The Angels Have Fallen

Chapter 7- Siris

Hey guys! I'm sorry for such a long wait. I've been trying to get chapters done every 10 days, school hasn't made that too easy though. This chapter is about twice as long as my normal ones, so I hope you guys enjoy it. As always, thanks for reading, and have a blessed day!
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It took me a minute to take in the sight of Myrah's bathroom. I'd already locked myself in there, it was quite small. The showerwas merely inches from the toilet, the sink practically touching the side of the rusty toilet bowl. The walls were musty, although they looked like they had been cleaned, somewhat. The closed space made me feel sick to my stomach.
I pushed aside the shower curtain and stared at the shower faucet, it had some type of dried brown dirt on it. Disgusting. The rest of the shower was fine for the most part. The drain seemed to be empty, and the tiles didn't look too bad, at least compared to the rest of the bathroom it didn't.
Well it's all I have, I guess I'll just have to be grateful. I unbuttoned my cloak and took off my clothes. I felt slight relief after the feeling of being covered in dirty clothing melted away. I was so happy just to get the ashes of whoever had died in that desert off of me. My feet were sore too, the shoes I wore were not equipped for so many hours of walking. They were soft, despite being boots, the soles were made of a bouncy material rather than one that was rock hard. It was specifically made for me to feel comfortable walking around in dirt all day, however, flying has always been my main mode of transportation.
I turned on the shower and stepped in, shut the curtain closed, and removed my hair from its ponytail. Fully ready to embrace the water that would cleanse me of dirt and my worries, no matter the temperature, I stepped under the shower's small stream of water. I shrieked when I saw the color of the 'water' almost immediately, and stepped out to attempt to remove the grime from my body, and my body from the threat of the grime. The water kept pouring out of the faucet, switching between shades of green, black, and yellow. I'm even dirtier than before, are you kidding me?! Desperately, I yanked a gray towel from the sink countertop and attempted to dry my face as quickly as possible.
A few hard knocks came from the door behind me.
"Siris, I have neighbors you know! Do you want to get me reported or something?"
"MYRAH," I leaned against the door and whispered frantically, clutching a towel tightly against my body, "your water is moldy!"
"I warned you that water was expensive, we can visit the hotel showers later if I manage to get some money, believe me, I want a good shower just as much as you do. Besides, it's not exactly moldy per se, think of it as food coloring, but from metal pipes that haven't been checked in a century- okay maybe it is moldy."
"How come you don't smell horrible??"
"I have my ways," Myrah chuckled and her footsteps faded from behind the door.
Ugh, I wish I would have just ignored the ashes on me.
After quickly drying my body, I put my undershirt and pants back on, and folded the rest neatly together. The mirror above the sink was hardly a mirror, it was crusty and way too blurry to see my reflection. Unfortunately for me, my hair was still drying and probably looked crazy as it hung over my shoulders. I couldn't look into the mirror to see what I really looked like, so I had to go with the best option. Maybe Myrah will help me tie it back up.
It was always weird, feeling my hair hung over my shoulders like this. It was as if my mother was looming over my shoulders and shaking her head at the sight of my loose, long, hair. It made me sad but even then, I wish I could see her. It's only been a few days but I can't help but feel like something may have happened.
Gently, I tried to open the door, which did not budge an inch. I kicked it open and turned the light off, relieved that I was out of that musty smelling bathroom.
"Are you going to try to break my door? You do realize I have to pay for this stuff right?"
I looked at Myrah sitting atop the wooden kitchen counter and closed the bathroom door as gently as possible as to not antagonize my host,
"I'm paying you, remember? I'll cover any expenses."
She nodded and then looked away with a muted kind of sadness I couldn't quite identify. I walked over to her and grabbed my hair tie from my wrist,
"Do you think you can tie my hair up for me?" I queried, my face softening into a slight pout. I was hoping she'd say yes if I seamed child enough.
Myrah looked at me and raised an eyebrow,
"You can't do it yourself?"
"I-" I smiled nervously, "my mom always did it for me, I'm pretty sloppy."
