Badabam

Chapter 2: Pricks

        The last traces of the sun had faded for a short while before Mei closed up her shop. It's been three days since the incident involving her father's letter and there had been no customer-repelling incident since. Business has been going well, much to Mei's delight, and she barely even thinks about the letter's contents since the incident. 

        Mei looks up at the freshly nightened sky and sees stars that blossom just as well as the flowers she sees during her early morning hike for herbs. She sighs contentedly and begins to walk back to her house which is only a 15-minute walk from the shop.
Her house is by the edge of the woods where she gets some of her herbs. Most of the people she'd talked to in the village were concerned over her lodging situation considering she's a 20-something female living alone near woods surrounded mostly by silence.

        "You're like a murderer's dream victim right there, hun!" says Lady Manu, a rich old lady who visits her shop once a week for tea, gossiping, and, without the knowledge of her beloved and very well-known merchant husband, to smoke. "Why don't you move, eh? I hear that Mary and her good-for-nothing sister Marie are moving out. Great for the community, really. They're worse than that old bugger Basil."
        "If you don't mind me asking, why do you hate them so much? And what did Basil ever do to you, uhm milady?" Mei asked while pouring Dandelion tea for Lady Manu. She often complains of intestinal gas so Mei makes sure she serves her Dandelion or Ginger tea, and that she opens all the windows and to always be facing Lady Manu whenever she visits.
        "Oh honey, it involves a wedding, too much ale and whisky, fishes, and lots of swear words. And what did Basil ever do to me, you ask?" Lady Manu looks out the window and sips her tea then faces Mei with a knowing expression. "Well, let's just say what DIDN'T Basil do to me."

        Mei shudders at the memory of the conversation. Say what you will about Lady Manu, she tells a story like nobody's business plus she keeps her up with the happenings in the village. This way she knows what to recommend to her customers once they enter her shop.

        Mei was about 7 minutes away from her house when she felt something prick her neck, like a mosquito bite but not itchy and more like something poked her for a second. She shuffled through her worn messenger bag as she felt a sense of weakening, like she was about to lose consciousness. She tried her best not to let herself black out until she felt the tiny flask with perfumed oil used to awaken unconscious people.
        She sinks to the ground and weakly pulls off the cork off the flask then puts it near her nose. She blinks a couple of times and tries to stand up. Her legs were a bit wobbly but she was able to stand up and so she ran/wobbled to her house. The perfumed oil was working so far and she can feel herself regaining the power over her consciousness. She hears the rustling of leaves from a tree branch overhead and runs even faster.
        A second later she feels another pricking sensation, this time on her upper arm. She puts the flask near her nose again, this time not removing it. A few spill here and there as she was running. She feels 4 more pricks: 2 on her neck, 1 on her arm, and even one on her cheek. "REALLY?" she exclaims. Her vision was darkening around the edges but she still manages to be mostly conscious. All she needs to do is to step anywhere near at least 7 feet of her home and she's safe. At least whoever is chasing her doesn't want her dead. Yet. But the thought doesn't quite make her feel any better.
        She can finally see her house when she felt hands covering her mouth and nose, and over her stomach. The hand covering her mouth has a handkerchief with a burnt smell, and a bitter tinge to it too. It was a smell she knew. Iremia, she thinks to herself. I hope this person bought that from me. Those were her last thoughts before her body slowly limped and she finally succumbed to a non-consensual slumber.

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        5 Sleep Stingers, Anselm sighs. 5. Holy Shit. That's a 3 jobs' worth of Sleep Stingers, he thinks to himself. He then proceeds to compute how much money he needs to buy more Sleep Stingers in his head and where he could possibly find a merchant who sells them in this tiny, obscure little town of humans. Sleep Stingers are usually sold by Scorpi people, and they're the ones who sell it cheapest, too. 
        He puts down Mahika's daughter on the ground under a tree near her house then looks at her with a scowl and shakes his head as he takes a seat under another tree. It took him 5 Sleep Stingers to bring down a Giant about 13 feet tall. You better be worth the Stingers, he thinks to himself before he settles himself and starts sharpening two of his knives.