The red sky was a view to which Anna could not get used to. Warm but dimmed light pierced through the firmament each morning, engulfing the whole city in a red glow. In around 10 minutes, the morning horn will announce a morning hour, waking workers and reminding them of their incoming shift. Soon after, voices of workers returning from night shifts would fill the yard before the tenement. She had to accept the coming of morning. That was all the investigating for tonight.
Anna closed her notebook and hid it under the bed. The investigation had to wait until the work was over. In a few minutes, Caron would come back from her shift, and as much as Anna loved the old woman who allowed her to live in this flat, Caron would most definitely rat her out to the authorities.
She took dry work clothes from the balcony and put them on. As soon as she was ready to go out, Caron and a few people entered the flat.
"I tell you, Herman, she was so surprised" The sound of Caron's rambling filled the flat. Then a loud shout came from the entrance: "Ann! You still here?"
"Yes, I am!" Anna shouted back, "But I am going out in a few minutes. Do you need something, Caron?"
"No, not really", Caron replied, peeking through the door to Ann's room "Just wanted to ask you to lock your room when you'll be goin out. We drinking today, and there will be guests in here."
"Oh, of course", Anna replied, "You are not drinking at Herman's again?"
"Nah, that's too close to the police station." She suddenly lowered her voice, "And Herman brought the blood powder for tonight."
Anna sighed, "Just try not to overdose again. How are you planning to go to work tomorrow?"
The old woman smiled, "Tomorrow's Eschar Day, remember? All work is on halt! We'll have pleny of time to get back together"
Anna, in fact, really forgot about it.
She didn't think that so much time had passed already; it would be her eighth Eshar Day here. Four months in this city... and no progress whatsoever.
"Nice fucking city of miracles", she muttered. The worker sitting next to her snorted, so she stopped herself from saying more. She fixed her gaze on what was seen behind the
steam-tram's window. Crimson willows that had been planted in a row along the road obscured the view. Either the rich living on the other side used them to hide themselves from the eyes of commoners, or it was commoners whom they wished to remove from their view. Oh, how much easier it would be to continue the investigation if she could just stab some low-ranking noble in the dark alley, steal from him and avoid responsibility. Once, while exploring the city centre, she spotted a shop of a famous designer who makes clothes for noble ladies. On exhibition, a black dress covered in diamonds was displayed, and even one of these diamonds could buy all the flats in her tenement.
She hated the moist, iron-tasting air that was filling the factory. As a person who grew up on the edges of a great old forest of the Tree-Father, she found Koun's climate most unpleasant.
She was working as a flow controller, regulating valves and making sure the pressure in the pipes was under control. Additionally, as one of four people (in a fifty-person brigade) who could write and one of the two who could count above a hundred, she was given the additional responsibility of rapport writing. It wasn't too hard really, just writing down how much healing blood the team pumped during the shift and noting any injuries or accidents that happened. She got a small bonus of two denars a month for doing that... and she could allow herself to steal a pencil or two, time to time, without anyone noticing.
At the end of the shift, she was tired, nauseous and covered in blood. One of the pipes broke and filled an entire tunnel with the healing liquid. The whole brigade got scolded because, apparently, it slowed the production of healing potions in the whole block C of the factory. If the healing effects worked not only on physical but also mental exhaustion...
Even after spending all the time she was allowed to in the shower, she still reeked of blood. On the way back home, the girl sitting next to her was coughing ostentatiously the whole ride, and people opposite her were whispering to themselves while looking at her. The one thing that gave her strength was that tomorrow was a day off. Esher Day. During this
micro-holiday, while the underground veins were healing, all workers were given the opportunity to rest and heal, too. Each month on the 7th and 22nd, the workers were given a free day. She contemplated how to spend this free time. Caron was probably going to party the whole day, so there was no point in staying in the house, and... about this visceral smell.
She came out of the steam-tram three stops earlier on the Midbranch. It was at a cost of four splits, but she felt that she deserved it. The visit to Colegi's Bathhouse if she wanted to go to the city centre tomorrow.
