original

The Twin Moons of Tansa

Author:

Chapter 1: Chapter 1

Taar sprinted into the alleyway, sirens screaming into the night behind him. His lungs burned; the back of his throat was on fire. Terrified, he searched for a place to hide if only for some small respite from the chase. Immense skyscrapers of concrete and metal towered over him, surrounding him, spearing into the night and disappearing beyond a veil of dirty, grey cloud. Ahead there was only darkness where anything could be waiting for him—the oversized rats that infested the slums of New Melbourne, vicious gangs, or even the very authorities he was desperate to evade

Every muscle screamed for relief from the tortuous pace he had been maintaining for the past thirty minutes, but he had to ignore the demands of his body and push himself ever forwards into the night. He could hear the sounds of footsteps, many footsteps, echoing down the alleyway after him, gaining on him. He could hear the officers shouting to each other, laughing as they ran, whooping and growling to intimidate him. Bastards. But he would not let them win. Getting caught was not an option. It just wasn’t.

“Pssssst. Ay, buddy!”

At first, the voice didn’t register.

“Oi, buddy!” The voice was a little louder this time. “Over ‘ere. Quick!”

Taar brought himself to a halt and was immediately pulled into the dense shadows of an abandoned service entrance.

“Ssssshhhhh,” said the husky voice. “If we’re lucky, they’ll run right by.”

The hand gripping his arm led him further into the darkness, through the shattered remnants of a door and into the derelict ground floor of an apartment building. There was an aroma of decay about the place, of rot and rodent, which he took deep into his lungs with each gulping breath. Outside, the scurrying footsteps were getting dangerously close. Faint traces of flashlight beams found their way into the space just inside the door, moving like ghosts across the detritus.

“He didn’t get this far.”

“Where else would he have gone, ya dickhead?”

“Must be around here somewhere.”

Taar took a step back. He hadn’t quite caught his breath, though somehow he managed to hold whatever breath he did have. Bang. Bang. Bang.His heartbeat was like a series of explosions going off inside his heaving chest. He pressed his hand against it, but the action did little to muffle the sound he was certain would give him away

Suddenly, he felt the stranger’s hand on his arm again, untended fingernails digging into him like talons.

“‘E’s in ‘ere! Yo! E’s ‘ere!”

Taar gasped. His eyes widened as the mysterious saviour-turned-traitor dragged him towards the voices, the flashlights, and certain capture. He dug in his heels but he was weak from the chase and the stranger, though wiry, was deceptively strong.

“What are you doing? I thought you were supposed to be helping me.”

The stranger’s laughter taunted him.

“‘Elping meself, more like.”

Then, the full beam of a police flashlight hit him in the face.

“We got him!” shouted one of the officers.

The semi-darkness came alive with movement as police officers poured into the small space.

“Is that him?” asked one of the officers. “You sure it’s him?”

Taar looked at the man who held him fast in his withered claw of a hand. The gaunt, haggard face offended him, and when he spoke, he spat, small globs of white spit splashing the officer and a good deal of it landing on Taar’s arm. “Is there a reward?” asked the man.

“Yes, there is,” said the officer, pulling Taar free of the claw. “But you ain’t getting it.”

The man’s expression turned from one of desperate hopefulness to one of stunned dismay as the sound of laughter erupted from the assembled officers.

“Ya can’t do that,” he complained, grabbing at Taar. “Ya offered rewards and I got ‘im. I got ‘im and kept ‘im for ya.”

The officer shoved the man in the chest, sending him staggering backwards into the shadows. Somewhere in the darkness, he hit the dirt with a muffled thud.

“We would have got him anyway,” explained the officer. “Thank your lucky stars we aren’t taking you in, as well.” Then the officer turned his attention to Taar. “Come on, handsome. You’re off to Processing.”

Taar shuddered. He felt his heart become a stone and sink to the pit of his stomach. His blood turned to ice, chilling him to the marrow. Silence cloaked him as he was escorted by the officers down the alleyway to the lamp-lit street, where a squad of police cars waited. A door was opened and a hand pushed him into the back of one of the vehicles. On either side of him, an officer, uniform in both appearance and expression, though he hardly noticed them. His eyes stared straight ahead, barely noticing the homeless man staggering out from the shadows of the alleyway to watch his meal ticket being driven away.

comment 0 comment

Vote

SEND GIFT

Load failed, please RETRY