I'm not in love

Distracted by Earthly Concerns

There isnt much to do with a small area. It was only a alleyway, after all. Just an alleyway, like the rest of them. It wasn't special in any way. Like any abandoned lane in the city, it had no small gaps that sunlight managed to find its way through. Moss grew on corners, walls and quite frankly anywhere possible. The horrid, putrid smell of dead critters and rodents lingered in the air for as long as anyone could remember. Dirt-ridden water dripped off of empty gutters and dead plants.
A faint sense of unease could be felt at all times when, or if, some curious wanderer entered the area. Even the most calmest and least sensitive of people would grimace at even the mere sight or smell of the thin alley and run away.
Because of this, the alleyway and anything that inhabited it was left to rot away and die. The only survivors people ever saw leave the rancid-smelling area was at least one or two mice. One mouse was all they needed.
This is not to say the alleyways of the city were completely dark. Far from it, actually.
If you looked into each one and carefully observed how their entrance and exit points were made, you would have discovered the fact that they had a number of tiny holes. In some cases, these holes might look as though someone had accidentally dropped a coin in and then promptly forgotten about it. In others, they may have been cut into the wall in such a manner as to allow the light and heat of the sun to escape and slowly grow stronger than normal.
Either way, every so often someone would enter an alleyway to investigate and, by doing so, take out a rat or two along with them. No one really cared where they ended up being thrown. After all, rats weren't going to be missed anyway. A single rat was enough, though.
Apart from rats, people had no reason the enter the place were horrid sights were found. Only when a brave soul journeyed deep into the alleyway would something unexpected appear. But that wouldn't happen at all, right? Wrong.
It was another boring day in the city, and a woman walked down the streets. Their hair was short and brown, with tints of gold, and they wore a cape that barely touched the ground when they walked.
To everyone in the local area, they were the calmest person ever, going by the name of Wolfie. They have thought of Wolfie as such as Wolfie had passed the entrance of the alleyway several times with no reaction to the foul smell. Nobody knew why, as it was clear they were doing it on purpose.
Wolfie was walking down the streets, and for once in their life stopped at the mouth of the alley. Weeks had passed, and they had found no source of life they could at least attempt to rescue from certain death. A whirlwind of questions circled Wolfie as they wondered what to do. Should they leave it? Should they burn the place so there's less trouble for everyone? Should they continue passing every day? Wolfie decided that none of these options would help with anything. They already sensed that something in there was hurt, or starving. People have said that it was just a rat, but Wolfie didn't believe a word. The sense was far bigger than a rat, even bigger than that of a dog, although Wolfie sensed it was as weak as a rat.
Wolfie thought through their questions, thinking through each one thoroughly. If they burnt it down, the smell would spread and there would be chaos. If they left it alone, the curiosity will bother them. If they continued to pass it everyday, they might not find anything. Wolfie then came to their decision. Instead of doing any of the videos, they took a deep breath and walked into the entrance.
The inside was worse than what it had appeared to be on the outside. Dirt and ashes were falling, as well as little spiders and raindrops. Spider webs were clumped in corners and some were ripped by raindrops that passed through. But the smell here was worse than ever. Even the smell of sheep poo was by far, better smelling than this. It was as if salt was poured into a tank of battery acid and then it was all emptied from the sky. It was almost enough to make Wolfie shudder, but they kept it in and continued searching.
Wolfie could hardly see anything in the cramped space. Their eyes started blinking, trying to adjust to the poor lighting of the alleyway. The smell was thick and stinging their nose, causing them to wrinkle it with discomfort. Their feet were cold from the wet asphalt of the alley and they had no shoes on. All the money from tonight went for clothes that actually fit them, not to mention a shower.
They wouldn't, however, leave until they could find where the presence was coming from. They knew how to track down any creature in the world; it just depended on what the animal was hiding. This was most likely a small cat or mouse, but Wolfie wasn't sure yet what form the beast would take. It might be something large enough to scare even the strongest prey. And if so, then its weakness Wolfie had sensed may have been fake. That was the thought that made Wolfie feel uncertain. They were just about to leave when they tripped over something, causing them to fall face first into a Puddle.
"Ew, gross!" Wolfie randomly burst out. They looked back and saw the thing that tripped them over entering the gap between two dumpsters like a small, skittish animal. It didn't seem like an animal though, Wolfie thought to themself. It looked more like a human foot.
"Hello?" Wolfie asked, hoping for a response. Just silence.
"Hello??" Wolfie said again, this time slightly longer. Just silence. Wolfie thought it was a part of their imagination, but then saw a slight movement in the gap. They looked down and saw a pale thing, that seemed thin and fragile. Wolfie carefully touched it, and it sped away, just as the foot had done. It was then, when they realised a group of people had followed Wolfie, despite the smell worsening. They were all watching in awe, and in fear of whatever was hiding in there. Wolfie looked at the crowd, then the gap. They took a deep breath, and grabbed the hand that was inside, which flinched in their grip. Wolfie pulled gently, in case the body was stuck, but the rest came out easily. First came out the hand, then an arm, then a small body, then a clump of dirty, blonde hair. It was a human.
