Part 1:
“Are you out of your mind! What the hell do you think you’re doing, bringing a stranger here?”
Eve watched silently as Sara was confronted by a young man of a lean, wiry build with dark hair and equally dark, hooded eyes. She’d introduced him to Eve as her older brother Lex.
“And how many times have I told you not to use our real names?” Sara stood defensively, glaring up at her brother, her arms folded across her chest.
“She saved me, Lex,” she said, “those three guys would’ve done me some serious damage, but she stopped them cold. Man, you should’ve seen her, those three assholes didn’t know what hit’em. And besides,” she lowered her voice, “look at her. She’s obviously been living on the street. She was probably out dumpster diving when it happened. I figured the least I could do was feed her and get her cleaned up.”
Eve could hear every word perfectly, but chose to remain quiet. It turned out that Sara, her brother, and their friends all occupied one small and very old building not far from where she herself had been staying. Eve knew that most of the citizens of the OuterCity belonged to some sort of group or gang. There was no doubt it was safer that way. Sara’s gang was small, more of an extended family, consisting of fifteen to twenty members of about the same age, Lex being the unofficial leader because he was the oldest at twenty-two.
She looked over at the two bickering siblings just in time to see Lex throw a hostile, suspicious glare in her direction. She gazed placidly back at him.
“Fine,” he said curtly. “You can clean her and give her some food, but you know the rule. Strangers are considered enemies until they’re checked out. If you’re not watching her, someone else is, got it?”
Sara smiled and nodded, and taking Eve’s hand she guided her into a bathroom as Lex wordlessly watched them go.
“I hope my brother didn’t offend you,” she said once the door was shut. “He was only that angry because he was worried about me. Eventually he’ll calm down, maybe even so far as to thank you for saving my life.”
“That’s not necessary,” said Eve.
Sara rolled her eyes. “Maybe not, but it’s still the polite thing to do.” She reached down and turned on the water faucet in the bathtub. “Now, strip.”
Eve dutifully removed her shoes and clothing and stood unabashedly naked in front of the other girl.
“Well? Aren’t you going to get into the tub?”
At the Compound, the washing facilities had consisted of communal showers. She’d never taken a bath in her entire life. She stepped into the bathtub and watched silently as the water level rose almost to her knees.
Sara shut off the faucet and gathered up her discarded clothes. “I’ll see what I can do about cleaning these,” she told Eve. “There are towels under the sink, and anything else you might need you can probably find in these drawers or the medicine cabinet.” Then she was out the door and gone, leaving Eve standing in the tub.
Slowly, she sank down until she was kneeling, and finally until she was sitting. Surprisingly, she found the warm water to be quite enjoyable and she leaned back until her chin was just above the surface. The bathtub was too short, she found, and her knees stuck up out of the water.
First she washed her hair, lathering and rinsing several times, then she took a bar of soap and a brush and scrubbed herself thoroughly. When she was done she rose and stepped out of the tub, pulling the plug from the drain.
She retrieved a towel from the cupboard and dried off, then wrapped it around herself. She studied her reflection in the mirror over the sink for a moment before beginning to rummage through the drawers until she found what she was after. Using the small cosmetic scissors she began trimming her hair until it was the length it had been before. She rinsed out the sink and then spread some toothpaste on her finger and cleaned her teeth.
There was a soft knock at the door and then it opened a crack and Sara poked her head in. “Good, you’re finished,” she said, opening the door all the way. “I’ve got your clothes. I don’t know what this stuff is made out of, but it dries freakin’ fast. Good thing, too, because I don’t think any of my clothes would fit you.” She handed Eve her garments. “There’s food waiting for you when you come out.”
“Thank you,” said Eve.
“Least I could do,” Sara replied cheerfully as she left the room.
Eve donned her clothing and went back out into the living area of the apartment, hanging her towel on a hook on the back of the bathroom door.
Lex was sitting in a chair with his feet up on a battered coffee table, watching her with his mouth drawn into a thin line.
“I hope you don’t mind leftovers,” came Sara’s voice from the small kitchen.
