The Alpha Twins and their Runaway Witch

11

Boarding the bus. Feeling like someone was going to call her out for not belonging, for being an imposter, a fraud as she dropped the coins she had counted out into the slot. Making her way to an empty seat, near the rear door. Sitting on the bus seat felt like luxury to her tired body. She ate one of the pastries from her bag watching the scenery pass her by. waiting for the right kind of neighbourhood to exit the bus. Every minute she drew closer to the city, and crowds of people. Her heart wanted to relax, to give in to feeling safe.

She wouldn't ever relax. She was going to be vigilant for the rest of her life. Worried the cackle would find her. Drag her back to Gisella. She would rather die than go back. She went to touch the ragged ear wound where the cuff had been. Hissing under her breath as the still open wound painfully protested even the slightest touch. Worse, it felt warm under her finger. She needed to find a mirror and look at how bad the damage was, and if an infection was setting in.

As the bus chugged through the streets she kept watch until the bus stopped at what had to be a major bus stop for the area, there were several other buses stopped, the crowd skewed to youngish adults with a high number carrying backpacks. It was a university campus. It was perfect.

She got up from her seat, trying to pretend that her large canvas bag could pass for an extra full backpack. Making sure that her long dirty blonde hair was down and covering her ragged ear. Scurrying head down through the crowd of people changing bus routes, or coming and going.

The bus stop was outside the student services building. Her first stop was the washroom she could see from the entrance. Setting the pack down on the floor she investigated her ear in the first mirror she had seen since she had ripped the magical cuff from her ear. She didn't know exactly what the cuff was supposed to do. All the girls the Cackle kept had the same cuff permanently pierced and sealed on their ear. Gisella could send shocks or pain to them through the cuff, and she assumed that it must also be used to track their locations since no one could ever hide from the cackle.

The wound wasn't as bad looking as it felt. The skin was red and inflamed, but wasn't yet showing signs of a deeper infection. She carefully washed the wound with soap, hot water and paper towels. She needed to do everything she could to keep it from getting infected.

She looked at herself in the mirror. She was a mess. Dark circles under her blue eyes, her face gaunt and angular from being chronically underfed. Lips chapped, and she would hurt someone for a new toothbrush right now. Her dirty blonde hair had tangles and snarls her fingers alone were unable to tame. With a sigh, she turned from her reflection. Hefting her pack back over her shoulder. Glad no one had come in while she had been at the sink.

She made her way through the student centre building, stopping once to buy a bottle of water from a vending machine. Trying to hide what she was doing as she pulled her money out of the sock. She drank the entire bottle in one go, and refilled the now empty bottle at a convenient filling station in the closed food court. She made use of the exceptionally helpful direction markers that were present at various points throughout the campus. Eventually she was able to find the library. Which thanks to students needing to study and have safe spaces for group project work was open later than a public library would have been.

She tried to make herself small, there were several banks of desktop computers available for the rare student who did not have their own laptop. However, the computers required a university log in. Which of course she did not have. She grabbed a random book from the nearest shelf. Sat down on an uncomfortable, industrial couch where she could see the computers. Bag tucked underneath her seat. Feigning as though she was reading the book. She kept her eyes scanning over the handful of students making use of the computers.

She was not disappointed, a frazzled looking girl went to the printer to grab some papers, and immediately went to the front doors of the library, leaving out into the night. Without logging out of the computer station. There were no personal effects left behind. Ariel made her move. Closing the book, and trying to pantomime casual movements as she collected her back from under the seat. Placing the book down on the return cart as she passed by she made a beeline to the open computer. Thrilled that it had not locked itself out while she had been on the way over.

Tucking the bag under the desk by her feet, she reached forward to a basket at the middle of the table holding printer paper that needed to be recycled and wasn't anything personal or confidential was available for notes, and a jar of half sized eraser-less pencils sharp and at the ready were waiting. Snatching several sheets of paper and a pencil she got to work. Checking the time on the computer screen, and the closing hours for the library. She had forty three minutes.

She needed to find several things in the city. Women's resource centres, food banks were first on her list. She only had one hundred dollars right now and she needed to be careful with how she spent it. As she kept searching and noting down various addresses on her paper. Bus routes to help her get where she would need to go.

The more she looked for resources clearly intended to help someone hard on their luck. The more the ads became tailored to someone of her station. There was a subtle, private blood donation ad that promised high payments for accepted donors. Reluctantly she wrote down the information. Blood donation was one of the less intrusive options where she could sell her body in order to make some money.

She logged out of the university computer and left the library well before she would have been asked to leave. She wandered through the campus. She just needed somewhere to sleep for a few hours. She had tried several doors to buildings that looked dark and empty. They had all been locked. She was tired, wanted to hide somewhere with walls and a roof protecting her.

Tired, frustrated and unsure what she should do next. She was startled out of her spiral of defeat as a large corvid cawed overhead. Taking off from the street light it had been perched on to fly and land on the pavement in front of her. She studied the large raven under the soft light of the street lights. It seemed impossible, but she was almost certain that this was the same raven who had been helping her in the woods.

She stood dumb on the paved path staring at the bird for too long, until he cawed at her again. "Are you, you?" Feeling dumb as she spoke to a bird. Except the bird bobbed his head, carefully turned and took flight, landing on a street light farther down the path. Looking towards her like it was waiting for her to follow.

Gingerly she followed the bird to the far side of campus. There was an older style brick building, with an old fashioned wooden door, and no electric lock system. The raven landed on the roofed overhang to a side door of the building. Ariel followed, and tried the door. The latch hadn't caught. The door was open. She snuck her way into the dark building, each room she passed was full of different instruments.

There was a window seat, with a sun faded cushion on the bench overlooking an electrical control box for the building, hidden behind some hedges. She had three clear exits to try and run to if someone came, the window seat was deep enough that she could sit comfortably, and the window was hidden from the outside. She looked out the window and saw her raven, sat in a tree nearby. She hugged her bag to her chest, and settled into the window seat, head against the glass to sleep as long as she could.