The air grew stale after a few moments passed of me standing there awkwardly while Myrah studied my face. Myrah rolled her eyes and motioned for me to come closer.
"Hair tie?" She held her hand out and I handed the hair tie to her. The brown color nearly matched her slightly bronze complexion. I just then noticed a patch of scarred skin on the side of her neck that appeared to spread under her shirt. It looked old, but it was still greatly present.
As if reading my mind, Myrah pulled her shirt up slightly.
"Well? Are you going to turn around?"
"Oh, uhm yeah." I turned around and fumbled with the cloak in my hand. Myrah tapped my shoulders and I turned around to look at her.
"Can you get on your knees? You are a bit tall." She pushed my shoulder down so that I'd give in and kneel to the floor.
I nodded and knelt down as she grabbed the strands of my hair and pulled them together in the back.
"Why is there a burn mark on your neck?"
I was answered by a minute of silence, then a heavy sigh. "A fire."
"How did it burn you?"
"Fire is pretty hot."
"Yes but why were you near it?"
"Do I have to talk about it right now? It's just a burn." She quipped.
The energy coming from her was thick with hostility so I chose to not further interrogate her on the topic, perhaps it's a source of emotional distress?
"I've never seen many men, especially those who choose to join an army, sport long hair. Why is it so long?"
"My grandma likes it long, I do too. Although my mother always pesters me about it, I keep it up for her. She thinks it looks a bit messy, you know?"
"Hmm," Myrah wrapped the hair tie around my hair and pulled the rest of the hair through the loop. "I think it looks fine down, but for mobility purposes, your mother is right. But she isn't here, is she?"
I stood up and tightened the back a little,
"Thanks," I smiled and walked over to the bed to sit down again.
"It wasn't a compliment." Myrah pushed herself off of the counter, a large creak sound followed and a piece of wood fell on the floor beside her foot. The counter was now missing a piece of its border, sharp splinters carved themselves out of the piece that had fallen.
"Dang it, this stupid piece of-" She looked at me and then back at the counter and rolled her eyes. "Whatever."
"I can fix that-" I folded my cloak and set it down on the cleanest part of the floor I could find.
"No. Leave it, it's trash anyways." She mumbled a few words to herself and pulled on a necklace hanging from her neck, one I never noticed there before.
"You should go to bed." Myrah looked back at me and grabbed a key from a drawer underneath the broken wooden slab on the table. She slammed the drawer shut and stuffed the key into a pouch on her side.
"Oh right, it's getting late." I scratched my head and relaxed my shoulders.
"One last thing," she opened the drawer again and pulled out a small pin from it. After closing it, she walked over to me and handed it to me.
"Don't lose this, it will be useful in case we ever get into trouble, keep it pinned to the clothes you wear that are most hidden, and never take it off, understand?"
"Okay..." My senses screamed at me to question why, but she did mention that it would help in times of trouble. What trouble, I don't know, but I followed her instructions regardless and pinned it to my undershirt.
"It's hot already so you should know that you have no blanket. Ignore any noises coming from downstairs or outside, people get noisy at night." Myrah walked over to the wooden table and grabbed another key from the drawer.
"Where are you going?" I stared at her from my spot on the mattress with a curious expression.
"Just to get something I forgot to grab from around the block, don't leave the apartment. I'll be back soon, and don't wait for me either." She gave me a scary glare and turned to walk towards the door. This woman sends shivers down my spine.
She slammed the door shut and I heard the click of the lock on the rusty door. It seemed safe at least. Looking down at the bed, I could more clearly see the small imperfections in it. It had several stains, all looking like blood stains, and a few holes in it. It didn't appear to have any bugs crawling inside of it, but for good measure I covered the mattress with my small cloak, it only covered about half of it but at least my face wouldn't be touching the mattress.
Laying down felt so good. I could practically melt into the bed, even though it was mostly stiff. I didn't realize how exhausted I was from the day. The back of my head only ached slightly, which was great, but also surprising considering how far I fell. What exactly did I forget? It shouldn't have been that important right?
I swallowed my fears down in ignorance and shut my eyes, calming my heartbeat until I drifted into a deep sleep.
...
