The Nightscape

A Shot Through The Eye

Lyra screamed and bucked, wriggling and trying to break free of the mystery person's grasp. They smelled like sweat and whiskey, and the arm around her chest was so tight she was struggling to breath. He took his hand off of her mouth and grasped her chin instead, pressing chubby fingers into the hinge of her jaw as someone else stepped in front of her, a short woman with a weasel like face, straggly blonde hair, and a strange vial in one hand. Despite her struggles, there was nothing she could do to stop them from tilting her head up and pouring the contents of the vial into her mouth. It tasted like vinegar and ground up paracetamol, and because of the angle her head was tilted she couldn't stop it from sliding down her throat, burning as it went. When it hit her stomach, is was as though her muscles turned to water. She couldn't move, couldn't even move her own head as the man holding her lowered her to the ground. 

"The Boss will be so happy that we grabbed the purple bitch. We might even get a raise." The woman laughed. 

"If we don't get one, we'll demand one. The damn purples are so rare nowadays it's like finding a diamond in the-" He was cut off when the tip of an arrow suddenly protruded from his friend's eye, covered in blood, and she crumpled to the ground. He spent a few seconds frozen in shock, long enough for Lyra to see who had shot the arrow. Around fifty feet away, stood on top of a mound that must have hidden her approach, was the girl from the library, crossbow in hand. 

Before the man started to move, she had already propped her crossbow on the ground and placed her foot in the metal hoop at the bottom of the metal, her movements urgent but not rushed. As he roared and started to charge at her, she swiftly leaned down and took hold of the string, straightening and straining to pull it back until it snapped into place. The effort showed clear in her face, but her toned arms managed it just as the man was closing in. Now moving jerkily and as fast as she could, she yanked it up with one hand and grabbing an arrow from her quiver with the other. She didn't have enough time to even pull it up properly,  never mind aim, so she just shot blindly at his leg. Luckily, in such tight quarters, it was unlikely to have missed. Mid sprint, the man crumbled, and the girl dropped her weapon to pull a knife from her belt, covering the distance between them in a second and driving the blade into his exposed neck and yanking it back out amidst a geyser of blood. 

Lyra had stopped even trying to move, staring with horror and shock at the scene playing out before her. She couldn't quite comprehend what was happening; that was the girl from the library, who helped her find books and slacked off on the job, and now she had appeared in the Dayscape and murdered two people. And, worst of all, she seemed so relaxed about it, as though this was part of her day just like working at the library or brushing her teeth. She looked at Lyra and smiled reassuringly, though it was a little ineffective when paired with the blood splattered across her freckled face, the freshly primed crossbow in hand, and the still twitching corpse at her feet. 

She threw up two fingers, and then fished about in her pockets to find a hand mirror and some baby wipes. Lyra still couldn't move, so all she could do was watch the red headed girl to wipe away the blood and realise that the warm liquid on her face was what the women had shed. As it was, the blood leaking from her head was joining a rapidly joining pool that was coming a little too close to her for comfort. Once the girl had cleaned herself off, she crouched by her male victim and rummaged roughly through his pockets before giving up and moving onto the woman. There, she found what she was looking for, another vial, and stepped away, wiping the blood off her shoes in the dust. Finally, she made her way over to Lyra, kneeling behind her and sitting her up until her head was on her shoulder. 

The girl uncorked the vial, opened Lyra's mouth, and tipped the contents of yet another vial down her throat. This concoction tasted salty and sweet, and felt soothing as it rolled down into her stomach. The effect was immediate, strength returning to her limbs quickly, and as soon as she could, Lyra pushed away from the girl, rolled from the pool of blood, and scrambled to her feet. The girl rose with her, palms up in a relaxing manner before seeing the blood on her face and hesitating. She pulled out her mirror and baby wipes and offered them to Lyra, who snatched them off of her and started to clean herself up.