Jae’s mind wandered as she left the hospital. A little rain was falling over the city, drenching the streets in a dull, gray layer under the streetlights. Jae pulled the hood of her coat up over her head and hunched her shoulders as she trekked through the inclement weather. Jae tried not to let Dr Swanson’s mild, inquisitive words bother her too greatly, but they sat heavily on Jae’s senses. Karen had been an intern at the Embassy right after medical school. She had earned an internship with the Embassy’s medical center and a chance to study Tieran biology and medical advancements first hand. Jae had overheard a Tieran nurse mentioning once that medical students from all over the world had applied for the internship but the Council had personally chosen Karen Swanson. Karen had been a fresh and comforting human face among the sea of distant and reserved Tieran physicians. Jaelyn had taken an instant liking to the ambitious young doctor, but Karen still didn’t understand why Jaelyn had chosen to seek her aid over that of the Embassy’s surgeons.
Karen failed to see that Jaelyn wasn’t just Tieran, she was half human as well. A fact that the Tieran’s in the Embassy would never allow Jae to forget. Karen’s staff at the hospital might have made Jae’s visit seem like a rare and fascinating occasion to study Tieran biology, Jae knew it was a welcome change from the pitying and even hostile attitudes she would have faced in the Embassy.
Jae broke out of her musings as she skirted a homeless man holding an anti-Tieran cardboard sign. Jae glanced at the bedraggled old man, her eyes flitting over the badly scrawled message: E.T. Go Home!
Jae pulled the hood of her jacket up over her head, trying to avoid the homeless man’s accusing gaze. Her eyes shifted to the deli window he was camped in front of. Jae’s heart sunk as she studied the pristine white placard hanging from the front window. No shirt, No shoes, No Tierans, No service. Humans Only. Only 1 student allowed in the store at a time.
Jae shook her head, burying her clenched fists into the pockets of her jacket. Her right hand stung, sending laces of pain up and down her arm. Jae ignored the pain as she trudged on, mulling over her thoughts. She’d grown up understanding the tension between Tierans and humans. It wasn’t as though the Tieran Council had asked any human authorities if they could immigrate to Earth. They’d simply arrived and declared civil negotiations between Earth and the fallen Tieran Empire. Jae wasn’t surprised at all that the humans felt taken advantage of by the Tierans, especially in cities like Haven where the Tierans had built their own city within the city. Haven delicately called the Tieran homestead built around the Tieran’s central embassy and council the “Tieran Quarter”.
Jae was dragged from her thoughts as a scream rang out before her.
“Thieves! Thieves! Stop them!”
Jae spun, her body unconsciously dropping into a crouched, fighter’s stance. Three young men in their late teens were running in the opposite direction of Jae. One of the young men glanced back towards the deli. In his distraction he missed the old vagrant man moving out from behind a trash can. The two collided, sending the old man sprawling to the pavement. The teen kept on his mad dash.
Jae’s eyes flickered to the clerk standing in the entrance of the deli as he screamed in broken Vietnamese at the young men. Jae’s eyes fell to the old homeless man sprawled out on the sidewalk, blood trickling from a gash on his forehead. Anger and resentment bubbled up in her chest as several bystanders made a wide berth around the injured old man and the clerk. Jae’s body lunged forward before she could even think about what she was about to do.
"Call an ambulance!"
“Call an ambulance!” Jae repeated in English. The store clerk nodded dumbly as Jae sprinted away. She hoped that he’d actually listen to her.
It was surprisingly easy to track the three teen thieves as they darted down the street, weaving in and out of bystanders. None of them were slowing down but she doubted they thought they were still being pursued because none of them were looking over their shoulders any longer. They finally slowed down about five blocks from the deli and cut into a T-shaped alley.
Jae paused at the mouth of the alleyway. She was barely breathing heavy and her body was coursing with adrenalin, but she forced herself to move slowly. Jae craned her neck, peering around the corner and into the alleyway. The three boys were huddled in a semi circle, their heads bowed together as they peered into their bag of loot.
Jae edged her way into the mouth of the alley, her eyes locked on to the three young men. Jae’s hand went slowly up behind her back, slipping under the rim of her jacket and sliding open the hidden compartment in the lining of her jacket. Jae smirked to herself as the smooth, cool metal of the eskrima sticks slid into her hands. Jae slid the eskrima sticks out from under her coat, whirling them with a confident twirl of her wrist. Jae let a feral grin slid on to her mouth as her body re-familiarized itself with the perfectly balanced weapons.
Jae moved silently forwards until she was about fifteen feet from the oblivious thieves before she made a sharp whistle. The three young men spun around, their eyes wide with surprise, and much to Jae’s amusement, terror.
“What the fuck!” the nearest young man growled as he stumbled back from Jae. Jae couldn’t conceal her grin as the teens stared at her in disbelief. The largest of the three pushed forward, his stance cocky and clearly intimidating.
“You gotta be fucking kidding me,” the tallest grunted, his eyes rolling over Jae with disbelief, “You’ve got to be outta of your mind, kid.”
