An ear bursting thud rang out that echoed throughout the alleyway. The bigger guy with the knife still in his hands dropped to the ground.
‘BANG’ sounded it again. The smaller one of the group looked behind him only to stare right through the skull of his friend's head. Octavia turned around. There, a bird around her size stood, with the smoking muzzle of a revolver in his hand. His dark gray feathers slowly shook in the breeze of the wind and his brown eyes focused on the remaining member of the group.
The remaining two didn’t wait, and ran out the alleyway back on the street. The man placed his gun in the hidden holster of his jacket. Octavia, still frozen in shock, didn't respond. ‘Hey, there’s more where those four came from, grab my hand.’ His voice was calm, but filled with an assertive and confident energy. She grabbed his hand, and he hastily pulled her towards the end of the alleyway.
He fumbled in his pocket till he found what he needed. He stuck the key in the door and it swung open. They had entered a small dusty garage with a dark silhouette that Octavia recognized as a car. He quickly closed the door behind him and opened the car door. ‘Get in.’ he said.
Octavia refused. ‘How can I trust someone who just shot another person in the head?’ she asked him nervously. ‘If I wanted to, I would have done something similar to you already. Now get inside.’
Octavia, still with a hesitant and shocked manner got in the car.
The guy opened the garage door, and stepped in the car. He stepped down on the gas, screeching out the tiny garage in a hurry. Octavia looked behind her and saw the garage door shut automatically. ‘Now, what the name of hell is someone like you doing in this part of the city.’ he asked calmly. His voice reassured Octavia a bit. ‘I’m not from around here, I didn't know what would happen.’ she responded, carefully choosing her words.
They drove out of the city, towards some moors. After 10 minutes of driving, the automobile stopped infront of a wooden cabin. The guy stepped out of the car, and opened the door for her. ‘Thank you Sir?’ Octavia said anxiously.
‘My name is Blauw.’ The bird responded. ‘Sorry for introducing myself this late, my head was busy with other business.’ ‘Yeah I get that’ Octavia responded. ‘My name is Octavia, nice to meet you.’ They walked to the door.
‘Octavia right?’ Blauw said, while walking. ‘A beautiful name, if I say so myself, not many people have it, it is a word from a long dead tongue.’
He unlocked the door and opened it. ‘Welcome to my humble abode.’ he said and gestured her in.’ Octavia’s beak dropped in awe.
She stood in the lounge, which had a cozy, old fashioned style. Large bookcases that reached the ceiling filled the room, leather armchairs and a roaring coal fireplace. On one of the tables stood a record player, with what looked like a hundred records stored underneath it. On her left, a door led towards the bedroom hallway and or her right was the kitchen.
‘Make yourself at home.’ Blauw said while hanging his jacket on the wall. ‘It is the middle of the night, so I suggest you stay until daylight.’ He walked to the kitchen.
‘Uhm, if you don’t mind - can you make something for me to eat?’ Octavia tried not to stutter while asking.
Blauw nodded. ‘Sure thing.’
Octavia walked past his bookcases. They contained even more books than she had in her room. ‘You have an amazing collection.’ she said to Blauw when he placed a plate down with some toast.
‘Thank you.’ he responded. ‘You can take some home with you tomorrow if you want.’ He sat down and grabbed the newspaper.
‘Are there any rooms I am not allowed in?’ Octavia asked with her beak filled full of toast.
‘You are free to go wherever you want besides the first room on the left in the bedroom hallway.’ a voice answered from behind the newspaper. ‘Octavia stood up and walked into the hallway, past the few rooms. She entered one but couldn't find the light switch.
‘Ah who cares anyways, I am too tired for this.’ she yawned. She laid in the bed on her back. All the anxiety melted from her mind due to the cozy atmosphere of the house. Her mind instead filled itself with thoughts which followed her to her sleep
The next morning she was woken by the sound of music, and the smell of breakfast. She sat up in her bed, and stretched. She needed that rest for the first time in her life (she had never had such a stressful day before). She stood up and dragged herself into the living room.
‘Finally awake?’ Blauw asked from the kitchen. ‘Its 11 am already, so you apparently needed your rest.’
‘What you think, after all what happened yesterday.’ Octavia responded.
Blauw laughed and pulled back a chair. ‘Here, have a seat. I am almost done.’ A still sleepy Octavia walked to the chair and thanked him before sitting down.
While they were eating, she asked Blauw all kinds of questions. ‘You from here? What do you do to stay alive?’ and more of those.
Blauw and his brother were apparently in charge of some small factories like the automobile one, he told her. And due to their influence and their money, they had the southern region of Stellansk in their control. They would know everything that happened there even before the police, essentially acting as peacekeepers as it was 'Good for the business,' as his brother explained.
Yesterday's evenings, Blauw was inspecting one of his newly purchased warehouses to store automobiles. There he heard the voices who would lead him to Octavia.
‘I am going to get the automobile ready.’ Blauw said while he stood up. ‘Your family must be worried to death.’
Octavia thought differently about that. Her mom was away and wouldn't even care. And the butlers didn't even know she existed.
'Yes, that’d be great.’ she lied to him. ‘I will tell you where you can drop me off if that's ok with you?’
‘Sure.’ Blauw smiled. ‘Be sure you put on your jacket, it's cold as hell.’
In the car, Octavia asked Blauw more questions. But this time it was about his past. How he had experienced the war 4 years ago to be exact.
‘It was horrible.’ Blauw told her. ‘Bodies, the unshakable scent of blood in the air with mud everywhere as the cherry on the cake. And as our shipping was held back by the enemy blockade, we had to loot the guns of friends and foes, not that we could tell anyways from how they looked. Those days were undeniably the worst I have ever lived through, I still wonder why I did to this day.”
‘So you served in the war?’ Octavia asked.
‘Yeah, I did.’ Blauw said with a reflective tone. ‘I was part of a small infantry division, but we didn't stand a chance. One by one we died, and out of the 18 soldiers, only 7 made it home.’
After the conversation about the war, the talking was mostly over. Only here and there they spoke a few words.