#plus my grammer check isn't working so don't hate me too much :D

[bards-witcher]

Perdita - Chapter 4

So I’ve changed up the layout of the chapters just a little, so they may be a little different from the first time around in an effort to clean things up a bit.

As always I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think?

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It’s hours later and he’s still on the roof, the fire having been put out by emergency services long ago as he now lay on his back to stare up at the stars, barely able to make them out due to pollution of the city on the night’s sky.

At this moment he yearned to go to the countryside, to the small clearing through a forest which he and Luke used to camp at to take themselves away from the stresses of daily life, to just take a deep breath and enjoy what little time they had with the other.

He liked to think that Luke was up there now, up in amidst the stars he loved so much watching over him, however, the thought was quick to sour in his mind, Luke would hate who he’d become and especially what he’d done under G’s ruling, not that he’d had much control over it.

Giving the sky a final look, he stood up, grabbing his bag before he slowly made his way down the fire escape, ever mindful of the growing pain in his ribs as he landed lightly on his feet in the now dark alleyway, taking a moment to orientate himself before he made a move to leave.

However, he’d only made it a couple of steps before the feeling of eyes on him had him stilling and pulling the knife he’d stashed in his belt, once again trying to reason that it was simply paranoia, but he had two gangs looking for him after all and having been in this line of work for so long, he knew when to trust his gut. 

The sound of a loud crash of metal near the road had his hand tightening around the knife in his jacket pocket and like lightning turned towards the sound only to make out a flash of blue dart around the corner of the building.

He ran out of the alley then, his knife brandished as he followed the flash of color before he quickly got into a defensive pose as he expected a fight, only he saw nothing, almost as if his mind had conjured the whole thing and nothing had happened as he looked down the long empty stretch of road.

The quiet of the street was eerie and did little to put him at ease, he stayed there for a moment longer before putting the knife back in his pocket, his hand never leaving its hilt as he began to walk through the dimly lit street for a place to sleep for the night.

**********

He thought it would take a lot longer to readjust to homelessness, it having been almost two decades since he was last on the streets, but strangely, it was like riding a bicycle.

As much as he wanted to, he knew skipping town wasn’t an option he could afford, it would be almost too easy for either gang to chase him down like a wild animal and kill him, besides, he had unfinished business here.

Due to his broken ribs, he had been forced to lay low for the first few weeks, never staying in one part of the city too long and rarely frequenting the same place twice, trying to move only under the cover of darkness to make hiding from prying eyes just that bit easier.

However, during the day he was still constantly on the move, stopping only to sleep for a couple of hours at a time before moving on to a new area to rest for another few hours. It was tedious and tiring but given that he’d had no sign of G’s gang or of his old friends in the last few weeks it must have meant that it was working until it didn’t that is.

It was his fifth week out on the streets and he was currently headed to the ‘local’ jaunt under a long-abandoned underpass where most of those who were homeless came to rest at night, he only came here once a week tops, mainly to gather any new info on what was going on in the town, being the bottom of the food chain, these people normally saw and heard things which the normal person wouldn’t pay much mind to but was worth its weight in gold to him.

As soon as he got there he wasted no time to slowly make his way to one of the fire pits to speak with Carl, an older man ranging in his 60’s who was the unspoken leader of the people here, and had somehow taken him under his wing, however, as he got closer, he saw the man talking to two guys which he quickly recognized to be two of G’s men.

They weren’t much more than henchmen, simply sent around to do the nitty-gritty tasks no one else wanted, but despite their slender bodies, he knew just how aggressive and dangerous the pair were, having been out on jobs with them many times in the past.

He stuck to the shadows as he edged closer to the group in an effort to make out what they were saying, watching as they held up a picture of him for Carl and the couple of other people around him to look at and identify.

For a moment he felt a spike of panic travel through him at the thought of being sold out, he hadn’t known these people for long after all and they owed him nothing, but relief was quick to take over as he saw the older man deny all knowledge of him and he was never more grateful for a group of people at the fact, briefly noting he’d have to come back and express his gratitude towards them when his life settled down a little.

Once the two men had made their rounds of the area, having gotten nowhere with their search, they began to make their way out of the underpass until they were stopped by someone he didn’t recognize at first, but when he did he felt all the color leave his face.

