An Ember Bright

Chapter 2e

She gives another small smile, but it fades as her eyes land on my bare, irritated arm. Her brows furrow. "Lynn, what happened to your arm? It looks awful."

I quickly drop my arms. "It's nothing to worry about," I say casually. "I ate something that I must have been allergic to. It's fading, so it's fine." I give a reassuring smile.

She looks at me skeptically, then shakes her head. "All right," she says. "And again, thank you," Lia smiles and walks inside.

I stand there for a while, reflecting on our two lives and their vast differences. The return of thunder echoes my steps as I leave the alley to try again at finding Finn.

* * *

After nearly half an hour of searching proves futile, and with curfew nearing, I have no choice but to return to the warehouse empty handed – and one member short. I wring my hands, guilt mingling with my nerves. Our crew isn't an angelic group. We only take in those who prove useful and beneficial. We mainly keep to ourselves; if they knew that I've given away some of our earnings, they'd probably flay me alive. But we aren't supposed to abandon each other, even if someone is as irrelevant and annoying as Finn.

Also, I can't help but feel a little bad for leaving him. He's pretty helpless and can barely remember the way home. As the siren warning fifteen minutes till curfew blares throughout the empty streets, I sigh and make my way back.

A few yards away from the warehouse entrance, Old Man Roe packs away his assortment of items on his shop's ledge and prepares to shut his windows. The sight of a silver chain reminds me of something and I sprint to him.

He must hear my racing footsteps, since he looks up before I reach him. His wrinkled face breaks into a chipped-tooth smile. "Well, well, if it isn't Miss Lynn. Where have you been? You're usually around to help me out with inventory, but mostly I find you sneaking in to go through my shelves."

"Hi, Roe," I slow to a stop. "You know, around." I shrug. My heart pangs at the reminder of what I've been focused on lately. "I'll try to stop by again soon, I need to finish up that last book."

"Well, it's almost curfew, and neither of us want to be caught outside after that, so I gotta close up. Goodbye, now." Roe draws the rickety shutters together.

"Wait," I hold to one of the creaking shutters. "I really need to grab something – a gift. I can't go home without it. Please."

He considers me for a moment, then shakes his head resignedly. "Okay. If it wasn't you, I wouldn't be doing this." He wags a finger at me.

I breathe a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Roe."

"I've packed up everything here, so come 'round back." The shutters finally clatter shut.

I jog to the back door of Roe's house that doubles as his shop. I knock on the door. An unlocking click sounds before it swings open. I follow Roe's shuffling figure to his incredibly large storage room. He turns a switch, and the lights flicker to life, casting a weak glow on the crates. Strange, usually the lights here are strong. Roe must have forgotten to submit his electricity papers again.

Large box-like drawers line the walls, things from spices to medical supplies to clothes labeled on their fronts. As usual, my eyes drift to the shelves of books taking up an entire wall.

"Well, what're you looking for? Not another book?" Roe comes to stand next to me.

I turn my attention to the other crates. "As much as I wish, not this time." I walk the rows of the transparent compartments, my fingers trailing along their handles. I pass one that catches my eye, a glint of gold grabbing my attention. "Hey, could you open this one?"

He hobbles over and reaches beneath the depths of his white beard. Retrieving a key attached to a chain, he opens the lock and steps aside for me to look. I peer inside, and immediately my eyes land on what drew me to the crate: a golden bracelet, the chain dotted with pearl white stars. It's small, meant for a child.

I lift in gingerly and Roe examines it over my shoulder. "Oh, that's a nice one." He says.

"Yea," I lower the bracelet. "Hey, Roe..."

He groans. "Oh, don't tell me."

"I swear I'll bring the money first thing in the morning. Today...didn't really go as planned and I don't have anything on me. Please." I draw out the word and look at him hopefully.

He raises one bush brow and sighs. "All right. But first thing tomorrow." He warns.

"Absolutely. Thanks, Roe." I flash a quick grin.

He takes the bracelet and leaves the room. I follow him out and wait in the threshold of the storage area. He reappears a moment later.

As I walk to the back door, Roe asks, "Say, how's Emora doing?"

I stiffen, then quickly fall back into step, trying to appear unperturbed by the mention of her. "Oh, she's fine. She's much better now." The lie comes easily but the truth doesn't sting any less.

Roe smiles, oblivious to my discomfort. "That's good. We'd be heartbroken if anything happened to her." We as in nearly half the city. Her impact on lives isn't confined to our sector.

Despite my inner turmoil, I smile as Roe hands me the small black box containing the bracelet and opens the backdoor. "Oh, don't forget to send in those papers," I say, gesturing to the weak lights.

"Oh, yes. My old mind tends to wander. Thanks for the tip." He glances at the darkening, grey spotted sky and concern taints his features. "You'd better hurry, curfew'll be any minute now. Send Emora my best." He calls as the door bolts shut.

I race down the street and stop where the tangle of bushes meets Roe's horse pasture. I grab the branch marked by a thin blue string and something pushes into my head. I turn, coming face-to-face with a chestnut horse's nose. I shove the horse away from my head. instead of leaving, the horse bumps her head into my sides. I dart away. "Go away, Reysa, I don't have any apples today."

The mare nears the box and I hold it away from her. "That's not for you," I scold. The mare snorts and I roll my eyes. "Fine, I'll try to bring you something later."

Reyna nudges me towards the bush, as if she can sense the siren about to sound. I push aside the branch and walk into the clearing as the alarm for curfew rings through the empty city.

Whoo, that was a doozy of a chapter. I'll try keep them a bit shorter from now, but I'll likely have to keep splitting them into multiple parts for the ease of readers. Thank you!