Oracle

Part 39

Nathan was being followed again, he could feel eyes on the back of his neck making his hairs stand on end. This time he wasn't in the dark zone, however which meant he should be safe. Nathan was a citizen of the city and from what the people at the strange pub called the Rusty Rook had said, that meant something to the monsters which stalked that night.

It had only been a few days since he had been mercifully saved by the people of the pub but it felt like longer. The strange pub had left its mark on him though and he was more aware of things around him now. Things which happened which he had just looked over before but was now aware that they weren't normal things to happen in a city. Things moving in the corner of his eyes, flashes of things not there or people who didn't look quite right. The owner of the bar had been right when he had said Nathan may have already been their too long.

Nathan's trip into the underbelly hadn't given any clues as to where his brother had disappeared to or even why. His brother had left no clues as to where he was and while there was enough money in the bank to pay rent, there was little left after. Plus, being weeks away from eighteen or not if the police discovered he was a minor living on his own, he would be in bigger trouble.

Furrowing his eyebrows, Nathan ducked into a library out of out the rain into the dry building, scratching his forehead. The library was warm and not particularly busy at that time of day. He went to the back of the large room of books and made himself comfortable in one of the enclaves where he would be able to see people coming, trying to spot whoever it was who was watching him this time. His fingers traced over the pen marks which covered the table and the bench he was sitting on had likely been comfortable at one point but was overused now, the material worn thin.

Nathan could see at least five potential stalkers among the bookshelves. None of them seemed to be working together, in fact, he was pretty sure at least three of them were eyeing each other up angrily. They all had an aura of not entirely legit around them, a fuzzy edge around them and the other people were moving away from them.

Nathan wasn't stupid. Things went on the city which he had no idea about and his brother had gotten mixed up with it. Everyone saw things occasionally which didn't quite add up. The pub had been a prime example. Nathan knew how to keep a blind eye like everyone else, but something about this was off somehow.

"Fancy seeing you here," a gruff voice commented as a person slipped into the seat opposite him. Nathan flinched, not having noticed him. That wasn't good, he was meant to be watching for danger. The man was fairly distinctive with dark brown skin, curly black hair and almost black eyes. He had stumble around his chin and was still wearing the same clothes that Nathan had seen him in last, though there was no smell so may he had washed.

"Not sure this is the best place for you to be," the man warned, his eyes glancing from Nathan in a way which showed he saw the men drawing close to them too.

"It's public," Nathan shrugged. "Wasn't sure where else to go," he admitted.

"Do you remember who I am?" Oct smiled politely at him, leaning back and making himself look comfortable.

"A man with a little black book of names," Nathan commented warily, hooking his arm around his backpack in case they had to run from the people who were drawing closer.

Oct laughed and grinned at him. "I am indeed," he leant back casually. "John took an interest in you," he commented, pulling the black book out of his pocket and opening it to a page. "Which is why I thought I should warn you," he added as his slide the book over to Nathan to look at. There was a picture of him with a bounty amount. "You have a bounty too and your brother's bounty has increased," he said tapping his fingers on the page.