Disruptions

I have nothing against Runners, I was one not long ago as anyone who reads this blog would know. My occupation as a Runner didn't last long, not as long as many others, although of course anyone who was a Runner for a shorter time is probably dead, and any who's one for a longer time probably will be.

Then of course there are the ones that are just plain annoying. The Long Game is going, and anything that disrupts it must be dealt with by the full force of The Nevermore Accord. Occasionally Runners fall into this category, and as an agent of the Sine Corda and by extension The Nevermore Accord, it falls under my job description to deal with them. Of course this isn't my true purpose, they didn't "recruit" me because I was a master assassin, but until the next phase can be located -whatever that means- this is what I do.

I hunt.

It's what I've been doing for most of the time between my de-heartening and now. My first mission should have been fairly simple. A Runner had killed one of the other Sine Corda, however and for whatever reason I don't bother myself with. I was dispatched to deal with him, but it didn't exactly go to plan.

I set out from the warehouse, one of many under Nevermore control, with a gun and a box of bullets. I wasn't invisible anymore, when I lost my heart I was spat back out by THE HUNGERING (the capitals didn't go away) and now exist as much as you do (unless of course you're being unraveled), the privilege of invisibility kept for higher members such as Master Nowhere and the Menacing Men. So I had to be discreet, keeping the gun concealed and catching the Runner somewhere private.

I found the Runner in a bar at the edge of this French town late at night. I entered, my senses immediately assaulted by the scent of alcohol and the smoke-filled air, not exactly being old enough to be used to this I found it slightly disorientated, though the nerves of walking around in full sight with a gun in my pocket and the intention to kill likely added to it. My teenaged physique earned me a few questioning glances, though my "Null Hoodie" kept my face mostly hidden and, I don't know, Sine Corda have an air about them, I suppose you could call it a Menacing. I guess that means I'm not quite as existent as I used to be. The Runner, thin, tall and suited (no, not Slenderman) was seated at the bar, so I found a dark corner where I could make use of my new found Menacing to glare angrily at the Runner while I waited for an opportunity.

This only came hours later when he finally left the bar, dispensing some coins on the counter and exited, me following at a distance. He left and rather stupidly decided to turn into a dark alleyway next to the bar, I thought he mustn't have been very used the being a Runner if he's walking through dark alleys late at night. I followed behind, the gun having a silencer so noise wouldn't be a problem, until we moved out of sight of the street. He turned around and looked at me.

I thought little of it as I drew the gun and shot him in the chest, knocking him down. Then he got back up, straight up as if he was being pulled. Pulled by invisible strings.

"Crap!" I exclaimed as I shot again, in the arm, his arm jolting back in response before sliding back into position. He rose the arm in a mechanical motion and observed it for a moment, before walking forward again, his legs being raised and dropped by the strings like some horrid puppet controlled by an even more horrid Puppeteer, his previous facade of normality dropped.

Several more shots resulting in nothing, the strings pulling the body forward beyond the boundaries of death, animating the corpse in its deadly movements. It swung an arm around, surprisingly swift and precise for a puppet, I ducked under, but its arm struck out at me again, swiping me across the head, knocking me to the ground. It reached into its jacket and pulled out a long knife. I raised my gun towards him to shoot the hand with the knife, but as quickly as I fired he skillfully juggled the knife to its other hand, then lifted a mechanical leg to strike the gun away with a finely polished shoe, the gun sliding over the wet concrete.

It raised the knife, clearly preparing to drive it down, when the strings spontaneously snapped and the corpse collapsed in a heap on top of me. I pushed it from me and although confused, counted my blessings and took this as a kill. Since then I've killed two actual Runners and am currently after something else. I still don't know what happened.

-Shady

The Great Wallet Heist

Some of you may have noticed that I have redesigned the layout of the Blog, if you haven't, open your eyes! Although being a Runner may occupy my legs most of the time, my hands are mostly free, hence this. It also serves to help keep my mind off the COSMIC ABOMINATIONS HUNTING ME!!!, a very pleasant distraction from that.

On to the thievery. I left the motel and headed into the main parts of the city, I was hungry so I decided to find a café so I could get some food before I robbed the place. I found one with a self service buffet-type deal, which is necessary as no one ever remembers my orders, and got some food. I payed the woman at the counter and sat at a table, eating my "meal" of a chocolate-chip muffin and coke.

