I Am Mustafin

| 2 | - Out Of Luck

"Alaki?" Marcus' voice echoes from behind me as we emerge from the tunnel.

"Hmm?" I hum lightly, eyeing the greenery of the forest ahead of us. Although I can feel its warmth, the sunlight hardly touches my skin as it slowly sets. With my hair tied back into a messy bun, I hide it underneath the hood of my hoodie.

"What's the plan?" Marcus asks and I give him a sideways glance through the shades guarding my eyes from exposure.

Unlike me, he is safe so long as he doesn't reveal his eyes. His skin tone matches perfectly with the majority of the members of the Diallo Ring. Meanwhile, I sit imperfectly between a shade too dark to convince anyone I belong to the Santos Ring and too light to belong to the Diallo Ring.

I am too dark and not dark enough, altogether. How ironic.

"Don't get caught," I answer blankly.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see him side-eye me, and he sarcastically asks, "No, really?"

I chuckle humorously, shaking my head ever-so-slightly as I breathe out, "Alright. We're in Talos' territory —"

"Why?" He cuts me off, stating the obvious, "Neither of us looks like we belong with them."

A sigh passes my lips and I every-so-often glance between him and the path ahead as I explain, "The borders are still open. Other Ring members should still be roaming in different sectors. The Talos sector is the largest manufacturer in medicine, therefore has a larger variety. We go in, get what we need, and if we are stopped for questioning, we say we are on our way to the border to cross over to the Diallo sector."

I pause momentarily, turning my head to the side as I ask, "Got it?"

"Yeah," he mutters away as he nods with an uneasy look on his face. "But what if we get caught?"

I immediately halt my movements and I arch an eyebrow as he stops abruptly beside me. "Are you sure you want to go?" I ask bitterly, not wanting to drag him with me if he isn't sure that he can handle it.

I hardly know the kid and truth be told, I wasn't too sure about bringing him along to begin with. I agreed only because I know what it's like to have to stay in those tunnels without getting so much as a glimpse of what's outside without being paranoid over the risk of being killed.

Seeing as Marcus hasn't stepped foot outside of those tunnels in God knows how long, I took pity on him. However, I'm not willing to bring him along if he isn't absolutely sure that he can, at the very least, pretend to be nonchalant.

A nervous man calls for more attention than we can afford.

"Hell yeah," his lack-of hesitation catches me off guard, adding, "I'm down. I'm just askin', ya know?"

I eye him for a moment, exhaling sharply in my attempt to brush off my own uneasiness. With this, I nod at the direction we're headed, urging him to keep up as I tell him, "If either of us gets caught, take the medicine and run. I'll draw them away."

Whether or not he's satisfied with my response, he refrains from saying anything else as the street lights from the city come into view. As we emerge into the empty sidewalk, I feel my heart briefly still in my chest.

Adrenaline pumps through my veins as I attempt to keep a slow and steady pace. The cars that drive slowly on the pavement beside Marcus draw his attention, and as hard as he tries not to make it so obvious, I can tell that he's in awe. People walk past us, hardly giving us a second glance and going on with their conversations as if without a care in the world.

My cautious eyes stay alert, making sure that there are no military bases nearby or soldiers roaming the streets with those damn dogs of theirs that can smell the difference between what they are–pure-bloods–and what we are–half-bloods.