Sinister

V

FIVE

IT WAS STRANGE HOW NORMAL LIFE APPEARED TO AN OUTSIDER; A SIMPLE OBSERVER WOULD NEVER KNOW OF THE HIDDEN DARKNESS THAT FILLED THE WORLD AROUND THEM UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE.

The market was peaceful and happy, and Cyelena had never felt more like an outsider in her life.

“Smell it,” Ryker insisted as he shoved something into her face.

Cyelena wrinkled her nose as she manoeuvred her head away from the funny-looking apple that he was holding up to her. It was bright purple and bumpy, and it had already begun to stain the tips of his fingers purple. Ryker laughed at her reaction, before placing the fruit back on the stall and wiping his stained hands on his tunic.

“Did you bring me here just so that you could stick fruit in my face?” Cyelena asked as she pushed back the thin hood of her cloak so that he could see her smirk. Ryker stuck his tongue out at her, before diverting his attention to the variety of fruit before them.

The stall holder, an old dwarf who shared an uncanny resemblance to the prunes that she was selling, with dark grey hair braided in  a scruffy plait, crossed her arms and tapped her left foot impatiently. “No buying, no touching,” she said, her gruff voice like sandpaper against the skin. She was scowling at Ryker with her dark beady eyes.

To Cyelena’s amazement, Ryker only chuckled at her, before proceeding to pick up a handful of grapes. She could feel her eyes widening. “You’re going to get us into trouble,” she hissed at him. She felt the woman’s piercing eyes on her now, and she quickly pulled the hood down to cover her face a little more.

You’d think after the attack, she’d have been able to deal with an angry old woman.

Ryker rolled his eyes. “Lena, my dear, I have been visiting this market since I was a young boy. My mother knew most of the people here – I like to think of them as extended family by now,” he joked.

“Really?” Cyelena raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

The stallholder answered before Ryker could even open his mouth. “He just annoying boy who touched my fruit. One day, he lose his fingers.”

Ryker grinned up at her, his eyes sparkling. “See? She’s like my crazy old aunt.”

Cyelena only stared at him, unsure of whether or not he was joking. Ryker dropped the grapes back where they were and nudged her with his elbow, causing her to jolt. “If you want, you can go ahead and look for some necessities that you might need. And I doubt you’ll want to wear those recycled dresses any longer.”

Cyelena raised the skirts of the too-big dress and pursed her lips. “Is there something wrong with them?”

“N-no.” He was blushing. “But, um, if you’re going to be staying then I figured you’d want some that will actually fit.”

Cyelena was trying not to blush herself as she accepted the few coins from him and walked away. Behind her, she could hear the woman snapping at Ryker once again, and she grinned to herself. The market, she observed as she was finally alone, wasn’t as busy as she had anticipated. It were as though vacant spaces had been left behind where people were expected to be. Stalls were bare, standing out in the loitering groups of people.

She was musing on that – on the lack of hustle and bustle that was expected from one of the most thriving markets – when she heard it.

A scream.

Cyelena’s entire body grew tense and she felt her body light on fire from within. That instinctual urge to run away from the danger raged within her. But then the darker side, the twisted side, told her to follow the scream. Like always, the shadows were in control of her mind.