Chapter 5: Chapter Three: Sticky Fingers, Bloody Feet

Two days till the big ceremony at ST. Augustus’ cathedral, that meant only two days to plan a heist. She, being a child, was of course ill equipped to plan such things, in fact she was ill equipped for most things in life. Snatch and run, that has always been her method, to varying degrees of success, the things she took typically being food that was displayed for customers to buy. So then how would she, a child, a runt, a demon, steal money locked away safe inside a church? These are the thoughts that kept her up that night, well, these thoughts and her aching hungry tummy. 

“I don’t know what to do Batty,” she whined as she held her little stuffie close to her chest, “the safe thingy is gonna be locked, and I don’t have a key.” She knew that a deacon would have a key, whatever a deacon was. She would have to identify the deacon and somehow get the key off of him. Then once she did have the key, she’d have to find the coffers, open them, take the money, then get away, all without being caught. It was a very tall undertaking for such a small girl. “Reks and Loche expect too much of me,” she cried, then said with a sneer, “Loche doesn’t think I’ll do it, he probably wants me to fail…”

 

Restless, soon the night turned to another morning that she found ushered in by the sound of Reks pounding on her door. She groaned in protest as she continued to lay there but felt compelled to answer if not for any reason other than to get him to stop making a racket. Sliding the door open, the girl was greeted by the teen with an eager grin, “what’s got you so happy?”

“Just looking forward to a fun filled day with my favorite little demon is all,” he teased.

Unamused, she began to slide the door shut in his face, but he caught it with his fingers, and held it open enough to stick his head through, “what do you want Reks?”

“I’m bein serious kid, well kind of. I figured that you need to learn some life skills, and who better to teach you than me?”

Rolling her eyes she opened the door back up, allowing the boy to slip inside the boxcar once he had enough space. She sighed and asked, “So then, what life skills do you wanna teach me?”

He flashed a cheesy little grin and said, “Pickpocketing.”

 

The high-class neighborhood from the previous day was a risky start he had told her, and so he brought her to a market square not far off from Vallha. She of course was familiar with this part of town, after all it was not but two days ago, she was running away from one of the local shop keepers there, still pickpocketing put her out of her element. She felt uneasy about it, as someone who had little for herself, she didn’t like the idea of taking from someone else. A shop was one thing, a business takes loss of sales from shoplifters into consideration in their prices. A person, now that was entirely different. What if it was their last few ides, money they were going to spend on some bread to feed their children? The thought that she could cause another to go hungry like she was felt wrong.

Morals of course, were not a luxury she could continue to afford, this was something she knew despite having genuinely wished it were not the case. Her stomach complained loudly, almost as if it was telling her to shut up and just steal already. With a heavy sigh, she stepped out from around a building corner, into a small crowd of pedestrians, ready to do exactly as Reks taught her on their walk there. 

 

“Pick a target before you make a move, pocket bulge is usually a good sign they got a fat wallet. Better yet, a visible wallet or change purse even, easier to see it hanging out in the open, the easier it’s gonna be to snatch.” She nodded as she recalled his advice, and there he was, the perfect target. She was locked on him, a young man with a wallet carelessly peeking out of his back pocket. “Keep your head down, avoid eye contact, people can sense your intentions when they look you in the eye. But don’t look too suspicious either.” Her head was low, this part was natural to her, people didn’t like her eyes, so she made it a point to hide them when she could. “Walk at a moderate pace, not too slow or they’ll think somethin’s up, and not too fast or you’ll draw more attention to yourself.” She found it hard at first to find the right speed, she was always most comfortable walking quickly by people, but once she cleared her head, she found herself just barely out pacing the people around her. “Once you got your target where you want them, slowly zero in on them, don’t just make a beeline for them. Bob and weave past anyone you gotta, but try not to jostle too many or you’ll just attract their attention.” That was exactly what she did, being so small it was easy to slip past people without too much fuss. “Get in close, don’t make contact, slip your hand in and pull in one direction. That part is super important, cause if you pull up then forward you might snag on their clothes.” It was the moment of truth, she stood behind him, adjusting her speed just a bit to not pass him, and once she felt confident, she reached for his wallet. With a quick yank upwards, she had it! “Once it’s free, get lost in the crowd and slip behind a building or in a shop first chance you get. But know where you’re goin, you don’t wanna just waltz into somethin like a lingerie store or a Shepherd's Branch by accident.” That was perhaps the trickiest part, she had misjudged their location, having shot past the shop she planned to hide behind, so she decided that it would be better to slow down a little and let other people get between her and the wallets former owner, all while the man continued on none the wiser. 

