Tick

Chapter 8

Tash rushed forward, the panic in her eyes turning cold. Her gazed filled with determination as she tried to take control of the situation.

"Someone help him!" She shouted and the thieves around her began moving "Zatch, take a few people and see if there is anyone else in the tunnel"

Zatch grabbed a few thieves and took off down the tunnel. Tash commanded the thieves with calm precision and they responded instantly to the look in her eyes or the flick of her hand. She was good at hiding the fast thumping of her heart and did her best not to show her fear. Her expression was ice and gave nothing away. Thieves responded to calm courage, not panic.

"Red? Red?" Tash crouched on the floor next to the thief "Can you hear me?"

An orange haired thief had rolled him over onto his back and was pressing bandages over his wounds. She wiped some of the blood off on his forehead with a cloth as he blinked slowly and looked up at Tash. He was conscious but he his eyes were foggy and his gaze was unfocused.

"Red, what happened?" Tash asked again, her voice firm.

"They came out of nowhere" Red stammered "The guards.....they grabbed her........" His words were slurred and jumbled "I didn't know they would be there.......we fought...... they took Rebecca.....Tash...You know what they'll do"

"I know" Tash said, touching Red's shoulder to silence him "I know exactly what they'll do. We'll get her back"

Red just nodded his head and closed his eyes.

Tash looked up at the orange haired girl "Take care of him, Flare"

Flare nodded her head, her eyes worried. Tash tried not to think about it as she walked over to Micah, Isabelle and Josh. They all looked at her with wide, confused eyes. Isabelle was visibly shaking.

"What happened? What's going on?" Isabelle stammered

"You three come with me" Tash said "In my office. Now"

Tash led the way into her office. They filed in and Tash shut the door behind them. She walked over and stood behind her desk, leaning on the wood and sighing before looking up at them.

"What's happening?" Isabelle asked again, her voice shaking.

"Is this normal?" Micah chimed in, his voice sharp and eyes narrowed "You seem pretty calm. Does this kind of thing happen a lot?"

"No!" Tash snarled "Of course not! But we're thieves, we prepare for the unexpected. We deal with it." Tash began pacing the room. "What has happened is that Rebecca has been taken by the city guard. She has been taken for something known as operation Grisbane."

"Operation Grisbane?" Micah repeated "That name was in one of the files you showed us"

Tash nodded her head "It's something we've come into contact with before."

"I've heard rumors" Josh said, speaking slowly and shaking his head "But I didn't know if they were true"

"They are" Tash replied without looking up or slowing her pacing "All of them are"

"Can someone please explain to me what exactly is happening?" Isabelle yelled, frustrated.

"Operation Grisbane is a program set up by our governors to get children off the street" Tash stopped pacing and fixed her gaze on Isabelle. Her voice was harsh as she continued "You see, rich families don't like seeing filthy little kids dirtying up their streets and god forbid if those kids tried to talk to their own perfect children. The only logical solution is to take them off the streets and try to make them into a functional part of society. But you see, sometimes habits stick with kids. Thieves can't be turned into model citizens overnight. Therefore it must be something wrong with their heads right? That's what the government thinks. So they try to 'fix' them. Make them 'better'" Tash spat the last few words.