When he’d first come here he’d unintentionally gotten himself a reputation, a group of guys had seen him pull some food out of his bag and soon came over demanding he hand it over. Naturally, he refused, which made one of the guys pull his fist back and aim a punch to his face, which he easily deflected before throwing his own punch, causing the man to quickly fall to the floor.

A minute later and all five guys were on the floor, hands holding their bloodied noses and sore jaws before sulking back into their corner.

From then on everyone knew not to fuck with him, but he’d always seen the hatred and anger in their eyes when he came through, and now it appeared that karma had finally come to bite him in the ass.

He couldn’t hear what was said between the men, only saw the two guys pull their guns towards Carl demanding answers, but still, the older man refused to give them, and he knew the man had just signed his own death warrant.

Before either man could even make a move he quickly pulled out his knife and threw it at one of them, catching the guy in the throat, who soon fell to the floor choking on the blood now staining the floor red, as the other guy quickly aimed his gun towards him.

He moved on the balls of his feet through the darkness as the other man started to approach him, thankful that he hadn’t been seen yet. Slowly he crept around the small pile of rubble he was hiding behind as the man got closer to him, crouching in place as he got ready to launch himself for when the man would come into his view.

The guy had just come into his eyesight when he stopped moving suddenly, making him wait with bated breath for the other man to make his move, only he wasn’t given the chance when he heard gargling noises before the man fell to the floor, dead.

He stood, ready to fight if need be only to see Carl standing there, his knife shaking in the other man’s hand before he spat onto the guy's body, the sight enough to bring a small smile to his face.

“I believe this is yours” He gratefully accepted the knife that was handed to him, bending down to wipe it on the dead guys' trouser leg before pocketing it again “Seems you got yourself into quite the bit of trouble here”

He could only let out a terse laugh at the comment, sure that it was the understatement of the century at this point “You could say that, don’t suppose you could get rid of a couple of bodies for me?”

“We’ll take care of ‘em, you just go and be safe now, okay?” He relaxed a little as he felt Carl put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze, allowing himself to enjoy the only comforting bit of human contact he’d had over the past few weeks, as he nod his head in reply as his throat felt thick with emotion.

Without another thought he pulled the bag from his shoulder, rummaging through it for a moment before he found what he was looking for, without a second thought he placed the last of his cash, about $60, in Carls’ hand, it was several weeks’ worth of food that he just lost, but he just wished he had more to give to thank these people for helping him.

“Thank you, Carl, for everything” Now it was Carl’s turn to nod his head, the two looking at each other for a moment longer before with a final shake of the hand, he turned to leave, not wanting to risk these people’s lives any further.

He walked around the town for a bit, letting himself relax a little knowing that neither gang would try anything in broad daylight with people around, at least not in the open, but still, he kept alert for the slightest movement indicating foul play.

So far he’d been relatively lucky given how he hadn’t run into anyone yet despite G’s men having been at the underpass only moments ago, however, when he was about to cross the road he noticed a reflection in a shop window, it was guy in a pigs’ mask staring right at him.

They stared at each other in silent acknowledgment, feeling panic begin to edge along his spine and frozen in place, before a couple of cars drove past, blocking his view of the other man and only once the street was clear again did he notice that Tyler was gone.

His panic only grew, so much so that he could almost choke on it, quickly taking a breath before crossing the road in front of him, adrenaline now coursing through his system as he ducked into a nearby alleyway.

After he took a moment to calm his racing heart he moved to the edge where the alley met the street, sticking to the shadows as best as he could in order to try and figure his best plan of action.

It was then that a light shone at his eyes and after reaching a hand up to try and shield himself, a brief scan of the rooftops showed Lui sat at the ready, a sniper rifle in hand that was angled towards him.

He quickly moved deeper into the alley, not wasting a second as he climbed over the gate which had previously blocked his access to the next street across, not bothering to spare a glance behind him as he started weaving his way through the streets and alleys to shake off any potential pursuers.

Eventually, through some sick will of God apparently, he found himself back at the building where he’d watched his flat burn all those weeks ago, he hadn’t meant to come here but he strangely felt a sense of comfort settle over him being here.

Deciding not to question it, he quickly made his way up back onto the roof, the journey taking a fraction of the time it previously did now that he was almost fully recovered, taking a moment to appreciate the sight of the city before moving away from the edge to settle himself in for some rest.

He made the quick decision to spend the rest of the day and the night there, giving him a good chance to get some genuine rest, hoping that for once no one would decide to come looking for him.