 

She passed another shop, where she quickly ducked around the corner into an alley, then climbed through a broken part of a wooden fence to get to the other side. Once she felt safe enough, she looked inside her newly absconded wallet. It was a dud, only five Ides and a few coins. That would be enough to buy maybe an apple, at least at Fredericks, though she realized that she’d never be able to go back there anyways, so it was a moot point. Still, she felt a sense of victory. She did it, for the first time in her life, she successfully pickpocketed a stranger. It was both similar yet different from how she stole from shops. The basic idea was there, don’t look suspicious, focus on something to steal, and snatch it. This however had a certain affect she did not anticipate, a high that made her head dizzy, but not in a bad way. It was a like a rush of freezing water to the face, followed by a nice hot sunshine to warm her up. Smiling a little too much, she feared she was going to start to like this newfound skill.

 

She wandered a few blocks in the opposite direction, then crossed a couple streets to slip behind into another alley and start the process all over again. This time she saw a stuffy looking man dressed in ill-fitting business attire. He walked by her, his ear to his phone as he grumpily berated some poor listener on the other end of that call. His pocketbulg was rather big, a fat wallet according to Reck’s advice. The girl strafed her way into the herd of people and narrowed the distance between her and the businessman. His unrelenting barking got louder as she got closer to him, he was completely engrossed in the call, it was the perfect opportunity for her. They reached a crosswalk, and she slipped her little hand into his pocket. Swift like before, she snatched up the man's wallet, and crossed the street in a different direction as he waited for his own turn to cross. She arrived on the other side and made her way behind a little café.

Score! She thought finding several large bills inside the stolen wallet, “this has to be a few hundred Ides!” She could buy so many apples with that. 

 

She threw away the two wallets, keeping only the money as she had no idea what any of the other weird pieces of plastic were, and meandered her way to another busy street. She spent the next couple hours snatching wallets, loose bills, and coin purses until she had her fill. She didn’t really know how to count, but she did know that there was a lot of bills with really big numbers on them. She even had a bunch of coins that she could possibly use to get food from a vending machine if she wanted. She never saw that much money before, she was usually just lucky to find a single Ide laying in the streets, so for a moment she was overwhelmed with excitement. A feeling that passed when Reks called out to her.

“Hey, Silver,” he greeted her as he approached, “so how’d ya do?” She showed him her haul, and he whistled, “damn kid, not bad for a first day. Looks like you just might be a natural.” He patted her head, rustling her dirty hair. The praise and physical affection made her feel a strange feeling she never felt before, bringing a bright red hue to her cheeks. 

“So, what do we do now?” She asked, barely being able to speak.

Reks smiled, “split the profits and call it a day.” She shook her head and held the money to her chest, “what’s wrong Silver? Don’t wanna stop now?”

“What do you mean split the profits? I worked hard for this, I want to keep it,” she clung to it even tighter.

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Reks sighed, “listen kid, life lesson number two, pay your dues you owe. You wouldn’t have been out here swipin these Ides if I didn’t teach ya,” he placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed, “so dontcha think that I’m owed somethin, all things considered?”

“That’s not fair,” she shook her head profusely, “it’s mine, I stole it not you!” 

“Silver, I’m tryin to be nice, we’re friends aren’t we?”

“Friends? You call me mean names, you push me around, and you make me feel bad!” Her eyes lit up with a fiery rage, only to be quelled by a stream of tears, “I don’t have friends, I’m alone. Isn’t that what you told me?”

“I…” Reks stepped back, hanging his head low, “shit, I mean, you’re not wrong. I guess I have bee...” Kicking a rock against the side of a building he let out a sound of frustration, “Okay, yeah… goddammit.. Fine.” He turned away, “keep the money then, guess you did earn it after all.” He started to walk away before adding, “Course that’s nowhere enough to pay your dues, so don’t think your gettin outta the church job.” And with that he left her. 

