1000 words a week – part 2 (a story in need of a name)

25-03-2013

“Dear readers, this is the second part from my weekly update. Just in time actually. Writing is taking my sleepy time away again. Just like last time. I really have to plan time in advance next time, for I had things planned for tomorrow morning. But it seems like sleeping early is not anymore the case. Since it is 1:06 am at time of writing. But anyhow. I seem to attract some attention at least.  Some of my friends start to notice that I have started writing again and most of the reactions I get are ‘I saw your post and REALLY am going to read it.’ It’s a start I guess. But I keep myself motivated and still enjoy the way this story is heading. I hope that you will enjoy this as much as I did writing. But I am going to bed, as my eyes are starting to close on their own. See you next time and as always,

Enjoy! And don’t forget to tell me what you think of it! Greetings, Peter”

“I’ll be there in a bit, till then.” I finally answered.

“Good, Blade out.”

I clicked the button and the conversation ended. Quickly I reached for my pocket and took out my cellphone. The display showed me for how long we had been connected: 4:56:73. Just under five seconds. ‘Phew’, I sighed. Close call. Just under the time they could track her, or worse, his location. You never knew if they were watching you. But since she was shot at, it was best to keep a low profile for now. If they would find their little hideout, they would be knocking on their front door for sure. They had just moved to. And she wasn’t planning to give up this beautiful location this soon.

For now they resided inside abandoned water towers somewhere in the center of town. City really, but town had always sounded a lot more welcome to her. Plus, that was what they had called it. The other curriers that is. Her group consisted of sixteen members. All but her had been curriers before, in other groups. Most split up for some reason or another. It’s a hard life, but it earns you money. A lot of money if you do it well. There is a lot of competition however. She knew about four other groups by name, plus some logo’s or colors. Theirs had always been blue. ‘To camouflage their movement.’ Yeah sure. Gay was the one and only color that matched the buildings enough to keep you at least a little bit hidden. For the few days that the sky was blue, and you were flying through the sky, it just wasn’t worth it. Not that she didn’t like the color blue, on the opposite. She liked it for its objectivity. Green was to earthy; red for that matter, was too aggressive.

The water towers weren’t too spacious, but it was better than a cardboard box. What had been her go-to place for a few years. She managed to find an old mattress somewhere on another roof. Dirty and smelly, but after a few days in the rain and a bit of soap the smell was manageable. Even her roommate seemed to be OK with it. At least, she could tolerate the odor. She however, had a decent one. Not half rotten. Probably bought from some guy who wanted to throw it away, or nagged it from the garbage on the day itself. That’s where most of their furniture came from. The other things that occupied her room were a drawer, a bucket of water, some clothes, other things like towels, a clothesline, a laptop and some personal belongings. There was also a tower where they would eat sometime, which contained some pillows and an electric stove. They stole their energy directly from the power cables, which was pretty tricky to setup, but once it worked, it was literally untraceable. At least, they had never been found because of that. Most of the time they were traced through the internet connection. They had always been wirelessly connected to some kind of Wi-Fi network. But sometimes the owner found out someone hacked in their network and started a search or informed the police.

Most of the time they heard the police call each other over the network and got away safely. One time things got bad. Blade didn’t want to talk about it. Neither did the others, probably got pretty ugly. One of the reasons why they had only traveled at night for a while. Now they were more liberate with the time of day. In fear of being seen around their hideout. But they recently found a workaround. One of the curriers made a hole under each of the water towers and in the roof of the building so you could sneak in from the inside. Nifty and very convenient. Now they just needed to be careful that no one noticed them entering the building. She often just entered from the back alley, which was connected to other buildings. She knew the way in from every angle possible, even the one that involved going through the sewers. Not that she planned to do that again, but when it is a necessity, you’re glad it’s there. Like that time she was followed by a rival gang.

The thought brought her back to the real world. She heard the sirens below her. Turned her head downward and peeked over the edge. A bunch of cops showed up and parked their cars around the corner and started running to the entrance of the building. “Where they looking for her?” She asked herself. She didn’t hesitate and started running again. The sound faded. She looked over her shoulder a few times but didn’t notice anyone following her. Just paranoia.  The event of today had sharpened her senses. Which was never a bad thing. When nothing had happened for a few days, she started to get sloppy with things. Not checking the call length, getting inside their building without first checking, things like that. She was just that kind of person. She needed danger to get her on her tows apparently.

The rest of the way home was just as always. She noticed a few changes that changed her path slightly. Mostly things that optimized her route. Which always struck her as odd. Many people left things on their roof in favor of her. They all seemed to place their garbage just in the right spot for her to use as a jumping point or take off. After about fifteen minutes she arrived at the building in question. Quiet as ever, but she felt odd. Something was not right. The same feeling she got earlier today. She decided to not take any chances and walk around a bit before entering. None of the doors had been damaged or scraped and seemed untouched. She climbed on top of a garbage container and lifted herself to the small window. The glass was already broken and she had used this window more times then she could remember.  With a smooth curvy loop she slipped inside and rolled on the floor to compensate for the two meter fall. Looked around and flexed her mussels. Nothing out of the ordinary. Turned right and went through the big doors up to the staircase.

She made her way to the top and switched on the tenth floor. Only the emergency staircase provided entrance to the roof and the final floor. When she got to her story she slowed down and crouched to keep her sound down. Slowly she made her way to the door and peeked through the keyhole. She saw an empty room but her vision was blocked by a bunch of utility closets. She pushed the handle down slowly and opened the door inch by inch. Leaning with her head so she could see everything. Still nothing. And then a figure stood there, her heart skipped a beat, quickly recovered. She made her way to the individual in question and looked at him. She didn’t recognized the clothes. Scenarios went through her head, leaped forward and grabbed the neck. The prey shouted in surprise. She quickly released, she had heart that voice before. The other quickly turned around and an elbow flew right in her face. The reflex of her arm saved her, she blocked the blow.

“Siara?!” Jill shouted, all fixated.

“It’s you?!” I jelled back in surprise.

“What are you doing here?” I asked her.

I hadn’t seen her for a very long time. She and I met a long time ago. When I still roamed the streets for food and shelter on a day to day basis. After a while our paths separated for some reason. I thought she left with some guy to find a better life. Seems that hadn’t worked out the way she had planned. Now that she was standing in front of me.