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Frustrated, I crumple up the paper from my application and fling it into the next bin. I’ll regret that later because I also don’t have coins to print anything else but for now, the motion feels satisfying.
The unpleasant cold of fall is starting to give way to the biting, painful cold of winter. It’s still bearable on days like this but soon it’ll start to rain, or worse, pathetically soppy snowflakes will begin to fall just to turn to mud at my feet. The thought alone makes me miserable.
Too angry to get back on the bus, I begin walking aimlessly up the sidewalk, staring down at the pavement to avoid the sad, starless sky. Like when I was a kid, I try to avoid stepping on cracks in the pavement, which helps keep me distracted from my thoughts. Sometimes, I look up to admire the graffiti of various skill levels that the city can’t afford or isn’t bothered to paint over.
It’s while slowing down my steps like this that I notice a black SUV turn into the sidestreet behind me. This wouldn’t be unusual if it didn’t look brand-spanking new – and if I hadn’t noticed it turn into the last street I walked, and the one before that. My stomach does a nervous dance but I try to calm myself.Why would anyone follow me?It doesn’t work – my mind is already coming up with horror stories of where my staked body might be discovered tomorrow.
Forcing myself to stay calm, I continue to stroll through the streets, trying to stick to where people are. Around me, the neighborhood begins to turn into Asphodel, the part of town that bridges Tartarus, which is mostly community housing, and blingy Elysium. Slowly, the graffiti and cracks become less and less. Here, the bus stops mostly still have their seats and are much less sticky.
The small rows of townhouses have a cozy feel to them, almost as if you weren’t in a city of eight million at all. People have flowers on their balconies, and there are playgrounds surrounded by trees as if we were in suburbia rather than a metropolis. In the day, the sounds of playing children can be heard in the streets – and they don’t even get run over, most of the time. Elysium doesn’t have the same appeal to me. When I dream of winning the lottery, it’s always Asphodel I imagine myself living in.
Alright, let’s not get nostalgic.I turn into a narrow alley between two rows of brick complexes that seem to have been erected by two architects with differing views on city planning. The result is a space narrow enough that a car won’t fit. Unfortunately, the street lamps also don’t properly light the space. Glancing over my shoulder for the SUV, I speed up my steps. It’s not there – maybe I just imagined it.
Some old furniture is leaning against one of the buildings, disassembled. On a sheet of paper stuck to it, someone has written ‘free’, with a little smiling face behind it. It looks like a closet or cabinet. I pause to have a closer look – I could use a closet. Of course, even if this could be reassembled, I wouldn’t have a car to move it. And I suppose Pavel’s place isn’t the kind where you bring your own furniture. With a strange ache in my chest, I think of my clothes piled on the floor.
Before I can contemplate it further, I notice something dark in a streetlight at the other end of the alley. Again I stop, pretending to still be interested in the closet. I glance at the end of the street to see the same car stopped there that has been following me on my way here.Shit.
My heart stumbles as I turn, planning to head in the opposite direction, already wondering if I have the energy to run – and walk straight into the arms of the red-haired witch.
She looks surreal in the dim light, with fiery eyes and rosy skin. Her full lips curl into a smile when I see her. “I told you I’d come collecting.”
Like an absolute idiot, body-wired and terrified, I try to bolt. After spending every minute of every day in a state of emergency, my body is just waiting for an excuse to run. With one leap, I move past her – just to be caught in the steel grip of one icy hand. Before I can even think of screaming, she spins me around and claps her hand over my mouth. Suddenly, I’m back at the Myrrh & Adder, being pressed into the wall.
“If you think I’m abducting you, I’m sorry to disappoint.” Her voice is measured, almost bored. Her breath brushes my ear. “I just want to talk.”
Her other hand is wrapped around my waist, holding me against her. I can feel the cold tingle of magic that I felt the last time I saw her. What could a woman like this possibly want with me? I have nothing.
“I’m going to let you go now.”
She lifts her hand from my mouth and I can feel the pressure of her body disappear. Still in panic mode, I stand helplessly frozen.
“Come on!” She starts walking, beckoning me with her hand. When I don’t follow her, she turns around without stopping. “I’m not the kind of woman who does business out in the street. So if you want work, you’re going to have to come with me.”
I bite my lip and hesitantly follow her. How anyone can walk this fast in heels is a mystery to me. Her silhouette is sharp against the night lights as I try to keep up. Inadvertently, I feel like a bumbling idiot, clumsy and inelegant.
When we reach the car parked at the end of the alleyway, I blush to find her opening the car door for me before she walks around to the other side. I squirm in the leather seat, trying desperately to calm my nerves. It feels like I’m watching myself from outside of myself, wondering why I’m making the stupid choice to get into a stranger’s car without being able to stop myself.
Once she’s inside, the witch signals the driver, who is a young woman rather than the elderly gentleman I would expect to be a chauffeur. She’s separated from the back by a pane of glass.
The car slips into nighttime traffic smoothly. Outside, the streets of Asphodel begin to roll steadily by, idyllic front yards and cobbled alleyways passing my window. I press into the furthest corner away from the witch. “What do you want from me? I already told you I don’t have money.”
Her expression seems amused. She reaches out and touches the seam of my shirt, where the thread is fraying. “Oh, I know, kitten.”
I set my teeth. Even though I’m trying to put on a brave face, I feel like I might throw up at any moment. In my mind, I’m already conjuring up all sorts of things she could want as payment – sex being the least bad of them all.
“Do you know who I am?”
I wave my hand at her, trying my hardest to seem unimpressed, despite the fact that I’m absolutely shitting myself. “You’re some kind of witch, right?”
Rather than being offended, her smile only widens, her eyes sparkling with suppressed laughter. “You’ve gotten braver since the last time we met.” Something about her face tells me that instead of brave, she actually meansstupid.
“So who are you then?”
I catch the driver throwing me an incredulous glance in the rearview mirror.
“I’m Celeste,” she says simply.
Since I’m apparently supposed to know who she is, I rack my brain to try to remember where I’ve heard that name before but come up empty. “And what do you want?” I repeat.