"Wake up." A steely but tired sounding voice demanded.
I groggily rubbed my eyes and rolled over.
"Not now Ma." My mother always loved to wake me up early in the morning, she was always so persistent about having early starts to everything.
The voice scoffed and yanked my arm, dragging me onto the cold, rough wooden floor.
"Okay, okay!" I opened my eyes and stared at the ground. "Why are you being so rude, Ma..."
I looked up at Myrah, whose arms were crossed as she glared at me, a slight glow in her eyes. She wore slight eye bags, but wore them brilliantly, despite looking exhausted, she still had a particular sass to her expression. She smelt like smoke and oil. In one of her hands was a wool bag half torn, clearly filled with something thick, in the other was the key I recognized from yesterday, it had a small red ribbon attached to it.
"I'm not your, 'Ma.' Now get up, we need to get going." Myrah put her hands on her hips and rolled her neck.
"Oh, right! My morning brain is always mush." I smiled lightly and stood to my feet to grab my cloak. How could I have forgotten where I was?
"Yeah no, you won't be needing that cloak." Myrah tossed the wool bag to the floor beside me, a small piece of gray cloth stuck out from the bag. I picked it up to assess it and took out a shirt, pair of pants, and a brand new cloak, similar to hers.
"This will make you stick in a bit more. People down here prefer to remain inconspicuous, grays and blacks are favorable. Plus it will match your wings better than your current outfit."
"Thanks-" I began, grateful that she'd gotten it for me. "Wait, If I used your bed..where were you?" I stared at her for a moment in confusion.
"I was out?"
"No, I mean where were you while you slept?"
"I didn't."
"What?"
"I didn't?"
"That's not good for you!"
"Are you really going to lecture me about sleep?"
"Yes! How are you going to function?"
She remained silent for a moment, keeping her eyes locked onto mine.
"We work differently."
"Well yeah but-"
"Get in the bathroom and change, you slept in so we don't have too much time to get breakfast, if we are lucky we will get there before rush hour." Myrah put her keys in her pocket again and took a look at the metal box on the kitchen table.
"Okay." I chose to listen to her this time. She seemed pretty tense already. I noticed a faint hum get louder when I walked past her and the box towards the bathroom, as if it was calling to me. Your brain damage is causing hallucinations.
Chuckling to myself, I opened the door and shut it, quickly stripping off my shorts and putting on my new shirt and pants. The material was light and stretchy, it didn't add to the already intense heat of the reddish atmosphere. My shirt was a dark blue and my pants gray, the blue was hardly noticeable except for when it had a light shining on it. My dark boots already matched the outfit pretty well, and the cloak appeared to be large enough for me after picking it up. I wrapped it around myself and slipped my wings into it.
This design was like none I'd ever seen before. Rather than large holes, it had three parted pieces of fabric that connected at the torso to make the cloak, so it hung around my wings. It's definitely comfortable.
I left the bathroom with my old clothes and grabbed my cloak from the floor beside the bed. Myrah was staring at the box with a puzzled look on her face. I looked at Myrah and walked over towards her.
"I put on the outfit, you have good taste." I tried to compliment.
"Uhuh, sure." Her gaze remained fixated on the box, it seemed pretty ordinary, although it was humming pretty loudly.
"Myrah...why are you staring at that box?"
She snapped out of her trance and looked at me.
"Nothing, sorry." She looked at the clothes in my hands. "You can throw those out in the trash can when we leave the apartment." She hid the box under her hand slightly with a cautious expression.
"Okay."
Myrah put the small metal box in her cloak and stood up.
"Let's get going then."
"What are we going to be doing exactly?"
"First, you need something to eat." We both exited through the front door and Myrah kicked the door closed.
"What do you guys normally eat for breakfast?" I asked, curious to know a bit more about her culture.
"Depends on the area of town, down south we have decent roasted tree fruits, up north, Kiah is pretty well known for its corn flour patties with cheese in them."
"That sounds just like what we have in my town." I tossed my clothes into the trash and caught up to Myrah's pace on the sidewalk.
"I'm sure it's very different."
"I guess we'll see."
