Bad Seed

Elsa opened her eyes to an unfamiliar darkness. The foreign place smelt of mildew and fish, rather than the dust and smoke smell of the Alley. She was lying on her back, a damp wood floor beneath her. Her clothes and hair were wet, her head hurt and her right hand ached, but she was alive.

A ragged curtain hung over the window nearby, letting in dim light from somewhere outside. Elsa’s eyes adjusted and took in her surroundings, which turned out to be a small, long-neglected room. Great chunks of wooden floor were missing. The walls tilted at an angle. Elsa heard water beneath the rotting boards, slapping against the building’s supports. A table, a chair, and a rusting metal cabinet were tucked into the corner. A crooked corkboard dominated the far wall. Pins were still stuck in the spongy material, keeping stubborn hold on the wrinkled corners of torn down sheets of paper. Above she could just make out the words, Night Port Authority Processing Station.

The door opened. Elsa closed her eyes and lay still. She heard the thud of something heavy and the creak of a large body moving across the fragile boards.

“You’re awake,” the male voice said.

Elsa didn’t answer.

“Keep pretending if you want,” he said, “but I’ll bet my best knife you’re cold, wet and uncomfortable on the floor.”

Elsa held onto the ruse a second more and sat up. A wave of nausea overtook her. The room blurred in and out of focus.

“The dizziness will pass.”

A tall man with light red hair stood over her. He wore brown pants and a dirty white shirt.

“I know you,” Elsa said. “You helped me escape the Guardhouse.”

The man crouched. The light hit the other half of his handsome face revealing blisters and burns.

“What happened to you?” Elsa blurted the question.

“You happened to me,” the man said, a smile creating a dimple on his uninjured side.

“I did that?”

He mimed a swinging arm. “You attacked me with your lantern.”

“You attacked me first.” She touched the side of her head and felt the lump, just beneath the hair. “What did you hit me with?”

The man shook his head. “Nothing. You slipped and fell on a rock at the edge of the pool during our…ah… struggle.”

Elsa inspected her hand, noting the blisters marking the skin.

“You were lucky,” the man said. “My face took the brunt of the glass and oil.”

Elsa looked down at her soggy coat. From her chest to her right arm, the burgundy material was singed and several of the coat buttons were missing.

“I thought you were a Smoker,” Elsa explained.

He shuffled forward and held out his hand.

“I’m Roan.”

His smile was easy and full of charm, but she didn’t feel as comfortable with this man as she did with Noak…or, she amended, as comfortable as she’d felt before she discovered Noak’s identity.

“Are you a Blood Wolf?”

Roan nodded and dropped his hand.

“You’re looking for Finn too?”

“Yes.”

Elsa swept her surroundings with another quick glance. “Why have you brought me here?”

“I panicked,” Roan said. “You were going to scream and alert the others. I couldn’t let you do that before we had a chance to talk to you.”

“It’s not a good idea to sneak up on someone in the Darkzone.”

“If it makes you feel better, I had a nightmare of a time getting you here unnoticed. I had to tow you through a track of waist high water to escape a patrol. Nearly froze my nuts off, and the whole time I was petrified you’d wake at the wrong moment and get us into more trouble.”

Elsa shivered at the thought of being submerged in water, even unconsciousness. Through the window, she picked out the shape of an old boat wreck. Elsa had never set foot in the abandoned part of the port before.

“I’m not supposed to be here,” Elsa admitted. “Actually, with the curfew I’m not supposed to be in any part of the Night Port. Smokers have been flogged for disobeying lesser orders.”

The Blood Wolf dismissed her concern. “You’re safe. The jetty holding this building is pretty unstable. Your guards only seem to check the solid ones and…”

Roan stopped, his head tipping to the side to listen. He swore and stood.

“He’s back.”

“Who’s back?” Elsa asked, glancing at the door.

Roan started packing his blanket and coat into one of the packs on the ground. “Noak. He doesn’t…I thought we’d have more time.”

The door opened. A large form entered carrying a hessian sack. Blue eyes swung in her direction, then back to the redhead.

“Roan, what the hell have you done?”

***

Noak couldn’t believe it. They’d gone after Elsa, even though he told them not to seek her out.

“Let me explain,” Roan said, placing himself in front of her. Roan didn’t mean anything by it, but protective action further irritated Noak. He snarled and Roan moved out of the way.

Ysolde swept into the room behind Roan. “You left us with no choice.”

“No choice?” He repeated, his anger rising, the Leashworm stirring.

Ysolde smoothed the top of her high ponytail. “You said she had Finn.”

“I told you to leave the girl to me. Or did you not hear that part?”

