Convergence - The Last Science #2.1 - In Plain Sight

B2: Chapter 12 - The Emerald City (Part II) - II

  It was past midnight now, from a clock she spotted through a window. She was in a part of the city she didn't remember, with no fancy colorful stores or bright lights. Many of the streets had broken lamps, and the entire place reeked in a way that made her wish she couldn't smell at all.

  Anything's better than what I just came from.

  Natalie needed help. She called out, as loud as she could. <Come help me, please!>

  Nothing. A housecat peeked out of a window, but it just gave her a cold glare and went back inside, probably to a meal it had been enjoying. Natalie's stomach rumbled at the thought. I need food. But she had no money, and the food she'd been saving was in her bag... wherever that was.

  Natalie wandered the streets without a clear direction in mind. She thought about going into an overnight place and asking if they could spare her something, but she couldn't bear talking to anyone yet. Besides, if they rejected her, what else might they do? She couldn't risk it.

  A vague smell of fresh bread wafted past her nose. Natalie couldn't help it—she followed it, as best she could tell by just walking where it seemed to get stronger. It lead her down another alley, to a fenced-off building with CONDEMNED signs all over the windows. They reminded her of the old library in Rallsburg, which had also been planned to be taken down someday. Her dad said they'd just forgotten about it, like the rest of the town.

  That library was the only place to survive, in the end.

  The scent of bread lead her to a heavy iron door set into a brick wall. Natalie grabbed at it, meaning to slide it to the side just a tiny bit and look in, but it was too heavy. She hesitated, then sent another burst of magic into her arms. This time, she felt the strain a little. She was too hungry to be able to exert herself properly.

  Still, she managed to open the door. Too far, as it slid way further than she meant to.

  The interior was a wide open space, with a concrete floor covered in scattered flyers and other random debris. A half-dozen young guys sat in folding chairs around a small fire. At the door's grinding, they looked up startled. The one nearest the door rushed her down before Natalie could react, grabbing her by the wrist.

  No! Don't touch me! Stop! she screamed out in her head, but she was too afraid to say anything aloud. She started to pull away, but his grip was too strong and she'd already released the spell on her arms.

  "Who the fuck are you?" the guy asked, while one of the others dragged the door shut again.

  "No one," Natalie said quickly. She wanted to enhance her arm again, but she worried what they might do if they saw her cast a spell right in front of them. She couldn't do it without saying something, like she could with the lightning, and reactions to her magic from normal people were always bad.

  "She's like eleven years old. How a puny-ass girl like her move that?" called out one of the guys sitting around the fire.

  "She ain't no eleven years old. She sixteen at least. A very fine sixteen, too."

  "You're trippin', she ain't sixteen. Wearin' makeup and a pretty dress, but she just a kid."

  "Check it out," said a much stronger voice. A seventh guy, slightly older than the rest, emerged from an adjoining room in the wall. He held a tray of steaming bread in oven-mitted hands, with an apron tied around his front. He might have looked totally out of place... if he didn't have a gleaming silver handgun in the front pocket of the apron.