Troublesome Thoughts (Open)

"Well, I don't really like you telling me what to do, so I'd say we're even."

The door slammed shut as Jessie stalked away and she started running as soon as she was out of sight. She was sure her father wouldn't come after her. He had more important things to do. A sneer crossed her face as she thought about it. Her father was better at looking after his prisoners that he was his own daughter - scratch that - his own family. If only he knew what Collin, Jessie's brother, did when he wasn't at home and wasn't training to be a Peacekeeper. His ever-present smirk of self-satisfaction might just slip a bit. The sneer turned into a smirk at that picture.

When Jessie was a few blocks from her house she stopped running and took stock of the situation. In one of her fits of temper, Jessamine had gotten into an argument with her father. It had started out as a small thing: she'd skipped a day of training in favor of hanging around downtown and he'd found out about it. But the argument had escalated and she'd ended up leaving the house and disappearing. There was a fair amount of adrenaline pumping through her at that moment, both from the fight itself and the run. But, in her stomach, there was a tension. Sometime after she'd had enough of avoiding her home, she'd have to go back and her father would be waiting. Jessie was happy with putting that off for a bit.

So, with that in mind, she headed for the town center, assuming her usual emotionless mask. There was no sense in letting people see that she was a bit ruffled. She smoothed out her hair and wiped her clothes, making herself presentable. Once again, her head was held high and she walked with her usual confident gait. Since it was late in the afternoon, but not yet dark, there were a fair amount of people on the streets. They all got out of her way. A smug grin crossed her face at the sight. There was a slight gratification in knowing that, for whatever reason, people either knew who you were or they knew you weren't one to be messed with. It fanned one's ego like no other.

After a few minutes of walking, Jessie reached the center of her town. The crowd was a bit thicker here, people flitting from shop to shop. Now that Jessie was here, she didn't know quite what to do. For once, she hadn't thought out tonight very far ahead. She bit her lip, silently cursing herself. She knew perfectly well that loosing her temper was no excuse to let her grip on her little part of the world slip. It wasn't like she could even do any shopping, for she didn't have any money. In her dash out of the house she'd forgotten it. "Great."

With that in mind, Jessie decided to keep walking and picked the street closest to her. Walking helped clear her thoughts anyways and, right now, that was just what she needed. All she could think about was her father and how unfair it was that he would have to be so harsh on her. She was his own flesh and blood, dammit! It wasn't just that, it was almost everything about him. It was the way he pushed both her and Collin as hard as he could without them breaking. It was the way, no matter what they'd accomplished, that he'd look at them as if they weren't worth his time. It was the way he beat their mother, even now, though she was getting sick. It was the way they feared him. She hated him for that most of all.

Because Jessamine had been mulling over those thoughts, she hadn't realized where she'd ended up. With a start she looked up, noticing how it'd gotten dark. She also noticed she'd found herself in a back alley with only two entrances. Her bottom lip found it's way between her teeth again and this time she bit hard enough to taste blood. Jessamine may have been arrogant but she wasn't stupid. She knew bad things happened to people in places just like this. Her head snapped back and forth, judging the distance to both entrances. Somehow, she'd gotten into the middle of the alley before noticing where she was. With a swallow, she made her way to the nearest opening, keeping most of her upright posture. There was just a bit more watchfulness to it.

Just then, a shadow fell across the alleyway and Jessie stopped in her tracks, her heart suddenly racing. She'd been trained in killing people yes, but that was with blades and other sharp things. Currently, she wasn't armed and knew that her chances of overpowering anyone bigger than her with just her fists in such a narrow alley was slim to none. But, she had too much dignity to scuttle backwards like a scared dog and so she held her ground, watching as the figure approached her. Her gaze was firm as she watched, and she hoped her voice was the same. "Of all the back-streets to choose from, you choose mine?"