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The door tucked into the alley, Ekko decided, was unassuming. Save for the smell of freshly lit cigars, standing on the cobbled street, you wouldn’t be able to tell anyone was inside. As his informant walked him through earlier, he knocked on the door in an intricate pattern. A slat opened with a jerk that made him jump.
“Who goes there?” a voice growled.
Ekko cleared his throat in an attempt to hide his nerves. “A Child of Zaun,” he replied.
The slat quickly closed with a clack, and he heard the sound of keys jingling on the other side of the door. He must have given a satisfactory answer, he thought as the door creaked open. If the air felt heavy outside, inside it felt even denser. It was almost suffocating. The murmur of voices and the muffled sound of music led him to his destination.
The main hall was dressed from head to toe in blood-red velvet drapery. Voices filled the room in a steady buzz, melding into each other to the point where he couldn’t discern the words. The acrid smell of smoke lingered in the air and made his throat itch.
Tucked away in the corner of a small stage was a band playing a smooth, jazzy number, complementing the hum of conversation. A single microphone stood solitary on the other side of the stage. Ekko assumed the band’s singer must’ve been on their break, or perhaps they weren’t performing this evening. Whatever the case, it looked lonely just standing there as it guarded its post.
He wove his way around tables and bodies to reach the bar on the other side. The bar itself was sturdy, dark mahogany gilded in gold. The shelves were lined with expensive-looking bottles of liquor that definitely would’ve been confiscated if they were in any other establishment. He couldn’t help but admire it all for a moment. This place was nothing like the dance halls in the podunk town where he grew up. Then he remembered who it belonged to, and his interest soured.
“What can I getcha?” the bartender asked, snapping him out of his brooding thoughts.
Sliding into one of the velvet-lined bar stools, Ekko drummed his fingers in thought. “Got any recommendations? Something simple.”
“How does a Southside sound? It’s just a gin fizz with mint. Nothing too fancy.”
“Sure, I’ll give it a go,” he replied, shrugging.
The bartender flipped a towel onto his shoulder with a smile as he started preparing his drink. “You got it, boss.”
As he waited for his drink, Ekko took another second to study the room. Everyone’s faces seemed unfamiliar, focused in their own small circles. Part of him was thankful for that. Hopefully, they kept paying him no mind.
“Here you go.” The bartender set his drink in front of him.
It looked promising, pieces of muddled mint floating in the clear, bubbly liquid. He gave a quick toast to the artist before taking a small sip, scrunching his nose as it hit his tongue. It wasn’t unpleasant, it was actually quite good, but he wasn’t prepared for the tart fizz that hit him. It made the back of his jaw sting.
“That’s pretty good,” he said, toasting once more.
“Thank you, sir. Let me know if you need anything else.”
The bartender began to walk away, and Ekko quickly flagged him down before he got too far.
“Actually, there is something you can help me with,” he began as the bartender moved back to his previous spot. “You see, I’m looking for a girl.”
“You and me both, pal,” he said with an easy-going smile.
“No, no, that’s not,” Ekko couldn’t help but chuckle, “I’m looking for a specific girl. I was told that I might be able to find her here.”
Nodding, the bartender leaned closer. “You got a description?”
“Sure, uh, it’s been a while since I last saw her. Blue hair, big blue eyes… She had a smaller frame, but again, it’s been years.”
As Ekko began to describe her, he could see the bartender’s smile drain from his face. Fingers tapped nervously against the bar. He looked pale as if he were describing some sort of monster.
“Look,” dropping his voice, the bartender looked around for prying ears, “I don’t know what your friends told you, but just between us, I don’t recommend messing with that dame. She is trouble with a capital T, you hear me?”
“What do you mean?”
Instead of answering, the man nodded toward the stage as commotion began building around it.
“Knows how to make an entrance though,” he added.
The swirl of the crowd simmered down as a scrawny, blond man stepped in front of the microphone. There was something unnerving about him that Ekko couldn’t quite place.
