A Calling-Short Story

    Ava is easily one of my favorite characters from my new project I am plotting out! I got the idea for a short story to help develop her character and I knew I would share it with you guys! Happy reading!

***

    Patrol shifts were never fun. Ava hated them more every time she went on a new one. 

    All the shifts did was show her how her sister was a terrible leader. And there was nothing Ava could do about it. She could only watch the terrors unfold in front of her, while hoping to stay alive herself.  

    Ava pulled her black, leather jacket tighter over her shoulders. She shivered. Fog drifted from behind the empty ruins and odd shadows danced in the dim sunlight.

    “I wish Regnum City was more than a scrapyard,” Ava muttered under her breath. 

    The woman walking beside her, Ellie, scoffed. “This is the only way the city survives. The only way the people who live here survive. This is the way the city has been for decades. There is no way to change that.” 

    Ava started to disagree, but she shut her mouth. It was no use to argue. The other members of the Shadow Lizard had been persuaded to believe this lie. 

    All the other members, but Ava. 

    Ava could see the truth about the city around her. Ever since that trip to the nearby city when she had wandered off alone. 

    That had been nearly six years ago. 

    And it could be forever until she saw the nice woman who had talked to her. 

    Ava could still dream though. That was something nobody could take away. 

    She stopped her train of thoughts to look at the streets around her. So far she hadn’t seen a single person out. 

    Probably hiding. After all, who would want to be out when Shadow Lizard patrols were out?

    “See anything?” Ellie asked gruffly from inside her seemingly endless hood. Her cloak billowed behind her in the small wind. 

    Ava shook her head. “No.” She kicked a loose pebble on the ground, letting the long side of her unevenly cut hair fall into her face. 

    She heard the metallic click of Ellie pulling the gun out of its holster on her side and reloading it. 

    “I always hated this side of town,” Ellie growled, putting the gun back. 

    Ava lifted her head to see Ellie’s hand still resting on the gun. Part of her wondered what this woman’s past was. It wouldn’t be the first time she wondered that. 

    Ellie had the most mysterious past out of anyone. 

    Over all sixteen years of Ava’s life, she had slowly pieced together everyone’s pasts. 

    Everyone except Ellie. 

    “Why do you hate it?” Ava asked in a hesitant tone, almost afraid to ask. 

    Ellie stopped walking and whirled to face her. “None of your business,” She snapped. 

    Ava raised her eyebrows, but didn’t ask anything else. She continued walking, her gun bouncing against her hip. 

    Ellie soon caught up with her long stride.  

    “Just because you are Zaria’s sister doesn’t mean you can boss the rest of us around,” She hissed. “We all know Zaria would do anything to have an excuse to kill you.” 

    Ava bit her lip, not bothering to reply. She wasn’t going to think about how she and her sister didn’t get along. 

    She was spared the torture of listening to Ellie’s remarks. A loud crash came from an alley between two buildings that were mostly reduced to piles of bricks, cutting off their little conversation. 

    “What was that?” Ellie asked, pulling the gun from her belt and holding it in front of her. 

    Ava let her hand rest on her gun, but she didn’t pull it out. Something in her doubted it was anything really dangerous. 

    She took a deep breath. “Stay here. I’ll go check it out.” 

    “You can’t boss me around. You are nothing but a kid,” Ellie growled. 

    Ava turned on her heel to face Ellie, crossing her arms and straightening to her full height. 

    “I am going to go check it out. Stay here,” She repeated in a more authoritative tone. 

    Ellie huffed, but she backed off, allowing Ava to go. 

    Ava tossed her head and began walking towards the alley. She went fast at first, but slowed as she neared the dark alley. 

    She tightened her grip on the gun as she crept forward. She stopped at the entrance to the alley, wondering if it was a good idea to go in alone. Nobody would help her if something bad happened. In fact, most everyone would be happy she was gone. 

    She shook her head and took a confident step into the alley. 

    It was far too dark to see, so she flipped on the lights built into the gun. It lit up the alley with its green glow. 

    “Who is there?” Ava asked in a flat tone. 

    There was the sound of movement and a few loose bricks clattered to the ground. 

    Ava stepped forward. It might have just been a rat. 

    Right. Ava told herself. Just a rat. 

    “Hello?” She said slowly.

    There was a loud thump and a shout.

    That was not a rat. 

    Ava walked closer, her heart pounding. The gun at her side slowly illuminated a dark space behind a pile of bricks. 

    She let out a strangled gasp. 

