Part 3
After some time she eventually stopped crying. It was all too much, Katy was still half convinced this was just a hyper realistic dream. The cuts on her hand and feet were beginning to throb painfully, almost trying to prove to her that this was, in fact, real. Try as she might, she couldn't ignore it. Despite how uncomfortable she was, she remained slumped against the wall in a daze, not registering the small number of people that walked right past her in the alley. They were too busy taking a short cut through the narrow street between some buildings, going about their daily business, the likelihood any of them would spare a second glance at what would appear to be some beggar girl.
By the time Katy found the energy within herself to move the sky was darkening, there was a slight chill in the air causing her to shiver. She winced when she stood up, the lacerations on the feet had mostly dried, but they reopened when she put weight on them, almost feeling the dirt from the ground being pushed into the open wounds as she limped towards the open street.
Katy paused at the mouth of the alley, looking suspiciously up and down the street. There were a few people milling around, on last minute errands before the sun disappeared from the sky completely. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she moved cautiously, slowly, mostly to keep as much distance between herself and other people as possible, but also to avoid any particularly rough patches on the ground.
Out in the open, she noticed people were looking at her, whispering to one another almost angrily. Katy kept her eyes on the ground, trying to keep her face covered by her hair to avoid the hostile staring. She hugged her arms around her body, ignoring the whispers that were getting steadily louder, closing in. The air was thick with murmuring.YOUR HAIR.
Katy stopped dead, eyes wide with shock. The thought had come suddenly, loudly, almost, and completely caught her off guard. She brought a hand up to touch her loose hair then looked around. Of course. Casting another glance around, Katy spotted a merchant closing his shop for the day, he kept a weary eye on her as she approached. However, when she stood before him, he refused to look at her, busying himself with the task at hand.
"Sir?" Katy addressed him quietly, "P-please, sir." A little louder, he still kept his back to her, until she reached out and lightly touched his arm.
The man recoiled from the feather light touch and turned to glower at her, "Get away from me, girl," his voice low and harsh, "Get away now, or I will call the guards."
Katy gasped and pulled away from him, tears springing to her eyes, she stepped back, putting her right foot down on a piece of broken pottery. If this was dream, the pain would have woken me, surely? Katy cried out in pain as she fell to the floor once more. Why, why, why?
The merchant quickly finished packing away his goods, obviously distressed about Katy's presence. He tried again to shoo her away, but it was clear she wouldn't be moving any time soon. She was crumpled on the floor, crying and shaking. Katy barely noticed him shuffling around her, but she was defeated, there was too much to even try and comprehend. As the merchant departed he dropped a large rag in her lap. "Cover yourself, girl." He said quietly, and then he was gone.
A/N: There's no set chapter length, so they will always vary, they do get longer as the story progresses though.
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