Alpha Prime's Arc

Chapter 3 of 4

The side door opened on a narrow alley. Cold air hit Alpha Prime's face. Behind them, the fox-creature squeezed through and the door clicked shut. The brass ornament was still cool in their hand. Dawn was hours away. The street ahead was empty, but empty in Nightjar did not mean safe. Standing still would kill them. Walking would kill them slower. They needed a place to wait out the dark. The fox-creature trotted ahead, tail low, pale blue markings dim now. Alpha Prime followed. Every window they passed showed a person inside, standing too straight, facing the glass. None of them blinked. Alpha Prime kept the ornament raised. At the end of the block, the fox stopped at a plain gray building. Two stories. Blank stone. A carved arch over the door. It looked like the building they had just escaped from, only smaller, and the door was cracked open. The fox looked back at Alpha Prime and waited. Alpha Prime did not want to go in. The last building had a mouth at the back of it. But the fox stepped inside and the sky above the street was starting to thin with something that was not light yet, only the promise of eyes. Alpha Prime went in. The room was empty. No coat hooks. No radiator. No hallway at the back, only a wall. One wooden chair sat in the middle of the floor. The fox circled it once, sniffed, then lay down across the threshold with its back to the room and its face to the street. Alpha Prime understood. The fox would hold the door. This place had nothing living in it because there was nothing here to wake. They sat on the floor against the far wall, ornament in their lap, and watched the fox's ears. For a long time nothing moved. Then, near the door, something small stepped into view on the sidewalk outside. A boy in a blue shirt. Alex Morrison. He did not come closer. He stood in the street and looked at the doorway, and the fox lifted its lip and showed one tooth. The boy tilted his head, the way a bird does. He smiled. Then he walked past and out of sight, unhurried, as if he had all night and knew Alpha Prime did too. Alpha Prime did not sleep. They watched the square of street through the open door until the stone outside turned from black to gray. The fox stood, shook itself, and looked back at them. Morning was not here yet. But the worst hour had passed, and they had lived through it inside four blank walls with a guard at the door. Alpha Prime stood up. Whatever came next, it would come in half-light. That was better than none.