The young girl pulled her thick jacket closer to her as she walked through the light snowfall. It was dark outside, but the light from the buildings around her illuminated the pathway enough to see. She was far too young to be wandering around by herself, but she had to. This was the last place her brother was seen, and she intended on finding him. She stopped as she spotted a drunken couple leave an old, rather small building with dim lights inside. She inhaled and pulled her jacket closer to herself once more and walked towards the door. Luckily another man was coming out, so she caught the door and slipped in without anyone really noticing. She quickly scanned the room and knew easily what type of place she was in.

There was an old wooden wheel hanging from the wooden ceiling with candles on top, serving as the light source which casted an eerie glow on the walls of the building. There was one bar tender, a rather large one, cleaning some glass beer mugs behind the counter, mumbling to himself. There were quite a few tables set up, with each table full of a different man, each different but all the same mysterious and most likely dangerous. This was the type of place where you would find convicts, throat-slitters, thieves and the occasional wealthy man if his sense of adventure brought him here.

She quickly spotted a table in the back and made her way to it, without too much suspicion. She was happy she wasn’t old enough to appear like a woman, so perhaps she could pass as a young boy? It wasn’t long before another man approached the table, but luck was on the youth’s side and he said nothing as he passed. She waited for most of the customers to either leave or be kicked out for extremely unruly behavior. When she finally had the courage, she slowly pulled her jacket off, allowing her shoulder-length blond hair to be seen by the few men left in the room. Quite a few gave a demeaning glance; it was obvious they knew she was a girl, but surprisingly they did nothing. She sighed and left her jacket on the chair and walked up to the bar tender, who was still behind the counter.

“Excuse me, sir, but I’m looking for someone I’ve lost-”

“You won’t find your parents here,” he laughed debasingly.

“No, sir, please, my brother, you see-”

“Now, I don’t want any trouble here little girl. Why don’t you just grab your belongings and leave this place? This is no place for a girl, especially at your young age-”

A deep voice suddenly came from behind the young girl, “I’ll escort the young child out of here, Viktor.” The girl turned around to see a cloaked man standing behind her.

“Oh, no sir, thank you, but I can leave on my own-” the girl tried, but the man handed her jacket to her, and began softly pushing her away from the counter.

“See you in a few weeks, Viktor.” The stranger said as he shoved her out of the wooden door.

The girl stopped short and spun on her heels to face the stranger, declaring loudly, “Excuse me, but I’d rather not just be pushed out! I could have gotten out myself-” His hand suddenly covered her mouth, surprising her.

“Shut it!” he looked around, then looked back at the girl and whispered, “I’d rather not attract unwanted attention.”

He removed his hand from her mouth, and she whispered back, “Well, whatever, but I need to go back in there! I need to find information about my brother-”

“You don’t need to find your brother. I know where he is.” The stranger declared then motioned with his head to suggest following him as he began walking towards the forest nearby the small town. She wasn’t sure what to do; should I trust him? Can I afford to trust him? Does he really know where my brother is? Wait, how does he know who my brother is?

“Are you coming or what?” he said after stopping and looking at her over his shoulder.

“I-um, yes sir-” She picked her head up, for she had lowered her eyes to the ground while thinking about what to do, and she quickly ran towards him to catch up and pulled her jacket back on herself as well as covering up her hair with the hood.