“No, I heard,” Ysolde said. “But you were taking too long.”

Noak threw the sack of food onto the table. “And what do you propose we do when her people come looking for her?”

Ysolde faced him. “If they come after her, we run. We hide. We do whatever we need to do.”

“Even we cannot hide from a large-scale search.”

“So, we fight! I am not afraid of puny dirt lickers.”

He shook his head. “You think we can fight them all? Three against dozens?”

“We’re better than they are,” Ysolde said. “We would win!”

“And when your power runs out and you’ve got nothing left to give? When the Leashworm takes control, so you are no longer yourself? What then?”

Ysolde looked at Elsa, like a predator looked at prey. “Why is this an issue? You give me five minutes with her, and I will get what we need to locate Finn.”

Noak growled. “You won’t touch her, hear me? Elsa’s our ally, not our enemy.”

Ysolde sniffed and crossed her hands over her chest. “Fine.”

When he was sure Ysolde had gotten the point, he turned his attention to Elsa. Noak knelt before her. He expected to find her cowering, but her gaze was even and unafraid.

“So, you managed to escape,” Elsa said, “I thought for sure the guards had riddled you with bullets.”

“I am as you see.”

He reached for her chin, wanting to examine the scratches on her face. She slapped his hand away. Noak wasn’t sure whether he felt amused or annoyed, either way he didn’t make a second attempt.

“Do you have any idea what you’ve put into motion?” Elsa asked. “The guards are punishing the Smokers for what you did…” She swallowed and corrected, “…for what we did. People are getting hurt.”

Noak took in her singed jacket and scanned her for any serious injuries.

“Are you listening to me?”

“Yes,” Noak said.

“Well? Don’t you care? People are suffering because we took the boy.”

Noak raised his eyebrows. “You think we should have left Finn there, at the mercy of those butchers?”

“No, of course not. It’s just…” She pushed a strand of damp brown hair from her forehead. “I don’t know.”

Elsa glanced at her three new scars and Noak clenched his own hand in response.

“Everything’s gone wrong since you turned up and we made our deal.”

Noak looked around at the decaying building sheltering them and at the threadbare clothing beneath her coat. “Seems to me things down here went rotten a long time ago, and without my help.”

He rose and faced the other two Blood Wolves. “What happened to Elsa’s hand? And your face?” He added, noticing Roan’s injuries for the first time.

Ysolde snorted and answered before Roan could open his mouth. “Girl’s got guts, I’ll give her that much. She hit Roan with her lantern. He caught the worst of it and now it’s ruined his pretty face.”

“Hey!” Roan protested.

Noak stopped them before they could descend into petty squabbling. “We’re wasting time.”

“Then tell us what we need to do,” Ysolde said.

Roan nodded. “I’m ready.”

Noak picked up their packs from the floor. “I want you both to head back to the surface.”

Ysolde registered his command first. “What? No!”

“We’re not leaving you,” Roan said.

Noak stood firm. “Make camp near the main entrance and wait for me. If I’m not back in a couple of days return to the swamp without me and make your report to Cohen, as we discussed. There’s nothing more either of you can do now.”

“There’s plenty we can do,” Ysolde argued.

“We’ve been away from home too long,” Noak said. “There’ll be questions, as it is. I need you both to cover for me.”

“I’m staying,” Ysolde said. “Don’t do this, Noak.”

“My decision is made.”

The Blood Wolf turned furious grey eyes on Elsa. “This is because of her, isn’t it?”

“Ysolde! Enough.”

She clenched her fists. “This is a mistake.”

Ysolde snatched her backpack and stomped away. The rotting wood shuddered as she slammed the door shut.

“Ysolde’s right,” Roan whispered in the silence following. “You need us.”

Noak ran his hand over his face. “It doesn’t matter. You’re injured and it’s not a small wound. You’ll need to use the Source and you’ll be worn out once you have.”

“I don’t have to use it,” Roan said. “I can handle the pain. I want to see this through.”

“And risk infection making your wounds worse? You need to heal, Roan, and Ysolde’s worry for her brother is making her meaner than normal. It’s affecting her judgement. I can’t risk any more errors. There’s too much at stake.”

“What will you do? You said so yourself, you can’t fight them all.”

“I don’t plan on fighting.” Noak said, looking at Elsa.

Roan shouldered his pack. “I don’t know. I don’t like this. You’ll have no back up, no one you can trust down here.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Roan shook his head. “It’s not just the people. All this darkness and stone, it plays with your mind.”

His friend’s worry made him feel awkward. Noak shifted his shoulders. “I have no desire to delay my stay here either.”

They moved to the door.