With a sigh he sat down, unsure whether he’d need to flee or fight during the night, hoping for once that he would be lucky and event-free.

Even so, he took the pistol from his bag and tucked it into his waistband before patting his midsection until he felt the knife pressed against his stomach, a comforting weight that allowed him to relax just that little bit more.

He moved his bag to act as a sort of pillow as he lay down, quickly closing his eyes to try to will himself to get at least some sleep before the sunset and the monsters would come out.

**********

The sun was just beginning to set behind the line of buildings when he woke up, quickly sitting up to check his surroundings to make sure that he was still safe, too used to the constant threat of danger that he could only relax and let out the breath he’d been holding when the coast was finally clear.

As the sky grew darker he simply sat there, paying attention to any and every noise he heard as he constantly checked not only his guns but the contents of his bag before repacking them, only to then get bored and start the whole process again.

After a while, when the chill really started to set in and his fingers began to get numb, he pulled out the photo from his pocket, now worn with having been folded and unfolded numerous times and from the teardrops that stained it.

He doesn’t know how long he stared at it, an ache in his heart as he thought about the what-ifs and the maybes of the past months, his mind going in endless circles only serving to torment him until he saw movement in his peripheral.

Within a second he was on his feet and his gun drawn, his breath getting caught in his throat when he saw Luke start slowly walking towards him, his hands up in surrender.

“Bit trigger happy aren’t we?” There it was, that smooth southern drawl which he’d thought he’d never hear again. He could feel his heart in his throat now but still, he stood his ground, gun pointed towards the older man “Not gonna talk, huh? Fair enough, I don’t mind sittin’ here, ‘specially with a view this good”

He felt tears prickle his vision, this was Luke, his Luke, looking just as he always had, his voice crystal clear in the night sky with the ability to even now make him blush, but as much as he wanted to believe it, to give in to the lie, he knew it was just some sick conjuration of his mind.

Before Luke could make a move, he gestured to the gun in his hand in an effort to try and establish some sort of control over the impossible situation, still aiming it towards the man in front of him who definitely shouldn’t be there.

“How?” He’s not surprised that his voice cracked, he was far too overcome with emotion that he could barely even say the word.

“How am I here? Well, see there’s another set of fire escapes on the other side of…..”

“No! How’re you here, how’re you alive?” He noticed his hands were shaking as he kept the gun pointed towards Luke, all his resolve beginning to slip away as he wanted nothing more than to be embraced by the other man once again.

It was then that a look of pity crossed Lukes’ face, the older man dropping his arms as he cautiously began to walk towards him, only stopping when the still trembling gun in his hand was pressed against his chest.

“Why’d you think I’m dead? Because that sick fucker told you so?” All he could do was look up at the man in front of him, not even wanting to tempt the belief of Lukes’ survival, knowing this must all be a sick game of his own mind “Tell me Ry, what did you see?”

His stance relaxed then, all fight leaving him as he dropped his arms and held the gun loosely in his right hand whilst his left went to cup Lukes’ face, flinching a little as he felt the ice-cold skin beneath his and feeling his resolve sturdy at the fact that he knew this Luke to be fake, all as he tried to give a weak smile whilst tears fell freely down his face.

“I shot you, Luke” he moved the hand cupping Lukes’ face to his forehead, pointing his finger at the exact spot his bullet struck “Right here”

When he removed his hand from Luke he saw that there was blood on it, taking a moment to look at it coating his fingers before he looked back up at the older man only to feel his heart stop for a moment and his breathing catch in his throat as he saw the blood now trickling down the other man’s face from the bullet wound which hadn’t been there moments before.

Luke was seemingly unaffected by the change, but quickly grabbed onto his shoulders and started to shake him a little as if he was trying to get him out of a trance, pleading at him almost when he next spoke “No Ryan, what did you really see?”

He could give a confused stare at the other man, hoping for a more elaborate answer or even a hint to whatever goose chase his mind was setting him on, but just as suddenly as he’d come, Luke was gone.

With a shuddering breath, he collapsed back onto the roof, unaffected by the cold of the night air as it already felt like Ice was traveling through his veins as for the second time on that same roof he once again succumbed to his grief.

#perdita #ohmtoonz #ohmwrecker #cartoonz #let me know what you think #plus my grammer check isn't working so don't hate me too much :D