Hide and seek prologue (The hunter becomes the hunted)

38 A.B.Y

It had been a busy day; no make that a very busy day. So it was late by the time Tasendia Renolsin made her way through the surprisingly deserted back streets to get home. Financial restrictions limited her to living within the Blue sector in Coronet, so Tasendia always had to keep alert. Thankfully, the skills that she had developed in her upbringing, and as a bounty hunter meant that she was able to look after herself. But the almost deserted streets put her even more on edge than normal.

She had been out gathering information on her latest bounty. She had to make sure that she did not fail, as this was her first job that had been offered to her personally, rather than obtaining bounties from the open market. Tasendia had been getting information and making preparations all day, and was now exhausted. She could not let that show though, as you never know who is waiting in the shadows. She just wanted to get home as soon as possible, not just to get some much needed rest, but to also to change clothes; the heavy rain from not long ago had meant that she was soaking wet.

Tasendia was only two blocks away from home when she suddenly noticed that someone was following her, and they sounded like they were matching her pace for pace.

‘I have to protect my reputation…well, create the right reputation’ she thought. So that cut out running, as the last thing she wanted to look was scared. Tasendia rested her hand on her blaster, quickly checked around her and saw that there was no one nearby, before picking up her pace.

However, whoever was following her, also picked up their pace. Tasendia’s heart was now beginning to beat so loudly that it seemed to her that everyone would be able to hear it. She quickly checked over her shoulder again and could see no one following her, before quickly getting back to concentrating on getting home as quickly as possible.

One block from home, Tasendia muttered to herself that she must not become one of those one block from home deaths. She again checked to see if she could see who was following her. While Tasendia could see a few beings walking about, there was no one that looked suspicious. Well actually, everyone looked suspicious, but there seemed to be no one that was following her. She picked up her pace, only to find that it had prompted whoever was following her to do the same.

Tasendia eventually managed to get to the last corner safely, she could now thankfully see the apartment block where she stayed. Tasendia put on a last quick burst before she got to the doorway. She swiftly entered the code to get in, fumbling slightly with the door before managing to get in. Her adrenaline was now pumping as Tasendia quickly shut the door and looked around to check for what and who was following her. Once again she saw nothing too suspicious.

Tasendia decided that rather than wait for the turbolift, she just wanted to get to her apartment as soon as possible, so Tasendia bounded up the stairs two or three steps at a time. It was when she did that that her blood turned to ice. They had managed to follow her into the building, how the heck did they do that; she had been careful. There was no way that anyone could have got in without her noticing.

Tasendia ran for her apartment door, swiftly punched the code in, before shoving the door open and shutting it as quickly as possible. She scanned the room and listened intently as she checked the noises coming from the other apartments, from outside and in the hall. Tasendia strained to listen as she tried to catch anything out of the ordinary. By this time her heart felt like it was beating out of her chest, and she was slightly out of breath from running up the stairs. ‘I really need to work on my fitness’, she thought to herself.

It was only after a few minutes Tasendia felt safe enough to lower her guard slightly. However, it was as soon as she walked across her apartment to brew herself a very strong cup of caf, that she heard it again.

Tasendia instantly froze to the spot as soon as she realized that whoever was following her, had somehow managed to get into her apartment. She snapped up her blaster in an instant, ready to aim at whoever had followed her.

“Who the fierfek are you? You had better show your face, as I have had enough of you skulking in the shadows” she shouted out to the space behind her.

Once again there was an eerie silence. After a moment Tasendia dared to make a move, facing where she thought she had heard the movement. Like the time before, as soon as Tasendia moved, she heard them move again.

“You are going to regret this” Tasendia growled as she spun around looking for her target.

It was at that point when Tasendia noticed that there was something which was not quite right about the noise that was made when she spun around. It suddenly dawned on Tasendia who had been following her, or rather who wasn’t. Her face flushed and she slapped her hand to her head, as she now realized it was not in fact anyone that was following her, but the insides of her wet combat pants, rubbing against each other.

Tasendia suddenly laughed in embarrassed relief, and after taking a few moments to recover her composure, she headed over to brew herself a caf, as well as a strong Corellian Whiskey to go with it. As she poured herself a glass of whiskey, she thought to herself that while it is good to keep alert, there are times when it can work against you. Thankfully this time even though it was embarrassing, and her pride had taken a dint. It had been a rather painless lesson to learn.

At least tomorrow, when she went after her bounty, Tasendia would once again be the hunter.

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