BANE: avenge

chapter 19

I ran down the hall, hoping I would find my company at the entrance to this wretched house.

I reached the end of what had seemed like an interminable hall & looked around, gasping for air as I scanned the room, & found no one. I pulled at my hair as I fought the urge to scream in fury & hurt, & composed myself. I took in a few deep breaths & calmed down.

Then, I walked towards the door & stepped out to a quickly growing rowdy crowd awaiting me. Backing up quickly, I shut the door behind me & took a few deeper breaths, trying to think of something to do with the situation.

I could sprint out. My skirts were comfortable enough to run in, & if I took my coat off, I could go even faster. My coat! I looked down at my coat. Black & woolly, with a silk lining & lace for an exquisite trim, the collar surrounding my neck, sheltering it from the cool London air. The coat tapered down my body; tailored specially for myself. I sighed. I supposed it ought to go. Taking it off, I looked longingly at it one last time, & then my resolve to let go of it shattered.

This had been the birth-day present gifted to me a few years ago by the cook, Tilly. She had scraped up what she had, & out of motherly love, had asked her brother, a tailor, to make it for me. I had shown her sketches of it a few weeks before, & she had asked me to lend them to her. I had not had the slightest idea of her intentions at the time, but I lent them to her nonetheless.

Around a fort-night later, on my birth-day, she presented me with the coat, beaming radiantly. I had been incredulous, thinking it was a joke or an exceedingly detailed dream. Surely such a coat - designed by myself - could not possibly be mine. Surely, I ought to refuse it. I could not imagine why she could have possibly done that.

In the end, I refused to take it, saying that I could not possibly take it. I told her she must take it & sell it, as she had earned it by cooking food & giving advice to me for all these years. I thought she had agreed to doing so, & went about the rest of the day as usual.

The following morning, I had awoken - to Pippin pushing something on my face - & it turned out it was the coat. Tilly had sent a maid up with the coat, & Pippin had discovered it lying on the dresser.

I had grabbed it from him, intending to return it to Tilly, but he stopped me from going, blocking the door.

"Ollie! That is incredibly rude of you! Do you not realise it? Returning a gift? Imagine the hardships she went through to procure such a fine coat! All to gift it to you, too! Oh no you don't!" At this exclamation, I had attempted to barrel my way through the door, & had failed miserably indeed. He anticipated my barrelling & braced himself. He had not moved even a millimetre, & I had fallen on the floor. Eventually, I relented & kept the coat.

I came out of the reverie & tried to part from the coat, but could not bear to do so. I tried to drop it, but my hand clutched in with what seemed like an iron grip. Then, I heard the slightest of whispers.

"Let go, & run, Olesya."

Almost against my own will, my hands opened, the coat slipped out, & fell to the floor shimmering with colours, agonizingly slow. I tried to grab it, but by then I was opening the door.

The door opened, & out into the crowd I was sprinting. I almost felt as though I could not control my own limbs. I shoved the crowd, & I saw a small boy (IS A GIRL SECRETLY)- not more than 10 years of age - gazing up at me in awe for a second. Just as fast as I had seen him, he had absquatulated from my gaze.

My body ran, & I followed along with it. At first, people attempted to follow after me, but soon after, many realised they would never be able to catch me. I knew because after a general confusion I heard steps running after me, but soon after the steps lessened, until I could only hear one pair of footsteps following me through the din of the streets of East London.

I weaved in & out of the streets, getting more & more lost in the maze that composed the city of London. In the end, my limbs gave out, & I heard the footsteps coming ever closer as I panted on the streets after my exertion.

The image seen by my eyes blurred before me as I strained to see my pursuer. I saw a small, black, fuzzy lump & grew confused. As my eyes cleared & I gradually made out a boy running towards me with my coat.

I thought for a tick, & realised that it was the boy I had seen before in the crowd, looking up at me. Why he could possibly be bringing me my coat, I could not possibly fathom, but I was grateful in the moment.

He caught up & handed me the coat, still looking at me in awe, panting from the exertion, but not nearly as much as I was. He stood in front of me & handed me the coat.

"Fetched you your coat, ma'am." The voice sounded odd, as if he was lowering his voice to sound older, but not quite succeeding.

I took a few more breaths & then spoke.

"Why, thank you!"

I took the coat & waited for him to leave. The I realised what he was waiting for. He wanted some recompense for his efforts. Some bits, to be plain. I did not have any. I had handed them to Pippin while we had been on our way to the fake Oracle's quarters.

"I'm afraid I have nothing..."

"Is that so?" he frowned.

"It is so."

He looked up resolutely.

"Then I shall be forced to tag along with you."

"Tag along with me?"

"Why, yes! I am quite bored out on these streets, nothing more than to pick pockets. I should be quite obliged to come along on your adventures, ma'am."

"I see. I suppose you shall have to accompany me till I can give you some bits, eh?"

"That's the way I see it, ma'am."

I got up.

"First thing, you must stop calling me ma'am. It makes me feel quite old indeed."

"Aye, ma-- I mean... Oh dear! What am I to call you?"

"Ara. Call me Ara. What about yourself?"

"Me? Why... My name's Alm- I mean, simply Al."

"Alm- I mean, simply Al? Quite a peculiar name, I should think."

"No, no! My name's Al."

I nodded, having noticed that he was no longer lowering his voice, & now it was much higher pitched & soft, almost effeminate. No wonder he had tried to lower it at first.

"I see, Al. I'm just going to rest here for a few more moments..."