Chapter 62

The old man leaned back with his eyes trained on the child.

Anya gulped audibly. The air felt thick and stuffy, shortening her breath. She briefly stared at the man in silence before daring to speak. “I… I was tricked by a boy… he led me to the slums a-and sold me for money...”

“Sold you for money...” he whispered to himself while jotting into his journal.

“I… manage to escape them… After that, I… I got lost… so I wandered around until I was found by the patrol...”

“Uh-hmm…” the man scribbled some more before slowly shifting his eyes to the girl. “And?”

“They… Ol’ Keep, that was his name… he’s one of the patrolmen that found me… he gave me some food and sent me here…”

“He… sent you here?” the man lifted his brow, but remained focused on the paper.

“Yes…”

“Alone?”

“Yes…”

“Right… Is that all you remember?”

Anya leaned back, trying to relax but her body remained tense. “Yes…” her voice cracked as she spoke.

The man straightened his back, crossing his fingers on top of his notebook. “Do you remember what the boy looked like?”

The child racked her brain. Though it was not that long ago, the memory already seemed distant. “Yes... he was… a little taller than me... with brown curly hair...”

“Where were you when the boy approached you?”

“Umm… somewhere in the market… near the gun place...”

“The…” he furrowed a brow, “gun place…?”

“It’s the place where you practice shooting... and stuff...”

“Oh, the gun range, correct?”

“Yes… that...”

“Do you remember which one?”

“I’m… I’m not sure, I just know that’s what he called it.”

“He, as in the boy, correct?”

“No, no…”

“That wasn’t the boy…?”

“No… that was someone else.”

“Who is this ‘someone else’?” The man pressed on. “Is he a collaborator to the boy?”

“No! He’s…” Anya stopped herself, remembering that Boris did seem to have scammed some people. “He’s not a part of this...”

“Is that so…” The man proceeded to write down more notes. “Do you remember how you got into the slums”

“How we got in…?” Anya swallowed her saliva. “We… we went down through this tunnel…”

“Tunnel… hmmm...” he continued. “Do you remember where it was?”

“I…” Anya racked her brain. “I don’t remember…”

“What about the size? The length? Any details that may help identify it?”

“No…”

The man leaned back and crossed his fingers. “Right…”

Neither of them spoke as they focused on each other. Although the questioning ceased, Anya felt that the atmosphere only grew more oppressive.

“So…” the child muttered, finally having mustered the courage to speak, “am I… am I free to go…?”

“No.”

Anya was in disbelief as her words began to stutter. “W-W-What…? Why?!”

“You said you stayed at Decadence, correct? I would need to send someone over to verify your patronage.” The man leaned in with a sharpened gaze. “Anna, was it?”

“Th-” The girl panicked, stumbling over her own words.

“So your name isn’t Anna?”

“My- no, the name, asked for Emma! She’s the one I’m staying with! Her name is on their list!”

“Emma…? Who is this Emma?”

Anya was visibly unsettled, her fingers wrestled with each other aimlessly as a series of jumbled words left her lips. “She’s my mo... no, the one who took care of me. She found me in the underground place… the city with all the angry machines and- Her name should be on-”

“Stop.” The man commanded, his hand raised and his mood soured. “Just stop.”

“He doesn’t believe you.” The whisper giggled playfully. “He thinks you’re ly-ing…”

“I…” Anya sat, her voice becoming softer and softer. “I’m not… lying…”

“Oh? I’m sure there was some truth somewhere in there,” he said as he pinched his fingers. “Some parts were convincing, others were not.” He quickly gathered his belongings. “You’re not that first one to have tried this. But I’ll be honest,” the man waved his hand over her possessions, “you were the first one to be this prepared.” His voice became less and less agreeable as he continued. “Also, the bribe you’ve attempted... we don’t do that here.” he tucked his chair under the table and turned toward the door. “I will have someone visit the hotel. If this… ‘Emma’, claims you. Then, you will be released.”

“I… she…” the girl muttered, “but... she’s not there right now…”

The elderly man looked back. “You have no paperwork, no identification, nothing that validates your story. If we cannot verify your status, we will have no choice but to return you to the other side.”

Hearing this, the child’s heart began to sink. “No!” the girl screamed in protest but was completely ignored. “I won’t go back there!” The man ignored her pleas and continued his way. The fear and discomfort that clawed at her became anger. She clenched her jaw and slammed her hand against the wooden surface of the table. Without a moment’s notice, she jumped atop the table and ran toward the man. The sudden charge caught the man off guard, he hasty turned around in an attempt to intercept but...

Shnk.

A sudden sharp pain pierced his abdomen. His jaw loosened as he tried to scream, but could not. Soon, the child withdrew her bladed tail, tugging the man to his knees and not long after, collapsing him to the ground.

Anya watched, still unsure of her decision. Her action was purely emotional and lacked any form of forethought, but the deed was done. The girl scouted beyond the door, checking for observers. Once she was sure that they were alone, the transformation had already been completed.

The child observed the man, none of his prior charms remained. Much like a poor imitation, the creature before her held the man’s form but desecrated his image. His eyes were now loose and unfocused, while his teeth clattered an itching tone. This was the first time Anya had really noticed the drastic change in character and it greatly unsettled her.

“No,” she mumbled to herself, “now’s not the time.” The child rushed to the table and collected her belongings before hurriedly leaving the room with the creature following closely behind. The layout of the station was mostly a mystery to her, so her best hope was to backtrack until she found the exit. Across the room, Anya placed her ear against the wooden door. Once confident that the adjacent room was empty, she quietly opened the door and walked in.

