S a l e t é I I

XVI - Griffes - Quatorze

Remaining still for a while had allowed the air of the place to reach them. Old, withered wood mixed with dust, disturbed by their presence, specs visible in the air, slowly falling to the ground where they would join whatever dirt and grit had already settled over the indistinguishable years.

All three girls remained steady on their feet, Cassia making sure not to touch or lean against anything, lest she cause even the slightest noise.

Monet remained observant, glancing around the corner of their alley with a discreet posture, leaving Uliana and Cassia to guess at what exactly was going on.

"What else do you want?" The young man on the receiving end of the trouble asked.

"What's in the bag?"

"Nothing of your concern. We worked for our things." The young lady said, maintaining her defiance. Whilst Cassia believed that such a mentality was admirable, she wasn't going to deny that it was equally foolish.

"Viv, just let them have it. We can get more."

"No, I'm sick of being pushed around."

"You should probably listen to your boyfriend, lady. We're giving you an easy out here." One of the three men said, his voice suggesting that he genuinely believed he was being generous, a trail of surprise present as she rejected his offer.

"Or what? You going to rough up a girl?"

"Lady, I don't care if you're a girl, a guy, or whatever. Manners go a long way, and they also tend to let you keep your fingers."

Judging by the imminent reaction of the young man, it sounded as if the assailant talking had just produced something sharp enough to back up his statement.

"There's no need for that! Just take it. Go on."

It was at this point that Monet stepped back, deliberately tipping over an old, discarded bit of panelling from one of the walls in the alley nearby with her foot. Cassia quickly stepped out of the way as it fell, the sound of it hitting the ground echoing through both the alley itself and the largely empty streets beyond, immediately alarming the three men just out of sight.

"Shit!"

"What was that? Hey!"

"Come on man, just leave it!"

In the brief time that they'd been distracted, the young man and woman had taken off running, utilising the slip in attention with some tremendously quick thinking. The sound of their flight echoed, as did the sound of the three men pursuing them.

Monet waited until it had all largely faded into the distance before she took another look out into the road.

Cassia only felt able to let her guard down when Monet actually left the alley, stepping out into the street, her movement proof that the coast was clear. The only indications that anyone had been nearby were the footprints in the grit, of which there were many.

"What was that all about?" Uliana asked, presumably in a rhetorical tone.

"A mix up with the wrong crowd, perhaps. Mind you, I wouldn't be surprised if they arranged that mix up themselves. They didn't exactly sound like the honest types." Monet replied as she took another look around, slowly pacing as she went.

"Arranged...?" Cassia asked, not quite following.

"Most people around here use similar bags, normally because everyone is using the same basic things. It's easy enough to stage a mistake or two."

"Scammers." Uliana muttered, her voice now unimpressed, to which Monet gave another of her slow nods.

"Definitely possible." The older girl said, her gaze drawn to the end of the road, in the direction everyone involved in the earlier display had disappeared in.