#he then shoves himself RIGHT in alex's space to shuffle through the papers she has

[mortalscience]

[missfay49]

Right Time, Wrong Vision - Ch. 1

              “Run.”  Just a whisper spoken into a glass, but it was all she needed.

                Eyes flashing up, a woman smirked at no one.  She chugged her beer, slammed the glass back down on the hardwood, and bolted from the bar, spilling drinks and shoving some well-dressed woman into their date.  She wove through the mass of people, shouts and hands sliding off her back. 

       The door couldn’t be more than thirty feet to her right, but the patrons filled nearly every opening.

                “Hey!  Toni, catch her!”  The bartender called to someone in the crowd.  A broad-shouldered man started her direction, but she was nearly to the door.  She threw a chair down in his path, a ruddy-faced kid still in it.  Shrieks rose as the pair must have tangled up. 

                Still holding a beer of his own, an ill-timed do-gooder stepped in front of the door just as she was about to fly through.  She slid to stop and growled.  His eyes went wide, and mouth clenched as he took in her wild appearance right before she dove between his legs and tumbled out into the night. 

                “Ah!”  He jumped and clutched himself for protection before leaping out the door after her.  A large man was standing a few feet away, staring open-mouthed to the right.  They seemed to have been just about to enter the tavern themselves.  The pair shared stunned looks as the newcomer pointed down the street to the right, seemingly unable to speak.  The dirt road was empty of any fleeing figures.  A few oblivious pedestrians milled about. 

                “Huh.”

                A small crowd had gathered at the door, the only opening out to the street.  The patron could only turn to them and shrug as they all made their way back inside.  The bouncer finally reaching the door with a grunt, hanging onto the frame as he looked around.  Slamming his fist against the wood, he snorted and went back to his post.

  ~~~

              “Officer, she looked insane!  She musta wore dark make-up all around her eyes, she looked like a wild animal or something.  But she was gaunt, gaunt!  People can’t naturally be that sharp looking, can they?  She- like a demon, the way she grinned at me.”  The man and a few other witnesses waited to talk to the city guard who looked nothing short of peeved as he jotted down some notes. 

            “Was she with anyone?  One- Please!  One at a time-”

            At the bar, a woman had nearly finished patting her date’s clothes dry. 

            “I am terribly sorry about that, what a mess!”  She looked up at him through her lashes, a sly smile on her face.  He was sporting a classic, subdued outfit.  He wore dark green tights and grey leather boots.  A cream colored long-sleeved, long-hemmed button-up shirt was held down by an engraved metal belt.  A small brocade purse hung from it.  Topping it all off was a red velvet cape, lined with fleece and hanging off one shoulder.  His shoulder length hair was a dark brown and matched his short mustache. 

            “Tch, don’t think another minute on it, duckling.  A dine and dash, so what else is new?  If that’s what it takes to get your hands on me, I do not mind it.”

            “Oh, I’m sure you don’t,” she cooed.  “Mr. Waters.” 

            “I told you, call me Alex.”

            “Alex,” she said.  Certain she had patted down every portion of his spoiled garments, the two of them sat back down at the bar top.  She dropped the towel on the counter and got back to the task at hand.  “As I was saying, Mary’s House has been struggling to make ends meet of late.  People are not so naturally charitable as they once were, but that doesn’t mean people stop needing help.”

“Of course,” he mumbled, focused more on her lips than her words.

His attention wandered, looking everywhere but her eyes.  She had a rounded chin and her skin was smooth with a light dusting of freckles across pale cheeks.  Large blonde curls framed her face.  She wore a blue square-necked dress embroidered with yellow flowers.  The sleeves were fitted down to her wrists, where they flared out the smallest amount.  The hem brushed the top of her brown slippers.

                “They are the only orphanage in the southeast.  It’s an awful lot of territory to cover for such a small operation.  They do what they can, but it would be just spectacular if you could make a donation.  Your company is one of the most well-known for several cities around.  I had no idea shipping packages could be so… profitable.  How do you do it?”

                He finally looked her in the eye, eyebrows rising just the slightest.  Did he look suspicious?  She smiled that innocent smile she’d practiced in the mirror.

                “Ah.  Pure hard-work and ingenuity, duckling.  Honestly, once you get enough orders it becomes much more profitable.  You’re already going south?  Well, here’s ten more packages going the same direction for the cost of one.”

                “Brilliant.”  Her adoring expression perfectly hid the boredom underneath.  Somewhere, someone heard her prayers.

                “Would you care to join me for a nightcap back at my place?  It’s only just down on Madison, not far from here.” 

                “Oh, Alex, that is kind of you, but it is getting late!  I’ve got to catch a ride early tomorrow morning to Forgedale.  These funds won’t raise themselves.”  She looked for and didn’t quite find the bartender, making an odd gesture while somehow managing to look just past the man into the mirror against the wall.  Alex decided she must have been signaling for the check.  He pushed on.

                “I insist, and we could talk more about this orphanage of yours.”  He grabbed her hands in his, a glint in his eyes threatening something vague and dangerous.

                “No need, darling, I’ll send you a letter next week to follow up.”  She slowly pulled one hand away to pick up her purse. 

                “Just a drink, then?  Sir, another round, extra cherries!” 

                Extra cherries.  So, the bartender’s in on it, too.  She continued to extricate herself. 

“I simply cannot accept any more of your generosity, Alex.  And thank you again for meeting with me at all, it means sso much to the children.  Maybe they’ll be able to buy enough coats this year-” but he interrupted her appeal.

                “Oh, fuck the coats, you’re coming back with me and-”  A table crashed on the other side of the tavern.  Someone shouted, “Non buono spaccone!  Imbroglione!”  A pool ball came flying across the room just past his face.  It collided with bottles behind the bar.  Broken glass and the bartender’s curses dropped as Alex ducked, covering his head.  A brawl erupted between a large human and two elves, furious at being cheated out of their money from the sounds of it. 

When he looked up, his date was gone. 

