Demon's Design

Chapter 8

It was getting later into the night than she had been hoping for, the sun had set hours ago and she was exhausted. More than anything she just wanted a good night's sleep in an actual bed, as much as she didn't mind sleeping under the stars and traveling through the night, there was something about sleeping on something soft and comfortable that hit the spot. Zandra decided that enough time had passed and she started making her way back towards the inn. Her circuit had been small, but she had been walking it for almost an hour now and was reaching her limit. She wouldn't have done this sort of thing for anyone else, and she was still wondering why she was sticking around to begin with. If it had been anybody else she would have broken up the fight by beating the crap out of the other party, then telling them to settle their issues at another time until her mission was completed. She didn't care too much for drama, especially if it wasn't entertaining, which was rare if it was. 

Rounding the corner on the back side of the inn, one could smell the smoke from the cigars that most men seemed to light at this time of the night. Not to mention, one could smell the booze and vomit that seemed to form a thin perimeter around the building. It wasn't the best tavern in the city, but it was one nonetheless and for her the stay was free so she didn't dwell too much on the finer details. Best not to question a good thing, and who was she to judge? She wasn't exactly an individual of high standing society herself, nor did she pretend to be. This rough side of the city was where she deserved to be. 

Just as she thought her trip was over, the man from earlier came into view. If memory serves, someone had mentioned his name briefly to her before, Henry. He was kicking up some dirt and mumbling something to himself, it was clear that something was on his mind. Since she had seen him last, he looked as though he had bathed and was wearing cleaner clothes, though you could tell by his attire that his money clearly went to more important things, and she could easily guess what that was. 

Looking him over, something started to pull at the back of her mind, she had seen this man before. It had been a long time ago...when they were kids. He had been that skinny little boy that had followed her around all the time. Wasn't he the son of one of the maids who use to work part time at the boarding house during the summer? More memories came flooding into her mind again, as she recalled playing with him, Tara, and her sister. The thought made her queasy, there were too many people from her past coming into her life. There was no way that could be a coincidence, not to mention now it was more dangerous than it was before. What if any of them recognized her the way that she recognized them? She was going to walk past him and pretend to not see him when he reached out and grabbed her arm, stopping her. 

"Thank you for what you did. I shouldn't have done that...I had too many drinks." He said with a somber tone. 

As gently as she could, she removed his hand from her arm, though she was a bit irritated that he had managed to touch her without permission. How could she have let herself get so distracted? "You should lay off the booze," she said to him while making sure he heard the annoyance in her voice. 

Dropping his arm back to his side Henry sighed then laughed a little, "yeah. I should." His voice became tense and his face full of distress, as he stood there for a moment unsure of himself. He started to turn to walk away, when he turned back towards her with desperation, "will you look after them for me?"

"That's something you should talk to Eric about, not me. I am only here because I am being paid to be here." Zandra crossed her arms showing him she wasn't interested in this conversation.

"Whatever the case may be, please just protect them for me since I can't." He reached into his back pocket and pulled out a purse full of coin. "Here, take this. Consider it payment for helping them. It was the money I was trying to save up." He put the change in her hand, and she weighed it; It was actually a lot of coin.