It was a long hallway laced with closed doors, and anyone of them could hold someone inside. She needed to sneak past them in order to reach the exit.

“Shhhhh.” She hushed with her finger pressed against her lip. The crawler reacted with a few sways from side to side. “Be as quiet as you can…” she commanded.

Anya had no idea whether the creature understood her, given its ambiguous responses. So she inched through the hallway with a heavy mind, constantly checking on the creature. Continuing past the first set of doors, she heard a few muffled voices behind some of the closed-off rooms. The girl tried her best to slow her breathing, but that only made it harder to keep herself balanced. At times, she would have to stand completely still as the muted laughter stopped. The creature would lower itself closer to the ground, reducing its profile. After a few seconds later they would continue when the laughter returned. Several nerve-wracking encounters passed until she reached a turn in the hallway. Anya carefully pressed her back against the wall and peeked the corner. If her memory serves her right, the exit should just be beyond. And to her credit, it was. However, there was just one problem: a single guard stood between her and her escape.

He stared intensely at the wall, seemingly reading something. Anya wondered whether she could sneak past the man, but given that the hallway was just one wide open space, it seemed unlikely. Next, she wondered if she could just create a distraction, send the crawler as a diversion, or even take him out.

“No.” She mumbled to herself, realizing that causing commotion would only worsen her predicament. The girl racked her brain.

Maybe I could find another way out... She thought.

While Anya pondered upon the alternatives, she failed to notice that the guard had turned toward her. For a brief second their eyes had met. In a flash, the girl zipped back behind the corner. Her heart pounded so fast, it felt as if it was about to break out of her chest. Anya knew she needed to hide, but the hallway stretched long and offered very little in terms of cover. There was no time, she could hear it: the rapid stomping that approached. The child knew what she had to do.

Anya lowered herself closer to the floor and readied her bladed tail. In the instant the man turned the corner, she launched herself at the man and stabbed him through the stomach. She pulled him toward her as she freed her tail, trying her best to control his descent. Despite her best efforts, a thump was still heard. Immediately, the girl scanned her surroundings. In what felt like hours, the child anticipated what seemed inevitable, but nothing came. The doors were still closed and faint laughter rang through the wall.

Anya sighed a breath of relief, her hand still rattling against the fabric of her cloak. Her eyes then returned to the fallen guard.

eeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!

All hell broke loose.

The girl had completely forgotten about the creature’s screeches and now an unnatural howl ringed throughout the station. Without a moment of delay, the doors burst open with curious eyes scouring the area. It required no effort for the crawler to be spotted and thus all became aware of their presence.

“What the hell?!” The guard screamed and moments later, the alarm blared throughout the premise.

Knowing that her plan had failed catastrophically, she made a mad dash for the exit.

“DO SOMETHING!” She screamed back at the creatures and instantly they sprung into action. One leaped onto the guard, biting into the flesh of his neck. The other pinned its victims to the ground before mutilating them in a matter of seconds. Amongst the confusion, Anya found herself unopposed as she left the building. The shouting behind her soon became shrieking as gunfire rained. Outside, the guards were as equally disoriented. Some watched in terror as their colleagues were mauled, others fired erratically, at times hitting their own.

The child ran and ran until she reached a stockpile of boxes, which she quickly hid behind and caught her breath. Carefully, she peeked and witnessed the utter chaos she had caused. The guards were terrible shots, added to the fact that the creatures were very light on their feet, rounds rarely connected.

“Hey!” a voice yelled from the side. “Lift up ya hands!”

The girl turned to the source of the calling.

“The hell did ya do?!”

Anya recognized the man, it was the guard that had opened the gate for her.

“I’m speakin’ to ya!” The man shouted, his weapon drawn and aimed at the child.

Slowly, Anya raised both her hands without speaking.

“Talk or I’ll put a bullet through ya head!”

“I…” the girl took one step forward, slowly unwinding her tail. “I don’t know what happened… it came out of nowhere and there was screaming-”

“STAY BACK OR I SHOOT!” The guard stepped back, maintaining a constant distance between the two.

EEEEEEEEIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!

With a crawler fast approaching, the man hastily changed his focus to deal with the coming threat. Anya took this opportunity to make a dash for the city. No matter what, she did not falter. Even when shots began to ricochet at her feet, the girl continued forward.

The blasts of gunpowder eventually faded as she ran farther and farther away, only to be replaced by hurried footsteps of her pursuers. Anya wanted to stop but she knew she could not. The girl pressed forward, not letting up even an inch of ground. Soon her efforts finally paid off. A wave of relief washed over as she spotted a familiar sight: the shops that lined the market.

People gathered around the stalls, some laughing while others bargained with the shopkeepers. As she traversed deeper into the market, small groups turned into crowds, and eventually into a sea of people that provided the perfect cover. Anya slowed down in an attempt to blend in. Even taking off her cloak, in hopes that it would make her less recognizable. After being certain that she had lost the guards, the girl finally started to relax.

But without warning, she was grabbed by the shoulder. Anya froze. She was sure that she had lost them. Her heart was racing, wondering whether she should fight or run away.

“Anya!” the voice called. “Is that really you?!”

“Who…” the girl muttered. Before she could finish, the woman embraced her.

“Don’t you remember me, Anya?!”

“That voice…” It was familiar, like something from a distant dream. “... Hailey…”

The woman backed off and placed her hands on Anya’s cheeks. “I can’t believe it’s you…! It’s really you!”

Dumbfounded, Anya did not know what to say.

“We thought we lost you forever!”

“We…?” the child raised her head and glared at the figure that stood unwaveringly behind the woman.

“Uncle Steph…”