“Ladies, gentleman, distinguished guests!” He paused, putting on a smile that was almost sickeningly saccharine. “Friends. The Last Drop is proud to present a spectacular gem. Charming, talented… A great sense of humor.”
A few patrons laughed as if they recalled an inside joke.
“Oh, but no funny business, you hear me,” he added, shaking his finger with a solemn frown. “No, sir! Not unless you want father dearest to serve your head on a platter. Isn’t that right, Sev?”
He looked toward a tall, muscular woman lingering in a corner who didn’t seem to be amused by the MCs antics one bit. She winced as the spotlight hit her before it zipped back to the stage.
The entire operation felt like a farce.
The MC cleared his throat, clearly regretting his decision. Once again he addressed the crowd. “Everyone give a welcome hand to Silco’s songbird herself, Miss Jinx!”
It took Ekko a minute to recognize the figure that stepped into the spotlight as the MC skittered away. When he did, it was as if time had slowed down, the crowd’s roar muffled in his head. Feelings from his boyhood lost to the annals of time awoke with a renewed vigor.
She looked different than when he last saw her. Much different. She was no longer the scrappy, skinned kneed farm girl with straw sticking out of her hair that he remembered. Her gangly limbs had grown lithe over the years. Blue hair that was once a perpetual mess was now pinned in an intricate updo that was gilded in strings of pearls and feathers. There was more of it too. Her dress shimmered in the bright light, each little sequin its very own star. The ostrich boa draped around her arms moved with her every breath.
She looked exquisite.
What struck him most, however, was her face. Those doll-like eyes, once soft with wide-eyed wonder, were sharpened by a ring of coal. Her pouty, rosebud lips darkened with rouge curled up into a smile with a promise of misbehavior. Ekko felt the jarring dissonance between the girl in his memories and the girl in front of him like an out-of-tune piano.
“That your girl?” the bartender asked.
The ice in his drink clinked against his glass as his hand trembled, the one crack in his stoic demeanor. He couldn’t answer, so he just nodded in reply and took another sip.
She had always wanted to sing. She sang whenever she helped feed the animals early in the morning. She sang when running errands with her siblings in town. She even hummed in places where she wasn’t supposed to.
As the band began to play a steady, upbeat tune, what left her lips wasn’t the innocent, angelic voice that serenaded him and the barn cats as they played. It was husky, sending shivers down his spine, with a honeyed quality that made him second guess the intent behind her sweet, loving words. It was as if she were a siren sending sailors to their doom.
Taking another sip, he watched her eyes roam around the room, capturing the crowd in her gaze until they finally landed on him. The corners of her mouth twitched upward as if she had just caught wind of a secret.
Part of him wondered if he should just slip back into the night and inform Vi of her whereabouts. That would’ve been the smarter option. But he just sat there, yet another person pulled into her spell.
As her song came to an end, Ekko turned to face the bar once again, nursing his glass. The bartender looked at him in pity. He probably saw him as just another lovesick suitor. As much as he hated to admit it, he would’ve been half correct. Getting involved with her outside of reuniting her with her sister meant bad news, he had to quash whatever was bubbling inside his chest.
Planning his next course of action, he suddenly caught a whiff of heady perfume in the air, with a hint of… Was that gunpowder?
“Chuck!” a voice behind him shouted, nearly startling Ekko off his seat.
“It’s– It’s Thieram, ma’am,” the bartender, Thieram, responded. He quickly scurried around the bar, a nervous wreck, preparing a drink unprompted.
“Oh, Chuck, you’re such a hoot!” Blue hair appeared in his peripheral as she slid into the stool beside him. “Do be a doll and make sure this cat’s drink is on the house, will ya?”
With a quick “yes, ma’am”, Thieram placed her drink in front of her in an old cup etched with childlike drawings. Ekko swore he had seen this cup before, in another lifetime. With a wave of her hand, Thieram scurried off to serve other patrons, nodding to him to wish him luck.
