"So she ran. It was the only thing that she knew how to do."
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Alyssa Reynolds is a thief. She's been running from her past ever since she could remember, never being able to trust or settle down. However, when a new bad boy transfers to her sc...
I stuck close to the crowds as the quartet made their way to the outskirts of the town. At some point, the crowds began thinning out too much for me to remain undetected, so I climbed onto a roof and began hopping between a few low buildings that were relatively close together to keep an eye on them.
The group moved a lot faster than I expected, displaying many anxious and suspicious habits as they got further and further away from the center of the city. Alex and Kasey kept checking their surroundings, as though they were worried about people trying to follow them. Thankfully for me, they never had the thought to look up.
Finally, we reached the suburbs, where I had to get down from the roofs since the houses were beginning to become more spaced out.
The sun was beginning to set, making it much easier to hide in the shadows and follow from a distance. Jaxon and Alex talked in low voices, appearing to be discussing something urgent judging by the tense appearance of their shoulders. While James had average observational skills, eyes catching on blatantly suspicious individuals that might be threats, Kasey clearly had more experience.
She examined the terrain as though it was a battlefield, eyes landing on people's gait and faces more so than superficial things such as clothing. A confrontational fighter, then; she didn't pay as much attention to possible escape routes or ledges on buildings as an assassin or a thief would. However, her eyes did catch on the details of buildings, specifically on flammable objects and materials.
When we reached the entrance to the woods, Kasey and Alex gave the area one last sweep. I ducked behind a fence to hide and strained to listen. I then heard the telltale crunching of dirt and rocks; they had entered the forest, then. What would be happening in the forest? Possibly a gang meeting; but no, they were too tense for it to be as simple as that, and their urgency to leave was too abrupt. Something had happened in those woods.
As I got out of my hiding place from behind the fence, I continued to try to make deductions. Maybe there was another wolf attack? That would be a problem; dead people bring cops, after all, and if another one of their gang members had died they wouldn't be able to brush it off any longer.
I thought about turning around again, but decided against it despite my common sense screaming at me to do so. I had come too far, and there was no way that I would be able to make it back in time to do a pickpocket run anyways. Might as well follow through with what I had started.
And so, I entered the woods.
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I wasn't used to the amount of foliage that plagued the woods. The trees looked climbable, but not in the way that buildings were; I didn't feel comfortable to judge whether a branch could hold my weight, or whether the spaces between the trees were jumpable. I wasn't in my domain, and it put me even more on edge than I originally was.
I started moving towards the voices that could faintly be heard deeper in the forest. I kept off the main trails, knowing that if anyone saw me out this late it would be considered rather suspicious if someone had indeed been killed. I didn't like how much noise I had to make while moving through the woods, though; I wasn't used to the crunching of the leaves or the snapping of the branches. I couldn't be silent here.
