Ichor Cell-Chapter 9: First impressions matter

Alex awoke to the omnipresent din of the city; the faint murmur of conversation and the distant clang of pots and pans provided a pleasant susurrus in the background. In his more immediate vicinity, he heard footsteps muttered curses coming from deeper within the building.
Opening his eyes, he was briefly blinded by the light of the afternoon sun streaming through the doorway. Squinting his eyes against the pain, he sat up with a groan, rubbing his face to get the last of the sleep out.
‘God, I need to brush my teeth.
’ He thought as he ran his tongue over his gums.
‘It’s been only two days and my mouth already tastes like a dumpster. I need to figure out some way to keep up my hygiene in this place.’
He looked around.
‘Kinda hard when they probably don’t even have soap.’
“Well look who’s finally awake!” A crotchety old voice greeted him. “Had a nice rest?”
“Why of course! You should thank me for so generously deigning to grace you with my presence. You should know that most mere peasants will never even catch sight of me, much less be this close.” He replied with a haughty expression, turning around just in time to see Grenil walk into the room with a smile on his face. Alex couldn't help mirroring the expression.
“Anyway, now that you’re awake, you can grab a bite, then come help me finish up.” The shopkeeper nodded towards the storefront. “Only a few hours left until I close for the day.”
Alex watched Grenil grab what he came for and head back out to the front, the sound of heated haggling reaching him soon after. Getting up, he cracked his back before heading over to help the old man out.
‘Gotta earn my keep. I’ll pay him back somehow when I can, in the future.’
He thought. ‘
Though I can at least make it less boring for myself by practicing, despite how little progress I’m making.’
Stepping out into the storefront, he saw Grenil making small talk with a middle aged man while exchanging a handful of copper coins for a basket of various fruits and vegetables.
Alex quickly got to work fetching what the customers wanted, only half paying attention to what he was doing. Most of his focus was back within himself, trying and failing to interact once more with the orb of power in his chest. The connection felt… weaker today, less pronounced.
‘Maybe feeding makes it stronger?’
He quickly realised after his fifth attempt yielded nothing.
‘Yeah, that’s definitely true, but that doesn’t mean I
need
to feed to use it. In fact, I really shouldn’t use that as a crutch. Don’t want to develop any bad habits before I can even use magic properly-’
His thoughts were interrupted by a sharp cuff to the back of his head.
"I said four bunches of bananas, boy, not four individual ones!" Grenil growled. "Get your head out of the clouds and help me out properly!"
“Sorry, sorry.” Alex rubbed his stinging scalp. “You’re surprisingly strong, anyone ever tell you that?”
“Get to it, flattery will get you nowhere.” The old man snorted and turned back around. “Sorry about him, he’s a new hire and a bit prone to misbehaving.”
“That’s ok.” The young woman currently purchasing his wares laughed, waving her hands about in denial. “I’m in no rush at all.”
Alex glanced up at her as he turned to fix his mistake and caught her looking at him with curiosity, a faint smile on her face. They locked eyes for a second and she winked, her smile widening.
She seemed more well off than most of the customers who came through the shop, around the same age as Alex himself. Her outfit—while simple—was much nicer than the typical local’s.
‘I wonder what she’s doing here?’
Alex gave her an awkward smile before turning away to fetch the next order.
’She doesn’t seem like she’s from around here.’
‘But I guess my new physique is already paying dividends, eh?’
He smirked with his back to her.
‘The ladies just can’t resist me.’
As she gathered the items Grenil handed her, the young woman’s eyes flicked over to Alex once again, though this time the smile was gone, a frown creasing her features instead. She gently brushed her hand over a bracelet on her wrist, nodding to herself as if to confirm something.
She quickly thanked the shopkeeper before moving out of the way, quietly keeping an eye on the doorway through which Alex entered the shop. The next customer approached, already calling out his order.
The hours crept by; the sun was nearing the end of its daily journey when the old man finally decided to close for the day. Alex heard him lowering the shutters and hanging the ‘now closed’ sign from inside the storage room, where he was scavenging around for clothes.
“Alexander!” The shopkeeper suddenly called out. “Get out here!”
“Coming!” The young man pushed his way through the crates and rounded the corner. “Yeah?”
“Listen, boy.” Grenil sighed, rubbing his forehead. “I have no problem with you staying out here for a while given your… situation. But if you’re gonna help me out, help me out properly, will you? Sort out whatever it is you’ve got on your mind right now before trying to work.”
“Wha-” Alex tried to defend himself
“You got half a dozen orders wrong in a few hours.” The old man interrupted with his signature look.
“I… fine.” Alex deflated. “I’ll try, but this thing looks like it’ll take me at least a few weeks to figure out.”