She nodded and motioned for me to pull my hood up. I pulled it up and she did the same. The sun was already up high in the sky, but silence still loomed over us. I expected more noise, perhaps birds, or at least people walking through the streets. However, I don't even remember having seen a bird, even after having walked for hours through the town.
It only took a few blocks to get to a small restaurant and bar. It was run down, yet the people inside the restaurant were lively. A large man greeted Myrah as we entered, he wore a large smile and a dirty apron, serving small plates of food with joy. He reminded me of my Pa everytime he cooked, a joyous expression adorned his rough face.
Myrah nodded back at him and took a seat at the nearest table, motioning for me to sit across from her. I sat down on the wooden chair and looked around. Myrah was right about coming early, the restaurant was getting fuller by the minute.
"Hey, Frank, I'll have the usual, doubled, when you get the chance." She called out and cautiously held her cloak close to her as he served a table next to us.
"You heard that, Marge? Double for MJ and her guest!" Frank danced away to the sound of chatter and continued serving his food.
She caught me watching him and tapped the table.
"Less curiosity the better, the more you know people, the more they know about you." She glanced at the table and then back at me.
"Interesting thought." I smiled lightly, "so MJ?"
"Only Frank and Marge call me that."
"Can I call you that?" I leaned into the table with a smirk, my elbows pressed onto the cool wood. I started to realiza that her annoyed expressions were probably her default, so it would be fun to bother her a bit.
"Heck no." Myrah leaned back into her chair and crossed her arms, creating even more distance between us. Her eyes wandered around the restaurant and settled on a moldy piece of wood in the ceiling.
I pouted and stared at her for a couple of seconds, she looked back at me with an annoyed expression.
"What are you looking at? Are you hungry?"
"Nope, just looking at you."
"Creep.." Myrah averted her eyes from me and stared at a tall shirtless guy who walked in through the door with two friends, shoving each other playfully and laughing as if they were drunk. Were they drinking...before they entered the bar?
"Speaking of creeps..." Myrah grabbed part of her cloak and hid her face with it. She looked at me and then peeked behind the cape to look back at the stranger. Her facial features tightened in disgust as she mumbled a few words to herself.
"Do you...know him or something?" I questioned and tried to act normal, keeping myself from looking back at him.
"Yes, and he never stops bothering you once you meet him. I mean this guy is an idiot, he didn't even flinch when I kicked him in the-" A cup flew towards Myrah's head, I acted on instinct and reached out my hand to warn her, but accidentally activated my power and knocked her head into the table so that the cup wouldn't hit her. The cup landed on a table a few feet away from us and rolled onto the floor with a clang.
"I..uh," I looked at Myrah who had her head down and was rubbing her nose, "I didn't mean to-"
"What the heck man!" She whispered to me angrily with a hand covering her nose, "are you stupid, do you not know how to control your powers? I told you not to use them!"
I noticed a few tables stare at us, the noise we made when I slammed Myrah's face into the table was pretty significant.
"I know I know!" I mumbled back, "It was an accident, I-I cant control it. There was a cup about to hit you!"
"You couldn't have aimed for the cup or something?? I can take a hit from a cup, you broke my nose, or at least it feels like it!" Myrah rolled her eyes and wiped her nose with a sleeve, it smeared a bit of blood onto her cheek.
"I-wait how?" I grabbed a napkin from the table and handed it to her.
She closed her eyes and sighed, rejecting the napkin I tried to give her.
"....profit from dealing with this," she said under her breath.
"What did you say?"
"Nothing." She glared at me and cracked her knuckles while leaning on the table with her elbows.
"You uh, have blood on your cheek still-"
"I know." Her expression hardened, she made it seem like I offended her, she obviously lost any bit of trust in me that she had.
I looked down in shame and fumbled with my cloak. This has never happened before, I need to get this power under control.
Frank came rushing over to us while he sang an unfamiliar song, we both turned our attention to him and the food he carried.
"Pour me a drink darling, I'll tell you anything.." He placed two cups of beer on the table and two plates of small cooked bread looking things, "Here you go Myrah and-" He stared at Myrah, his eyes clearly aimed at the middle of her face.
