Children's Games: A Story of Modern Consequence

Chapter 4

~Dominik~

He watched her, a twenty-two-year-old woman, explore the city like a lost child. She had brown hair that was pulled back into a braid, but he knew it would reach just past her shoulders if she let it out. Emilia's eyes had been closed in his picture, but ever since he saw her in the flesh, they had been wide open; a bright brown that caught all the light from the sun. She was so familiar, yet so distant from what he had hoped for...

She was tall for a girl, but still slightly shorter than him. She looked quite slim in her clothing; the angle of the sun defined her muscles and illuminated the serious look on her face as she squinted into the sunlight. The seriousness of the soldier within her was creeping through, especially in her reluctance to speak in the few minutes he had been with her. But she had clearly identified more with the civilians on the train and thus was acting like one against her instincts. That should be the first thing that I need to fix.

Emilia was making her way around the city, a course that would surely take her an hour at the leisurely pace she was taking. She looked at everything, touched anything she could reach as she walked past. His plan was to follow her until he got an idea whether she would make a helpful addition to their mission.

He swiped through his watch, recharging the WIFI so that he could connect to the house. He instantly was flooded with messages. Dominik ignored all of them to update his message to the house.

"I will be back with the package in no longer than an hour," he said into the watch, watching out for Emilia rounding a corner ahead. "Have the syrup ready, and I need the shop to be closed when we get there. No exceptions."

Dominik watched her for another forty minutes through the afternoon as she walked the streets. The only time she fully stopped was outside Bill's Bargains, the only shop that he knew of that had reasonable prices. The shop itself was an op shop, but Dominik knew Bill to be the town's best undercover spirits seller. Since people started living here, alcohol was widely illegal, on the principle that everyone needed to be ready in case there was an emergency. The shop had been closed for about a week however as he'd heard that the kind man had been travelling.

Emilia moved on quickly to the next building, which was an old residential building closed for construction. Dominik stared up at the saddening memories attached to the building. He thought of the disaster it must have been when it collapsed at the very start of the city's birth. The only thing left of the building was its strong outside shell. She entered through a side door that hadn't been barred shut like the rest of the entrances. Dominik leaned against the outside of the stone brick building and peered in as she started climbing the rubble. She kicked a few stones then started scanning the outer walls closely to find...

A way up...? Dominik thought. His first interaction with her made him think that she may be fit for the task, even if she had no memories except the ones in her muscles. Though now, her want to climb an abandoned building made him think that perhaps she was too young. Maria was childish too...

Emilia found a metal stair hanging one metre off the ground that led to a network of catwalks and stairs that wound all the way to the roof above the 10th floor. She carefully tested her weight on the first step, then proceeded to climb when it proved to be strong enough. Luckily, Dominik knew a ladder around the back of the building that would allow him to reach the top quicker than her jumping from stair to stair and navigating a path to the top.

As he walked over to the emergency fire exit ladder, he saw that the sun was already on its way down. He peered at his watch and realised that he had been following her around for at least an hour. In that time, he had learned that she was right-handed, she fidgeted with her pant pocket every few minutes, she had quick reflexes whenever anyone would bump into her, and she may do ok at replacing Maria. Their small exchange on the plane proved her to be belligerent when provoked, which also gave him reason to give her a chance. She was also very pretty in a womanly way despite her baggy clothing. She looked like Maria, a sick irony that made him too emotional to complain about. But still, Dominik hadn't fully decided how he felt about the replacement yet.

Only another thirty minutes, he told himself as he climbed the old ladder. Then I'll have to bring her back to the house.

At the top, he waited patiently, still perched on the ladder. Emilia arrived through a trapdoor in the roof a few minutes later with a few fresh scratches on her arms as she had taken off the long-sleeved shirt. Underneath, her top was a little too small for her, but it looked professional against her army cargo pants. Her skin was slightly spotted and sunburnt, but underneath, her muscles were hard and strong. He remembered her strength as he had held her wrist in place after she had tried to attack him. The only reason why he bested her was because he had read in her file that she hadn't been a fan of touching. Who knew that without her memories, her fears were still strongly set into her.

He watched her intently as she walked to the edge of the building and stepped up onto the ledge to peer over the short railing. Emilia looked out over Fimiston, from end to end, as the sun touched the north wall of dirt, starting its descent below the rock. It'll start getting cold real soon... I should get her now.

All the lights strung through the air were starting to be switched to their highest setting before it started to get darker. The buildings on the higher tiers, where all the nicer buildings were, had their own solar power, and were starting to put down their shades to preserve the last warm rays of light into their homes.

Emilia's gaze moved down as she observed the street below and the other buildings on the lowest tier, the impoverished scraps of Fimiston. Dominik imagined that from her position, she would be able to see the house if she knew where to look. Though she had a different kind of look on her face as she peered down, leaning from foot to foot...

"Shit," he muttered under his breath. Why in the world...? Dominik tried to think of reasons to and not to intervene in this decision. His mind was blank as he watched her pick at her fingernails, a look of such... disappointment, as her foot dangled over the edge.

She reached a hand into her pocket and pulled out her chain necklace, and he felt like smacking his hand to his forehead at their idiotic decision to leave the toy in her possession. She wrapped it in her fist and her face squished into the most conflicted expression he had ever seen. The dying light of the sun made the tears in her eyes shine.

She held the chain out over the abyss, then seemingly changed her mind as she held it back as if preparing to throw it. Dominik flinched as he contemplated calling out to her... then luckily, a few long moments later, she put it back into her pocket and jumped back from the ledge.

He sighed in relief as she went back down the way she came and disappeared back into the building. For a few moments, he stood hanging over the edge of the ladder and thought about what this means for her. He tried to analyse her the way he had been taught; To look at all she holds in her locked mind, and everything she could bring us.

As he stepped down the ladder, he realised that he would only have to give her one chance. She needed to learn quickly in order to stay with them, but if she wasn't with them, she would need to be put down.

******

Hello everyone!

It's a bit of a shorter chapter this week, but it's introducing a new character on a deeper level, and we get to see the protagonist in a different light. What do you think about Dominik now? Please comment your thoughts and vote if you've enjoyed this new chapter! Happy reading :)

- Rose Marie :)