She came home long after sunset, a long walk after a twelve-hour shift was quite nice, and the Colegi's Bathhouse staff, for a price of another two splits, washed all her clothes with some smell-repelling chemicals.
As she approached the flat, she realised that it was unusually quiet. Neighbours were silent, and there was no sign of Caron's party. Suddenly, someone grabbed her by her shoulder.
"I thought we instructed everyone to stay inside for the time being", a low voice spoke from behind her. And forcefully turned her around. An old policeman looked at her from above his bushy moustache.
"Sergeant Yakov", he grunted, "and you?"
"Anna, a factory worker," She said firmly. Her hometown had no police and barely any guardsmen, so she was not used to talking to armed officers, she was told however by Caron that while talking to them you ned to act firmly but not too aggressive.
"Ms. Mor?" he continued
"Yes", she made a step back, freeing herself from his grip.
"Detective!" the policeman shouted, "We found her"
"Okay, take her here," a voice from inside Caron's flat replied.
She was ordered to sit in a chair in the kitchen. Opposite of her sat a man who played with... her notebook. He had short blond, well-kept hair, an obvious sign of wealth. He was a bit taller than her but a bit shorter than the second policeman, Yakov, who now stood in a doorway blocking it completely. Although his coat was similar to the one worn by the police officers, it was a bit darker and had a weird number of pockets. They sat in silence for a while, but not being able to hold off the worry, Anna asked:
"Where is Caron?"
The detective put a fancy bookmark inside her notebook and put it on a table.
"There is no reason to worry, Miss Mor. Miss Eigna and her friends were arrested for possession of blood powder, because they are all workers of the Camavelli Company, so if they agree to pay the fine and tell how they came into possession of the drug, they should be free the next workday. They will lose the day off, but it is a small price to pay."
He made a pause and looked at her, it was then that she noticed his eyes were colourless. They had this dirty greyish hue that came to mind while thinking about dust or smoke.
"Well, if you'll have no more questions, I'll have some." he stood up and came closer. He looked at her from above. She figured that was some weird scheme to look more frightening, so she forced herself not to snort with laughter.
"Are you aware that the contents of your notebook are highly suspicious?" She did not reply, so he continued, "Notes about vampires, local legends about them, some notes about their biology?" She said nothing to that "Nothing to say, huh?" he continued "We'll pardon me" he took out a knife and swiftly moved it to her cheek. She looked at her for a moment as if waiting for some kind of reaction, but aside from the cold emanating from the metal, she felt nothing. After a moment had passed, he hid his knife again "Well, it may be some special kind", said the detective. He seemed oddly irritated. He took out of one of his pockets a large round mirror, around 30cm in diameter and held it before her face. He looked at Yakov with anticipation. She turned around to see a policeman behind her shaking his head.
"What is happening?" she asked, slowly looking at the detective's face. He looked at her with anger in her eyes and moved towards the exit door, pushing aside the policeman Yakov.
"I told you, Alaran, it is just a young girl romanticising those monsters", Yakov started, but Alaran had already left. The policeman put both hands on his belt and slowly shook his head again. After a moment, he turned to Ann.
"Well, you are in the clear, but I suggest you pick up a different hobby, one that won't put you on the police's watchlist or lead to your early demise."
"I will do that, officer", she replied. He sighed loudly.
"I have a daughter your age or a bit older than you, and she also used to have a fascination with those morbid creatures, but she grew up and left it behind. Trust me, it's not worth it." He said as he turned back and walked towards the exit.
She closed the door behind them and walked around the house. It was searched thoroughly, probably in search of blood powder. She entered her room, and the door was busted open and the lock was broken beyond repair. The contents of the wardrobe were on the floor, the desk was turned upside down, and the bed frame was cracked, but she just could not stop smirking. She just lay on the floor and laughed. Finally, after so much work, so much time and acting suspiciously, she found the proof of their existence, a lost notebook was a small price to pay.