Ethereal

Chapter 28: An Unexpected Twist

I slowed down once I passed the marketplace, turning around to make sure no one had followed me. The night was only beginning, and the Camp seemed to come alive the darker the sky grew. The same barrels that littered the courtyard were everywhere. There was a barrel in front of every tent and hut around me, lighting up every square inch of darkness. It looks like I wasn't the only one who wasn't too fond of the night. Only where I was afraid of the darkness itself, these people were afraid of what laid in the dark instead.

My breaths were coming out in ragged pants, my heart beating loudly in my chest. There was no where else for me to go tonight – I wasn't even sure where I was going to sleep. But I sure as hell couldn't go back to the courtyard, not after the scene I just made. Especially not after the look that Jax gave me before I bolted, his eyes slipping down to my swollen lips as he saved my life once again.

I kept my head down and threw my hands into my pockets, weaving in and out of people as I trailed along the looming wall that caged me inside of the Camp. The smell of roasting meat caught my attention, bringing me eye to eye with a vendor who was turning skinned rats over a fire. I wrinkled my nose in distaste, my hunger suddenly vanishing. Next to the rat vendor, a woman wearing a red bandana over her greying hair was handing out loaves of bread. I crept closer to her stall, leaning in as I breathed in the smell of the freshly baking bread.

"How much?" I said, motioning to the loaves.

The woman looked from the bread and back to me. "Three rats."

"I only have coins," I said, my voice wavering. I pulled out a single coin and put it on the counter, watching as her eyebrows shot up her forehead. "How much can I get for this?"

"Three loaves," she said, though it sounded more like a question.

I puffed up my chest and lifted my chin higher. I've bartered with vendors before. I knew what kind of game she was playing.

"Six." I said, giving her my counteroffer. I had no idea how much this money was worth in the Camps, and vendors will gladly take advantage of an ill-informed buyer. The only way I was going to learn was through trial and error.

"Six?" the woman said, giving me a fake laugh. "You jest. Four loaves."

"Five."

The woman frowned, her forehead pinching as she thought. "Okay," she said, "four loaves and my honey will cook you a rat. Take it or leave it."

I glanced over my shoulder at the man turning the rats over the fire pit. He glanced over at me and smiled, showing me all his five teeth.

"Deal." I said. The orphanage had experienced its fair share of food shortages over the years, but we had never been hungry enough to consider alternative options such as rats. But who knew? Maybe it tasted like chicken.

The woman brought out four hot loaves of bread, making my mouth water. She gave me a small cloth bag to carry it all in, then shooed me away. I stopped and grabbed my rat on a stick before leaving, the man handing me the frayed rodent and suggested I start at the head and leave the tail for last – as it was the juiciest part.

I backtracked to the wall, setting my food down between my legs as I eased my back against the concrete. Should I eat the rat first, or the bread? I wondered. I knew I could stomach cold bread, but I cold rat I wasn't so sure about. Without another thought, I pinched off a chunk of meat off the middle of the rodent, tentatively pushing it past my lips as I began to chew.

Rat did not taste like chicken.

It had a stringy taste to it, more like pigeon or rabbit. It was necessarily bad, but I forced myself to finish it off entirely, even licking the bones at the end in an effort to fill my stomach. I turned to the bread after I left the bones discarded besides me, ripping it in half as I inhaled the warm smell.