Conflicted

Buddy

"What's your name?"

The girl-who-assaulted-the-Duke sauntered over to me. I raised an eyebrow at her but kept silent.

"Are you deaf or something? I asked what your name is," she said the sentence slowly and loudly.

"I can hear you, miss," I mumbled under my breath. Gosh, she is annoying.

"So what's your name?"

"Helen."

"Nice ta' meet ya' Hell. I'm Vick," Vick shot me a toothy grin and grabbed my hand to shake it.

She actually called me hell. Maybe it was my revolver that was sticking out of my waist pouch. I snickered quietly and returned to looking out of the window. Vick was extremely chatty. In a matter of half an hour, I was bombarded with questions such as "why did you leave" or "where are you going". I fidgeted with my hands nervously. Disclosing any private information would get me in deep trouble with the King. Vick's chatting was strangely a nice distraction from my worries. Apparently she was from the town opposite mine and she was also headed for the Palace, mainly to get a job there as a soldier.

By the time we reached our destination, it was dawn. Vick and I departed from the train and started our journey to the next town to top up supplies before going to the next train station which would bring us to Dev Training Grounds, from which we'll walk by foot to the Palace.

"I hope you have the route planned out cause I don't," Vick chuckled and snatched a map from my hands.

I scowled at her but didn't say anything. I had a gut feeling that if I tried to argue with her, the quarrel would never end.

"Aww, don't be such a party-pooper, cheer up Hel," Vick slapped me on my shoulder and started skipping towards the town gates.

"You go get some water from that well and pour it into our water bottles while I'll go get extra food for you," I gave Vick the directions to the town well and started towards the convenience store.

20 feet away from the store, I suddenly shivered. I felt like a shard of ice had just passed through my body. A Shadow had targeted me. Shadows were dangerous enemies of the Empire, usually normal humans who found out that they had the ability to turn into shadows to blend in with the dark. Yet books never showed much information about them. 

A Liquid Shadow suddenly whisked past me. Caught by surprise, I stumbled backwards by a few steps but quickly regained my posture. Whipping out my revolver, I aimed at the spot that the Shadow had resided previously. If I shot the Shadow at the root of its heart, it might shrivel and return to its human form. I felt a chill in my bones as the Liquid Shadow quickly solidified and rose from the ground. Just in front of the convenience store.

Fool. Fool. Fool. Fool.

10 more feet to the store.

The whispers of the Shadow surrounded me. There was only one way that I was taught to avoid the whispers. I closed my eyes and covered my ears with my hand while walking forward towards the safety of the store.

Leave me alone. Leave me alone. Leave me alone.

5 feet.

4

3

2

I chanted silently in my head and counting down the steps to the entrance, reaching out my left hand and finally feeling the smooth, woody surface of door. Finally. I entered the store and the whispers from the Shadow subsided. Thank the Lord. "Would Vick like canned soup or canned peas?" I thought out loud. But truth be told the only question I had in mind after the freaky encounter was who was the Shadow?

Vick and I met back at the gates after an hour. Vick had managed to haul out 10 bottles of fresh water from the well which we would have to ration it out for the next 2 days until we reached a stream in the Forests of Dev. I vaguely filled Vick in on the Shadow that I had met, barely even touching on that topic. But that was enough to get the girl riled up.

"A Shadow? A Shadow?! Oh my gosh, what did it look like? Could you see who it was? Was it a guy? Was he hot?"

Oh for the love of Orion. She actually asked if the shadow was hot. I scoffed and rolled my eyes at her before dragging her away to start going to the train station nearby.

"Oh c'mon, you haven't answered my question!"

"The train comes at half past noon. It takes us 4 hours to get there. Get yourself together and start moving."

I wondered if I would survive my journey to the Palace with such a travel companion. Mentally wise, I probably would not survive. 

A/N: Found the motivation to write the second chapter after a minor writer's block. What do you think about 'Vick'?