I took this time to check up on my blog, deciding to pimp it out, give it a more personal feel, this is the result. After I was finished I popped the last bit of my muffin into my mouth and grabbing what remained of my coke I made my way to the bathroom. Emerging again to stand near the counter, I was looking at my phone to make me look like I was texting or some such, 'not' waiting for a chance to grab some cash. Although it probably didn't matter, people never take any notice of me anymore, as long as I'm not directly interfering with them -such as stealing their wallet.

The cash register was "heavily guarded" by a twenty-something year-old woman with short blonde hair. But then a better(or at least easier) opportunity came, a man left his wallet on the counter to reach for his ringing mobile-phone, I steeled myself, for once hoping that I'd be rapidly forgotten. I swooped in, discreetly swiping the wallet and slid around the man, walking swiftly out the door.

"Hey! You!" I'd been spotted.

I sprinted out, over the street and into the square across the way, careful timing allowing me to avoid being splattered by oncoming cars. The man emerged from the café, shouting after me, but the traffic wasn't so light for him and he was unable to pursue me across the road. I watched from the cobbled ground of the square, drinking from my bottle of coke, as a confused expression spread across his face. He reached to his back pocket, and failing to find what he sought, began to frisk his other pockets and coat.

"Where's my wallet?" he mouthed, turning and heading back into the café.

Huzzah! My first successful robbery. Maybe I'll try a bank next time. Or a train! That would be cool.

I searched the wallet, finding several dozen euro, a library card and a couple credit cards. He was wearing a business suit so I'm presuming he has a fair amount in his account. I'll try the airport tomorrow, fortunately people don't seem able to look at me properly so my age shouldn't be a problem when trying to buy a ticket.

Back at my motel for now, still no further sightings. I drank all my coke.

-Shady

Thief with a Twist

Now that I'm a Runner, I need to run more. Or at least move a lot. I always need to either be moving, or sleeping so I can regain my energy for more moving, preferably at the same time (three cheers for public transport!). Ireland isn't the best place for this, it's small, so all I can really do is catch buses in circles around the island. What I need to do is get to mainland Europe, then I've got all of Europe, Asia and Africa to roam around without having to buy an expensive plane ticket, my money is after all in short supply.

Unfortunately, to get there, I need to buy an expensive plane ticket.

I don't know how much it costs to get a plane ticket to mainland Europe, I only need to get to the coast, or even just to Britain and then I can get across the channel, in any case I've only got a few hundred...€237 to be precise. I don't think that's enough to get a plane ticket, not a last minute one at least which I'd need if I didn't want my ticket to unravel before I even got on board.

I need a way to get some money. Stealing! The victim wouldn't remember me a few moments after I took the money. I'm like the Silence from Doctor Who, that's kinda awesome. And the money would slowly ravel its way back to the owner and they wouldn't even know they were stolen from. It's a win-win, I'd win 'cause I get extra money, and they'd win 'cause they wouldn't lose any. No harm, no foul. No consequences!

Now I just need an opportunity. Time to take a stroll and see what shops have left their cash registers momentarily unattended.

-Shady

I Believe the Term is 'Runner'

-Someone or something that runs. Duh.

Or, in this case: Someone who runs from Fears.

I now fall under this title. Mainly because I now run a lot. I run as far as I can for most of the day, getting whatever transport I can afford while still rationing what money I have. It's disappearing rapidly, both spending and unraveling, a couple of the stuff from my bag have already gone. I've also decided to start labeling my posts, in case there happens to be anyone searching the blogs for Runners to miraculously save and I miss out (-is that even how labels work?).

I'm not exactly at peek physical condition (all this running will help fix that) and I can't get very far everyday. At least not on foot. I bought a bus-ticket to Dublin, it wasn't an eventful journey, thank the Lord. I slept for most of the trip, public transport is my favourite place to sleep:

1. It's crowded, so if something creepy happens there will be plenty of warning, depending on creepiness - by screaming. This may awaken me if I'm asleep.
2. It's one of the few crowded places it's socially acceptable to sleep. Even in my highly forgettable state I'd prefer not to raise any suspicion, trying to sleep in, say, a restaurant, may do this.
3. I can move while sleeping at the same time. It's like an extension of my new occupation as 'Runner', I can stay on the run while sleeping, killing two Convocation-birds with one stone.

I'm now staying at a Dublin motel, no further sightings of abnormal entities (Hooded Stalker Freak, Slenderman, THE FROST, THE RIPPER etc.) but it'll be a long time before I can even begin to think that I may be able to perhaps relax...slightly. 

How many are there out there? The Runners. How many people are running? Where are they? Do we have any hope?

-Shady