The Starling Saviour

Chapter 41

Creeping down the hallway, I looked for a suitable place for me to change and escape the house without causing suspicion or letting anyone see me. I concealed my old kit from view in some bag I had found lying in my temporary wardrobe, black Doc Martens and dark blue jeans completing the vigilante 'look'.

'Hey,' A voice stopped me in my tracks.

It was Tommy.

'Tommy...' I responded slowly, trying to hide my bag as much as possible. 'What brings you here?'

'I was looking for you, actually,' he smiled, trying to make conversation. 'I feel like we haven't really talked much since the whole car crash incident which I should've stopped from... Anyway, I was wondering if you wanted to go out tonight. As friends, obviously, Laurel's gonna be there and maybe Ollie if he can make it, since he's so busy these days-'

'Yes, Tommy,' I stopped him from babbling on for any longer. 'I'll go out with you and Laurel and Ollie. I just have something to do, okay?'

'Sure,' he answered suspiciously, before deciding not to ask me anything further.

I found a small room hidden in the one of the back corners of the house, it's window large enough to exit through. I wouldn't have bothered to change, but I was too cautious and I had no idea who the real sender of the box had been. I had to hide my identity, even though there was an extremely high chance that the unknown person already knew who I was.

Fixing my mask on my face, I was ready to go. It felt strange to be dressed as my alter ego once again, looking like the girl who had been afraid of nothing but my past. As I peered into a dusty mirror that had been abandoned in the tiny section of the gigantic abode I was lodging in, I could only see a blue blur of a stranger, feeling detached from the person who used to be one of Starling's finest vigilantes.

Shaking off my doubts and sudden insecurities, I swallowed my pride and climbed down the exterior of the building, making sure I closed the window so no one would suspect a thing. Jumping to the ground, I found my feet and sped into the night.

---

I arrived at Barker Street, alert and my eyes wide open. I needed to be on the ball and I couldn't let anyone get the better of me; I would not be riddled with defeat. This particular part of the Glades looked governed by poverty, the city having deteriorated even more since I had last put on my mask. Loading my gun as a precaution and my feeling of uneasiness, I sensed another being in my presence, but they were nowhere to be found.

Walking further down the street, I passed a derelict complex, it's windows smashed in and plaster virtually non-existent. It's appearance seemed familiar, as if I had hid behind its walls once before. And then I remembered why.

This was the street Isaac had been murdered on. He had been murdered at the hands of some drug dealer when we had been defending the city together. Tortuous flashbacks flooded into my mind, making me cringe with pain and sadness. I was reliving a memory I had wanted to forget for so long, yet I had never been able to forget that fateful day.

Without warning, I was tackled to the ground, another body on top of mine, restricting my actions and stopping me from attacking. I gasped for air as two hands went to strangle my throat, before they withdrew all too quickly.

'Aria?' A confused, husky voice questioned my presence.

Oliver and I were face to face, his hood nearly falling of his head entirely.