pistol, and a hunting knife to be used strictly in emergencies, along with their magical weapons. Brynne had already used her knife to cut through some fraying wires blocking off the abandoned train station, but apparently the mace-wielding girl classified that as an "emergency".

"Same here," Mini radioed. "Heading towards the middle now. Over and out."

"C'mon," she whispered to Aru, pulling her in towards the little ticket booth on the boardwalk. Team Bryruden had yet to appear over the hill they had climbed to survey the rest of the tracks.

Aru noticed a small cluster of about a dozen or so gnarled, dead trees on the other side of the train tracks. She pointed them out to Mini.

"Should we check those out?"

Mini glanced towards the hill, but there was still no sign of the three others. She shrugged. "Sure."

As they neared the grove, Aru thought she saw a bush rustling, but when it didn't move again, she shrugged it off. Probably a squirrel or a chipmunk or something.

"Whoa," Mini whispered once they walked into the grove. "This is creepy."

Aru had to agree. Her hand moved towards the pistol on her belt, like knowing it was there was somehow comforting. Mini couldn't help but do the same. A raven cawed, making both girls jump in surprise. With the hand that wasn't on her pistol, Aru rubbed her arm, trying to calm the goosebumps that were prickling up around her skin. Mini's brown eyes were as sharp as her knife as she scanned each tree carefully.

Just when Aru was about to say "oh well, guess there's nothing here", a twig snapped. Both she and Mini whipped out their guns.

A black-clad human figure quickly fled the scene before they could even think about shooting, using the trees as cover.

"A Ghataka?" Mini asked, lowering her gun.

"Probably," Aru's pistol stayed trained on the spot the person had disappeared from. "But be careful, Ghatakas never travel alone-"

As if on cue, six figures, dressed in the same black clothing the first one had been wearing, poured out from the trees. Aru and Mini were surrounded.

And at the center of them all was the Sleeper.

Aru couldn't be mistaken. That was her father— his heterochromatic eyes, the curve of his nose under his mask, even the way he sauntered towards them with a dagger in hand.