“Rest assured I’m quite sane. Now return the money and no one gets hurt,” Jae purred in what she hoped was a threatening voice. Judging by the barks of laughter emanating from the three thieves, it hardly came across as dangerous. Jae frowned and raised the eskrima sticks into a defensive posture. Their laughter died off quickly. The largest one’s face took on a stony blankness as his eyes traveled over Jae again, this time with assessment. Jae could guess what he saw. A youth, rain drenched and skinny, brandishing what must like a pair of foot-long pipes, telling them to return their stolen money. Jae hoped they were stupid enough to only see that.
“Tss,” hissed the first boy that had stumbled, “Look at this kid! Thinks she’s some super hero and bullshit. Yo, I’ll handle this Eddie!”
Jae’s heart surged as the older teen rushed her. Her smirk grew into a grin as she whirled to her right, avoiding his tackle, and brought the butt of one eskrima down on the back of his head as he blundered past her. He went down hard face first into a mud puddle, his unconscious body sprawled across the alley. Jae’s aqua eyes flickered back to the two remaining teens.
The big one, Eddie, was glowering. He was smart enough to see she was a real danger but part of him was still screaming at him to act, to prove he wasn’t afraid of this wisp of a girl. Jae’s eyes flickered to the second boy, her smirk inching up. He was bouncing on the balls of his sneakers, his eyes glistening in the near darkness of the dim, wet alley. Jae could practically taste his need to run at her, to strike blindly at her with uncontrolled violence.
Jae wanted him to. Her blood nearly screamed for it, taunting him to make a move towards her. She felt her body tensing with a near giddiness as he leapt forward. He moved with more care than his companion, his movements more controlled but angry. She danced backwards on nimble feet, dodging his sloppy swings. Jae’s smile was fierce as she tapped him in the ribs with her eskrima, not hard enough to take him down but hard enough to make him grunt and stumble backwards. Her aqua eyes glimmered in the near darkness of the alleyway.
“She’s toying with you Ricky,” a new voice echoed through the alley. Jae tensed, throwing herself into a defensive stance as a long shadow detached from the wet black walls at the base of the alleyway. The two thieves spun, their eyes flickering back and forth between the newcomer and Jae.
Jae choked back a startled laugh as the interloper stepped into the dim sliver of light that illuminated the alley. The shadow slowly melted into the form of a young teen male dressed in all black. The young man wore slim black trousers over black combat boots and a black hoodie emblazoned with a theatric ribcage design. On his face he wore a Halloween skeleton hooded mask. The only feature Jae could discern through the boy’s mask was his startlingly green eyes.
“What the fuck?” the big thief Eddie snarled, his shoulder’s shaking with disbelieving chuckles as he glanced between Jae and the kid in the skeleton costume, “Is the carnival in town or something?”
“Fucking freak show,” Ricky grunted, still rubbing his bruised ribs as he glared at Jae. She smirked at Ricky and twirled her eskrima tauntingly. The young man in the skeleton costume moved forward with a smooth, fluid grace. Jae’s eyes flickered over him, studying his movements carefully. He stopped about four feet away from the caged thieves, his hands curled into the pockets of his hoodie as he titled his head to the side in a questioning way. Eddie blanched as he took a small step back from the boy in the skeleton costume.
“You’re the guy that took out Becket two weeks ago!” Eddie hissed, his eyes flickering over the younger boy’s whippet like frame. Ricky’s face lost all color as he edged behind Eddie, his eyes locked on the skeleton clad teen.
Jae couldn’t hold back a snort. Three sets of eyes suddenly turned on to her as she put her hands on her hips.
“You’re kidding me right? This kid brought down Tony Becket the club owner?” Jae sneered, her eyes flickering derisively over the skeleton boy. The skeleton boy’s lower lip suddenly turned out in a little pout as he glared at Jaelyn.
“Listen lady, I’m not standing around mocking you over your little sticks so save the attitude while I deal with these creeps,” the skeleton boy snapped, turning his attention back to the thieves.
“They’re eskrima thank you very much and I can handle these guys all on my own!” Jae snarled. Jae grinned as she watched the skeleton costumed teen’s shoulders tense in agitation. He swung around again, fixing Jae with a searing glare.
“Run on home kid, I’ve got this covered,” he snarled and took a menacing step towards Jaelyn. She glared at him, feeling a surge of rage rip through her as the strange blue light spilled out of her hands again. Glowing tendrils of electric blue wrap around the eskrima sticks, making them spark and jump with electricity. The alleyway’s wet brick walls were cast in a sudden eerie blue sheen that surrounded Jaelyn.
“Cool,” the skeleton boy whispered with a crooked grin.
“I’m getting the fuck out of here!” Eddie howled, shoving Ricky forward into the shocked skeleton teen. The skeleton boy grunted and stumbled backwards as Ricky slammed into his chest. Ricky squealed in fright and shoved off of the younger teen’s thin chest, pushing the skeleton boy to the ground.
