The Reaper

Chapter II

Curiosity

Market day had always been a favorite in the town; the people, the colors, and the general atmosphere. Brightly colored stalls lined the streets, and shopkeepers cried their wares from wherever they happened to be standing. The arrangement screamed chaos, but if it were to be examined closely, a specific order would become apparent. Stalls were arranged by product, and as a result, different people were in different sections of the town. The people were in constant motion, however, so such patterns were not easily recognizable. Floating among the sounds and bright colors were scents of all types. People were baking, cooking meat, and displaying fresh produce in every direction.

Weaving her way through this whirlwind of activity was a small girl, three packages clutched in her slim arms. She was young, only fifteen, and her slight build and slim frame made her appear even younger. In fact, she seemed almost too skinny, as if she had not eaten in a while. Her skin was alarmingly pale, but it was sunburned in places, causing her immense discomfort. The sleeves of her shirt had been cut off, leaving her shoulders bare, and the exposed skin was red and raw. She shifted the bag slung over one shoulder, grimacing. Because of her sunburn, it felt like the thick strap bit into her flesh in the same manner that a knife would, but she had no other way of carrying the bag because of her packages.

All of her packages were wrapped in heavy brown paper, though they all showed various signs of abuse. Two were simple and rectangular in shape, and the other was an odd, lumpy thing, difficult for her to keep balanced atop the others. She grumbled to herself as she made her way through the crowds as best she could, loathing the throng of bodies pressing in on all sides. She used to love market day; it was everyone's favorite monthly activity. Today, though, she was incredibly late, and she had little patience left for the crowded streets. In the town square, the large clock began to chime, and the girl froze, counting. Two...three...four... She cursed silently, thoroughly fed up. Four o'clock! She had been due back at the apothecary almost half an hour ago. She had worked there for a few years now, as she had no family of her own, but she detested her master.

Before her father had died, he had apprenticed her to the man, and the girl was stuck with him for another year. She had been eagerly anticipating her sixteenth birthday and her freedom every since she began working at the apothecary. Her master was abusive, and he often set her impossible tasks in order to have an excuse to beat her. This time, he had expected her to travel all the way across town in order to fetch the packages from one of his business associates and make it back in only twenty minutes. On market day. The girl had realized immediately that she would not be able to achieve this, but the sooner she returned, the better off she'd be.

When the clock ceased its ringing, she hurried on, wilting in the oppressive heat. Her foot caught on the curb as she left the path, but she kept her balance and refused to slow down. Suddenly, she collided with something large that had been moving straight for her. She fell backwards, striking her head on the hard cobblestones beneath her, and her packages flew into the air, landing haphazardly. She cried out in pain, holding a hand to her head. It came away slick with blood, but in truth it was not as bad as she had expected. She sat up and opened her eyes in time to see a man running away through the crowd, heedless of anything in his way. The people around her pulled her to her feet and placed her packages in her hands, and she was left alone almost at once as the people went about their business.

The apothecary was just a few more blocks down the street, but the girl remained where she was, her master forgotten for the moment. When she fell, her hair had come loose from the hasty ponytail that it had been in, and now it hung around her face. Her hair was blonde, but it was so pale that it was almost white. She had cut it herself; it was cut in choppy layers almost to her shoulders. From her position in the middle of the street, she stared at the wall of buildings in front of her, or rather, at a narrow gap between two of the buildings. Various alleyways crisscrossed the town fairly regularly, but in all her years of roaming and exploration, she had never seen this particular alley. It was half as narrow as the others in the town, and it wasn't surprising that it went unnoticed.

"Curiosity killed the cat," her master always said, but all thoughts of her master had drifted from the girl's head. Indeed, she was insatiably curious by nature, and an unexplored section of her town was something that she would not readily pass by. Clutching her packages, the girl walked over to the mouth of the alleyway and tried to see into its murky depths, but small as it was, no light reached very far back into it. The girl didn't seem to mind, though, so she crept forwards as her eyes became adjusted to the gloom. She was surprised at how quiet it was in the alleyway; the market seemed farther and farther away as she continued forward, until the market sounds disappeared all together. When she reached the end of the alley, she was disappointed, for it simply ended in a dark, brick wall. She turned to go, but something caught her eye and she leaned in to inspect it closer.

The girl gagged and retched emptily when she realized what the object was. It was all she could do not to scream. The mangled body of a woman was thrown against the wall, and almost every part of her was drenched in blood. The girl gagged again, dropping her packages. All she wanted to do was run, run away from this place and return to the party atmosphere of the market. She wished she had never come down the alley. She turned away from the woman, only to be confronted by a man, also stained with blood. She clamped her hand over her mouth as she saw the curved knife protruding from his belly, but she couldn't stop the tears that welled up in her eyes and trickled down her cheeks.

Sinking to her knees on the cold, dirty floor, the girl suddenly realized that the man who had knocked her over had been right by this alleyway. He must have murdered these two people! She caught the glint of gold next to the wall, and gasped in amazement as she caught sight of a purse bursting with gold coins. Where did this come from? she wondered, and why are these people dead?

"I am not dead." A voice spoke out of the gloom, startling her. She yelped and dropped the purse, spilling a few coins out onto the floor.

"Who...who said that?" she asked, her voice shaking.

"I'm right here," the voice said soothingly. "Please, don't be alarmed; I'm not going to hurt you." As the girl turned about, searching for the source of the voice, she stared openmouthed at the man in front of her. The knife in his belly was crusted in his own blood, and by rights he should be dead, but when she looked at him, he smiled at her.

"I'm seeing things," she said to herself. "That's it. It's the heat, and I'm hallucinating." The man chuckled, and though she didn't want to, she realized that he was indeed moving; it wasn't just her mind.

As she scooted back, away from him, he said, "No, please, don't go! You mustn't be afraid. I need you to pull this knife out; I have not the strength to do it myself." Surprisingly, his voice was gentle, calm, and the girl stayed where she was, curious again. Her fear had trickled away without her knowing it; it was something about the man's eyes, those deep emerald eyes. She stared into them, ashamed of her own slightly red eyes.

"Come here, my little albino," he said softly. "I won't hurt you." The girl nodded mutely and crawled back over to the man. She continued to stare deep into his eyes as, terrified, she grasped the knife's handle and pulled with all her might.