The feathers that adorned her arms rested atop the bar, its delicate feathers waving in the air. Her hands curled around the worn cup, surprisingly not as manicured as he thought they would be considering all the glamor. She didn’t turn toward him. For a moment, Ekko wondered if she was just going to ignore him.
“It’s good to see you, Little Man,” she said, breaking the silence. “It’s been a while.”
Ekko took a deep breath, preparing to confront his old childhood friend with steeled resolve. When he finally looked at her, something inside him crumbled.
Rubbing the side of her cup with her thumb, she stared at it with a sad smile. It was far cry from the bold persona that she had put on earlier. She looked more like Powder playing dress-up in a rich person’s clothes.
“Powd-”
He was promptly silenced with a finger on his lips, her skin calloused. Her eyes twinkled with mischief. The persona she had put on had veiled her old self once more.
“Ah, ah, ah. It’s Jinx now.” She removed her finger, softly brushing it against his chin as she pulled away.
Clearing his throat to hide his heart leaping into his throat, his face tried to remain stern. “Jinx. What are you doing here?”
Jinx took a sip from her drink and laid her head on folded arms, dreamily drawing patterns on the bar’s surface. “Whatever do you mean? I work here, you silly goose.”
“No, you know what I mean.”
A sigh escaped her lips as she sat up once more. “What, singing at a bar too scandalous for you? What happened to the forward-thinking boy that I once knew?” she teased.
She was trying to rile him up. He could feel the frustration and fury boil in his gut.
“I couldn’t care less if you were a singer at Babette’s, what are you doing working for Silco?”
“Well, now you’re just being crude.” A wicked smile graced her face, very much enjoying this exchange. “The old man took me in, gave me a home when everyone left. Simple as that.”
Ekko couldn’t believe how nonchalant she was about her situation. Did she not see what Silco’s hands had done to the city? The damage that he had caused to people’s lives? And what did she mean by “when everyone left”?
“That’s not–”
Before he could finish his sentence, a loud horn was heard throughout the room. It was the band starting back up, filling the silence with music.
“Oh! D’ya hear that?” She looked back at him with childlike joy. “Come! Dance with me! Come on, come on, come on!”
Hopping off the seat with renewed vigor, she began tugging at his arm, determined to get him to the dance floor. She almost succeeded in slipping him off his chair, if not for the hand anchoring himself to the bar. Her glee brought him back to memories of them watching the adults dance from the balconies, mirroring their movements. Ekko was a clumsy dancer, he always managed to step on her toes. Powder would laugh it off and kept encouraging him with playful jests. They felt so grown-up back then.
“Ekko?” Her voice calling out his name snapped him out of his nostalgic haze. “Come on. For old time’s sake. Please?”
It was difficult to say no to those baby blues back then, that was one thing time had not changed. With a sigh, he stood up, her fingers still wrapped around his arm.
“Fine, one dance.” Before she could drag him off to the dance floor, he raised her hand to stop her and added, “But only if you tell me what’s going on. No games.”
Her only answer was a disarmingly sweet smile, as she pulled him through tables and chairs. The crowd parted around them, afraid to bump into them. Afraid to bump into her. As they made their way to the center of the floor, he could feel their eyes watch their every move. Jinx didn’t seem to mind, she was in her own little world.
Grabbing his right hand, she pulled it around her waist to rest on the small of her back, bringing them closer together. He must have made a face because she began to laugh. Positioning themselves as they did as children, they began to sway to the music.
From an outsider's perspective, they looked rigid and awkward.
“Loosen up, Little Man, you’re as stiff as a mannequin,” Jinx teased.
Ekko spun her a couple of times in response, causing her to giggle. When she came back to face him, she wrapped her arm not encased in his around his shoulder, leaning her cheek against it.
“I missed this… I missed you,” she mumbled with a sigh.
In his arms, she looked delicate. Like a piece of silk that could slip out of his hands at any moment. And she could. He knew she could.
“Powder–”
Jinx’s face shot up toward him, the tip of her nose barely brushing his. Ferocity burned behind her gaze.