“She’s been eating out of the garbage,” said Lex, still eyeing her, “she’s probably grateful for anything.”
“You can be a real prick sometimes, Lex, you know that?” Said Sara angrily. “C’mon, Eve, before the food gets cold.”
Eve sat down at the small kitchen table and Sara put a heaping plate of food in front of her. It was much better than the Compound food had been, and she savored the new tastes and textures.
“This is very good,” she told Sara, who beamed at her, then turned and stuck her tongue out at her brother.
"You can crash on the couch tonight," Sara informed her while she ate. "It folds out into a bed. It's kinda lumpy, but it's better than the floor."
Later, as Eve lay tucked into the first real bed she'd slept in since leaving the Compound, she tried to evaluate her position. She knew it was potentially dangerous to place her trust in other people. If word somehow got back to whomever had ordered the destruction of the Compound, they might very well hunt her down and kill her. Then again, if she were the only survivor, they might just choose to ignore her existence. Her goal right now, though, was to stay under the radar, and to do that she'd have to try and seem as normal and human-like as possible, keeping her origins and abilities a secret.
Eventually she came back around to the same thought that had been nagging at her for the last several days.
Why? Why kill us? Why kill the scientists? What sort of threat did we present? And to whom?
+====*====+
The next day Eve was introduced to some of the members of Sara's gang. She'd told them about the incident in the alleyway, and the others seemed to consider it a sign that Eve was acceptable. Each of them went by a nickname that members of other groups and societies knew them by when they went out. Lex, as the oldest and the leader, was called 'Prince', and Sara, as his little sister, was known as 'Princess'.
There was Nik, a slight young man about Sara's age with pale skin and eyes and white-blonde hair who went by 'Snowman', and Luka, a boy in his late teens with brown hair and glasses who was called 'Tick-Tock' by the others because he wore a multitude of watches on both arms.
A girl named Twila, who was sporting a head full of short, spiky, shockingly pink hair and was wearing fierce-looking black boots, fishnet stockings, clothing of some material that glittered, and colorful bangle bracelets nearly up to each elbow, went by the moniker 'Sparkle'.
The second oldest member of the group was Casey, or 'Doc'. He was tall and thin with dark blonde hair, and carried around a beat-up old black medical bag filled with an assortment of items, the full inventory of which he would share with no one.
A short, dark complexioned boy, whose name turned out to be Matthias, was introduced to her as 'Shakes'. He did seem to possess an unusual amount of twitches and tics, and seemed especially paranoid, even for someone living in the OuterCity.
Then there was Pippa, the youngest member, a small girl barely in her teens with frizzy red hair and freckles. The others affectionately referred to her as 'Sweet Pea'.
The final member she met was J.D., or 'Rev' as he was called, short for 'Reverend'. He was a plain looking young man in his mid teens with sandy hair and hazel eyes, who spent his free time reading his well-worn bible and offering spiritual advice to others, though Sara assured her that he was never pushy or preachy.
There were others that she wasn't introduced to at that time; apparently members came and went as they pleased, as long as they checked back in every once in a while. Eve thought that it was a lot of responsibility for one young man like Lex to shoulder. Perhaps that explained his hostility toward strangers.
She learned that because the OuterCity didn’t really rouse itself until after sunset the gang led a nocturnal lifestyle, sleeping during the day and waking at night. That evening they were planning to visit a place called The Oracle, and Sara insisted that Eve go with them.
As the sun was setting, everyone began getting ready. Eve watched interestedly as the young people bustled around trying on clothes and running from apartment to apartment asking each other's advice. After a couple of hours of this the girls seemed satisfied and congregated in Sara's apartment, apparently to assist with Eve's transformation. Lex took one look at the group of excited teenage girls and rolled his eyes, leaving the apartment.
They sat her down in a chair and proceeded to apply cosmetics to her face and hair. Eve sat through it patiently as they argued over colors and application. Eve noticed that Sparkle was, indeed, sparkling. Her skin shimmered iridescently and she wondered what the girl had applied to achieve the effect. Another girl whose name was Nadine but who went by 'Rabbit' had tattooed the edges of her face with intricate black designs that curled up into her hairline and swirled down into her collar.
