Broken Glass [h.s.]

six

Dove

I graze my fingers over the gun hidden under my black cloak as I notice someone looking in our direction. The night has started to fall over the town like a dark cover, the lights shutting down at the rhythm of the windows being closed. The more we walk, the darker and darker everything gets as time approaches the curfew, since no light is made to shine on the streets.

"We should stop now, it's too dangerous to continue" Max whispers to us, being careful not to let people know what we're saying.

"The place we're set to stop at is just a few miles down the road" the other man objects.

"A few miles, in the night city. You know better than me how this town becomes something of completely different, and extremely dangerous, in the dark. We need to stop now."

I tune out their bickering and look at what's surrounding us, trying to figure out where we are. It would be way easier if I had the map, but apparently the two guards think I'm not competent enough to have it. What a ridiculous thing, I think, since, out of the group, I'm the only one who's truly lived in the city, the others being almost always hidden away behind the safe fences of the Styles Mansion - apart from occasional times.

I notice that the people walking around us have changed. It's as if the city had two different sides, and two different kinds of people live in it.

During the day, it's as close to normal as it can get, with normal - not good, normal - people going on and about, minding their own business.
Good is a concept that just doesn't belong to our world. There's only who you can trust, and who you can't, and neither of them is good. But then again, what even is good? Growing up, I learned to associate the world to the nature of a person, not their actions, because nobody has a completely clean record here - the only ones who do are in fact the ones that our world hasn't had time to corrupt - the youngest. Everybody has their shadows, some as dark as pitch, others of a transparent gray, but nobody is completely pure. But then again, isn't it the brightest light that creates the darkest shadows?

In the night, on the other hand, normal people prefer to hide away into their houses before the darkest part of our city comes out. Is it weird? Not really. A city entirely based on corruption and illegality, in which murder is not even punished anymore because it is considered completely normal, is meant to have the darkest secrets. Other people just have to turn their backs to them and pretend not to see.

"The hood" I advise the others, pulling up mine.

The city has a thousand eyes and news travel as fast as light, if Styles is recognised we won't see the end of the night.

I recognise a building and smile, content with myself. "I know where to spend the night" I say to the others.

The two guards glance at me raising an eyebrow, as if they were doubting me, and Styles completely ignores me, as if I hadn't even opened my mouth.

"Alright, there are two ways this can go" I tell them, "you can either stop being ridiculous and just trust me, since, you know, there's a reason if I'm here as well, or you can just ignore me and keep walking down the road. Just so you know though, do you see that red building?" I say pointing at an abandoned house a few meters in front of us, "It's full of Payne's men. They just like to hang out there, you know. Bet they'd be pleased to find... Mr Styles right in front of them."

They look at each other for a second, but the decision is easy to be made.

"Lead the way" Max says with a grunt, glancing more carefully around, making sure that we haven't attracted anyone's attention by stopping in the middle of the road.

I take a turn on the left, sliding my body through a small opening between the walls of two houses. I turn around when I reach the other side, they still haven't moved. "Are you coming or not?"

"Mr Styles" the nameless guard says, letting Styles pass before them.

Even though his body isn't as small as mine and the opening is really thin, he fits through easily and meets me on the other side, a glare thrown in my direction before proudly moving a step away and regaining his composure.

We wait for the two guards to do the same silently, and when they do, I start walking with a fast step towards the place I have learned to trust and, in a way, love. I reach a wooden door not too far away and I open it, letting the others in.

"Don't turn on any light" I advise them closing the door.

In front of the magnificence of the building Styles's walls fall, and he looks around, completely amazed. "What's this place?"

I glance at the tall, small room around us. It's supposed to have two floors, but the wooden floor in the middle has been taken away, leaving only the stairs attached to the wall on each side of the square room, that bring to a platform, only a couple meters large, that surrounds the walls of the supposed to be second floor. All around, there are crates and empty holes, all that remains of the place it used to be.

"Just an abandoned small warehouse. Take a look around, this is where my parents kept their vegetables before your men came and destroyed everything" I reply, trying my best not to snap at him.

Even though I'm turned in the opposite direction, busy locking the door to make sure nobody can get in, I feel his eyes on me. I glance over my shoulder at him, just to find out that I'm right.

"I'm not responsible for my father's doings" is his lapidary reply.

"Yeah, you're right. You're more the kind that prefers to kill people right away, aren't you?" I spit.

"I don't expect you to understand, nor to know what you're talking about."

"Miss Dove and Mr Styles, I believe it would be better if you didn't start arguing in this very moment" Max says, sitting on the floor and taking out something to eat.

"Of course" I reply, and walk up the stairs to look out of the only small window of the entire place.

Thanks to the complete absence of artificial light, the moon and the stars are shining vividly above the city.

"The sky is beautiful tonight."

I don't need to turn around to recognise the voice.

"Sometimes I just stop to stare at it."

"I didn't think you were the sentimental kind" I reply.

"I'm not. Just, some things are much bigger than you and me. If you think about it, what even are we, in front of the sky? Eternal, and infinite. And free. Our lives are nothing but mere points in front of its greatness, just a few pebbles at the bottom of the sea."

Not gonna lie, I'm surprised that such a thing even came out of his mouth. Fairly, I thought he was an idiot. A skilled idiot, I think remembering how he disarmed me in a matter of seconds. But still an idiot.

I turn around to look at him. "What a way to remember how useless we are."