Stage One: Hope in Darkness

A Good Night's Attack (Lara)

We walk into the town. The woman, still no introduction, explains to us all the rules. Repeatedly. Guess we don't look like the type to follow them. She is half right.

"No shooting, no fighting, no stealing. We trade evenly for everything, you want something then you pay for it. Lissy's is on the main street, she might have a room for rent." She says. Again. The four of us decide to divide and conquer. We need to get as many things done as possible quickly. Annabelle's trail was still warm and I was determined to keep it that way.

Ryan goes with the main lady to talk about the murders and ask about any ripper activity. He also wants to question her about if she knows that they have some kind of leader. the mysterious Master who likes to experiment on people. Is that what had happened to Belle? How had she gotten involved with someone like that? Whatever the reason was, Belle was in danger and needed my help.

Rose goes off to see if she can maybe see if someone would be willing to trade us a vehicle. Not sure what she would trade for something like that though. We hadn't brought much with us, just our packs and weapons. Sam went to see about some accommodations,if we decide to stay the night. I was still on team get the hell out of here as fast as possible. The other would want to rest though. I was tired, that was not something I could deny.

My job was arrows and seeing what I could do about our food supply. I start with the food, the shopkeeper is friendly enough. An old man with a silver beard and clear blue eyes. I get enough food to last us a good while. I was always in the habit of picking up any pharmaceuticals I came across. So getting the food with them is no big deal. Most of them have long, hard to pronounce names and they are of no use to me.

Medication for STDs, arthritis, and chronic medical conditions are of no use to me. The man however seemed rather happy when I pulled them out of my bag. Four bottles of random medication later and I leave the store with a wave and a heavy pack.

Arrows. It takes me a while to find them. The stall for the shop is off the beaten path. A woman stands behind the counter. She sees me coming from across the street,

"What can I get you?" The woman asks when I get close.

"I just came to restock some of my things," I say while taking a good look around the shop. This woman is quite well stocked. She keeps one eye on me as I look around her store. We don't need anything fancy, we hardly ever even use the bows and never from too far away. Homemade arrows will do.

On the back wall a sketch is tacked up. It is really well done, I nod at it,

"That's really good, Your husband?" I ask. She looks at the picture and a tender smile covers her lips.

"Yes," I look back at the drawing. Why does it look so familiar? My eyes fall down to the bottom right corner. A.G.C..... My head is reeling as the woman continues "I traded a girl some arrows for her drawing skills." She goes on to explain.

"A girl?" My voice sounds hollow, my mind is racing. Too focused on those three letters.

"Yeah, didn't talk. Had a wolf with her." My head turns on a swivel.

"She was alive?" I ask. It is a dumb question and will make absolutely no sense to the woman but the words have already crossed the space between us, no taking them back now. "I mean...she passed through here....you're sure?"

"Sure as I am seeing you standing here lady." She eye me up and down, her face says it all. Who is this weirdo and what have I gotten myself into?

"Do you know where she was heading?" I ask in a single breath. The woman crosses her arms, face tightening. She is getting defensive, she doesn't want to give up information on Belle. She doesn't want to get her into trouble. Belle made quite the impression on this woman. Guess some things never changed. Good to know she still had that kind of thing in her.