The crowd gasped in both shock and disgust, at the sight of the girl.
"It's filthy!"
"Maybe the gods sent an enemy to punish us!"
The crowd started shouting at the girl, who was immediately frightened at being pulled out to a hoard of angry villagers. Wolfie carefully held the girl, which seemed to calm her down slightly, but caused louder cries from the crowd.
"Don't help her! She might eat you!"
"People don't eat other people?" Wolfie defended, but nobody was listening. In am urge to get the people to listen, Wolfie decided to scream at the top of their lungs, which silenced the crowd, but caused the girl to whimper quietly. Wolfie grabbed a small towel from their bag and dabbed it in a small water flask. They then poised it over the girls face.
"Do you mind?" Wolfie asked gently. The girl didn't respond, so they took that as she didn't mind. They carefully cleaned the girl's face, revealing a woman that wasn't much younger than Wolfie.
Her nose was fairly small and her eyebrows weren't nearly as thick as everyone else's in the city. Her eyes were almost fully black, with a small red tint that seemed to stare into Wolfie's eyes whenever they looked at them.
Wolfie gasped quietly at the sight of her, struggling to take their eyes away from the girl, and managed to do so when a member of the crowd came barging through, towards the girl. She looked at them and attempted to hide, but the man grabbed her and held her high.
"This.. thing is a disturbance to the peace of our community. It must be removed." The man stated. Everyone seemed to agree with him, and he was too busy distracted to notice Wolfie snatch the girl away from him. When the man did notice, he turned his gaze to the girl, who snarled in response. The man took a hesitant step back, as if he were scared of the fragile thing. He then went to claim the girl from Wolfies grip.
"Get lost." The girl almost shouted, which made the crowd gasp, and made the man stumble backwards.
"You can talk?" Wolfie questioned, but the girl had gone silent.
"Whats your name?" Wolfie asked again, but the girl refused to answer. Wolfie sighed, and picked up the girl who hissed in response.
"I get you don't like being touched, but I have to get you cleaned and fed," They told the girl, who was staring at the crowd. "It's unsafe for you to be out here alone." Her eyes flickered back to Wolfie, and she nodded in response. Wolfie smiled, glad that they were able to get some sense of communication. The girl tilted her head sideways, and pointed at Wolfie's mouth. They chuckled.
"That's a smile. You do it when you're happy or excited about something." Wolfie explained. The girl nodded, then opened her mouth to show quite a horrifying grin. Her teeth were as sharp as razors, and it was a wonder that no teeth were missing. The crowd screamed in fear, and a guard that was watching the commotion gagged into their arm.
The girl looked around, the grin vanishing from her face. Wolfie quickly hugged the girl, who seemed to be upset by the fact nobody else was smiling and instead talking and screaming about her. She covered her ears and buried her head in Wolfie's chest. Wolfie found themself staring down at the girl, who was clearly frightened and upset. It wasn't a sympathetic feeling that they had. It was more of a feeling that made them adore the woman in front of them.
Wolfie shook their head, and petted the girls head, carefully running their fingers through her hair.
"Hey, it'll be ok." Wolfie calmly said, which slowly made the girl relax. Wolfie let go of the girl, them quickly grabbed her again when she collapsed.
"Careful there, you don't want to get hurt!" Wolfie joked, but the girl was looking down at her legs. Wolfie stopped laughing. They must be broken. Wolfie thought to herself. They carefully lifted the girl up, which made her panic.
"It's ok, I'm not planning on hurting you, I'm just trying to help." Wolfie said quickly. The girl still seemed frightened, but wasn't trying to escape anymore. Wolfie lifted her onto their shoulders and stared at the crowd.
"She isn't a threat, she's just hurt! Why can't you people see that and help her!?" Wolfie asked. The answer was hesitant, and didn't come straight away, but there was a response.
"It's a monster, didn't you see its teeth? It would've eaten you if it had the cha--"
"THAT'S BECAUSE THERE'S NO FOOD HERE, YOU MORONS! YOU ALL ARE TOO COWARDLY TO COME IN HERE AND HELP HER!" Wolfie screamed at the crowd, which shut them up. The girl whimpered and covered her ears, due to the noise. Wolfie gently rubbed her leg consolingly, in an attempt to calm her down once again.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you, I just got a little bit mad." Wolfie said. The girl nodded in approval, and Wolfie smiled.
"Do you want to head back to mine to get yourself sorted out?" Wolfie asked "It's not the best place but it's better than here." The girl nodded again. Wolfie picked the girl up from their shoulders and cradled her like a newborn baby. She didn't weigh as much as Wolfie thought. She was lighter than a feather, and that was serious! Wolfie held the girls head to their chest and walked towards the crowd. The crowd stepped back, thinking Wolfie was going to attack but instead, they pushed them aside and left the alley, holding the girl.