Emeralds In The Rough
Taylor A. Galbraith
v
In 1868, at the tail end of the Industrial Revolution, with the Assassin Brotherhood all but eradicated in Victorian London, twins Jacob and Evie Frye leave Crawley for London and arrive to find a city controlled by the Templars, with both the Church and the Monarchy losing their power.
Marissa in a past life lives in London during this time and with that, she knows a different life from the one of the present. She lives a normal life, alone in her small home, until she meets a rather unexpected, but pleasant visitor late one night. A woman from the streets that had saved her life the evening previous to that night sat upon her window sill, watching her sleep.
Her name was Evie Frye, and she was one of the many assassins in London at the time, and she wondering what this woman of delight and fame wanted from her.
v
The air was clear and the sun was bright in the sky, as Marissa made her way down her street to a local store. It was a warm summer in June of 1868, and Marissa loved every ounce of the warming weather and sunlight. She smiled as she passed by some familiar faces, unaware that someone watched her from a far. Upon the church's rooftop, two streets away, emerald eyes watched her with complete attention and desire. Strands of her dark hair blew in the warm breeze of the late afternoon and her hands tightened into fists under the leather of her gloves. An assassin watched her as she walked; watching her every move. The assassin jumped down and disappeared into the lower surroundings of the local, busy streets. Marissa turned the corner and stepped inside the store. She was in there for only a few minutes before exiting. The assassin still had both eyes on her as she watched her from behind the building opposite of the one she was in. Marissa looked up and saw that the evening sky was becoming far more noticeable; she figured that she should be heading back, considering it was about a ten minute walk back to her home. The assassin followed her down the street, slipping into an alleyway and jumping up the sounds of the buildings to get to the tops. The sky grew into a darker shade of orange and purple mix. Marissa wasn't completely afraid of the night stalkers and the creeps that roamed the areas, but it still frightened her to an extent to just be alone in the dark. A shadow jumped and flew across the rooftops, from building to building, keeping up with her every step. This assassin was so taken by her she couldn't stop, not even for a minute. The stars pierced through the night's sky and she was only steps away from the front door.
She smiled in relief and turned to head up the stairs, only to be immediately stopped. A man stood casually, leaning against her door. He glanced up from under the rim of his hat and grinned at her in a rather unpleasant sense. Marissa nervously took a step back and the man stepped down a step and away from the door.
"Well, well, well… what do we have here?"
She tensed slightly as she felt his eyes burning through hers. He chuckled under his breath at her fear of him.
"Little mouse… Look who's all alone in the dark tonight?"
Marissa glared at him and clasped her hands around the parcel in her arms; a parcel of foods and goods, knowing also that the man was referring to her no longer being with her close friend, who'd moved out recently, and was now no longer there to walk with her home. The man chuckled and stepped forward again.
"Looks like it's our lucky night tonight…"
Marissa hesitated to ask, but the word slipped from her lips,
"O-Our…?"
The man chuckled more and two other men stepped out from the shadows of the building. Marissa hadn't even noticed them. Her eyes couldn't focus; she kept glancing back and forth, from man to man, nervous as to what to do.
"What do you say, huh?"
Marissa swallowed and slowly attempted to pace around them and back towards her door.
"I… I think I'm alright…"
One of the men stopped her by grabbing her arm before she could reach the first step.
"Oh, come now… Don't be like that… Come on; show us what you got…What's in the parcel?"
"It's nothing important to you…!"
The man, quicker than Marissa could see, stole the parcel from her arms. She gasped and attempted to grab it back but was held back by one of the other men from the shadows.
"Hey…! Give that back, please!"
The man who stole it chuckled and threw it to the man who first confronted her.
"Oh… Why…? What's in here that's so 'not' important to us…?"
He used a knife from his belt and tore the side open. He saw all the fresh foods and goods and smiled rather chillingly.
"What will you give us in return for this, huh?"
He stepped forward towards her and the man holding her in place.
"I'd rather starve than give you bastards anything of mine…!"
She spoke angrily, through gritted teeth before spitting at the man's face. He flinched back and chuckled quietly before swatting the back of his hand across her face. She gasped at the strike and struggled more, but the men tightened their grips on her and now their game was on.
v
Suddenly, a boot came down into the side of the man's head and the other two let her go with immediate fear in their eyes. Marissa fell to the ground and looked up, only to hear the sound of a blade clinging against metal. She closed her eyes and when she opened them again, a feminine-looking hand reached down through the darkness of the shadows.
What the hell…?
"Here… Let me help you up…"
Marissa stared up at her and then came to a realization of who she was.
"Who are you…?"
She asked, with a slight hint of suspicion to her voice. The stranger smiled from under the shadows of her hood; her green eyes glinted down at Marissa with an interest unexplainable.
"I'm the person who just saved your life… Those men were going to kill you… and do God knows what else… I just stepped in to help…"
Marissa took her hand, but as soon as she was on her own two feet, she pulled back and her brow furrowed slightly.
"I've seen you in the market… down the street… Have you been following me?"
The stranger was silent for a brief moment, but then calmly and kindly spoke,
"I'm only looking out for the people of this town…"
"Please… don't lie… I've seen you at night… up there… As if you were 'watching someone'…"
Marissa rolled her eyes and replied with a ring of sass to her voice as she pointed towards the rooftop just across from her home. Her bedroom window was in view of the rooftop. The stranger blushed slightly, but Marissa couldn't see it. All Marissa was certain of was that this stranger that just killed three men as if it were nothing was a woman.
Marissa was tired and it wasn't an uncommon thing to see people die so she wasn't even fazed by the three dead men in the street. She turned away and quietly spoke,
"Thanks for saving me… Now, just leave me alone, please…"
"My name is Evie… I'll now leave you be for the night if that is what you wish…"
Marissa paused briefly, with her back facing the assassin. She stepped up the steps and went inside, locking the door behind her. The woman grabbed the parcel of food that she'd dropped and climbed up the side of the building, to her window and placed them of the window sill. She jumped back down and quickly ran off. Marissa opened her bedroom door upstairs to instantly stop in her tracks; seeing the parcel of food on the window sill.
v
A week had passed since that evening out in front of her home. Marissa had mostly stayed inside since, and ever since, from a far, the woman who had saved her watched her; where she slept, what she did, where she dressed… She couldn't get her mind off of her.
v
Marissa walked to her home once again, the stranger following her once again.
"Why are you following me?"
Evie was speechless, not knowing what to say in the least. Marissa turned around to see her standing just mere feet away. She looked down, but then glanced up at her, flipping her hood back to reveal herself finally; after two weeks of stalking, and boldly spoke,
"…Because I want to protect you… I want to make sure nothing bad happens to you…"
Marissa stared wide-eyed momentarily, before she shook her thoughts away and glared slightly. She couldn't force herself to be mad at her, though. She was only trying to be friendly and caring. The only thing Marissa couldn't get around was why it was her. Why was this assassin giving her so much attention? Evie stepped forward and sighed,
"I'll leave you be for tonight… if that is what you wish…"
She repeated what she had the last time they'd seen each other. With that being said again, though, she shot a grappling hook to the top of her building and flew up, climbing on top and disappearing once again. Marissa stood there for a moment just thinking, then sighed and stepped up her steps once again and went inside her home. She went to sleep, but didn't decide to close her bedroom window.
Around 2:30 AM, the window slowly creaked open as the shadow of a familiar figure gently climbed inside, settling their feet softly to the ground and stepping towards the bed slowly, watching Marissa's relaxed form sleep.