“Bad idea,” Jae snarled as she attacked Ricky. She landed a solid punch to Ricky’s chest. The sound of lightning crackling echoed through the alleyway as a burst of blue fire erupted from Jae’s fist and engulfed Ricky, throwing him backwards like a ragdoll. Ricky collided with a dumpster and slumped limply to the ground. Jaelyn grinned.
“Well don’t just stand there! Go after him!” the skeleton boy snapped. Jae spun around to glare at the teen as he scramble back to his feet and took off down the alleyway. Jae sneered and followed him. She easily caught up with the costumed teen as he spun around the left corner of the alleyway.
“How can you be sure he went this way?” Jae snarled as she raced after the skeleton boy. He threw a glance over his shoulder at her, his mouth cocked up into a crazed grin.
“I know these alleys like the back of my hand!” he chortled and spun around another corner as Jae followed. Jae groaned as they ran straight towards a chain link fence. The skeleton boy slid to a stop a foot from the fence and looked up grimly. Jae snorted as she stopped beside him, cocking an eyebrow.
“Just like the back of your hand, huh?” she teased. The boy shot her a mild glare and started backing up. Jaelyn finally caught on to what he was doing as he crouched and then made a run at the fence. He jumped at the last minute and almost landed at the top of the fence before clambering the last few inches over the top and dropped down to the other side. The skeleton boy turned around with a brilliant smile, his green eyes dancing.
“I’ll see you around I guess!” he sniggered at Jae. She smirked at the boy before she turned and ran at the brick wall beside the fence.
“What the hell are you…!” the boy screamed as he rushed forward, convinced she was about to run head first into a wall. Jae laughed as she jumped, thrusting her feet off the brick wall and arched backwards, lunging over the fence head first. Her body curled on instinct and she tumbled into a roll as she hit the ground. She was back on her feet in seconds and running. She threw a grin over her shoulder at the astonished skeleton boy.
“Wanna keep up kid?” she teased. She was only alone in her race for a second before he was beside her again, laughing.
“Are you a free runner or an adrenaline junkie or something?” he asked and grabbed her wrist, yanking her sideways on to a side street. Jae followed, bobbing and weaving around obstacles as she kept pace with the costumed teen.
“I could ask you the same,” Jae cheered as she vaulted over the hood of a taxi and raced into the mouth of yet another alley. The skeleton boy was grinning again as they jumped over a low brick wall simultaneously. Jae flicked a glance at him, smiling. “You got a name?”
“I go by Wraith,” he told her as he slid to a stop. Jae did the same, catching her breath even as her eyes moved over the bland, non-descript features of the alley way. They were standing a few feet from the mouth of the alley way that lead out onto a deserted and seedy side street. A dingy red neon sign hung crooked over the door to a bar across the street, blaring the name Jezebels. Jae studied the entrance, a frown pulling at her mouth. A thick armed bouncer stood in front of the door.
“What makes you think he went in there?” Jae asked, slipping unconsciously into the nearest shadow to conceal herself. Wraith watched her curiously for a moment before he slid into an adjoining shadow. Jae could barely make out his thin, lanky form against the wall as he drew into the darkness of the alley.
“I never said he did,” Wraith murmured.
“But you think he’s in there,” she continued, calling his bluff. Jaelyn barely heard Wraith chuckled.
“Yeah, Eddie’s in there all right. Eddie’s working as a small time crook for a low level street gang called the Jinxes. They’ve been calling Jez’s home for a little over a month now. If I know Eddie, he’ll be in there,” Wraith murmured. Jae frowned and looked back at Wraith, trying to piercing through the blackness he’d seemingly melted into.
“How do you know so much about these creeps?” she snapped, keeping her voice down.
“You know, you ask a lot of questions for a girl who just followed a stranger down an alley,” Wraith teased in a flat voice. Jae snorted and leaned back against the wall.
“I could take you,” she taunted. Wraith chuckled and moved closer to Jaelyn.
“So do you always glow blue or is it just when you’re angry?” Wraith asked curiously, his eyes crawling over Jae. Jaelyn shifted uncomfortably as she consciously felt the weight of his eyes move over her. Wraith hummed thoughtfully. “You’re not glowing now….”
“Can you drop it?” Jae snapped, glaring at him. Wraith raised his hands in a mock surrender and slipped back into his shadow. Jae tried not to pout as she crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the bar. Ten minutes passed in silence as the rain slackened off to a brisk mist. Wraith shifted away from his shadow slowly and slipped into Jaelyn’s hiding spot. She flinched at first as their shoulders touched and Wraith leaned over so his mouth hovered near her ear.
“If you go around to the back, I think we might be able to get a better view,” Wraith whispered into Jae’s ear. Jae glanced to the side, a long ebony brow raised questioningly.
“How exactly do you expect us to make it across the street and behind the bar without being noticed?” her eyes flickered over Wraith, “You’re not exactly dressed for subtlety,” Jae quipped. Wraith snorted and pointed a finger skywards.
“We’ll take the rooftop express.”