Sara was wearing a short, skintight outfight of a shiny dark green material that looked like snakeskin, and had put contacts in her eyes so that they resembled a reptile's. There was crimson color on her lips and around her eyes, and her hair was slicked back and fastened at the nape of her neck. A heavy gold necklace fashioned like a coiled snake encircled her throat and extended down her chest where the jeweled head rested just above her breasts. On her feet were ankle-high boots that added several inches to her height.
"Hey, what's this?" She asked, running her finger lightly over the number tattooed on the side of Eve's neck. "Is that permanent?"
"Yes," said Eve, "it is...an initiation mark from a gang I once belonged to." She wondered if they would believe the lie.
"Oh," said Sara, and let it drop.
When the girls were done with their ministrations, Sara led her to the bathroom so she could see herself in the mirror. "I figured we'd keep it pretty simple," she told Eve.
And compared to some of the other girls, it was. They had put metallic silver streaks in her hair and given it a choppy, asymmetrical shape. They had also applied a dark liner around her eyes and an equally dark tint to her lips. The effect on her pale features was one of cadaverous beauty.
"What can we do about her clothes?" Asked Pippa once the evaluation was complete.
“I prefer to keep my attire,” said Eve.
“Well, at least put something over it. You look like you’re getting ready to go scuba diving, or something.”
Sara looked thoughtful for a moment, then dashed to her room, returning a moment later with something black draped over her arms.
“I got this a while ago, but it was way too big for me. I bet it would fit you, though, Eve.”
Eve took the proffered garment and slipped it on. It turned out to be a long jacket made out of a leather-like substance, though real or faux Eve couldn’t tell.
“Here, let me do up the front for you,” Sara offered. Eve stood still while the young girl fastened a series of clasps.
When she was done, the girls stood back to admire their handiwork. Sara brought out a full-length mirror from her bedroom so that Eve could see herself. The jacket was very tight and fitted on top, with a series of buckles and straps going down the front to secure it. The sleeves were also tight and extended down to her wrists, with more buckles down the side of the forearms. At the waist the jacket split and flared out, billowing loosely down to the tops of her boots. The collar was stiff and encircled her throat, with a single buckle across the front which covered her ID number.
“Very swank,” Sara told her approvingly and grinned.
“What are we going to call her?” Asked Twila.
Sara’s brows furrowed momentarily, then cleared. “Angel,” she said decisively, “because she was sort of like my guardian angel when she saved me.”
The other girls nodded in agreement just as a group of young men, led by Lex, entered the apartment.
“Ta-da!” Sara shouted proudly, motioning to Eve. “Everyone, meet Angel.”
A few of the boys whistled and shouted their approval. Eve noticed that for an instant the look on Lex’s face had been completely different from the one he’d been wearing since meeting her, but she couldn’t decide what the exact expression had been. It was quickly replaced by his usual brooding scowl.
“Are you ready to go yet?” He demanded. By this time it was already past eleven.
“Yes, we are,” said Sara huffily, “and don’t pretend you’re upset, because we go through all of this for you guys, and we know you like it. C’mon, ladies.” The girls filed out of the apartment after Sara with the boys following along behind.
The members of the gang took turns going out and staying behind to guard the building, and the group going out that evening stopped to say goodbye to the wistful-looking crew of young people whose turn it was to safeguard ‘The Citadel’, as Eve discovered they called their home, before exiting the building into the dark, tainted heart of New Delphi.
Part 2:
They encountered several other gangs on their way to The Oracle, of which most were friends, judging by the easy and familiar way they greeted each other. Several times Eve caught members of the other troupes staring and pointing at her. She assumed that any new addition to a gang was worthy of noting.
The Oracle turned out to be located in the basement of a burned-out parking garage. The only access inside was the single working elevator which was guarded by two men, one a burly Polynesian with blue markings all over his body, the other a smaller, skinnier man with a patch over one eye. Lex spoke to the one-eyed man whose name, appropriately enough, turned out to be Cyclops, while the other sentry looked on with apparent disinterest, his heavy-lidded eyes inscrutable.
