Prologue
An ordinary coastal town, existing since ancient times while surviving countless power struggles, wars and diseases, was at long last at peace. The calmness of the city could be felt in the air with sea breeze frequently sweeping through the streets. The human makeup of the town consisted mostly of a strange blend of elderly people and students. The other demographics preferred to move out to the surrounding villages and away from the old city center. That changed significantly during the summer season with tourists filling up the place to the brim.
In such an idyllic yet lethargic setting, there were no serious crimes to speak of, or any other drastic events. The wildest thing that happened with some frequency was the occasional stumbling drunk person or group making a scene – and that too was soon swallowed by the overarching stillness.
On July 16th however, in broad daylight and in the heat of the full-blown summer, there was quite an unusual commotion happening within said city. Specifically, in a courtyard that was delineated by seven houses and an archway entrance, resembling an octagonal shape as seen from above. The courtyard had a decaying well smack in the middle of it, a few trees and recently renovated benches around.
An elderly frail looking lady with grey messy hair was being dragged out of her home and towards the archway, with an ambulance awaiting just outside. She was screaming hysterically as two stone-cold faced professionals handled both of her arms and patiently moved her. There were some curious faces to be seen observing the scene from inside of the surrounding houses, but nobody came out to protest or ask questions.
“Noooo! You can’t do this, I can’t leave!” screamed the person, while simultaneously trying to wiggle her way out of her captors arms.
“There there Ms. Linguise, it’s alright, we’re going to take good care of you,” stated one of the two first responders with a genuinely sympathetic voice, contrasting his unrelenting stare. Forcefully dragging people to a mental health hospital was the single least favorite part of his job.
“You don’t understand! I can’t go! It is not safe! I will not survive!”
Her voice grew more panicked and terrified which resulted in her tone raising to the point of shrieking and one sentence eating the other. She continued to kick with her feet and move her torso in an attempt to wrangle herself free. The two men responded by gently lifting her off the stone-paved ground and continued their advance without saying another word.
Passing under the archway, the old lady turned quiet, much to the relief of the two medics.
Joey Arlington arrived at the scene just in time to be surprised by the unfolding drama. Of many things she’s heard about the city, eventful was not in the vocabulary that people used to describe it. She observed the whole situation awestruck, with a bag over her shoulder and a suitcase behind her. She was standing so close to the ambulance that one of the two medics had to politely ask her to move out of the way, which snapped her back to reality.
She hesitated some more, not sure what to make out of it and awaited for the ambulance to depart before venturing towards her new home. Entering the courtyard she felt a strange feeling pass over her. Something was not right and almost made her turn in her tracks. She just brushed it aside as being the unease and uncertainty of a big life change, gripped the suitcase harder and continued towards her apartment inside Valor’s Circle number three.
Tomo Umer 