“Be careful man ya’ don't wanna mess with her trust me, she rules half the city, anyone you meet could be her pawn ‘round here…” Ace whispered trying to control the tone of his voice, as if he was trying to make sure no one heard him. This was stupid, we were in the depths of probably the spookiest alley in the entire city, there was no way anyone was coming here… 

    

Well, turns out I was stupid since a mere crow “Caw!” was all it took for me to fall on my back off of the “very balanced” wood log, what was this log even doing here in the middle of the city… This place was seriously starting to get to me; nothing made sense, the stories, the environment, the people… It all juxtaposed the reality I grew up in. I was living in a safe city with the closest natural environment being far enough not to have a wooden log as a bench in a deep, dark alleyway in the middle of the city. The government had taken care of all the rebels, which turns out this also was a lie since there were at least twenty-five of them in a one-mile radius, they also had accents, what was that all about… (Ace, here, was one of them.) Moreover, apparently there was this mysterious lady “ruling half the city,” and “having eyes in every darn corner.” How was this possible? Which universe did I enter? I want to go back in time.

 

I got kicked out, that's the truth. As my dearest father told me: “If you count as a legal adult then you can build your own life and that starts with building your own home, as I did when I was your age.” 

 

So he basically told me to sod off in an “optimistic” way, if you can call it that. Now I wonder if he knew these things about the city if he was dismissed too. He couldn’t have, could he? I mean yeah I get he did practically dump me to the streets but still, I want to believe he didn’t know it wasn’t safe. Though it wouldn’t have made a difference right, he abandoned me…

 

“You alright, mate-y?” Ace was staring at my probably lost plane. I was wandering around like a lost puppy for I don’t know how long, Ace found me and brought me to this place. He was practically accepting and friendly to a homeless teen he just met. I mean, yeah, we are close in age, and he can't be any older than me but this behaviour and my recent observations were all telling me either this wasn’t unusual or this dude has some very nasty ulterior motives, the first one is more likely. People around here were all very nice, they had this “we must stick out for each other” motto as an unwritten rule. They were afraid of something, a lady. I didn’t really understand anything but there were two questions to be answered. Firstly, who is this lady? Secondly, how did the government manage to hide all these people, these haunted corners of the city, these pieces of nature lying in the middle of the city, which clearly stood out compared to the rest of its’ brick and concrete structure from the civilians? I don’t know what it is, maybe my gut but it is clearly telling me to learn the answers to these questions if I want to survive and get a hang of my life.

 

“Yeah, I’m all right, thanks for asking though.” I smiled at Ace, he was a very caring person compared to how hard his life was. He was native to these hoods, the perfect person to answer my newly found questions… 

 

“Hey… Ace, do you know who this mysterious lady is?” I asked in a calm but curious tone.

 

“Wha’ mysh’r’ush lady?” he replied as he bit off a piece of the pigeon meat he had just cooked. He looked obliviously, as if he wasn’t the one who talked about “having eyes on every corner” and stuff. Honestly, you’d have to have short-term memory loss to forget something that quickly, maybe it’s the pigeon meat. Hope this is not my future…

 

“The one you were just talking about, you know, you warned me to behave or she will like, uhh, find me I guess.” Even I wasn't sure what I was talking about, maybe I was too cruel to Ace, never mind. 

 

“Ohhhh, you are talking about…” He suddenly tensed up, lifted his shoulders tight, and hid his head between them as if trying to hide- defend himself from an invisible force. What was it that got him so tense all of a sudden? He continued after getting himself ready for who knows what, “The Matriarch.” He practically whispered that part, I almost couldn’t hear it.

 

“The what? Matr-” Ace shut me up before I could finish my (rhetorical) question. Okay, I admit I was practically shouting to make sure he heard me right but then again, that did oppose his obviously freaked-out acts so I do understand. His behaviour did answer my question though, I did hear the name right. The Matriarch, what kind of a name is that? Oh God, I really am getting stupider every second I stay here… It is a pretty self-explanatory name. So we have a big boss mama at hand, cool, alright… This time more quietly, “And who is this…” I didn’t know how to continue without making Ace get a heart attack so I did the thing with my brows hoping he would understand. He did. Maybe he isn’t stupid after all…

 

He looked thoughtful like he was trying to find the words to explain. “She…” He looked down again. How hard can it be to explain what is so nasty about this boss mama dude, come on! “She’s a big name ‘round here, yeah? But nobody’s really seen her or knows her. An’ I reckon that’s cause she doesn’ let anyone who’s seen her, y’know, live to tell the tale. Like, if you’re sure you clocked her, you ain’t gonna be sure of much else for long!”

 

“What? So how are you guys so sure if there is no living proof that she exists?” I asked. Things weren’t adding up, how can some many people get so freaked out about some ghost-lady-mafia-boss-thing? They are practically afraid of a myth, a legend…

 

“Oh, but she’ real, alright. She’s got eyes everywhere, yeah? Knows everything’ that’s goin’ on.” Ace subtly moved his hand, signalling me to come in closer. I leaned towards him a little and stared at where he was pointing his finger under his jacket. It was a crow.

 

“So she’s a crow?” There was an air of arrogance right in my face. Pshhh, so these people were scared of a crow all along. What is it gonna do if it sees me laughing at her, peck me?

 

“Wha’? ‘Course not. She’s a real human, yeah? More’n any o’ us, at that. Them’s her eyes. Some say she’s older than the city itself, an’ the crows, they work as her senses. All of ‘em, under her command. Everythin’ works under her command.” Ace was clearly trying to be discreet while giving me this information. There was a crow right above the building next to us, no wonder he was so tense all this time. If this lady is as savage as anyone mentioned, talking about her behind her back like this may not be the best thing to do. But this still doesn’t answer any of my questions completely so I had to keep going.

 

“But how did she manage to command the crows, that is bizarre. And how did she even survive for that long?” I was trying to pull as much information out of him as possible. 

 

“Well, truth be told, I dunno the answer to that me-self, but there’s an urban legend lyin’ ‘round the hoods, yeah? Supposedly, when the city was first built, she struck some deal with the city itself—made the crows her pawns, she did, in exchange for hidin’ the first or the place, so folks’d come live here again. But, o’course, that’s just a story, innit? A right-made-up one, if you ask me. Still, I’ve got no bloody clue how she lasted this long…if there’s any truth to it, that is.” Ace looked in denial, like he was just telling me what he knew that could cover my question but I highly doubt he actually believed this story. Me, myself, on the other hand, had just gotten answers to all my questions almost completely.

 

This scum did mean something else though: the government must have known this lady existed and they must’ve kept her identity a secret. Oh my, it was just like the city, she probably is getting something in return for keeping all this dirt, these hoods covered. The government probably has no control over the city anyway… All the false advertisements, all the propaganda… They are all to cover up her existence, she is the one ruling the city at this point. 

 

Ace must’ve seen my distressed look, handed to me by the ridiculousness of the government and the power of just figuring everything out since he was calling my name with an explicitly worried tone. Ollie, yo’, Ollie, you O.K., mate-y? You worriyn’ me. Ollie!” What a good friend he was… Oh, the reason he doesn't believe the stories is probably because he doesn’t know all the crap the government does… And… If I want more answers, I should give more intel! My dear Ace, congratulations. You just got the honour to know more about all the wackiness people are pulling behind our backs more than anyone in the hoods.

 

“Hey, Ace… You will not believe what I’m about to say…”