For once Melanie hadn’t taken part of a fight. Instead she had kept herself hidden within the darkness of the shadows at the very edge of the room; shielded from view by the wall of Runners in front of her and the darkness around her. At first she wasn’t quite sure what she was supposed to do - she still felt oh so lost, like she had missed the last train at an unknown station: she didn’t know what she was supposed to do with her life. Sitting with her back against the wall, her dark hoodie blending her frame into the shadows and her hands tightly wrapped around her bend knees, she lost herself in this sea of empty misery only to find herself gaining consciousness when the last fist hit last piece of meat: she had skipped through the whole fight - and now that people was slowly making their way out of the hall that had just moments ago been filled with the sounds of battle was now only filled with the hustling and moaning of the wounded making their way towards the exits. 

Most people would find it naturally to follow the ‘herd’: get up and make their way out with the crowd. Humans are, after all, flock animals and as such they find comfort in their numbers. Melanie however wasn’t like that; she didn’t feel any safer within a group - she was safer by herself. This meant that unlike the rest she didn’t find her ‘friends’, instead she stayed in the shadows, watching the remains of her sector slowly make their way out of the room, the victors of the battle. 
“Stupid…” she muttered under her breath as she followed the rest of Sector V with her eyes as they made their way out of the room. Finally when the door had swallowed them she lowered her head to rest her it against her arms, using her knees as support. “What a stupid bunch…” she echoed again before she lost herself to the serenity of sleep.

She woke up bright and early at the crack of dawn. It wasn’t the sun that had woken her, instead it was another sector making their way towards the dining hall. It wasn’t surprising: Runners usually got up before the crack of dawn, they had to be prepared and ready - and most of them referred to Run when the air was colder and the city was still asleep beneath their feet. Annoyingly this meant that individuals such as Melanie that slept in random places couldn’t get much peace before the life in Sundown started to flutter with life.

Grumbling meaningless profanities she lifted her stiff body up from the dirty floor. It amazed her that she had been able to sleep somewhat comfortable against the cold wall - it wasn’t exactly the epitome of comfort after all. Sighing heavily as she stretched her body before dusting off her dirty clothes, the clouds of dust made it clear to her that she sorely needed a bath - and as she looked herself in the cracked mirror after she had made her way to the bath-areas her wounded, blood covered face only made this so much clearer. 

“Damn,” she grumbled as she tried to hold in another wave of profanities, “Father really didn’t hold back, did he?”

Shaking her head she got herself under the shower - the water wasn’t anywhere near warm, but it felt heavenly against her dust- and blood-covered skin, and as this was washed away from her brown skin, so was her soreness and her fatique. After she had finished her (somewhat) tasty breakfast she almost felt reborn: she could feel her muscles crave the exercise they usually got and her cheeky personality had started to stir awake inside of her. She could feel her usual grin starting to form. She craved some fun. 

With this in mind she started to make her way towards the main hall, if she wanted to find the rest of Sector V the hall would be the perfect place to start - and if that failed there was always the subject of ‘Church’ that the bedridden Eva could be teased with. Sadly this possibility didn’t occur: as she made her way towards the main area she spotted two familiar silhouettes making a turn around a corner, with a similar well-known silhouette in tow.

[I]Well I guess I won’t need to go search for the rest[/I] Mel thought to herself as she headed in the same direction as the others. As she made her way around the corner she saw the others, however they weren’t alone. Together with them was two other persons: a female and-

[I]Elder MacReary[/I]

The thought came with a sour taste in her mouth, she had never liked nor trusted this man - he was at the very top of the Runner-world and therefore he was also one of the most dangerous one’s. She was sure that he could see right through her, and because of this she always felt a sense of nervousness whenever she was around him; what would she do if he found out?

She stopped in the middle of a step. Found out. She had bruises covering her face, could she make them believe that they were just wounds from last night’s fight? But remembering how they had appeared in the mirror earlier Melanie didn’t feel so comfortable about that; to most they might appear fresh, but if someone knew a little about wounds it would be apparent that the bruises on her cheeks and lips weren’t something that she had gained just six to eight hours ago. Licking these same lips she thought about her situation: could she stay away? 

[I]No you idiot,[/I] she told herself, [I]it would be even more suspicious if you didn’t show up.[/I]
Taking a deep breath in through her mouth she cleared her mind and took the first step towards the group, her familiar cheeky grin well painted on her face as she made her way towards the small group of Runners.

“My god!” she exclaimed when she came closer, hoping her voice sounded normal, “would you look at you guys - you look completely beaten to a pulp!” Grinning, this time for real, she winked at Eva, “I see you’re doing better, though well done getting Church all for y-” 

She shut her mouth abruptly as she felt the atmosphere, clearly the usual frictions was in place whenever Church and MacReary were in the same room. However this wasn’t the only thing that caught Mel’s attention, no a certain smell had filled the air. Shifting her focus to the woman next to MacReary - the stench of medical-cleanliness oozed from her, something that most people wouldn’t notice, but Melanie had always been sensitive to that smell, ever since…

[I]Focus![/I] She commanded herself, glancing at Acacia as her mind continued asking questions. [I]Who is she? Do I know her from somewhere - and why is she here…?[/I]