The Kind of Evil

‎"I'm just a merchant..." Ayla answered as she took a few steps back.

‎Ayla was surprised and shocked by how perceptive the Jester was. She looked around and saw that people were ignoring him and the whole situation. She realized the moment she paid attention to him, he knew that she wasn't from around here. The fact that she was the only one who paid attention to him, it was a giveaway of who she was.

‎"A merchant? At that age?" The Jester tilted his head, taking a huge step toward Ayla, grinning and staring at her. "Are you telling a lie or a lie?" He added as he giggled and kept taking huge steps toward her.

‎"I'm telling the truth, I got here two days ago with my father. I saw you when we came here, and I was just curious about you," Ayla answered as she walked backward, staring at the Jester with fear in her eyes and in her voice. "I'll get going, I'm sorry..." she said as she turned around and walked at a fast pace.

‎Although Ayla was pretending to be a scared woman, the anxiety and the crippling fear from encountering the Jester slowly became reality.

‎She began to walk even faster, trying to avoid the Jester, and when she took a glance over her shoulder, that was when her face became pale. The Jester was following right behind her with a huge grin and eyes wide open. She was raised and taught by the best, and yet she didn't notice his presence at all if she didn't turn around.

‎"Ahhh!" Ayla screamed so loudly to attract the people around her. She didn't know if her scream was an act of if it was the real her. She collapsed and covered her head with her arms, begging, "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!"

Ayla could hear a soft giggle that suddenly faded out, and when she slowly pulled her arms down, the Jester was nowhere to be found. People were looking at her with a stoic expression, knowing exactly what had happened but choosing not to interfere.

She was breathing heavily as she looked around, making sure the Jester wasn't around or hiding. She slowly got up and kept looking around with anxiety because she didn't like it when she couldn't sense or find the Jester at all. She realized that the Jester wasn't an ordinary person, and the way he moved unnoticed by her, it disturbed her more than it should.

She decided to leave and never looked back, her steps were faster than before. She had never felt so scared in her life like that, and somehow that Jester could pull the strings of emotions within her and chose to pull the fear out of her. So many questions appeared in her head, but one thing that she had to keep in mind, and that was to keep a distance from the Jester.

After a long walk, Ayla decided to blend in with the crowd because it made her feel secure and safe. She tried to calm her racing heart that had been going on for minutes. She couldn't help but glance at every corner because she felt like the Jester was following her. She didn't know if she was being paranoid or if her gut told her that it was the truth.

The sun was slowly setting down, and Ayla managed to calm her thoughts. She decided to find an inn to stay in for the night and continued her mission to keep an eye on the Jester. Her thought was in a jumble, and she doubted that the Jester would be in any danger with that skill he had.

Deep down, she felt reluctant to do this after she found out how unnerving and disturbing the Jester was. However, it was Rasmus's order, and she didn't want to disappoint him, especially when the Jester didn't try to harm, which didn't put her in any danger, only discomfort. She spent the night in the room she rented and stared out at the people working tirelessly on the street.

The night was filled with the sound of people talking and the sound of hammers outside the inn that calmed Ayla down. She slowly drifted off to sleep, but not long after that, heavy rain poured into the capital city. People decided to postpone the work and continued the work in the morning because of the heavy rain and the rumbling thunder.

In the middle of the night where the rain became heavier, Ayla was sleeping so soundly on the bed. The window was still open, and that was when a shadow of a head came down from the top frame of the window. The sound of thunder and the flashes of thunder revealed the Jester's face, upside-down with a huge grin on his face, staring at her sleeping face.

The wind pushed the shutters widely, hitting the wall that caused Ayla to open her eyes. She immediately jolted from her bed and looked out the window, but the Jester had disappeared, unaware of his existence that had been staring at her while she was asleep. She didn't know it was raining outside and chose to close the shutters and the window before she went back to sleep.

The morning came, and the people continued to work, even though it was drizzling outside. Ayla also chose to walk, to keep her head clear as she tried to think of the right way to observe the Jester. She had decided that she didn't want to get too close to the Jester no matter what happened.

Ayla went to the east side of the city once again, and with every step she took, she felt heavier in her chest and on her shoulders. It was her instinct telling her to turn around and leave, but she ignored her feelings and emotions. She tried to think of something else, and the only thing that could keep her mind sharp was Rasmus and his words.

"He's an asset for Lord Rasmus, keep it together..." Ayla muttered to herself as she walked on the sidewalk and observed the people in front of her and the alleys around her.

"You little liar..." A hush voice could be heard from the alley that Ayla had just passed with a soft giggle that echoed.

Ayla felt every hair on her body raised and the cold creeping into her skin from her heels up to her nape. She slowly turned around and looked at the alley where she heard the voice, the Jester's voice. She unconsciously placed her left hand on her back, pulling down the dagger she had hidden under her left sleeve.

"Why do you call me a liar?" Ayla asked, and she raised her voice to let go of the fear that had accumulated in her throat.

There was only silence for a few seconds after Ayla asked that question. However, she didn't get a reply, so she decided to approach the alley, still with her left hand behind her back. When she took a peek at the alley, she found nobody, there was nothing in the dark alley. She gulped, thinking if she was hallucinating or did she really hear the Jester's voice.

Ayla decided to walk on the other side of the street as she kept her eyes on the alley and her surroundings.

"Because you said you were here with your father, but I didn't see your father nor any companion with you..." The jester answered, giggling from the alley in front of her.

Ayla was in disbelief that the Jester had managed to move from one side of the street to the other without her realizing it. She began to question if the Jester was a human or not because there was no way that someone could move that fast and unnoticed by her. However, that wasn't the main issue, she was anxious because she didn't expect the Jester was indeed had been following her and keeping an eye on her, revealing her lies that she was a merchant and came to the city with a nonexistent father figure.

"Who are you, little miss?" The Jester asked, but his voice was fading away as if he was no longer there.

"I'm just a nobody... and I don't mean any harm to you..." Ayla answered truthfully as she slowly walked toward the alley. "I can promise you that..." She added and took a peek at the dark alley, and to her expectation, the Jester was nowhere to be found there.

Ayla looked up at the walls of the building, wondering if the Jester had climbed the walls and then jumped from one building to another. She realized it would be the case when she paid attention to the dark alley across the street earlier, when the Jester jumped to another building across the street. She immediately turned around, and she found the Jester in the middle of the street, playing a song on his lute.

Ayla's heart was beating so fast when she stared at the Jester as if nothing had happened. She clenched her fists, feeling irritated when she was being played by the Jester and it worked really well.

"Who are you, Mister?" Ayla asked as she approached the Jester, and this time, there was something else that made her fear feel less threatening, and that was curiosity and the sense of safety and relief after telling the truth to the person who could see it.

"I'm just a guy, playing a lute," the Jester answered with a big smile on his face. "And who are you, little miss?" He asked.

"I'm a girl who wants to see you," Ayla answered.

"And here I am, in the flesh," the Jester responded with a giggle as he tuned the lute.