First Origin Chapter! These are going to be really fun to write.
One note, Seb's mother is Guatemalan, and he gets his looks from her. That is, he's naturally tan and has black hair.
"Over here! I swear, she went this way!"
"No, you moron! She went this way."
"Then what's that over there?"
A thunk echoed through the nighttime streets, indicating that one of the gang members had struck the other on the head.
"That's probably a cat or something. Come on, quit loafing! I've got a prize I wanna catch."
The thugs headed down the street and rounded the corner. As soon as they were out of sight, a girl emerged from the shadows of the alleyway. She swung herself over the railing of the fire escape and landed with a thud on top of a dumpster, before sliding off and dashing in the other direction, away from her predators. Her black braid flew behind her as she ran.
"Rory. Aurora." An arm nudged her in the side, urging the brunette to awaken. "Sis! C'mon, Rory, wake up!"
"Ugh. What?" she said sleepily, swatting the hand away. "What do you want, Seb?"
"Huck's getting restless," the eight year old said. "You should take him for a walk."
"What? It's," she rolled over on the sofa, looking at the clock on the wall above the office desk. "It's three thirty in the morning. Huck can wait."
"No. Take him for a walk." Seb said. Aurora reached for her glasses, putting them on and letting her eyes adjust to the light. She took in her brother's appearance. Instead of pajamas, he was dressed in jeans, a red t-shirt, and a green jacket, like he'd wear during the day.
"Sebastian, what are you doing dressed?"
"Take Huck for a walk," Sebastian said again. Aurora sat up, shaking off her weariness as the strangeness of the situation hit her. Sebastian pressed something into her hand; Huck's leash.
Aurora stood, slipping on a pair of sneakers and a jacket over her pajamas. She pulled her long brown hair up into a ponytail. Then, she turned back to Sebastian.
"If it's really this important, I guess I could. Though, who goes for a walk at this hour?"
Sebastian nodded. "It is important. Take Huck for a walk down to the corner of Fourth and Sparrow." Aurora eyed him warily. Sure, at times, her brother could be strange, but this was abnormal, even for him. She knelt down to his level.
"I'll take Huck for a walk. Meanwhile," she brushed his bangs out of his eyes, "You get some sleep."
Sebastian nodded. With that, Aurora walked out of the office. When she found Huck, he was waiting at the door, tail wagging.
She hooked the leash to his collar and started off into the night.
The girl backed down an alley, trying to keep as quiet as possible as her pursuers hunted the streets. She could hear their half-drunken yelps as they scoured the area. Of course, you wouldn't know they're half-drunk by the accuracy of their search; she'd tried to get out of the area dozens of times, but was always cut off by one of the scoundrels before she could make a break for the upper end. What was worse; the sky was beginning to lighten. Just barely, sure, but soon the sun would rise, and hiding in the shadows would be much, much harder.
As the current band of thugs headed her way, she backed further into her niche. She bumped something; it startled her, and she tried to get away, but a hand gripped her arm.
"Well. Aren't you a pretty thing?" a creepy voice whispered in her ear. She tried not to gag on the stench of his breath: drunk.
Her next instinct was to cry out, but her captor's other hand clamped over her mouth. It wasn't just his breath; his entire being stank of alcohol, grease, and whatever else these scumbags wallowed in on a daily basis. His fingers tightened, digging into her skin, and she grunted. Quickly, she adjusted her free arm and rammed her elbow into his gut.
He let go, gagging and spewing, and she made her getaway. However, much to her dismay, her little tussle had attracted the attention of the gang she'd been hoping to avoid. She could hear them approaching, and, seeing as there were no fire escapes, fences, doors, or windows within reach, ran for the alley entrance. She broke out onto the street and turned, only to have her moment of triumph cut short by a fist to the gut.
The girl doubled over gagging, hair hanging in her face as her braid started to come undone. A thug grabbed a handful of hair, picking her up and forcing her against the wall. She winced, but her pain was soon overshadowed by horror as another hand started grabbing and clawing at her shirt.
Aurora could see the street signs; they clearly read Fourth and Sparrow. This was where Sebastian told her to be. But why?
"Boy, oh boy. Look at this catch!"
"But she sure puts up a fight."
Aurora froze, listening to the voices. Slowly, she crept towards the corner and peered around the side of the building.
At least eight, maybe more, dirty, drunken scumbags were crowded around something. It looked like a girl was the object of their interest.
"Won't take long to break her," one of the thugs said, grabbing the girl's face. She squirmed under his touch.
Aurora turned back around, flattening herself on the wall. She had to do something to help.
Already, she could feel the light energy collecting in her palms. However, with little more than the half-lighted streetlights to lend her power, she wouldn't be able to do more than a weak beam, barely more than a flashlight. That wasn't going to cut it.
