Thief, Inc. (Periodic Updates)

Chapter One

 Many thanks go to FrickinTalented for the cover.

My name is Algae Hart--laugh if you must--and I'm a thief.  Personally, I prefer the term "professional borrower," but it just won't catch on.

My hair is a jet black and tends to stick up in all directions.  Like right now, unfortunately.  I was doing my best to contain it into some sort of braid, and I almost had it, but I suddenly felt a hand tug it out of my own hands.

I didn't even have to turn around to know who it was.

"Nick!" I complained loudly, "You are absolutely annoying!"

The truth was, Nick was anything but annoying.  He was my friend, my best friend even, but that might just be because he was also my only friend.  I'm not the nicest person, so I don't make friends much.  It works for me, 'cause most people are annoying, anyway.

I turned around to see Nick holding a hair tie out in one hand.  I looked down at my hands and saw that my own hair tie was gone, of course.  Nick's a thief, too.

"Come and get it!" he teased, sticking his tongue out at me. 

He's tall and I'm short, so he likes to hold things above me and watch me jump.  We probably looked like a couple of little kids to anyone watching, but that's okay, because we were kids at heart.

Without thinking twice, I launched myself at him.  He laughed and dodged away, letting me run right past him like a drunken bull.  I saw him move just in time, though, so I reached out and grabbed his shirt at the elbow as I sped past. 

That took him by surprise, and he lost his balance, and we spun around and hit the ground.  I stood quickly and grabbed my hair tie from him while he was still dazed--one of the advantages of being short. I also grabbed his hat.

Grinning, I echoed his words from before, "Come and get it!"

He smiled too, and tried to snatch his hat back.  I danced just out of reach, then turned around and ran like hell.  Nick was a fast runner, so I knew I would never be able to beat him in a race through the streets.

The rooftops were a different story, though. 

I shimmied up the nearest trellis and caught hold of the window ledge above.  In a matter of seconds I was pulling myself up the eave and onto the roof.  I glanced down; Nick was doing his best to follow.  I stuck my tongue out at him, then turned around and ran.  I knew better than to lose a head start.

To anyone who may or may not care:  This is a super duper informal writing experiment in which I have no idea what the hell is going on! The goal is to help me loosen up a bit and actually have fun writing, so if you think this is crap, I apologize (but also, deal with it :D )