Shadow Dancer

Chapter 2

I'm back in the city, walking down the roads to pickpocket people as they rush home. My bag is half full with stolen goods and meat. I duck into the store I need and call out for Sal. He comes out from the back and smiles at me.

   "Celestria! What did you bring for me today?" he asks with a smile. I pull my bag over my head as he leads me to the back.

   "Two hares, a squirrel and some deer and wildcat meat Ma already cut up for you," I say, pulling it out and placing it on the table. He nods.

   "Not as much as you usually bring me," he points out and I shrug.

   "Something's spooked the animals in the Dark Wood. They've become scarce the past few weeks," I say, gnawing my lip. It's worrisome. Not only do we rely on the Dark Wood animals for food, but money, too. We could survive without the extra money, but we need the meat we get from them.

   "Odd," is all he says before we quickly settle on the price and head to the front as a guy walks in. He's a little over six feet with cold, black eyes, black hair and pale skin. He's beautiful. That's all there is to say about his looks, really. He's dressed in an odd looking shiny uniform that kinda reminds me of a snake's scales, a long coat and a sword strapped to his side. He radiates danger and I feel drawn to it. To him. Sal and I both stare at him for a moment before Sal turns to me. "Thanks for the meat, Celestria. See you next week?" I nod, still eyeing the foreign man. I don't know everyone in the city, but if this man was from around here, I would at least know of him. I notice a dagger encrusted with jewels on his hip and feel the greed swell within me.

   "Yeah. I'll try to bring more for you next week, Sal." I say as I head for the door. I revert my eyes to the floor as I go to walk past the man. I purposely trip over a loose floorboard and crash into the man. I quickly slip the dagger out of its sheath and into my bag as he catches me. "Sorry! I'm so clumsy!" I say, trying to force a blush. He raises his eyebrow at me as I right myself and pull away.

   "As long as you're unharmed, everything is alright, my lady," he says formally with a slight bow of his head. Now I actually am blushing.

   "Oh, yes, of course. I'm alright," I say, waving my hand in the air.

   "Your mother will worry if you don't get home soon, Celestria," Sal says, giving me the chance to escape. I sigh, feigning annoyance.

   "She always worries," I say. "You'd think I was still a babe by the way she treats me." I smile at the man. "It was nice meeting you, sir. I apologize again for bumping into you." He nods and I quickly leave. I wait around the city and steal a few more things before deciding to head home.

   As I walk down the abandoned street, I start to feel like someone is watching me. I glance around, but don't see anyone. I shake my head and continue down the street. Suddenly, I'm not on the street anymore, but in the alley I'd been walking past, pinned against the wall and being held at least a foot off the ground with a hand to my neck. The man I'd seen at Sal's is glaring up at me. My eyes are wide as I clutch his wrist and flail my legs.

   "Where is it?" he growls and tightens his hand around my neck, cutting off my airways completely. My mouth gapes as I try to breathe and I can feel my face turning red. "You think you can steal from me and get away with it, girl?" he demands, spinning and throwing me into the opposite wall. I crash to the ground with a grunt as I suck in lungfuls of air.

   His hand fists in my hair and he yanks my head back so that I'm looking up at him. His hand goes into my bag and pulls out the dagger, holding it to my neck. I feel my darkness start to swell within me along with my fear. The dagger, the alley, the helplessness. It's all the same. I know then that I won't be able to hold the shadows back.

   "I'm going to enjoy the feel of your blood covering my hands," he says as he starts to slowly slide the dagger across my neck. I scream and feel the shadows burst from me, taking him to the ground. I watch, sobbing, as he screams and the shadows go into his mouth, nose, ears and eyes. When he's dead, the shadows flow out of him and over to me, covering the cut on my neck and causing it to go cold before sinking back into my body. I curl into a ball and sob. I'd killed another man. I'm a freak and a murderer.

   I stumble to my feet and run the rest of the way to Blue, still sobbing. I throw myself onto his back and kick him into a run. I don't pay attention to where he's going as I lean over to bury my face in his neck and cry. I trust that he knows where to go. He runs all the way home with me sobbing on his back, not needing me to direct him where to go. We get to the house and I climb off his back. I glance at the house and know that I won't be able to sleep and will probably wake my sisters by tossing and turning. I grab the ax and go over to the wood pile to chop some more wood.