The City on the Edge

Valerie shouted, a wretched sound that could be heard through the stone walls of Basso’s butcher shop. Lorna stood at the counter, wringing her hands together. The door to the back room was closed but Ronnie could hear Valerie and Basso on the other side. Lorna reached out for her blindly, her hand searching through the air for hers. Ronnie caught it and wrapped her fingers around Lorna’s shaking hand.

Her face was pale and Ronnie could hear her throat constrict every time she swallowed. “Do you think she’ll be okay?” Worry was heavy in the air, ticking at Ronnie’s nose.

Ronnie thought about the blood and flesh baking in the sun outside. “I’m sure she’ll live. Basso seems like he knows what he’s doing.” Even to her own ears, she sounded uncertain.

Lorna looked up at her and for a moment Ronnie was afraid that she could hear the lie. “You’re right,” she said finally. “Basso’s been doing this for a long time.”

It was hard to tell how long they stood there, the sun dipping lower outside, before the door cracked open and Basso finally stepped out. Valerie’s whimpers still trembled on the air and reached Ronnie’s ears. She knew pain when she heard it. Basso looked surprised to see them waiting.

Lorna was the first to speak, “Will she be okay?”

Basso reached under the counter for a dingy cloth. Streaks of black blood and ichor coated his arms. He wiped at it as best he could. “It’s gonna be rough and she’ll be scarred, but she’ll live,” his tone was deep and somber.

He turned from them and lifted the lid of a cold chest, digging around inside. He pulled a large jar of red blood from it and dropped the lid closed.

“Lorna, would ya do me a favor?” He slid the jar across the counter. “It’s better for vampires to drink it warm and I don’t want to make her wait.”

Lorna nodded and let go of Ronnie’s hand. She wrapped slender fingers around the jar as wisps of white light arced between them. White veins, nearly invisible under her fair skin, raised and lit up like lighting flashing against the sky. It took only a few seconds before she released the jar. Her skin returned to normal as the magic retreated.

Basso scooped up the jar and nodded in thanks. “You guys should go home. I’m not gonna be leavin’ her side for a while.” Ronnie nodded and grabbed Lorna’s arm, pulling her to the door. “Oh, and tell Hazel I’ll have a case of blood tomorrow.”

“I’m not sure we can afford-“ Lorna began, but Basso batted her words away with a heavy hand.

“Don’t worry. Hazel’s a friend and I can’t imagine kids goin’ hungry.”

Ronnie nodded. “We’ll come back in the morning.”

Outside the shop, it was as if Valerie had already been forgotten. The market continued selling its wares, eager to get the day’s final sales, as if the White Guard hadn’t stomped through and tortured someone right before their eyes.

Complacency? Fear? The words popped up in Ronnie’s mind. Better you than me. Is that what we are?

A small red creature with leathery skin and six legs was picking up bloody clumps of dirt with mandible like appendages and stuffing them in its gaping mouth. Another demon feeding on the scraps of a supernatural. Lorna refused to look down as she passed. The demon chirped at them as they passed, as if worried they might try to take its dinner.

“Something has to change, Ronnie,” Lorna said suddenly. “We can’t keep living like this. We need to stop hurting each other and start helping each other.”

“I know.” Not for the first time, Ronnie wondered what life was like before Marla’s Battle. Before the humans won and built their city with its towering marble walls. Before the divide and the purge and before magic was locked up, cutting off every supernatural’s connection to it. “Maybe, someday, things will change.”

A resounding boom cracked through air, like a burst of ear-shattering thunder. The ground trembled beneath Ronnie’s boots and air blew past her in a sudden gust that really pushed her off her feet. She gasped, inhaling a cloud of dust as it rolled down the street like a wave. Lorna had her arms up, shielding her face from the onslaught.

“What was that?” There was panic in her voice.

A plume of thick black smoke was rising over the tops of buildings like a desperate hand reaching for the sky. People were running at them, trying to get away from whatever had happened. Ronnie grabbed Lorna’s hand and pulled her towards the smoke. She needed to see what was going on.

As they neared the epicenter, the battle came into view- a clash of white uniforms against black hoods. It became immediately clear what was occurring- the humans were being attacked.