"Dry air, thanks for the food Frank," Myrah pulled out a coin from her cloak and handed it to him, "this enough?"
"Oh no, Myrah you know everythings on the house, you've helped a ton, it's the least we can do." He paused for a moment and spoke again, "You sure your nose is alright? It wasn't like that before.."
"I'm fine, thanks."
Myrah smiled slightly with a grateful expression. She tucked the coin back into her pocket and looked at me.
"Eat, we have a lot to do today." She looked at my food and then at her own.
"Enjoy your food!" Frank began to sing again and disappeared in the blink of an eye. The man had a great voice and even greater balance.
I looked at the food and then at Myrah.
"What, you don't want it?"
"No I do, it's just," I pointed to the two tins of beer, "is that a drink?"
She grabbed the handle of one of them and took a sip of her beer, "what, you don't like morning beer?"
"I- that's not a very common breakfast for me. Plus Im not the biggest fan of the taste."
"Might be worth trying. I say age is just a number, everyone needs a beer in their life. " She brought the cup back up to her lips and sipped some more before cutting her cornmeal patty in half.
I stuck a fork in the middle of the warm patty and brought it to my face. It smells like garlic. Watching Myrah take a bite of her own, I did the same, and slowly chewed it while trying to process the grainy texture. The patty was pretty dry, except for the bit of melted cheese on the inside. It was heavily seasoned with garlic, making it a bit too salty for my taste. I swallowed the bite quickly and looked at Myrah who already finished hers in two bites.
"You are taking a long time to eat." The demon chugged down the rest of her beer and wiped her mouth with her sleeve.
"Sorry," I replied quickly, I stuffed the patty in my mouth to try and appease her. Her nose was becoming more red by the minute, I still felt bad for what I did. And I didn't even know how I did it.
"You gonna drink your beer?" She motioned towards the beer in front of my plate.
I chewed my food aggressively and shook my head. The piece of patty was way too big for my mouth. If I didn't chew fast enough, I'd probably choke on it. Definitely not how I want my life to end.
Myrah snatched my beer and chugged that one down too. How she did it so fast, Ill probably never know. She slammed the cup on the table and stood up.
"Uhm," I swallowed a large piece of my patty and looked at her, "your nose is a bit red..."
She frowned and closed her eyes, in just a second the redness disappeared, making her nose look completely normal.
"Wait how?" I blinked with puzzled confusion.
"Let's go."
I nodded and stood up, swallowed the rest of the patty, and followed her out of the restaurant. Although I was still confused as to how she made the redness go away. Could it be just a demon thing, or something unique to her? It occurred to me that I never knew what power she possessed, maybe healing herself is it? I'll have to ask later.
The sun hung up in the sky with its full glory, making it feel like my skin was ablaze. The only thing protecting me was my cloak, my poor face will probably get sunburn.
Myrah and I walked down the street, the houses began to become fewer and fewer, until only a few buildings remained.
"Where are we going?" I asked, glancing at her nose every so often to see if it was really healed.
"The outskirts of the city, I need money If im going to be traveling." Myrah walked briskly, her confidence evident in her walk.
"Oh, I have money." I pulled out a demascurus coin and handed one to her.
"That wont work here."
"Right.." I slipped it back into my pocket and adjusted my hood over my head to shield my eyes from the sun.
Myrah rubbed her nose constantly while we walked. She flinched slightly everytime she did.
"Is your nose okay?" I asked shyly. I thought she healed it.
"It's not broken."
"That's a relief," I sighed.
"Mhm."
We walked in awkward silence for a few moments. I glanced at her, she glanced at me, then both of us averted our eyes from each other.
"Look," I rubbed the back of my neck, "I'm sorry again, I just, I don't ever use my powers and I don't know why they decided to act up now." I tried to be as sincere as possible as I spoke, determined to make it up to her later in some way.
She remained silent and walked a bit faster.
"Myrah?"
Myrah ignored me again and I sped up to match her pace with ease, I decided not to bother her about it anymore. Who knows how long she'll keep this grudge for.
