Slowly, Zarah took the paper, a little stunned. “…thank you,” she managed to say. “This is- thank you.”
“Pay me back by staying alive,” she replied. “Now, go. There are some police that always come by in a few minutes for their coffee.”
“Oh shit,” Kihri yelled in a strange accent, clearly quoting something, “it’s the fucking rozzers! Book it!”
Zarah shot her a glare, then turned back to Mrs. B, and bowed her head quickly in thanks. “I will… let you know,” she said, not feeling up to finishing the sentence.
She nodded back in return. “Stay safe.”
Chapter Three: Spring and a Storm (in which the mystery deepens and horrors are discovered)
(Read the entire chapter at once)
“Well, that certainly looks like something,” Kihri said slowly.
It was the first thing either of them had said in a while, and so it gave Zarah a small scare when her sister began speaking. They’d gone straight across the road into the park after leaving Market Square, and although Kihri had started talking about something called a ‘grid sweep’, Zarah had instead opted to head straight for the centre, following a gut instinct. Of course, being ignored had thrown Kihri into a sulk, and so she had spent most of the time floating a few meters behind Zarah, facing the other direction with her arms folded.
Quite frankly, she was glad for the respite – the park was beautiful enough that incessant chatter would have detracted from it. It was essentially a very small forest; tall pines ran in uneven rows from one end to the other, essentially keeping the entire park in the shade. There were some simple dirt paths here and there, and the occasional bench, but for the most part it was just the trees overhead and the dirt and grass underfoot. The wind was strong, and so the sounds of rustling branches and leaves filled the air, nearly drowning out the bird calls and other animals.
if you are enjoying the story, vote for it on topwebfiction, rate or leave a review on webfictionguide, or just recommend it to a friend.