“That’s fine. As you can see, I can afford to give away some fruits and vegetables, and your sleeping here isn’t any skin off my back. Just try to pay attention.”
“Oh you don’t have to bother with that.” Alex waved the offer away. “Food isn’t a problem. I just need a place to stay.”
“Do not resort to crime for something as pointless as pride. Accept my help.” The old man gave him a deep look.
“No, no, you misunderstand.” Alex denied. “I’m not stealing or anything.”
‘And I’m truly not.'
He thought wryly.
'I’m committing murder instead.’
The old man held his gaze for another minute. “…Fine.” He relented. “But if you get in trouble I am not vouching for you.”
“Good” Alex smiled.
‘I wouldn’t want you to go down for assisted murder or whatever charge fostering a man-eating monster would be.’
Now dismissed, Alex went back into the shop to practice magic. His efforts over the past few hours had unsurprisingly yielded no results; moving around and doing various tasks was not very conducive to focusing.
‘I guess I should go out again tonight.’
He sighed.
‘Keep the hunger down and get some actual practice in. Am I actually just turning into a villain? I’m contemplating possible murder just because I want to do magic faster.’
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‘No!’
He shook his head.
‘I need to do some tests and experiment with my powers; it’s all in the name of science. Can I drink from someone without them dying? Can I turn into a bat? Most importantly, can I turn someone else into a vampire? These are all important questions that I need answered sooner rather than later.’
“Some of them may die, but that is a sacrifice I am willing to make.” He muttered to himself with a smirk.
After another half hour of fruitless practice—the magic eluding his grasp like water through a net—the sun finally dipped below the horizon, painting the sky a deep purple hue. Alex stretched, feeling the familiar pull in his muscles, and decided it was time to head out.
The shop was quiet now, and Grenil had already retreated home after closing up for the night. Pulling on a cloak he’d found among the old man’s spare clothes, he stepped out into the cool evening air, taking a moment to inhale the damp scent of the city after dusk.
‘Time to get some real practice in,’
He thought, then grimaced.
‘This time without killing anyone.’
The streets were emptier now, though not completely deserted. The hustle and bustle of the city replaced with the occasional murmur of distant voices and the shuffling footsteps of late-night wanderers.
Dragging his silly train of thought back to his goals for tonight, Alex’s mind churned through the possible tests he could conduct.
‘Not killing while feeding, and turning someone into a vampire are two obvious ones.’
He counted on his fingers.
‘Getting some extra practice is also a given. There’s a bunch of other vampire powers that I want to try out, but I should probably figure out how my magic works in the first place before getting to that.’
Only a few minutes after he left the store, as Alex was approaching the unsavoury part of town, he felt it. Wriggling at the edge of his perception like an annoying insect, a strange premonition he couldn’t quite place.
It was subtle at first, just a slight prickling at the back of his neck, the kind you could easily brush off as paranoia. At first, he did just that, not paying it any mind, but as he continued walking, it grew more persistent, like an itch that you can't quite scratch. When he stopped to analyse it, the feeling vanished, coming back when he resumed his journey. He glanced over his shoulder casually, his eyes scanning the street behind him, but he was no one, and nothing stood out to him.
He bent down to scratch his shin and inspect the ground as if he saw something interesting, trying to play his pause off as natural.
A few more sudden pauses later, he finally realised what it was: footsteps. As he travelled through the city, he came across many others, but they came and went, their footsteps fading in and out of his perception, their conversations coming and going.
One set of footsteps, however, remained constant. Never so close that he could clearly hear it, but never so far that he couldn’t make it out; lingering at the edge of his hearing just enough for him to detect, as if on purpose.
‘Wait, no!’
He stiffened.
‘I forgot about my new hearing! I bet they’re way too far for a human to make out!’
‘Are they more of that family’s agents? How much influence do these people have? I may have kicked the hornet’s nest with this one.’
He bit his lip.
‘Well, more like charged in and tore their queen apart, but potato tomato.’
Standing back up, he continued on his way into the slums, though this time with a different purpose in mind. Sure enough, now that he was listening for it, his enhanced hearing could clearly make out the soft pitter patter of feet behind him.
'It sounds too light to be a man. A woman?'
A steely light flashed through his eyes.
‘Either way, we're gonna have a nice little conversation.’
He turned down another street, this one darker, more secluded. The buildings around him loomed closer, their windows dark and silent. He let his footsteps slow, listening carefully for his stalker. Sure enough, the soft footsteps quickened slightly, trying to keep pace.
‘Got you.’
Alex thought, a smirk flitting across his face. He veered into an alleyway, a deserted side street that was little more than a gap between two buildings. The dim light barely penetrated the narrow space, casting long shadows that stretched across the cracked earth. He slowed even further, moving quietly now, waiting.
