Chapter 28: What If Everything Goes Wrong?
Everything was dark. Her wrists and ankles ached — bound by some kind of rough rope that scraped against her skin. Her breath shook when she realized she couldn't scream; she'd been gagged. She couldn't see either, a blindfold pulled tight over her eyes.
She thrashed violently where she lay, trying to break free, but managed nothing except tearing up her wrists and ankles further. She let out a frightened whimper, right on the edge of tears, but went quiet when she heard more cries around her — other girls, sobbing or trying to scream. Two or three more, by the sound of it, though she couldn't be certain.
It seemed like they were locked inside a wooden box — the cabin of a carriage, maybe — since she could make out the faint sound of wooden wheels scraping against the city's cobblestones.
Once again she rolled and threw her shoulder against the wall with the full weight of her body, but it accomplished nothing. She could feel the nerves inside her unraveling, spilling out as tears that rolled down her dark-skinned face and dried into her orange dress.
Her name was Neira McGarden — daughter of Adam McGarden, and older sister to little Robin, who at that very moment was riding alongside the infamous Bonnie Jones through the noisy streets of Steam City.
The rain fell without end, the wind struck their bodies with real force, and distant lightning thundered against the sky between dark clouds that lit up in short bursts with every flash.
Some people ran for shelter from the rain, others climbed into carriages, and the rest stayed tucked inside the countless establishments the city had to offer. In the middle of all that, Bonnie rode at full speed, startling more than a few civilians along the way.
Her horse was astonishingly agile, leaping left and right with impossible precision and speed every time she needed to dodge someone or something. At times she even dared to leap clean over people rather than risk running them down. Thanks to that, Bonnie earned herself a handful of choice insults — but her eyes stayed locked on the road and on whatever direction little Robin called out next.
'Damn it. The headache won't stop. It's only getting worse.'
Voices sounded amplified all around her, the faint lights flickering on in the copper streetlamps as night crept in stabbed straight into her eyes, the cold rain and wind lashing against her skin made her shudder, and the stares of passing strangers turned her stomach with nausea.
This was the assimilation of the First Stigma of the Desert Ballad: The Outlaw. She had already managed to use the luck enhancement during her escape from the law in Ironwood. She had already used the added strength her power granted to Capella. And she had been able to use the physical amplification when Evelyn threw those stones at her.
Now, the heightened senses felt like a final stage she would have to push through entirely on her own in order to fully assimilate the power.
Noticing the pain on Bonnie's face, Robin asked:
"Are you okay, Miss Bonnie? You look like something hurts."
Bonnie kept her eyes steady on the road.
"It's nothing. Just a small headache. It'll pass."
At least, that's what Bonnie was hoping. But the suffering was making it harder and harder to keep the horse on track.
"Oh— turn right at the next corner," Robin suggested.
Bonnie nodded and pulled the reins. Capella understood immediately what she needed to do, picking up speed instead of slowing down. At the next corner she leaned sharply into the turn while still running, careful not to lose her footing as she straightened back out. Little Robin let out a frightened yell and wrapped his arms around Bonnie's waist to keep from falling off, while she held onto her hat to keep it from flying away.
They finally straightened back onto the road. Robin was still clinging tightly to Bonnie, breathing hard from the scare.
"Can horses even run like that?"
Bonnie shook her head.
"Not unless they have the right rider."
Robin's eyes went wide with admiration, but the feeling didn't last — desperation over finding his older sister pulled him right back down. He gripped Bonnie's shirt tighter, closed his eyes, and prayed she was alright.
Bonnie glanced at him for a brief moment.
'Faster, Capella. We need to find even the smallest lead.'
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The city's great marketplace was a little less impressive than the towering buildings and the steam machines that fed the forges and giant engines. It was more like a sprawl of countless tents set up by outlying merchants who had claimed an entire street for themselves, selling everything from onions to animal horns used in folk remedies.
Bonnie rode straight through the middle of it, weaving between the tents. Fortunately, the crowds had thinned out, and the small canvas stalls held up by wood and rusted iron frames were starting to empty as people packed up their goods to head home for the night.
"Where does she usually shop, Robin? There should be some kind of lead nearby."
"Neira usually buys things near Buffalo Street. It's right around the corner. That's why my dad said she shouldn't have taken this long — that area is close to where you catch the carriage back home."
"And your father — where do you think he went?"
"He's probably searching the other side of the market. He sent me out in a separate carriage so we could cover more ground together."
"Two people isn't nearly enough to search a place this size. Let's keep going where you said and see if we find anything."
Robin nodded, and they kept moving.
Further ahead, Bonnie's eyes darted across the scene in front of her. It felt like she could take in everything in a single blink — as if a mere fraction of a second was enough to fully map out an entire area. It was an incredible ability — but the pain that came with it was awful. She could barely hold herself steady on the horse.
She was pouring every ounce of willpower into staying upright.
Then the horse came to a stop. Bonnie's eyes landed on one of the alleys. Something was lying on the ground.