“You’re walking on some mighty thin ice there, Firelight,” she whispered.
A chill ran down Ekko’s spine.
Furrowing his brows, he began to think back to a time he might have left his guard down, confused as to how she knew the identity he had so carefully hidden. This had been the first time he saw her, how did she–
“Oh, you think you’re the only one keeping tabs on people?” Jinx leaned closer to his ear. “I’ve got eyes everywhere, Boy Savior. Don’t worry, your little secret’s safe with me,” she said, absentmindedly tracing the planes of his shoulder.
“Then you know Vi’s looking for you?”
She froze.
That must’ve been a detail that slipped by her.
Jinx straightened back up, this time putting a bit of distance between them. Far from the confident vamp, she looked like a caged mouse. Frightened.
“No? No. Is she–” Her eyes darted around unfocused. “Why? She– She left me. She left me at the barn. The fire– No. No, no. She never came back.”
“She was arrested, Jinx.”
“What?”
“An enforcer picked her up, accused her of arson.” Ekko dropped the stern tone in his voice, softening its jagged edges at her trembling. “What happened that night?”
A war was brewing inside Jinx’s head, it was clear as day. His overeagerness was pushing it. Moving to drop his hands, she quickly grabbed them and put them back into place.
“Jinx?”
Her eyes never looked up to meet his. Instead, they stayed pinned to his collarbone.
“Don’t. Not tonight.”
“But–”
“Drop. It.” Finally looking up at him, she huffed a resigned chuckle. “Sheesh, can’t a gal enjoy one night of dancing without her sister getting in the way? Just one night, that’s all I ask.”
Rocking their feet back and forth, they found themselves at a slower pace than before. It felt awkward. A different awkwardness than when they first started. It smothered and suffocated. It made you want to run away and never look back.
“You can’t stop thinking about it,” Jinx sighed, resting her cheek back on his shoulder.
“I can’t stop thinking about it.” They both fell into silence as Ekko carefully planned out his words. “I just don’t understand…”
“Don’t you think some mysteries are better left unsolved? Come on, Little Man, you’re messing with my mystique. Besides, you’re not that much of a dummy. I’m sure you’ll figure it out someday.”
“No.” He took a step back, the sudden departure of his support causing Jinx to bob forward. “I want to hear it from you.” Jinx opened her mouth, about to release yet another smart comment. “And no, no more ‘I’ll tell you later’s. I’m tired of beating around the bush, Jinx. You promised.”
Jinx’s rouged lips curled into a small smile that didn’t reach her eyes. “I never did such a thing. You’re putting words in my mouth, Little Man.”
She never did promise. Ekko internally kicked himself at how easily he was disarmed. All it took was a smile and a tug of his arm for him to be trapped in her web.
With a step forward, she was back in his personal space. Once again she leaned her cheek against his, her breath fanning gently across the side of his face. “Look around. Look at the faces around you.”
Aware of their audience once more, Ekko looked around the room. If looks could kill, he would’ve been turned to dust and then some. You would’ve thought that he had just committed a great sin in front of everyone’s eyes.
“You better watch your step, Boy Savior,” she said in a husky whisper. “There are a lot of people here who would kill to get into Silco’s good graces. You don’t wanna be caught messin’ with the boss man’s little girl, now do ya?”
“Is that a threat?”
“Maybe. Maybe it’s a warning.”
The words that came from her lips sounded genuine, far from the barrage of teasing he’d been receiving. Her eyes looked up at him with such sincerity that they threw him completely off guard. All he could do was gawk at the sudden shift of tone.
Jinx slipped her hands away in favor of fussing over his shirt collar as if her hands needed some sort of distraction. Ekko felt the urge to place his hands on her waist. Heeding her advice, however, his hands stuck to his sides, afraid to touch within view of her sentries.
“At ease, soldier,” Jinx teased, brushing off a speck of dust from his shoulder.
A smile crept onto Ekko’s face involuntarily. “I thought you were Silco’s canary.”
