Sofiya was all of thirteen years old, and considered herself lucky to have gotten that far. She'd known girls that died at twelve, at eleven, known one that died at eight. The streets of Zantaric were hard, life wasn't a sure thing. Just because a girl's mother could protect her while she was little didn't mean she was going to to live long enough to die in her sleep - unless she were murdered while doing so. Life was just as hard for boys, but Sofiya thought it was a bit harder for girls anyway.
She thought so because of nights like this one. Tekki, her boy who was at least five years older than she was, was in what her mother called rareform tonight. He'd been angry when he stormed into the little room they shared behind the herbist's shop, and when she tried to soothe his anger flung her against a wall. Sometimes crying worked when men and boys were in rareform, brought them back to normal. As much as Sofiya hated crying she didn't like getting beaten anymore, so she cried.
And Tekki hit her hard across the mouth and told her to shut up.
After she spat out the blood she cursed at him, told him she didn't have to be around him if he was going to be like this. She was young, she was pretty, she didn't have to be trapped with one man. She could have her pick. That made him really angry, so she ran from the room with Tekki close behind her.
If it were a straight run, he would have caught her quickly. He had longer legs than she did, and he was a boy. Boys were faster than girls, something she though unfair because it was girls that needed to run from boys. They were faster and stronger and meaner and there was the entire reason she thought life was harder for girls. She didn't just run from him, she twisted, she turned, she ran down alleyways and jumped over fences and climbed up and down windows and ran until her lungs burned and her side ached like it was being stabbed. She would hurt worse if he caught her though.
Fast as she scrambled through the alleys of Zantaric, he was always right behind her. Then she came to a long alley with no paths off it, no handholds to climb and no end. She stopped running, turned and balled her hands into fists. If he was going to beat her then she was going to beat back.
Tekki was on her before she could react. He grabbed the front of her shirt and threw her hard against the wall of a building. She heard him call her a bitch before she hit it and felt herself flop to the ground, wondering if she were dead. No, death didn't hurt so bad, she was sure it wouldn't hurt. Tekki walked over to her slow and her body wouldn't move, wouldn't stand, wouldn't fall over, wouldn't even pass out so she could wake up sore a couple hours later. He snarled at her, his teeth yellow and nasty like a dog's. When he raised his foot she felt a white softness across her face and thought for the second time she was dead. She'd never felt something like this when she was hurt.
The softness slipped over her face like cloth and she saw that it wasn't some eyetrick, it was the braided hair of someone in a long coat. She heard a crunch of flesh against stone and this white haired person was forcing Tekki to the ground, bending his arm behind his back in a way that made her wince just looking at it. This man must have fought someone from the alleys before - to know not to press Tekki against the wall. Last time someone pressed her against the wall she kicked him hard between his legs and twisted her shoe around as much as she could before he fell. The man had cut her neck a little, but she hurt him much more.
This man was out of the range of Tekki's kicking feet, sitting on his hips and leaning forward. Sofiya shook her head, drew her knees up into her chest and watched, wondering what she was seeing. She could hear Tekki growling something, angier than he'd been when he came back that night and saw there was another colour in the man's white braid. She couldn't see it in the dark but it was there and not a shadow.
She heard another pop, heard Tekki's muffled scream and wondered if that was Tekki's arm. The way it was bent back, it looked like it would pop, break or something at any second. She hoped it was hurting him and spat out another mouthful of blood. Right now she didn't care why this man was hurting Tekki, but he deserved it. He had no right to hit her just because he was angry. She hoped this man was angry too, and that Tekki would learn from that.
Then there was the crack and Tekki's legs stopped kicking around. She put her hands on the wall and tried to stand up. Her legs worked this time, but wobbled and didn't seem like they would hold her up if she ran again. She didn't want to run again, she hurt to much, she just wanted to sleep and wake up sore in the morning. She was tired of running and fighting.
Then the man turned to her and she wanted to run again. His hair covered one of his eyes, the other had a marking under it. It looked angry, the mouth without emotion. She turned back the only way she could and ran.
She took one step before she was pinned against the wall and that angry eye was boring down into her. He was about as tall as Tekki, but he scared her more. He wasn't even pressing her that hard, but he'd lifted her off the ground and was standing so close to her that if she tried kicking she'd end up flopping helplessly. His breath didn't have a smell, but she turned away from it, feeling fresh tears slide down her face.
"Don't kill me," she said soft. "I've done nothin', that's the truth of it. Nothin'."
"Whose the arms dealer in this town?" his voice didn't sound angry, didn't even sound irritated.
Sofiya squirmed. "I don't know," she was crying hard and not caring now. "I don't work with that. I don't know who they are. I could tell you who knows. I'll tell you if you don't kill me!" She squirmed more, trying to find space to kick, to fight this man off of her.
The silence was making her antsier than being held against the wall. Was he going to kill her now that she didn't know? Or was he thinking of whether she was lying to him? Was he planning on making her show him who she was talking about. She never liked Trina too much, but she wouldn't want this man going after her. Besides, her boy was sweet, much sweeter than Tekki and didn't deserve to be hurt.
Then he dropped her and began walking out of the alley, moving so fast that she only saw his white braid whip around a corner. Sofiya panted and crawled over to Tekki. His arm was still bent where the man had put it behind his back and his neck had a weird bulge in it. His face was dark, and it never was before...
Vivante heard the girl scream and glanced over his shoulder a moment. No, it would be pointless to chase the girl for her information. Her name would be nothing. He put his hands back in his pocket and ran down another corridor.