    Two girls about seven years old were crouched behind the bricks, grasping onto each other. They were small and thin. Ava could see the first girl’s two twisted legs. They had to be twins, because they looked almost exactly alike, from their long brown hair to their gray eyes. 

    They jerked away as Ava approached, as if they wanted to hide in the wall. 

    “It’s alright,” Ava said softly. “I’m not going to hurt you.” 

    The second girl gave a wary look at Ava’s gun. “B-but…” 

    Ava shook her head. “No. I won’t hurt you with the gun. I can get rid of it, if you want me to. I was just using it for light.” 

    “No…you can keep it,” the second girl said in a small voice. 

    “If you say so,” Ava said softly. “Now, I need to properly introduce myself. I am Ava. What are your names?” 

    The twins exchanged an unsure look. No doubt they had never had someone speak to them like this before. Nobody would bother with children. 

    Finally the second girl spoke again. “I am Vivian. This is my sister Lily.” 

    Lily gave a shy wave, not meeting Ava’s gaze. 

    “Nice to meet you,” Ava replied, smiling. “What are you doing here?” 

    Vivian sighed. “This is our home.” 

    “We don’t have anyone to look out for us,” Lily added in a whisper. 

    Ava looked at the two small figures. They were just one example out of many of how far Regnum City had fallen. 

            Without much thought, Ava made up her mind. If she wanted to make the city better, she had to help. 

    She already knew how to help. She could get them out of Regnum City. Help them find a nearby city with a better home where people could take care of them. 

    Ava was silent for a long time before she replied. “What if I could get you out of here, Vivian and Lily? What if I could find you a new home? A better home?” 

    Lily’s eyes lit up, but Vivian gave a sigh. 

    “There is no other home,” She said. 

    Ava shook her head. “No, there is. I can show you.” 

    “Really?” Lily asked, hope in her voice. 

    “Yes,” Ava said, smiling. “I can show you. I will meet you here about an hour after it turns dark. I will take you to your new home. I have to go now.” 

    The girls nodded and Ava got up, beginning to walk down the alley. 

    She just needed to make a plan now…and a few explanations to a certain woman outside the alley…

***

    Ava’s eyes scanned the street around her as she slowly walked forward. It was pitch black, but she didn’t dare turn on any lights. She had to be stealthy. 

    As soon as that thought crossed her mind, her foot hit a rock and she stumbled forward, almost falling. 

    Ava muttered under her breath, regaining her balance and continuing on. Maybe lights would be fine, as long as they were dim. 

    No, she shook her head. She had to save the twins and if she got caught, all three of them would get executed or worse. 

    She had to stay hidden as well as possible, getting both girls to the border and getting them across. 

    Plus, she had already gone through too much to turn back now. Getting out of the fortress was hard enough with the guards. 

    Ellie was right, nobody respected the fact that Ava was Zaria’s sister, nor did they really care. 

    Ava inwardly sighed. She didn’t have time to think about it right now. She would have plenty of time later, she just had to complete her quest. 

    She spotted the shadow of the alley up ahead. She was almost there. 

    Her heart was pounding. Out of excitement, relief, or fear, she couldn’t tell. 

    Ava stepped into the alley. “I’m here. Vivian? Lily? Are you ready?” 

    “Yes…I think,” a voice said from further in the alley. 

    Ava walked to the end of the alley, where the twins were. Vivian was standing, holding Lily’s hand. 

    “I…how can I…” Lily said in her soft tone, glancing down at her legs. 

    Ava shrugged. “I’ll carry you on my back, if that’s alright with you?” 

    Lily’s eyes brightened and she nodded. Vivian looked relieved. 

    “Good,” Ava said, bending down and hoisting Lily up onto her back. The girl was much lighter than she expected. “Now let’s go. Try to be quiet. We are heading to the border wall.”

Vivian began walking with determination in her step and Ava followed closely behind. 

They walked out of the alley onto the dark street. 

Ava sniffed. It smelled like rot. She almost gagged. They could also do something about the smell of Regnum City. 

“Why are you helping us?” Vivian asked in a whisper. 

Ava shrugged. “Because I want to. You deserve to get out of here.” 

“But…you are a gang member…you carry a gun…” Vivian said, looking pointedly at Ava’s gun. “You are supposed to arrest people like us. Why are you helping us escape? It’s like…super illegal.” 

“I’m…I learned the truth, Vivian. I learned how broken Regnum City is. How much it needs healing. How much people who live here need healing. So…I’m helping…in secret,” Ava replied, lifting Lily higher on her back. 

“Like a secret spy,” Lily whispered, grinning. 