“Yeah, well, old habits die hard. Besides,” she paused her fussing to meet his gaze once more, “I’m not a heartless monster. At least, I don’t think I am…”
Ekko barely caught her last sentence, said under her breath. If she was anything like the Powder in his memories, he would’ve rushed to defend her every move. Something felt different now. It wasn’t just her working at Silco’s speakeasy, him taking her under his wing, nor was it the fact she refused to have anything to do with the sister she loved dearly. It was obvious she was hiding things from him. Grimmer things. Things that made Ekko wonder if he really wanted to know.
It made him feel uneasy.
“Jinx…”
The lights dimmed. The MC stepped back into the spotlight as he called for everyone’s attention. Jinx practically leaped at the MC’s barking voice, though he couldn’t tell if it was out of surprise or excitement.
“That’s my cue,” she said with a giddy smile, psyching herself up. “Thanks for the dance, Little Man. A little more practice and you’d make a fine dance partner yet.”
Squeezing his arm, she began to walk away, only to quickly come back as if she had forgotten something.
“Stay a while?”
Before he could respond, she gave him a quick peck on the cheek before making her way to the stage for her entrance. If he wasn’t already a target for the crowd, she had just painted a giant X on his back.
Still reeling from what had just taken place, Ekko somehow made his way back to the bar. Jinx’s feather boa still rested abandoned on top of the wood. His fingers reached over, scooting it closer to him. They tangled themselves into the soft plumes of ostrich.
Ekko was torn. He was on a mission, he had a job to do, but this girl had rendered him back into the bashful child he once was.
“Oh, pal.” A voice made Ekko jolt, his hand quickly retreating from the boa. “She really did mark you for death.”
He turned his head to see Thieram gesturing to his cheek on the side where Jinx had kissed him. He ran a thumb across it only to find a smear of color the same shade as her lips. Thieram slipped him a napkin which he used to begrudgingly wipe the rest off. Part of him lamented the loss, but something told him Vi wouldn’t be too pleased with the only evidence he brought back of her sister’s existence being a peck on his cheek.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Yeah,” Ekko chuckled, “she warned me too.”
“And you’re still walking into her trap. You are a brave soul, you know that?”
All he could do was nod, staring off into the stage area. Jinx was once again lit by the spotlight, sparkling like a diamond. Despite how dazzling she looked on stage, he couldn’t help but prefer her dancing in his arms. He suddenly felt the urge to ask Thieram for another drink.
As Jinx stepped in front of the microphone, her confidence wavered and faded into uncertainty. She looked like she had seen a ghost. Quickly whipping back toward the band before they had the chance to start, she got into an animated conversation with its members. After they all seemed to agree on something, Jinx returned to her spot on the stage.
A familiar tune began playing through the room. Something from their past, slow and steady.
“Now won’t you listen, honey, while I say…”
Realization hit him like an arrow to the heart. It was a song they used to play on the phonograph of the dance hall. Powder adored it and found herself humming it whenever they parted, reveling in childhood dramatics.
He had enough. He hated how she made him feel. He hated how his brain tried to make sense of things through nostalgia. Back and forth, past and present. It was all too much. He had to leave.
He hopped down from the barstool and began to make his way out, only to be stopped dead in his tracks by the look on her face.
“You know I loved you for these many years,
Love you night and day…”
Her eyelashes began to sparkle, and shimmering tracks ran down her cheeks. She didn’t look at him, but she made her message crystal clear.
Ekko made his way back to his seat, never taking his eyes off of the loose cannon. He wasn’t sure what to do next. He had to tell Vi about her sister’s whereabouts, for sure. He also needed to sort himself out. He couldn’t let the old flame rekindle. There was something off about her. She was a keg of dynamite wrapped up in silk ribbons.
She wasn’t the Powder that he remembered. For all intents and purposes, she was a stranger. A stranger who shared his childhood, his joy, his memories.
And he’d be damned if he lost her again.
“Oh, babe, think what you’re doing
You know my love for you will drive me to ruin,
After you’ve gone, after you’ve gone away.”