A suffocating smell filled my senses as we neared the end of the street. It wasn't a smell I could explain, it was just...bad. What appeared to be a junkyard was ahead, piled with what looked like..bodies. A shiver ran down my spine. She said we needed to go somewhere to get money. What was she going to do? Sell bodies? Steal things from them? I glanced at Myrah and then back at the slowly growing image of the landfill and poor corpses.
Myrah stuffed her hands in her pockets and made a quick right once we reached a small building in front of the entrance to the landfill. There was a flimsy gate surrounding the land that seemed to go miles ahead of us. The gate had torn clothes hanging on it, and the wood of the pillars were cracked and hanging on hinges. I stood there for a second, covering my nose and mouth with my cloak while I stared at the corpses ahead of me. The piles seem to be assorted, a pile of what looked like children, one that looked like adults, and then other piles that were just normal things. Was this their idea of a graveyard? Why are so many people dying, we live a long time don't we?
Myrah snapped her fingers near my ear and startled me.
"Hell to Siris, snap out of it."
I looked at her and blinked. She wore an annoyed expression, with one hand on her hip, and an impatient foot tapping the floor.
"Sorry I uh-"
"I don't think the bodies appreciate being watched all day, the pawn shop is right here." She pointed to the shop and glanced at the landfill.
"Why...are there so many?" I felt gross just standing there, near so many bodies.The thought about how they'd all died filled my mind.
"It's none of our business." She walked over to the pawn shop and turned to look back at me.
"Right..." I followed her quickly, eager to get away from the stench of the landfill that would most likely follow me around had I stayed any longer.
I entered the building as she held the door open for me, slowly inching through the cramped shelves and glanced at the flickering lights, and following Myrah towards what appeared to be the back of the shop.
The air in this place was even worse than the air outside. It was as if someone chose to seal mold in a hundred jars and all of a sudden open them in one room. There were spider webs just about everywhere. I ran into one and had to wipe the webs off of my brand new clothes. Small roaches skittered around the floors too, scaring me half to death while Myrah perused through a selection of what appeared to be small stones.
I smashed a small roach with my boot and looked at Myrah who was staring at me with a frown.
"What?" Did I do something wrong?
"Why are you so flinchy in here, are you not used to the bugs?"
"I'm really not, I mean I work outside but it's not dirty...like this."
"Uhuh." Myrah turned back around, her hand hovering over different shades of blue and clear crystals.
"What are we looking for?" I asked as I flapped my arms in the air in the attempt to get a fly that kept following me around to leave me alone.
"I'm looking for stuff to sell."
I looked at her and tilted my head slightly.
"So that's why we came here."
"Yup, I'm hoping that we can sell something valuable -or that appears to be-If we do it correctly, we will be able to make the trip just fine."
"Got it." I noticed her holding two crystals and I pointed to the darker blue one that she was holding.
"That's a pretty color."
"I think I'll ask for both." Myrah looked at me and then hurried down to the cash register, I followed quickly behind.
My eye caught onto a small poster and I stopped in my tracks. It had written on it, a warrant for any angel found to be taken to the main city for questioning.
Myrah stopped and looked back at me, and then at the poster.
"What's that?" The air in my lungs froze while I awaited an answer.
"It's old, an angel came in the past and tried to kill some demons, they just left these up as a warning to any angel who comes to harass people again." Myrah snapped rapidly and grabbed my arm to drag me to the cash register.
Her response relieved me, but only just a little. Why would an angel have gone down here, and to hurt people? It made no sense at all. Can I trust her? I watched Myrah place the two stones on the table and smile at the merchant. Most of her actions were well intentioned, and I am paying her, it should be fine, right?
"Hey, Sam, I'll take a box of twelve each."
"You're paying for some cheap ol' stones, c'mon Myrah, you know these ain't worth much."
"My friend over here likes them," she tilted her head towards me and then opened the pouch at her hip, "how much will it be?"
I looked at her, baffled, and then at the man.
"Hmm, I reckon 24 shillings is more than enough, one per stone?"
"24!!? Come on, Sam, work with me here."
"Sorry, Myrah, business has been tight." He smirked lightly and feigned a desperate tone.
