Familiar

Mark glanced at the approaching figures before extending his hand to the brunette. 

"Let's go somewhere else?"

Stretching his mind, he watched as Claire gave him a questioning look, before nodding and letting her hand be taken into a hurried grasp. 

They strode across the street and into a narrow alleyway. He knew them best, and the brunette seemed familiar with them too. 

He turned while heading in the direction of his house. From the port to the hoods of the southern district, there was a boundary of a clustered housing complex, with buildings being pressed together and forming something akin to a suburban maze. 

Anybody who lived in the area was familiar with the secluded passages, but most people chose to stay along the open streets. The alleys were mostly used by people who had things to hide - criminals, gang members, and other undesirable figures. As such, the latent danger dissuaded most people from traversing the hidden routes. 

Luckily, Mark was one of those dangerous scoundrels of the alleyways. The lone vagrants had to avoid him, and most of the gang members in the passages were from the Hounds. 

Yet, he still had to be careful. The vile Spheks have recently started appearing in the suburban maze too. He had encountered and fought them many times while traversing it. 

Watching his front and rear, Mark listened for any steps that resounded through the alleyways while preparing for any unpleasant surprise that could jump out from a corner. 

At times he glanced at Claire who seemed to have questions about his sudden movements, but chose to save them until they left the alley. 

They continued in that fashion for a while, but time seemed to fly as they eventually came to a stop. 

The two stood at a four-way intersection in the back alleys. 

"What's wrong?" 

Mark caught his breath while glancing at the brunette. 

"Give me a second, I need to think about where to go next." 

He remembered that Anton knows where his house is, so going there might not be the best idea. But not going to his house created another problem- that he had no idea where else to take the brunette.

Going to the warehouse of the Hounds was possible, as the boss- Dean, seemed like he would be fine if Mark came in with her, and his comrades respected him enough to not do anything stupid. 

Yet taking the brunette to such a place felt wrong. She was too good for such an environment and didn't deserve to be anywhere near it. In fact, she shouldn't even be outside the northern district in the first place, let alone in the hoods.

So why did he take her deeper in when he could have just told her to go back?

Sighing, Mark decided to go to the next safest place he knew. 

"Let's go this way." 

He still went in the direction of his house, but a bit more south this time. 

...

They were revealed to the omnipresent radiance of the sun. Behind them, a gap between two houses led into the increasingly darkening passageway which they had just come from. 

After leaving the suburban maze, the two went along in the open, where they were greeted with the familiar sight of hopeless wretches sprawling on the streets. 

It almost looked like Mark was dragging an angel into depravity, exposing her to the filth that made up his life. 

He was sure that the miserable people wouldn't do anything rash, but to be extra careful he still stretched his mind into each person near him and watched as they shivered in dread to his passing. 

Surprisingly, the brunette seemed undisturbed by the dredges nor the horrid despair in the air. Or at the very least, she was pretending not to be. 

"Are you ok?" 

The brunette looked at him. Mark remembered that she probably wanted to ask him some questions. 

"Yeah, but where are we going?" 

Looking back, he never said where he was taking her, which was kind of weird. It took a lot of trust for her to follow someone into such a terrible and unfamiliar place without any knowledge of where she would end up. The lack of wariness in her actions was bizarre. 

"Well, somewhat of a playground. It's the only place in the hoods that isn't concrete buildings or paved streets. The area is also protected by one of my friends, so it will be safe- kind of." 

He smiled meekly. In the corner of his eyes, Mark watched the movements of two shady people who were at the edge of an alley. An exchange took place as a few notes were handed in for a small tube no larger than a pinky finger. 

Averting his gaze, the exchange was completed, and the person who received the money left. It was simple courtesy not to look into the private affairs of others. 

But even without seeing he knew what would happen next. In the alley, the person who paid for the tube opened it, pouring into his hands the substance that lay inside. Then, the hands were brought to the figure's face as a sniffing sound echoed through the alley.

He glanced back and saw that the brunette's face seemed to be weighed down by a profound sadness, her lips turning into a discomforted frown. 

Pulling her closer, Mark tried to provide some comfort amidst the depravity that surrounded them.

A weird feeling blossomed in his heart. 

Normally, he loathed and hated the circumstances he was forced to live in. That was it. Pure anger and discontent for what he had to endure day after day. Such feelings never changed. 

Now that the brunette was here, he felt pity and indignity.

His feelings aside, Mark was taken out of his thoughts when a figure appeared in the distance ahead. He narrowed his eyes, not knowing if he should turn around or ignore it.

'Why does he have to be here?' 

To his utter regret, the figure saw him and approached, its nearly bald head shining under the light of dusk.