Every area in Slough had its own little shopping street, where there would be retailers selling all sorts of different things. When entering the Burnham high street though, the group realised that this area wasn’t as affluent as the food street they had seen the other day.
There were a few clothes shops, shoe, and key makers amongst other things, but the shops looked to be a little worn down, and there was graffiti on the walls at parts. Many of the shops were boarded up.
In the first place, a Tier-3 town wasn’t exactly a place where many could afford the luxury of buying things, which was why there were so many factories and manual labour jobs in the area.
“Now this is more like the Slough I know.” Innu sounded happy. It was an awkward reaction to have, but honestly, the others also felt it. Lately they had been visiting areas in Slough that felt foreign to them.
Areas that they would have never set foot in before. The areas that big gangs owned, it seemed like all the money for the town were being fuelled towards them somehow.
Off in the distance not too far away, the top of the high school could be seen, which was why they were here in the first place.
“Alright, let's stick to the plan. Keep your phones on you at all times.” Kai reminded them, the group nodded, and split up.
Although they hadn’t seen anyone that even vaguely resembled a high school recruiter, they thought that if they did run into them, they might immediately start running. Still, everyone made sure to keep an eye on Marie, while pretending to window-shop.
Walking down the high street, Marie was wearing black boots that went up to her thigh, at the same time she was wearing a fitting coat as well, and had part of her hair tucked back revealing a pair of nice earrings.
None of them had ever seen her dress so girly, the other thing that they noticed was that she stood out a bit in a place like this. There were other girls, but none of them were dressed in as expensive or good quality clothes as hers.
‘I guess that’s all that blonde boy's money, huh.’ Innu thought, staring at her. ‘I'm starting to suspect that he gave her and her mom a bigger cut out from that grey colour gang money than he let on.’
There was also something else on his mind, and it was about what Gary had said at the hospital. He had mentioned the Underdogs being after him. Unfortunately, a doctor had interrupted them at that moment, leaving them no time to really discuss what he meant by being chased after.
The Pincers were just a small-time gang, and they were proving to be a hard enough gang to deal with… how the hell were five teenagers supposed to deal with a big gang like the Underdogs? Still, Innu couldn’t help but smile as he imagined what the Howlers could be like if they ever got to that level.
“Hey, I bet you hear that every day, but you look really stunning. You look familiar, have you done some modelling by any chance?” A voice was heard in the middle of the street, and suddenly everyone's head turned to Marie.
They could see a young man who was dressed quite hip and had one of those professional cameras on him. It wasn’t something cheap that was for sure and out of everyone on the street he had chosen to approach Marie.
“Um, no, I’ve never even thought about it.” Marie answered, fluttering her eyes at the boy.
“Well, you really have the right look for it from head to toe, and you obviously have a great fashion sense.” The boy praised her, giving Marie a thumbs up. “If you’re free, want to give it a shot? I actually work for a modelling agency, and we’re looking for young university students like you.
“I feel like you have the perfect look that we’re going for with our next campaign. Of course, you’ll be compensated, and if my boss likes you, your pictures could be in all the Tier-2 cities and Tier-3 towns. Wait…” The man suddenly paused his excitement and started to look her up and down as if he was judging her.
“Since you said, you haven’t modelled before… do you mind if I take some practice photos of you? We have a studio that’s not too far away from here.”
Marie made it seem like she was trying to make up her mind for a bit before answering, because she really didn’t know what to do. The plan was to try and see if there were others as well. After all, perhaps one person wouldn’t know, and she was surprised to hear they had a physical shop.
“You know what, that sounds great… Thank you so much for picking me.” Marie smiled, not wanting to disappoint the others.
Marie and the boy started walking together as he took her towards his special shop. It looked like they were no longer walking on the main high street, but were going through an alleyway, to another area that was close by.
‘This is getting too dangerous, I have to stop her.’ Gary thought.
[Don’t intervene just yet. Let’s first check where he is taking her.] A text message had appeared in the group chat. Surprisingly, it was from Kai.
However, with what had happened to Stacy still fresh on his mind, it was hard for Gary to just take a back seat.
[Don't worry, that guy was just a delinquent. Remember, they’re high school students like us, and they need to present the girls intact. They will take us to the right place.]
The following message calmed the green haired teenager down a bit, but he would still try to stick close to her. Unlike the others, Gary was following Marie more directly as he went down the same alleyway as them and was just reacting to their actions from around 30 metres away.
“How far is your shop?” Marie asked.
The boy had been pretty chatty initially, but for some reason he suddenly stopped, and that’s when Marie could tell that he was glancing behind him. When walking on the street at the next alleyway he saw, he suddenly grabbed Marie's hand and threw her down it.
“You… you're following us! Who are you? One of the girl's friends to get revenge? Who put you up to this?” The boy asked as he walked towards her, trying to intimidate her, but Marie said nothing.
“Oh well, I'm sure that my other friends will be dealing with yours pretty soon. So why don’t I have some fun with you myself? You will become damaged goods soon anyway!” The boy stated, reaching his hand out.
At that moment, Marie lifted her small coat that covered part of her shorts. Around her side she had a special strap that went around her thigh and in it there were two knives. Pulling them out, she quickly delivered two slashes, cutting the boy’s hand.
“I'm not just some pushover girl! Thanks for not making me feel guilty about hurting you. I wonder how many lives you have ruined by doing this crap of yours!” Marie shouted.