"Okay, how about 12, moneys been tight on me too." She replied, mimicking his own tactics as I watched, impressed but not surprised that she knew the tricks of trade.
"Can't do that, maybe 20?"
"Ugh, okay 14." She leaned onto the table with the palms of her hand.
"Nope, 18 sounds pretty decent though."
"16??" She watched as Sam considered her proposal.
"Deal." He smirked and crossed his arms.
Myrah put a handful of coins on the table and sighed.
"Didn't know these fragments are susceptible to tax."
"Oh they aren't, just wanted to make some money, you know, business."
Myrah glared at Sam.
"Are you kidding me??You tricked me?"
"Sorry, Myrah," he raised his hands and chuckled, "remember the basics of business, you should have kept bargaining, I always triple the prices with customers."
"Dang it, I keep forgetting," she rolled her eyes and tapped on the counter.
"You'll get it next time, kiddo." He grabbed a key from a hanger on the wall and opened a small drawer in the counter.
"So twelve each huh, what are you planning on using them for?"
"Like I said, my friend likes them. Right, Siris?"
"Oh uh," I looked at Myrah and then back at Sam who put a handful of quartz and lapis lazuli on the table. "Yeah, yeah I do."
Myrah nodded at me and then looked back at Sam.
"Next time go easy on me."
"I thought you wanted to be treated like a regular customer and not a child." Sam locked the drawer and hung up his keys again.
"I changed my mind."
"Is that so?" He grabbed the coins and dropped them into a large pocket in the shirt he was wearing.
"See you, Sam."
"See you in about a week!"
Myrah looked at me and walked towards the door, opened it, and held it as I walked through.
I smiled shyly and we both returned back the way we had come.
Why did she lie? I stared at the bag of stones in her hand as we walked side by side.
"Hey, Myrah, why did you tell that guy- I mean Sam- that you got the stones because I like them?"
"He would raise the prices if he knew that I was going to resell them. It's basic stuff. They boost their prices really high so that when you bargain, you actually pay more than the normal price, while still feeling like you just won a prize."
"Oh." I decided to let her assume I know nothing of trade. She was surprisingly chill when talking about normal things.
"Why do you care?" She glanced at me.
"No reason....are people really going to buy those?"
"Not these particularly, but I know what to do with them to make them worth way more."
"Oh, okay." The space between us was still tense, which made sense since we were practically strangers, but it felt weird, she'd been a bit friendly this morning, that is, before I smashed her head against a wooden table.
"How is your uh, your nose feeling now?"
Myrah looked at me and then tapped her nose with her hand.
"Still sore but it's healing fine."
"I'm relieved to hear that. How did you get it to stop being red?"
Silence.
"Where are we going?" I changed the topic quickly.
"To a community building, it has an area where we can work with tools and stuff. Most of Kiah is invested in either the black market, small businesses, or just the manufactured goods gig, so we have a building for anyone who is interested to start. For anyone who is well known in the city at least." She tied the bag to a loop on her hip and put her hands in her pockets.
"Have you always lived in Kiah?"
"Yes and no. I traveled to the bigger cities often."
"Why?"
"Because I had to."
"Why?"
"Because I had no choice."
"Why-"
"Are you going to keep asking why or get the hint that I'm not really going to answer that."
I froze and took a deep breath.
"Sorry, I was just curious."
"Don't let your curiosity invade people's business, don't forget that we aren't friends, this is solely a business relationship." Her words were rigid, but true.
Still, I was taken aback. I got that we weren't exactly friends, but couldn't we just be friendly? Her traveling couldn't have been a touchy subject could it?
"Got it." I sighed. I guess my dad was right about not being friends with employees.
...
Though the next half hour was awkward and silent, I did enjoy our walk. The occasional glance and smile at Myrah gave me small reactions from her that I found to be amusing, whether it was a flick on my arm, or just one of her frowns, that honestly seemed like they had to be fake.
We approached a building that was the size of three large houses I'd seen put together, smoke came from multiple chimneys on top of the building, and chatter spilled from inside its walls. Demons were walking around with their families outside the building too. We seemed to be in a plaza-like area, with a small restaurant I found to be similar to the one I'd been to this morning, another pawn shop that looked even smaller than Sam's, and other shops I couldn't recognize.
