Bow and Sparrow

CH 33

We turned down a narrow path between buildings. Here the buildings were cramped close to each other, looming over the small street we ran down. It formed almost a never ending tunnel. About halfway down the street, a handful of guards rounded the corner, swords drawn and ready. They spotted us almost immediately and barreled towards us.

"Turn around, turn around." Haigen muttered to himself, steering me back the way we came. Then over his shoulder, he shouted to his brother. "Fire, Den."

"On it." Haiden's reply was drowned out by a loud hissing noise.

A blast of heat seared across our backs a moment later, propelling us forward. When I glanced over my shoulder, I saw a wall of flames no higher than six feet roaring between us and the guards. In Haiden's hand was another canister. I wondered just how many tricks they had up their sleeves.

"Nice job," Haigen called to his brother. "You even kept your eyebrow this time."

Haiden muttered under his breath, something that sounded suspiciously like, "I should have set you on fire in the crib."

We kept to the side streets, pressing flat against the walls anytime someone would pass by, but we didn't have any other run-ins. The further away we got from the square, the quieter the streets became until all I could hear was the pitter-patter of our footsteps on the cobblestone. It was eerie.

"Where are we going?"

The twins exchanged nervous glances, before one of them said, "We're almost there."

'There' being an abandoned part of Vinburgh. The cobblestone-paved road gave way to dirt and broken rocks reclaimed by grass and weeds, dead even though it was well into the spring season.

We passed crumbing walls -the only remnants of someone's home- and boarded up buildings with large red x's painted across the doors. The wind whistled between the buildings, around broken glass windows and open doorways, in a haunting melody from a forgotten past.

"What is this place?" There were no people that I could tell but I still felt the urge to whisper my question.

"The Stills." Haiden whispered back. I'm glad I wasn't the only one spooked by the place.

"Over a century ago, Vinburgh was ravaged by a plague." Haigen elaborated. I remembered learning about the plague in my lessons. It wiped out almost half of Vinburgh's population at the time. Because of their walls, Vinburgh had managed to keep it mostly isolated. "They put all the sick people in The Stills to keep it from spreading. They died here."

"And this is where we're going? Is it safe?"

"Everybody steers clear of this place. Not even the guards dare walk these streets."

"Because of the ghosts." Haigen swallowed hard but his hands still twitched by his sides anxiously.

Great. I didn't believe in ghosts but there was something about this place that made me doubt. Maybe it was the feeling that we were being watched or the fact that not even the grass here was alive. Either way, I stuck close to Haigen's side as we walked the deserted streets. He didn't seem to mind.

The further we walked into The Stills, the more on edge the three of us got. Everytime I glanced in the windows, I thought I saw a pair of eyes watching us but when I blinked, they were gone. I stared at my feet instead, but that didn't stop the hairs that raised on the back of my neck.

"Almost there." Haiden muttered under his breath. I hoped he was right. I noticed he, too, didn't look long at the buildings.

That's when I heard voices drifting in the wind. Familiar voices that I thought I'd never hear again and one of them sounded pissed off. I walked faster, ahead of the twins.