"Robin…"
The boy swallowed hard. They both dismounted and walked toward the alley. Lying on the ground was Neira's red ribbon, along with cloth shopping bags scattered everywhere. Vegetables and other items were strewn across the alley, as though the girl had fought to get away, knocking everything loose in the struggle.
Silence fell over them. Robin clenched his fists tight, his face twisted with anger. A couple of tears slipped down his cheeks, mixing with the rain soaking through his clothes.
"First Mom… and now this," the boy murmured.
Bonnie had no idea what he meant by that — but she didn't need to know in order to understand exactly how Robin was feeling right now. She moved further into the alley and picked up an apple from the ground.
'This is the last place she was before she vanished. If we had time and witnesses, this would be so much easier — but there's nothing here. Absolutely nothing.'
She squeezed her eyes shut, frustration boiling over — but then she suddenly dropped the apple, pressing her hand to her forehead.
'This pain… It just keeps getting worse.'
It wasn't only that. Now that she was looking around the alley, a wave of dizziness hit her too. It was pushing her toward giving up — but someone stopped at the alley's entrance, cutting off even the possibility of that thought.
Bonnie felt the presence like a chill running down her spine and turned to look. Robin followed her gaze.
'Her… It's her… How?' Her eyes widened with disbelief, because what she was seeing made no sense at all.
There stood that same blonde girl with scarlet eyes, so pale that, soaked in rain against her dress, she looked like a specter wandering in from beyond, come to haunt the poor souls of the mortal world. In the end, though, she was just a girl looking at the two of them with genuine confusion — though that didn't explain how she had traveled all the way here from the dried-goods shop.
"You two… are you looking for the owner of that ribbon?" she said. Her voice was soft and faint, quite different from the rushed tone she'd had a few hours earlier.
That pulled Bonnie's thoughts in a different direction — one reinforced moments later by Robin's question.
"You… do you know what happened to my sister?"
The blonde girl nodded.
"I was here a few hours ago, but I had to rush back on my father's horse to get medicine for my grandmother. I was waiting for my mother over there when I saw that girl walk into the alley with another girl. After that, two people came out wearing black-and-red robes, carrying something wrapped in black cloth. At first I thought it was the two girls — but when I got closer, hiding behind some crates to listen, I recognized two men's voices."
Bonnie got up and moved toward the girl, gripping her by the shoulders, casting aside whatever suspicion she'd been holding now that it had all been explained.
"What did you hear? Did they say where they were going? Did they mention anything about a cult?"
The girl flinched at Bonnie's sudden intensity — but there was no time to slow down and talk things through gently. The faster they knew where Neira had been taken, the faster they could find her.
"I don't know. I think they mentioned the circus, but I couldn't make it out clearly."
Bonnie released the girl and turned to Robin.
"Do you know where the circus is?"
Robin nodded.
"Then let's not waste any more time. We're heading there."
"Oh— Right! Let's go!"
Robin headed for the horse, but Bonnie stopped to pull a coin from her pocket. A Crown. She pressed it into the girl's hands and held them closed around it.
"Thank you for the information. It's going to help us a lot. But go find your mother now and stay close to her at all times. I'm sure you already know there are bad people out there kidnapping girls who are alone — so it's dangerous for you to stay here."
"Oh… Yeah, of course. I'll go to her right now."
Bonnie climbed back onto the horse with Robin and rode off through the streets without wasting another second. A moment later, Bonnie felt that same chill again and glanced back toward the alley.
That girl was watching her with a strange, gentle smile. Bonnie held her gaze for what felt like an eternity — but she had to turn back to the road. Robin's grief pushed her forward, leaving the mystery of that girl behind for now.
'They wore robes… It's them. It's definitely them. But how the hell did nobody see them? They kidnapped two girls! Why couldn't anyone hear them, or notice them walking into that alley?! If it weren't for that girl, we wouldn't have had any idea where those bastards were headed.'
She could feel her blood burning inside her, making the headache even worse. By this point, her senses were already sharpening, though at a frustratingly slow pace. The pain should fade away at some point soon — but that was only a guess.
Night was already settling over the city like a dark, suffocating blanket, and the streetlamps were burning brighter against it. Candles, chandeliers, oil lamps — the moment when humanity fought back against its most primal fear. And among the shadows shaped by all that light, a small shadow moved across the rooftops, tracking Bonnie and Robin's every step.
What was all of this? Was Neira still alive? How could members of that cult walk freely through the city like this? And more importantly — where the hell were this city's deputies, that they weren't doing their jobs? Even if none of those questions found an answer, Bonnie wanted to find that girl. Maybe everything she still needed to know would reveal itself through her…
But based on everything she knew about the cultists, they held supernatural powers far more dangerous than anything an outlaw possessed. What if everything went wrong? Bonnie was on edge — but she had more than enough bullets now to put through the skulls of those bastards.
They had taken Bonnie's life.
They had taken Samuel's life.
They were taking innocent lives right now.
'I'm no hero. I'm no saint either. But I have to save them. They…'
They were going to pay for what they had done!