They were let into the old freight elevator in short order, the twelve of them just fitting inside. The ride down took only a few seconds and the doors opened with a quiet whooshing noise.
The scene that greeted Eve’s eyes was one of complete chaos. The place was simply a vast concrete room with large square pillars interspersed throughout. It was packed wall-to-wall with people who, in the dim and pulsating light, looked like no more than a sea of moving bodies.
They were apparently moving in time to some type of music that Eve had never heard before, music with a lot of bass and not much else, but she noticed that only some of the dancers were actually keeping the rhythm, while the others were writhing and gyrating of their own accord. A few of them were dancing so closely and so provocatively that it almost seemed to verge on the obscene.
“Pretty cool, huh?” Sara asked her, having to nearly shout to be heard. She wore a gleeful smile and her eyes flashed keenly.
They exited the elevator and a handful of the young people immediately scattered into the crowd.
Lex took his younger sister by the arm. “Don’t wander off too far,” he warned her.
“Don’t worry,” she reassured him, inclining her head in Eve’s direction. “I’ve got my Angel with me.” Lex frowned, but refrained from commenting.
“Remember,” Sara told her lowly once her brother was out of hearing distance, “only refer to us by our nicknames. If Lex finds out you used our real names he’s liable to kill you...then me.”
Eve thought perhaps Sara was exaggerating, but considering her brother’s attitude, she wasn’t absolutely certain.
“Wanna dance?” Sara asked her, motioning toward the crowd.
“I don’t know how,” Eve replied.
“Oh, well, it’s not that difficult, you know. You just sort of move around. No one cares what you look like or if you’re in time to the music.” She demonstrated by sinuously moving her hips and shoulders in a slow rhythm, the impression of a snake magnified by her attire. “See?”
Eve cocked her head to side slightly, but remained standing motionless.
Sara giggled. “I guess I could introduce you around. C’mon.”
Eve allowed herself to be steered around and acquainted with many of Sara’s friends, all of whom were regaled with the retelling of how Eve and Sara had met. They all seemed to be fascinated and at the same time a little frightened of her silent, enigmatic presence. On numerous occasions Eve was asked by men if she’d like to dance, and a few times if she’d like to do something of a more lewd nature. Sara made it her job to turn them all away.
“Men can be such pigs some times,” she noted conversationally.
“Mmm,” agreed Eve vaguely.
“Are you thirsty? Want something to drink?”
Eve noticed that her throat was a little dry, so she nodded.
“Follow me.” Sara wound her way through the mob of people to one end of the garage. Against the heavily graffitied wall a makeshift bar had been set up. A man was tending it, though Eve witnessed several people simply go behind the counter and help themselves.
Sara found and empty spot at the bar and squeezed in. "I'll have a rum and coke," she told the bartender, then glanced back over her shoulder. "Eve?"
Eve scrambled for an appropriate reply. "I will have the same," she said finally.
Their drinks were made in short order and Eve accepted hers when Sara handed it to her. She watched interestedly as the younger girl took a sip of her drink. She followed suit, only to find herself nearly spitting the liquid back out. It was the most vile thing Eve had ever tasted. She swallowed it with some difficulty, feeling it burn the back of her throat. Apparently her disgust showed plainly on her face because Sara laughed.
"Not much of a drinker, eh? That's all right. I don't much like it myself, but the eventual buzz is worth it."
"Are you sure about that?" Asked Eve, doubtful.
Sara looked down at the drink in her hand, momentarily quiet. "No," she finally said, without her usual exuberance, and set the glass on the counter.
The music suddenly changed to a faster tempo and the lights began pulsing brighter and faster to keep up. The movement out on the dance floor became frenetic and before Eve could protest Sara had grabbed her hand and dragged her out into the midst of it. There were bodies pressed up against them on every side, and Eve wondered if what she was experiencing was excitement or claustrophobia.
"Can't decide if you want to join in or run?" Asked a voice in her ear, and she turned her head to see Lex standing next to her.
"Something like that," she said.
"I know the feeling," he admitted, looking around. "Look, I know I never thanked you for helping my sister," he said, turning back to her.
