Ralph stood before the bathroom mirror. His left eye had swollen and was thick with blood. Taking his knife from the edge of the sink, he braced himself as he took the blade to the edge of the bruise. As he cut, the blood started to flow.
Taking a rag, he pressed it to his eye to catch what was draining. "Dammit," Ralph muttered to himself. Breathing through clenched teeth, he held pressure until he felt the wound start to clot. Pulling back the cloth, he checked to make sure it would not start to bleed again. Blinking repeatedly, he watched as his injured eye started to open once again.
Ralph tossed the bloody rag in the wastebasket by the sink and ran his hands under the water in the sink. Splashing some of the cool water on his face, he washed off the dried off blood from his nose earlier. Taking both of his hands and pressing them together over his nose, he pressed his nose back into position.
"Dammit, that hurt." Ralph said to himself. His face clean and his nose back in line, Ralph stood back up looking once more in the mirror.
"I'm gonna find them, little brother. I'll figure out what happened."
Washing his hands one last time, he grabbed another cloth and dried them off. Stepping back out of the bathroom and into his room. Ralph looked at the meager room. Simple bed. Small desk. Window looking out into the town. Not much else to say about it. Ralph walked towards the bed, taking a seat, he grabbed his pack and proceeded to pull forth a new set of clothes. Stripping off his old, sweaty garments from a day's travel, he pulled on his new pants, and threw over a clean shirt. Taking his boot knife, he secured it, as he laced up his boots.
His brother had, had a knife just like his. They had gotten them on one of their previous jobs. When Ralph had buried his brother, he looked everywhere for it but could not find it on his brother. Ralph would show that person what happens when you take something that doesn't belong to you, he promised himself and his brother. And when he did find that person, it would not be good for them, not good for them at all.
Grabbing his cloak, Ralph threw it around his shoulders, pulling the hood up. Ralph liked to hit things, too. He chuckled, lightly to himself. Ironic, that man thought he could beat Ralph down. Putting on his studded gloves, Ralph slowly fastened the wrist clasps. Ralph would make sure he paid for his mistake too. "Even if I go down swingin, I'm gonna enjoy wiping that smug look right off of his face."
Ralph walked to the door of his room, checking one last time to see if there was anything left, before opening the door and stepping out into the hallway. Heading towards the stairs, Ralph started to descend into the main room of the inn.
It had taken him about a day to make it to Lincoln. He had still seen no sign of the girl, but he was sure she'd have to come this way, at some point. Stepping into the main room, he made eye contact with the innkeeper. The innkeeper nodded him on without a word. Ralph headed towards a table in the back corner of the room. Taking a seat, one of the servers brought over a meal and set it down in front of Ralph. Grabbing his fork, he began to start eating the fish. It wasn't great, but it had been the best thing he'd eaten since before they had grabbed the girl.
Ralph thought back to the man from the carriage. His smug look, the look of utter contempt before he was struck. The multiple strikes, as Ralph laid there held by his collar. And that driver who just stood there, watching the whole thing go down. Ralph continued to chew with bitterness. The fire in his eyes was like molten heat. As soon as he was out from under this man's thumb, that man would find out he hadn't been quite so under his thumb all along. Maybe, I'll even do it when I hand the girl over, he chuckled darkly to himself. He took another bite.
Watching the innkeeper over at the bar, he started to track his eyes around the room. The door opened and a man and a woman walked in. The man looked familiar. But Ralph couldn't quite place him. The woman was even stranger. She was wearing a man's clothes and she had a mace over her shoulder. As Ralph continued to watch them, he watched the man head for the stairs. The woman started to make her way towards one of the other tables, taking a seat with her back to him.
As she turned to take the seat, Ralph's fork lowered. It was her. The girl was right in front of him. What fortune was this? Ralph thought to himself. He started to smile. A server came over to the girl and he watched as the server took her order.
A few moments later, the man from before returned from upstairs. Walking over to the table, the man took a seat, facing him. Ralph hunched down, checking his hood was still in place. Ralph stayed silent, watching the pair. The man and woman were talking, it looked like it was getting pretty serious, and then the man stopped talking and looked away. Just then, the server came by with the food and placed the meals down in front of them. Ralph pondered what to do. He didn't want to make a scene in the middle of the inn. He had to be smart about this. He also didn't want them to recognize who he was. He would have to stay here and wait it out.
He watched the pair eat their meals and then get up from the table and head towards the stairs. The server came by and grabbed the empty plates, heading back towards the kitchen. Another server came by his table, taking his plate, she asked,"would you like anything else?"
"No." Ralph waited for her to leave and then stood from the table. They were staying in the same inn as him, this was gonna be way easier than he thought. He would wait for them to fall asleep and then he would make his move. Ralph stepped away from the table and headed towards the stairs.
Heading up, he walked towards his room. Stepping into his room, he closed the door behind him and took a seat on the bed facing the window. It was only time now. Soon this would be over. Ralph lowered his hood, laying back on the bed, he looked at the ceiling as he thought about his next move.
The hour was late, the sounds of the town had grown quiet. Looking down into the street, shops had closed, windows were closed. No one walked along the street. Stepping up to the window, he opened the window and peered down. Climbing out onto the ledge, he hoisted himself out and up onto the side of the building. Taking his time, he inched his way along the edge, making his way to the next window.
Being careful to not make any noise, Ralph tried to look into the room. Nope, not that one. There were two people in there, but they weren't the ones he was looking for. They did seem to be having a good time though. Moving on, Ralph thought to himself.
He inched forward to the next window. Peering inside, all the lights were off. He could just make out a figure on the bed. Looking a little further into the room, he thought he could make out another figure on the floor. This had to be the room. Testing the window, he found it was not latched. Okay, moment of truth, here we go.
Ralph grabbed the edge of the window and quietly started to lift it open. Holding his breath, as if that would eliminate any sound, he finally had the window open. Sliding his leg over the ledge of the window, Ralph tried his best to climb through without making a noise. Once in the room, he looked to the bed, where a figure was sleeping, and then he looked to the floor where the other person was sleeping. Making his way over to the one on the floor, this would be quick, he said to himself. Better to deal with the man first. Ralph grabbed the knife from his boot, slowly stepping over to the mat on the floor. He raised his knife in an overhand grip, bringing it down into the figure on the floor.
There was a thud, but no scream.
No gurgle.
No noise.
Ralph pulled back his knife.
No blood.
Pulling back the blanket, there was a bundle of towels. Spinning towards the bed, Ralph hurried over and threw back the covers. More towels.
"Dammmmmmmmittttt!" Ralph was furious.
Where could they have gone? How did they figure it out? He was sure they hadn't recognized him. Kicking the corner of the bed, Ralph cursed again. Stepping back towards the window, Ralph climbed out and made his way back to the window of his room.
Once back in his room, Ralph threw off his cloak and laid down on the bed. 'I guess I'll just have to keep looking' he thought to himself. Frustrated with his failure, he grumbled as he rolled over trying to force some much needed sleep.