  ~~~

               An hour later, she opened the double-locked door of her make-shift office to find it was already occupied.  A thin hooded figure sat in one of the two guest chairs; their boots propped up on her desk.  They leaned their head over the back of the chair to give her a relieved grin.

            “Took you long enough!”  The occupant scolded her.  It seemed she had already washed off the make-up that had made her frighten that man back in the bar.  She still had sharp cheekbones, but not so monstrous as the man had thought.  The perfectly natural dark shadows of poor sleeping habits under her eyes were all that remained.  And, of course, the markings she was born with; a thick black line under each eye. It was easy to mistake as cosmetic, but the woman had told her it never came off.  No matter how hard she scrubbed…

Her black wool hood had fallen off with her movement, uncovering wiry brown hair and pointed ears.  She was tan and her eyes were purple.  Her outfit managed to look completely unintentional while also matching.  It was all matte blacks and purple fabrics and dark brown leathers, right down to her strapped boots.  She waved around a letter opener she’d taken off the desk.

“I was starting to worry.”

            “I can see that.  It took only exactly long as it should have.  Leaving a bad date requires timing.”  She strode in, tossing her bag aside and peeling off various pieces of jewelry from her hands and neck.  The woman stayed sitting and watched her drop the illusion, always fascinated.  The many freckles disappeared, leaving just a few scattered around her face at random.  The blonde hair darkened into brown, the curls tightening up.  Even her nail polish vanished.  Why paint them when you can change the color at will?  The dress remained unaltered.  It was one of her favorites.

             Just behind the curls, a handful of scars streaked down from under her left eye to the bottom corner of her jaw.

Sitting down behind the desk, she scrubbed her fingers through her hair, shedding the last of the icky-ness from her interactions back at the bar.  There’s got to be a better word for that, she thought to herself, staring around at the familiar room.  Wooden roof joists spanned the ceiling, cobwebs hanging from the splinters.  The room was too large for an office, converted from an old workroom.  They used up the extra space with a large table covered in papers, a few chairs scattered around.  The silence held as she decompressed, her amusement growing in time with the agitation of her friend. 

            “Well?  Did you get it?”

            “Did I get it,” she scoffed.  “Cassandra, please.  What do take me for?”  She smiled and gave a quick nod towards the table.

            Cassandra’s eyes sparkled and she jumped up to stand over the table.  Sophia joined her, stretching as she walked over more slowly.  Cassandra leaned over the pages Sophia was shuffling through, but her quick grin faltered.  “Did he suspect anything?” 

            “Who, me?  His little duckling?”  Sophia dropped the papers so she could bring both hands to her chest in offense.  “You wound me.” 

            “Oh, please,” Cassandra rolled her eyes.

Sophia just gave her a miniscule curtsy before she looked back at the papers and spotted the one she’d been looking for.  Digging through blueprints and interview notes from the few girls they’d managed to track down, she pulled out a map of the city’s eastern district.  If Waters was telling the truth, he had a place not too far from the bar.  Shouldn’t be hard to track down now.  She remembered the rest of the interaction then, and it was sobering.  Extra cherries.  Sooner or later, all the girls recalled the same seemingly insignificant addition to their drink order.  For most of them, it was the last thing they remembered before waking up in a strange location.  They never considered it relevant information until the clues started to pile up. 

“We need to add that bartender to the list.  He would have drugged me given just a minute more.  I wondered if Waters would frequent active hotspots, and it seems he has no problem showing his face at a venue where people regularly disappear.  Maybe it’s a show of confidence, to keep rivals at bay,” she pondered out loud.  “Maybe arrogance.” 

            Cassandra’s eyes had hardened at mention of the bartender.  Did the shadows on her face flicker, or was that just the lamp light?  She ground her teeth and dragged her nails across the table.  “He will pay for that.”

            “Darling, don’t be so dramatic.  Of course, he will.  But first we’d better get Diane out of jail.  She was perfect tonight, putting up quite the show getting into a barfight with some by-ssstanders.  No doubt they’ll have picked her up by now.  I trust you know what to do?”

            She caught the letter opener Cassandra tossed her and walked it back to her desk.  Cassandra had cocked her head and was giving her a mocking sneer that bared one canine.

            “All you have to do is ask, Sophia.” 

A slow smile spread across Sophia’s face as she leaned across the rough grain of the desk.

            “Then, go.”

  ~~~

                  A shadow exited a dark unmarked warehouse and slipped back towards town.  Diane would be broken out and heading back with her in thirty minutes or less, although they might take a circuitous route if it looked like there was trouble.  Cassandra checked the stars, what few she could see, and made a note of the time. 

                It was a treat to free Diane, as each consecutive time she pulled it off, the officers became more baffled.  Diane never struggled, and always came willingly with them to the station.  But, without fail, she invariably disappeared from their custody and, so far, none of them had figured out how she did it.  It had happened too many times now to blame the rookie guards down in holding.  They’d changed the locks, increased security, set alarms, but nothing worked. 

                Cassandra shoved down the worry that maybe, this time, there would be just one too many guards to get past.  Instead, she looked forward to finding out Diane’s score at pool as they worked out the next step in their plan over a cup of coffee.