"As I told her, it's not necessary."
Some sort of struggle seemed to go on behind his dark eyes. He stepped in closely to her, so that their bodies were nearly touching, and lowered his voice so that only the two of them could hear. "Rabbit mentioned that you belonged to some other gang once. If you're using my sister to spy on us, or to get to me, I swear to God - ,"
"Your fears are unfounded," she interrupted him, her arctic blue eyes boring into his. "I answer to no one but myself. However, if you wish me to leave, I will."
He stared hard at her for another few seconds. "No," he said at last, "no, Sara likes you, and you've already proven you can be useful in a fight." He swiveled his head around. "Speaking of which, where is Sara?"
Eve looked around and realized that Sara had become separated from them. She scanned the crowd, using her enhanced vision to search the entire basement area. She finally spotted the girl in a dark recess cornered by a group of men, one of whom she recognized from the previous night in the alley. Twila and Nadine were also there, but Sara was obviously the focus of their attention.
Eve immediately began pushing her way through the crowd toward them and she could tell that Lex was right behind her. They arrived at the same time as Casey, Luka, J.D., and a couple of others.
Sara spotted her brother and Eve coming toward them. Her arm shot out, pointing at the familiar man. "That's him! Or, at least, one of them," she exclaimed.
"One of who?" Asked Lex.
"One of the assholes who attacked me last night!"
Lex grew dangerously still and slowly turned to the man in question. "Is that true, Wheeler?" He inquired softly.
The man called Wheeler scoffed, but his eyes held a slightly panicked look. "I don't know what she's talking about. I've never met her before in my life. I was at Mecha all night last night, ask these guys, they'll vouch for me." The men surrounding him nodded.
Eve stepped forward. "That is not true," she said. "This man did, indeed, attack Princess last night, along with two others. I believe one of them should still be suffering from a broken nose.” She noted how Wheeler seemed to be favoring his right arm. “You’re the man whose arm I dislocated.”
He finally recognized her as the one who'd thwarted his attack on Sara, and he took a hurried step back. She heard him mutter "That's her! That's the chick!" to the other men.
"Okay, okay!" He said aloud, "So the guys and I were having some fun! We didn't mean no harm! I swear, we didn't know who she was! We weren't really gonna do nothin', anyway."
"That is not true, either," said Eve. "One of the other men referred to her as 'her highness', meaning that they were aware of her street name."
“Yeah!” Added Sara for emphasis.
“It seems that you’re prone to mistakes, Wheeler,” said Lex. “Of which this is your biggest, and your last.” He stepped forward, as did the others of his gang. The two groups seemed on the brink of violent confrontation when a new man stepped into their midst.
Tall and languid, he moved with the easy grace of a cat. His features were handsome and aristocratic, with a certain unmistakable arrogance. Steely grey eyes gazed out from beneath reddish blonde brows the same color as his hair. He gazed around serenely, and then his full, sensuous mouth broke into a smile.
“Problem?” He asked lightly, his voice a pleasant baritone.
"Cain," Lex growled as he caught sight of the man.
"Prince," he returned cordially. "Is there a reason you're about to assault my men, or has your violent nature finally gotten the better of you and overrun your good senses?"
"Your men attacked my sister last night." Eve could sense the hatred Lex had for this man Cain.
"A mistake, I'm sure," said Cain smoothly. His men nodded in mute agreement.
"If you have a problem with me, you take it up with me and no one else. Or are you so much of a coward that you have to send your men after an unarmed little girl?"
Cain showed no sign of registering the insult. "I assure you, I ordered no such attack. If my men acted without provocation, they will be punished. Besides, from what I can see, your sister is unharmed. I cannot say the same for three of my men. Obviously, saying that she was ‘unarmed‘ is a stretch." Wheeler tapped his boss on the shoulder and pointed discreetly at Eve.
The man named Cain turned his attention to her. His lambent eyes traveled leisurely once down the length of her body before returning to her face. Eve didn’t think she’d ever been scrutinized in quite that way, and she felt an uncontrollable urge to shiver.
“I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure,” he said silkily, stepping toward her.
