Heart of spades

Chapter 6

Conscious about the dust that is coating her body, she moved in briskly with head down when a couple of guards passed besides her. It was easy to get past the gate, because the coins in her pocket succeeded to lure the guards, but it was not so as easy in the city where everything was monitored closely.

The old coat she wore had almost lost most of it's colours due to repeated washing over the years, it stood out like a sore thumb among the people around her. But the burning in her stomach indicated that food was more important now.

It was appalling to see the unlikely resemblance of these effortlessly human like appearances. One could never guess just from a glance. Appearance can be deceiving sometimes. But the eyes are the windows to one's soul. Just because a monster wore a sheep's flesh, it couldn't hide it's predatory gaze.

Some of the people that can afford to leave in the north, a place that is far off well from South, had the opportunity to open small businesses in this land, but she quickly noticed some details.

The customers were far too low and the risks were high over the sky. Moreover just getting a gist of tax that would fall upon them from the government was enough for most to back down.

Her feet softly stepped on the slippery ground that suffered the brunt of litter patters of rain, she stopped when she saw a small restaurant with brightly lit traditional decorations. This place was expectantly not crowded. she curiously looked at the old woman who has turned her back and arranging something upper blocks of the shelf.

Suddenly sensing a presence, she turned around to catch a boy staring at her. The corners of her eyes wrinkled as a small smile tugged at her lips.

"Young man, are you going to order?"

Thus, she was given a menu that included the delicacies that this restaurant could offer. The familiar elegant print of the letters made her mind subconsciously run her finger towards where her heart pointed.

The woman immediately packed her order, requesting for her to go towards the customer area. Her existence has gone unnoticed among the people when she finally decided on a table near the corner. Feelings of hesitation crept into her heart when she noticed the clean and spotless surface of chairs and looked at her own clothes covered in mud and damp from the rain. The contrast was so eye catching.

She looked towards the lady, expecting her to have a disapproving gaze but the latter's eyes glowed softly, signaling to the chair besides her, patiently telling her to sit down quickly. The woman noticed her moment of hesitation.

Savouring the taste of the momos, she placed a hand over her mouth which was filled to the brim to not choke. The hunger finally satiated partially after a few mouthfuls. She observed the guards, trailing their patrol everytime they pass by, through the window besides her.

The guards weren't much armed but their stiff and overbearing posture displayed the strength of an apex predator. The way they lifted a child that stole food from a distracted citizen speaks volumes of the emotions that seems to linger in their eyes.

Her eyes were not focused on the crying child who's being dragged away, but the pair of eyes that were behind the guards, staring back into her direction. Once she caught that gaze, it disappeared behind the wall like it was just an illusion. An illusion that never existed.

The momos on the plate disappeared in a flash causing the old lady to become surprised when the sound of coins being dumped on the table reached her. She walked out of the restaurant without saying a word.

The sun was incredibly bright, casting it's fiery glow on the pedestrians. The sweat on her skin rubbed onto the clothes making the skin irritable. She lightly frowned at her clothing but kept walking. She walked from the crowd to an empty alleyway.

She regulated her breathing to match with her little follower. The footsteps behind her were light and too hard to notice until she caught a shadow from the corner of her eyes.

It had multiple chances to use as a leverage, yet why didn't it strike? The confusion in her head was finally solved when she felt someone approaching her too close.

She could take on feral monsters with ease, because she had something it didn't have. Common sense. But, facing a supernatural is a death wish and a nightmare in every human's life. That is the reason, they'd rather starve in a far away land than risk coming into this world which initially belonged to them.

It would be smoothly resolved if this supernatural wanted the coins in her pouch, she would give it away with no thought. She is perfectly capable of hunting several animals again that could not let her starve.

She doesn't understand it's intention and therefore needed to be careful. She made a wild guess in her heart when she watched the figure by the window. So when the creature grabbed her shoulder, she pinned it back into the wall with a knife on it's throat.

She know she is overpowered and she only took advantage of momentary surprise. she quickly moved her hand to expose the pale creature to the brightest sunlight and watched it's skin turn red.

The creature let out a ferocious screech, writhing underneath the light. It held on to her hand seeming to want to remove her hand from it's throat. It removed most of her grasp on his throat. He finally breathed somewhat of air to speak.

"Damn you!-"

Seeing her knife drawing closer, bewildered expression arose in his wide eyes.