 

Tempted to skip with joy, she ran down the streets gleefully as the sky got dark and rain clouds began moving overhead. She didn’t mind that it was going to rain, it just meant there would be less people around after all. Even if she hated the rain, it didn’t matter, she wasn’t going to be sad tonight because she was off to buy food. She only knew a few shops near Vallha that sold food, and she was banned from all of them, so she had to navigate her way through another district till she could find someplace to get something to eat. Thinking about it she didn’t actually know what she wanted, usually any food she can get her hands on was good, but for once she had the luxury of choice. It didn’t have to be small enough to hide in her dress, if she wanted to she could actually buy a bushel of apples. The only reason she got caught at Fredericks was she couldn't hide all those apples, but this time she wouldn’t be stealing them. And of course while apples were tasty, there were many other foods she could eat too. 

Making a decision was hard, perhaps even overwhelming for her, but it was also fun. No longer caring if people noticed her, she did in fact begin to skip. She hopped as she stepped, humming a made up song as she looked for where she would obtain her meal from. Though it was hard finding a place, at least in the part of town she was currently in, as most of the buildings seemed to be factories. Without realizing it, in her attempt to get away from Valha, she accidentally wandered into the industrial district. Abandoned factories covered in graffiti, streets littered with trash, and buildings with boarded up windows surrounded her. There was no food to be found here, she knew she had to leave, but could not remember how she even wound up there in the first place. She whined as she turned round and round, trying to get a heading for herself, afraid she’d be lost there and not make it to any of the shops before they closed for the night. 

 

Storm clouds grew dark and thick in the sky and heavy raindrops began to fall on her sad little face. Panicked, she ran to the nearest shelter, thinking that it would be easier to figure things out if she was able to sit it out and think.

Bad idea, she thought as she ducked under a brick structure only to be greeted by the leering eyes of gaggle of vagrants. Though homeless herself, she knew that the industrial district was not like Vallha. The people who stayed in Vallha answered to Loche, and Loche liked her. This place however, had no such leader, and so she had no such favor. She tried to duck away before being noticed, but it was too late.

“Hey there little boy, what’s with that dress?” One of them let out a raspy laugh.

“Whatcha doin here kid, lost your mommy?” Another asked.

She backed away slowly, not answering their questions, while she tried to hide her stollen ides behind her back.

“He is a demon, look at them peepers!” someone pointed out her eyes.

Throwing a can at her another barked, “get outta here, we don’t want no demons here!” 

Attempting to turn around she hit her knee on a broken half of an old pipe protruding from the ground. Instinctually grabbing her injured knee, she accidently dropped a few of the ides she was holding onto. “Well well, looks like the little demon boy is stacked for cash,” one of the men laughed. 

“Where did a demon like you get so many ides?” Another asked her, as the group began to encroach on her.

Not hesitating another second, she ran, she bolted into the rain, her little legs moving faster than they ever did before. The ground was slick, and her feet had no traction, it was only a matter of time before she’d slip, and yet it was not the rain that halted her escape, but a shard of glass that forced her to a painful stop. Blood gushed from a large open wound on her sole, and that little accident was all it took to allow her pursuers to catch up to her. 

One shoved her to the ground, laughing hysterically as they began ripping wads of money from her hands. Another joined from the side, seizing the coin purse that she had tied to the little ribbon sash on her dress. She wrestled the men desperately holding tight to the money she worked so hard to steal. Tired of her struggle, the man on top punched her face a few times, till she went motionless. 

 

Unsure how long she had been unconscious, she woke with a terrible headache, and an even worse stomachache. Carefully she lifted herself up, and looked to see if they had left even a single ide behind, “they took everything,” she sobbed loudly as she sat there in the pouring rain. She stood herself up, her foot burning up in a searing pain, cried louder. Determined to at least make it home to see her little stuffed animal friend, desperate to not die there in the streets alone, she began to hobble her way out of the industrial district, something sticking to her bleeding foot. She stopped and saw it was a single Five Ides bill. 

 

Laughing despite the pain, she at long last made her way to a little corner store. Dripping wet, and leaving a trail of bloody footprints behind her, she grabbed an apple out of a small basket of assorted fruit, and brought it to the shop counter. She placed it on the counter along with the bloody five ides, and said weakly, “I would like to buy this apple please.”

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