“Get him back to us,” Roan said. He put his hand on the door and paused, his eyes flickering to Elsa in the corner. “But, tread softly.”

“As much as I can,” Noak replied.

***

Elsa was once more alone with the leader of the Blood Wolves. Noak lingered in the shadows at the back of the room, blue eyes focused on her. The silence stretched, making her even more uncomfortable.

“So,” she said, finally. “I guess it was you and your friends who attacked my uncle on the surface?”

“Ah, now I understand the cold reception,” Noak said. “Your uncle was on our territory.”

“He didn’t know that.”

Noak nodded. “And that’s why he’s still alive.”

“Barely, I saw the marks on his neck. You almost killed him.”

He shrugged. “But we didn’t.”

This disregard for her uncle’s life pricked her anger. “Lucky for you.”

“Oh?” He said, a faint smile on his lips.

“My uncle is one of the few people I truly care about. If you’d taken him from me, I would have paid you back tenfold.”

Noak crossed his hands over his chest. “Your uncle must be very important to you.”

“He is.”

“Well, Finn is important to me. I will go to similar lengths to get him away from here.”

Elsa thought of the young boy lying in her uncle’s workshop. He seemed like any other malnourished child of the Darkzone. “Is Finn a Blood Wolf, like you?”

Noak tilted his head. “Will you still help me, if I say yes?”

Elsa pulled her coat tighter around her. “I don’t know, just answer me.”

“Yes, then…” Noak said, “and no. He’s ours, that’s all you need to know at this point.”

Elsa didn’t press further. She plucked at a charred thread on her coat and listened to the sounds around her.

“Is he… okay?” Noak asked after a while.

“I’m not sure,” Elsa said. “I was on my way to see him again when I ran into Roan.”

Noak’s lips twitched for a moment when she used the word ‘ran’ before settling back into their grim line.

“But he’s alive?”

“I hope so,” Elsa said. “My uncle and I, we did the best we could, but we’re not physicians and there were a lot of cuts.”

Noak scowled and looked away.

Elsa left him to his thoughts. She pulled her knees tighter into her chest and rested her head on the wall behind her, using it as an anchor. She felt like her world was spinning in an uncontrollable direction. She closed her eyes and began to feel the cold floor beneath her and the heavy wet weight of her clothing against her skin.

“Here.”

The Blood Wolf knelt before her, holding out a blanket. “Take off your jacket, it’s too damp to keep you warm.”

Elsa hesitated, then realised the price of defiance was she went cold. She did as he suggested. Noak placed the blanket around her shoulders. He took her ruined coat and spread it over the chair to dry.

“Thank you,” she said, tucking the corners beneath her. The cold fingers wrapping around her muscles retreated.

“Are you hungry?” He lifted the flap of the sack to show her the food within.

Elsa accepted a piece of flat bread, grateful even though it was riddled with chaff. They ate in silence. When they were done, she wiped the crumbs from her lap and Noak returned to the other side of the room. He settled against the wall where she could see him in the soft light from the port.

“Are you still cold?” he asked.

“It’s better now.”

“We can’t have a fire,” the Blood Wolf said. “I’m sure you understand why.”

They watched each other, cautious and alert, like two strange animals meeting for the first time. Elsa studied his serious face. She wondered how someone so young could become the leader of a group like the Blood Wolves. The dark-haired female had seemed uncompromising and ruthless. Did that make the man before her worse?

“Why are you frowning at me?” Noak asked.

She pulled the blanket tighter. “I’m not.”

Without her scarf, her unbound hair fell in front of her face. She pushed the loose strands behind her ears.

“What’s the meaning of your tattoo?”

Elsa realised her wrist was exposed and covered her hand with the blanket.

“There are many here who wear it,” he said. “I’ve seen it on both men and women of different ages, what’s its purpose?”

“It has no purpose,” Elsa said.

Noak didn’t believe her, but he didn’t press. They returned to their strange staring match. Elsa noticed he’d changed from the Black Guard’s uniform and now wore clothing in plain brown and faded green, an outfit better suited to blending into the environment on the surface. These clothes showed how far Noak had travelled to get here, and all for one little boy. Elsa doubted anyone besides her uncle would do the same for her.

“Finn’s lucky to have friends willing to come all this way to rescue him.”

“As I said, he’s important to a lot of people.”

“What will you do once you have him?”

“I’ll go,” the Blood Wolf said. “The underground city holds no other interest for me.”

Elsa traced the three scars on her palm.

“And will you fulfil your oath to me before you do?”

He frowned. “If that’s still your wish, yes, I’ll find a way.”

She let his words sink in.

“I can take you to the boy,” she said. “At the next shift change. I know a safer way back to my uncle’s cavern.”