Ava returned her smile. “Yeah, like a secret spy.” Then she stopped, looking up. 

Vivian gave a small sigh when she saw the wall. “There is no way we can get up that!” 

“We can,” Ava muttered, scanning the wall. Her eyes caught on some loose bricks. “We’ll climb up. Lily and I will go first.” 

She walked to the wall and placed her feet in the holes where the bricks had fallen. Then she grabbed the rough edge of another brick higher up. She hoisted herself up, slowly climbing to the top. 

Ava used her boot to press the barbed wire down, immensely thankful at that moment for the thick boots that were several sizes too large for her. 

“Okay, Lily. I’m going to climb down and set you on the other side. Then I’ll help your sister,” She said, gingerly moving her feet to the other side. She slowly climbed down, jumping to the bottom as soon as she was far enough. 

She bent down and helped Lily off her back. 

“Thanks,” Lily said softly. 

Ava nodded, then turned back to the wall. She scurried back up to the top. 

“Okay, Vivian. Go ahead and climb up. I’ll help you with the barbed wire,” Ava whispered, her eyes darting around. She had gotten one of the twins down without a problem. Should be perfectly easy to get the second twin down…right? 

There was a crash from another street nearby. The metallic noise of a gun being pulled out of a holster echoed across the wall. 

The nightly patrol was out. 

Ava growled under her breath. She had tried to time the escape perfectly, in between the two patrols. 

They had taken too long. Five minutes at most and the patrol would be down the street they were on. 

“Hurry, Vivian! Please be as quiet as possible,” Ava said urgently. 

She heard the sounds of movement on the wall. Vivian was climbing up. 

It seemed to take too long. Vivian climbed at the speed of a snail. 

Finally, the girl’s head appeared on the top of the wall. “I’m so sorry…I can’t climb very well…” 

“That’s fine! Now-Vivian!” Ava’s eye grew wide as Vivian let out a yelp, her foot slipping. Vivian began to fall, but Ava’s quick reflexes saved them. She caught the back of Vivian’s shirt and hauled her onto the top of the wall. 

“Are you okay?” Ava asked worriedly. 

Vivian nodded quickly. 

“What was that?!” One of the gang members on patrol shouted from the nearby street. 

Ava’s eyes widened. They had heard Vivian’s shout. Her heart began pounding in her chest. 

“We have to hurry! Come on! I’ll lower you onto the other side of the wall,” She said urgently. 

Vivian grabbed her hands and allowed Ava to lower her onto the other side of the wall. The girl began to climb down. 

The sound of tramping footsteps grew closer as the glow of the patrol’s guns started to light up the dark alley. 

Ava shook her head. They couldn’t even catch a glimpse of what they were doing. 

She made a split second decision. 

“Ava! What are you doing? I am not down yet!” Vivian cried. 

Ava ignored her and jumped off the wall. It was a ways down, but she didn’t have a choice. She had been sitting where the patrols could see her. 

She hit the ground with a thud. She grimaced as pain ran down her left arm. 

“Ava!” Lily exclaimed. “Are you okay?” 

Ava pulled herself to her feet, her arm hurting too much to move it. “I will be fine.” She walked to the wall and helped Vivian down. 

“Why did you jump off the wall?!” Vivian asked, staring at Ava. 

“You heard the patrol coming. I couldn’t let them catch you guys. If I sat there, they would have seen me and figured out what we were doing. Now, you guys need to get far away from here. There is another city a ways away. Through the forest,” Ava explained quickly. “Vivian, can you carry Lily on your back?” 

Vivian looked at her twin then nodded. “Yeah, I think so.” 

Lily got onto Vivian’s back without much trouble and the twins were ready for the rest of their escape. 

“Okay, I gotta go…good luck. Stay safe for me okay?” Ava said, smiling. 

Lily furrowed her eyebrows. “Why don’t you just come with us?” 

“Yeah,” Vivian added. “Why keep living there?” 

Ava paused. “I…I have some more things to finish here before I leave…It…it isn’t my time to leave yet,” She said slowly, then she turned and hugged both girls in a wide embrace. “Bye, I hope we can find each other again.” 

They only smiled. Then Vivian began walking away. 

Ava sighed and turned back to the wall. Time to go back, to find a way to sneak in.

She wasn’t sure why she hadn’t left with the twins. She had every reason to leave this terrible life behind. So why not go? 

Because she had a call to stay. This was her mission. Living this life was a small price to pay to fulfill her calling. 

Her calling was to help the people in Regnum City and to show that there was still light in a world full of darkness. 

***

Until next time, 

~A.J. Syngraféas