A man ran around yelling about a newspaper story and threw rolls of paper around the plaza, hitting people in the head at random. He whizzed past us and smacked Myrah in the face with one. I couldn't help but break out laughing at her face when it happened.
"Are you serious, Alex." She mumbled and picked up the paper from the brick floor.
I Laughed even more and clutched my stomach from the pain of it.
"You find this funny?" She glared at me and tucked the newspaper into her cloak, a small smirk hidden on the corner of her lips.
I nodded and chuckled even more while trying to calm my breaths.
Myrah rolled her eyes and started to walk up the stairs to the community center. I weaved through the people in the plaza and caught up to her with a smile on my face. The city wasn't unlike my hometown.
My employee, who seemed greatly unamused, half shoved me into the building and dragged me through groups of people huddled around tables and into the next room filled with tools and the sound of machines doing work.
Small children ran around, nagging their parents about their boredom, some of them chasing each other with sharp objects too. I watched them with concern and followed Myra to a small table.
"So what are we going to do with the stones here?"
Myra grabbed a pencil from a drawer and took out a piece of paper,
"Craft something bigger."
She sketched out something that resembled a kite, then drew lines inside of it. It appeared to be some type of stone I vaguely recognized.
"What is that?"
"You'll see."
Sitting down on the corner of the table, I watched her place the stones on the sketch. She grabbed some type of adhesive from the drawer, a hammer, and a chisel, and began skillfully craving out pieces that fit together like a puzzle. Once assembled, she painted over it with some gloss and oil. The stones shimmered in their places, the clear and blue stones making it look almost...magical.
"Hmmm, looks good enough I suppose." Myrah picked it up and held it to her eye to examine it.
"I-is that supposed to be a core?" My eyes widened in shock, my jaw tensed as I watched her toy around with it.
"Yeah."
"That's...amazing." I stood up and studied it over her shoulder.
"How did you make it look...so real?" I reached my hand out to touch it but she pulled it away.
"I don't know, I've been practicing gem harvesting for a while." Myrah brought it up to her eye again and tapped the corner of it.
"If only it didn't have all these cracks." She sighed.
"I should have bought more stones." She squinted her eyes at the rock and grimaced. "Are you kidding me??!! He switched out the real stones for fake ones! I dont have time to play his games and go back to get the real ones."
"Why would he trick you-"
"He was just messing around." She put it down on the table and crossed her arms.
"This won't make enough money for us to go on the trip."
I pursed my lips and considered our options. We both didn't have money at the time, so we were stuck.
"Hmm, actually, let's go down the street, we might be able to get a loan."
"That's a great idea!" I smiled and looked at her.
"Mhm." She walked into the crowded room quickly, her cloak sweeping behind her.
I looked at the brilliant looking stone and stuffed it in my pocket. Maybe I can sell this, I'm great at advertising.
With brisk glides, I caught up to her, attempting to escape through the groups of people shoving me around. We both left the building and walked downtown, Myrah wore a serious expression on her face as she fumbled with the red charm around her necklace.
"Is something wrong?" I glanced over at her.
"No."
More silence,
"...Soooo, I like the necklace, where did you get it?" I asked, trying to find a subject to lighten the mood.
"A relative." She put the necklace in her shirt and cracked her knuckles, a slight bit of sadness dawned on her face.
"That's nice of them. Was it a gift for a birthday or something?"
"It wasn't a gift."
"How did you get it then. Did you steal it?"
Myrah ignored me and pointed to a building with a line of people arguing around it.
"We need to get in line there."
I blinked at the line that extended a few blocks.
"You want us to wait through that??!!"
"Does it look like we have a choice?" She glared at me and walked over to the line.
"Okay.." I remembered the stone in my pocket, surely it will fetch a good price. "I just uh, I'll be right back, have to go to the bathroom!" I quickly yelled and ran in the opposite direction. I didn't lie, I did need to use the bathroom, but that could wait until I sold the stone.