He could hear the footsteps approaching the alley. Whoever it was, they were getting closer. Alex stopped completely, hiding himself behind a stack of old crates, his hearing straining to make out what it could.
A figure appeared at the mouth of the alleyway, their shadow stretching off into the darkness.
“Shit.” A whispered curse rang out, the figure letting out a stomp of frustration.
'So it is a woman.'
Alex frowned, but didn’t relax. He had seen firsthand that magic was real in this world; he wasn’t going to make the mistake of underestimating someone just because they were of the fairer sex.
The figure quickly made her way into the alley, as if hoping to catch up to the runaway Alex. His body tensed, poised to attack.
‘Immediately go for the head. I’ll try to knock her unconscious if possible, but better safe than sorry.’
Just as she passed his hiding spot, Alex sprung out from behind the crates, his movements smooth and silent. He was fast, faster than any human could be, but the woman still somehow detected him before he could reach her. She spun around, panic flashing across her features, and instinctively raised her hand.
For a split second, something on her wrist glowed with a bright, shimmering radiance, revealing her appearance.
‘Wait a minute… Isn’t this that pretty one from earlier?’
The thought barely had time to cross Alex’s mind before a force impacted his chest and sent him flying back, crashing through the wall behind him.
Pain shot through his back as he crumpled into the debris, dust and broken wood raining down around him. He groaned, trying to push himself up, but the impact had left him momentarily disoriented.
‘What the hell was that?’
He blinked through the dust, his mind racing to catch up with what just happened.
The woman, now standing in the middle of the alley, seemed just as surprised. Her hand was still outstretched, the faint glow of the bracelet on her wrist slowly fading. She looked at him, her eyes wide with a mixture of shock and amazement.
‘Right.’
He realised.
‘I forgot, magic.’
Alex gritted his teeth and pushed himself to his feet, his body protesting as he pulled himself from the rubble. His healing had already kicked in, the pain in his back dulling, but his pride was another matter. Logically he knew that he had been blasted by a mage, but that didn’t change the fact that a girl half his size had managed to fling him like a rag doll.
“Alright, that was… impressive.” He coughed, wiping the dust from his face as he stepped out of the debris. He lowered his stance, his eyes narrowing. “But you’re going to have to do better than that.”
The woman’s surprise quickly shifted back into fear. Her hand hovered near the bracelet again, and Alex could feel the air around them charge with energy. He took a deep breath, wishing he had his own magic to show off, but settled for picking up a shard of wood.
Just as he was about go for round two, the woman interrupted. "Wait!" she called out, her voice cutting through the tension. "I didn’t mean to attack you like that."
Alex paused, one eyebrow raised skeptically. "Really? Because it sure felt like you meant it."
She lowered her hand slightly, though the bracelet still shimmered with residual energy. "I panicked," she admitted in an embarrassed voice, which then took on a slight edge. "I wasn’t expecting someone to just jump at me like that, for absolutely
no reason
, might I add."
“No reason?” He asked incredulously, quickly scanning the surroundings in case this was a diversion. “Someone I don’t know followed me all the way out here from my place of work and I’m supposed to what, nicely ask them in for a cup of tea? Offer them some extra bananas?”
The woman winced. “That’s fair, that’s my fault, but could you please hear me out? I just wanted to talk to you. I swear I don’t mean you any harm. See?” She nervously moved her hand away from the bracelet, the energy in the air fading completely.
Alex's gaze flickered to her wrist, where the piece of jewellery seemed to catch the light in an unusual way. "And you couldn't have just said hello like a normal person?"
“The things I want to talk about aren’t meant for regular citizens to hear, unless you want to endanger the lives of everyone around us, including the nice old man who runs the store.” She shook her head, taking a few steps closer but freezing when Alex raised his stick in warning.
“Fine.” He said, adjusting his grip on his improvised weapon. “Talk. What’s this about?”
“Shouldn’t we do it in a… better location?” She waved a vague hand at their surroundings.
“No, here is good.” He gestured with the stick. “Stop stalling.”
Alex wasn’t about to let a person with unknown motives—especially one that had shown some measure of skill with magic—lead him to an unknown location. For all he knew she had a special room prepared just for him with a thousand different traps.
‘I’ll stay right here, thank you very much.’
The woman studied him for a second and realised that he wasn’t going to change his mind on this. "Ok. We’ll talk here." The woman huffed as she sat down on the dusty ground, clearly annoyed that Alex wasn't making things easier. Her eyes flitted around the alley, no doubt considering her options if things went south. When she saw Alex standing there, stick still in hand, his posture rigid, she sighed again.
“Fine, be that way.” She crossed her legs and leaned back onto her arms. After a moment of thought she opened her mouth. “I… I think we can help each other.”