“My name is - ,” she stopped herself just as she was about to give him her real name. “Angel,” she finished.
He cocked an eyebrow. “I am by no means a religious man, but I don’t believe that the good book ever mentioned an angel quite like yourself.” He wore a playful half-smile. “Perhaps you lost your wings and fell to Earth, is that it?“ He reached out his hand and gently caressed the side of her face. Again, she felt the urge to tremble. He leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Are you a fallen angel, then?” She could smell his cologne, and under that, the musky scent of his body. His voice became huskier. “Or perhaps you discarded your wings? Tore them off and threw them away so you could come down here, see what sort of earthly delights we mortals have to offer, hmm?”
"That's not good enough, Cain," said Lex loudly, liberating the momentarily captivated Eve.
Cain turned his head to look at Lex, but didn't move away. "What's that?"
"Your word," Lex clarified, "about punishing your men. It's not good enough."
"I'm afraid it will have to be," said Cain in a bored voice, returning to stand by his subordinates.
Lex took a threatening step toward the taller man and without warning one of Cain's men drew a gun from beneath his jacket and pointed it at Lex.
"Put that away!" Cain snapped, but it was too late. The members of Lex's gang surged forward and fell on Cain‘s people viciously.
A few bystanders at the fringe of the dancing crowd began edging away as the two groups began fighting. Eve saw Luka and the man with the gun tussling over the weapon and as they struggled it went off, firing a shot into the ceiling. The sound of the gunshot caused immediate panic in the garage and people began shouting and pushing to get to the exits. There was only one entrance into The Oracle, but a number of exits for safety reasons.
The man with the gun was overpowering Luka and slowly bringing it down to bear on him. Eve stepped forward and delivered a side snap kick to the man's right wrist, breaking it. He howled in pain and released his grip on the gun.
Eve felt someone strike the back of her left leg with a length of metal pipe, or something similar, and it buckled, forcing her down on one knee. She looked to the side to see a man preparing to hit her on the head or back of her neck. Repositioning her weight, she made a fist and drove her arm into the man's groin as hard as she could. He made an odd whistling noise and fell over sideways.
She rose to her feet and took a quick look around. The room was nearly empty, but the music and the lights were still going full blast. Most of Cain's men were involved in the brawl, but Cain himself was nowhere to be seen.
She spotted Twila scuffling with a man who had pushed her up against a wall and had his hands around her throat. Eve marched up behind him, grabbed him with one hand by the nape of his neck, and squeezed. He jerked and let go of Twila, and Eve dragged him backward a step or two before driving him face first into the wall. She let go of her hold on him and he slumped to the ground, leaving a bloody smear behind. The man was unconscious and no further threat, but Eve discovered herself wanting to do further damage to him, which didn't make sense.
She didn't have much time to think about it, however, because the fight was still raging around her. Letting her training take over, she entered the mêlée and began dispatching opponents with robotic precision. Soon, a number of Cain's men were lying senseless on the ground and the rest decided to flee, leaving their fallen comrades behind.
"C'mon," instructed Lex, who was sporting a black eye and a split lip, "let's get out of here before they come back with reinforcements."
The twelve of them left The Oracle by a route that exited out onto a different street than the way they'd come. They hurried home with Eve in the rear keeping a lookout for a possible retaliatory strike. They had triumphed in the battle, more or less, but had not escaped without some injuries. J.D. and Luka were supporting Matthias between them, and Nik had a nasty gash on his forehead. Most of the others had cuts and abrasions of some sort.
They made it back to The Citadel without incident, but didn't allow themselves to fully relax until they were in Lex's and Sara's apartment. Everyone except Eve collapsed onto furniture or the floor while Sara fetched a first-aid kit. No one said anything and after a few seconds Eve realized that they were all staring at her.
She alone had escaped injury - she didn’t have so much as a bruise. She was standing silently in the corner, clearly not exhausted like the others. Indeed, it didn’t even appear as if she’d been in a fight, and she had perhaps fought the hardest and had undoubtedly done the most damage.
“What the hell are you?” Asked Casey wonderingly.
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