The alley smelled of wet asphalt and old paint, the kind that sticks to your clothes no matter how fast you run. Neon reflected off puddles in fractured shards, casting distorted colors across the brick walls. My eyes were drawn to something unusual an emblem, sprayed in jagged orange and black, almost blinking in the gloom.
Click… drip… scrape…
I crouched, tracing the pattern with my fingers. Familiar shapes, repeated sequences. Not random. Nothing ever was. The symbols formed a map coordinates, really and it made me wonder how many others had followed this trail before me.
"City's leaving me homework now," I muttered, voice low, teeth clenched around the words. "Fantastic. My kind of pop quiz."
I squinted, comparing the shapes to the map in my head. The lines connected alleys I knew, streets I thought I could trust. Each twist, each spray of paint, a breadcrumb in a carefully orchestrated maze. Whoever did this had patience and a sense of irony.
Click… tap… hum…
I followed the arrows, my boots silent on wet cobblestones. Every step felt like a test, every shadow a question. One false move, and I'd be answering for it in ways that didn't involve sarcasm.
Halfway down the path, I paused. Another emblem, this one smaller, hidden beneath a faded fire escape. I crouched, noting details the direction of the paint strokes, the thickness of the lines, even the streaks where someone had wiped away a mistake. Whoever did this cared about precision. And I knew, from experience, that precision was usually deadly.
"Noted," I whispered, muttering to the empty alley. "Someone out there loves arts and crafts and the idea of me getting very, very lost."
Click… scrape… drip…
The final emblem led me to a narrow metal door, rusted, padlock long gone. Beyond it, faint light flickered, and I could hear distant murmurs. Not voices, exactly more like the hum of organized chaos, the rhythm of people who had rehearsed this moment without ever meeting me.
I took a deep breath, noting the wetness of my coat, the weight of the bag with my scattered clues. "Alright," I muttered, teeth clenched in a grim smile. "Homework time. Let's see if I pass."
I pushed the door open and stepped inside, wondering if the city was grading me on creativity or sheer dumb luck.
"Fingers crossed it's multiple choice," I muttered under my breath.