A rumbling growl from her companion gave her an idea. She held her hands in front of her, eyes closed, as she began to construct an image. She'd seen a movie once, one with great monsters and terrifying beasts. In her mind's eye, she could see a dog, a demonic dog, with footlong fangs, burning eyes, and sharp horns affixed upon its head. A dog with red fur and bloodstained claws, and spikes of bone sticking out of its spine. A truly nightmarish beast.
When she opened her eyes, she was slightly disappointed. The illusion wasn't as vivid as she'd hoped, but she didn't have enough light at her disposal. The colors were dull and the image was blurred, but perhaps the beast would still serve its purpose. Now that she had the shape down, she focused on movement, getting the image to do what she wanted. She stepped into the middle of the street, now in full view of the thugs. Finally, satisfied with her work, she put the final touches on her trick.
"Huck," she said to the dog, "Speak."
A loud and threatening noise echoed through the streets. The thugs huddled around the girl startled, searching for the source.
One man, a short and scrawny thing with wiry brown hair sticking in all directions, suddenly collapsed.
"Jackie? What is it? Get up, you louse," another man called.
Jackie's only response was incoherent mumbling as he scurried away.
"J-Dog! Where in hell do you think you're going?"
"Don't care! Just gimme outta here!" Jackie ran off. The other men exchanged glances, wondering what had scared him so badly. Suddenly, another man screamed. He lifted a shaking hand, pointing down the street. When the rest of the men saw what he did, they froze. The monster before them looked like something out of a horror film, big and demonic and terrifying. What's worse, it was headed right for them, barking its head off.
The oaf with his hand in the girl's hair let go, turning and running in the other direction, screaming for his life. With their leader gone, the rest of the thugs disbanded, each going their separate ways as they screamed and cried. Quite unfitting for men of their standing.
The demonic beast stopped in its tracks right next to the girl. However, instead of running and screaming like the gang members, she cracked a small smile.
"That's a cool trick," she said to nobody, but Aurora knew it was meant for her, "But I'm not stupid. At least, not as stupid as those guys. It's not real." To prove a point, the girl stood, grabbing a can that had been tossed to the ground, and threw it at the belly of the beast. Sure enough, the metal object sailed right through it, clanging to the street on the other side. The beast turned its head to her for a moment before dissipating into the night.
Aurora walked down the street, hands down at her side now that she had nothing to control. "How'd you tell?" she asked.
"Transparent. The streetlight was shining through his head the entire time." The girl approached Aurora, the small smile still on her face. "Thank you," she whispered.
"Why were those guys after you?" Aurora asked. The girl shrugged.
"Wrong place. Wrong time. They happened to find me, and wanted some entertainment, I guess. Couldn't find my way out of the area without one of them seeing me."
"What's your name?"
"Riley," the girl said, brushing herself off, "Riley Cohen."
"Riley, I'm Aurora, and this is Huck, my dog."
"The noise source? The barking? That was him, wasn't it?" Riley said, reaching down and patting the ever-eager Saint Bernard on the head.
"Yes. Now, if you don't mind my asking, where would you have gone if you'd gotten out?"
Riley shrugged. "Upper end? Find somewhere to stay for a while."
"Anywhere in particular?"
Riley gave Aurora a wary look. "Why're you asking?" Aurora didn't answer, and Riley sighed. "No, I guess. Not really," she hugged her arms around herself. The action made her look like a child, and something struck Aurora.
"Riley, how old are you?"
"Almost fourteen," Riley mumbled.
Aurora dug into the pockets of her jacket, an idea forming in her head. Her hand closed around a bundle of dollar bills. "Riley, will you come with me? We can get something to eat, and then I want to talk to you about something."
It was around seven when Aurora returned to the Station, Riley in tow. Bliss and Sebastian met her in the foyer. Bliss greeted Aurora by throwing her arms around her and saying; "Where you go? I wake up, you are gone. I was scared."
"Sorry! I had something I needed to do. Also, this is Riley. She's going to be staying here for a while." Bliss and Sebastian nodded.
Aurora looked Seb up and down, noting that he was still wearing the jeans, t-shirt, and jacket.
"Didn't I tell you to change?"
Sebastian's expression became a confused one. "What? I just put this on this morning."
"No, when you came into my room early this morning, telling me to take Huck for a walk, you were wearing that."
"I wasn't in your room this morning!"
"Yes, you were! You told me to take Huck down to the corner of Fourth and Sparrow. That was where I came across Riley." Aurora insisted.
Sebastian's eyes widened. "Oh." Suddenly, he spun on his heels and started walking out of the room. "I'm going to my room."