The Beginning After The End : Past Life

Cecilia

(Arthur leywin as Grey)

"You're clear, Nico. Hurry!" I whispered, looking over my shoulder in case someone passed by, since seeing two adolescent boys huddled up in front of a house door only spelled trouble.

"Just stay on guard, Grey. I think I'm close to unlocking it," my dark-haired companion hissed back as he worked on the doorknob.

I watched in doubt as Nico fumbled with the hairpins he had stolen from one of the older girls into the keyhole. "Are you sure you can open it?"

"This is," he said impatiently through gritted teeth, "a lot harder than that guy at the alleyway made it seem."

Suddenly, the doorknob clicked and both our eyes brightened. "You did it!" I exclaimed in a loud whisper.

"Bow down to my powers!" Nico proclaimed, holding up the colorful hairpin he had used to pick the lock high in the hair.

I smacked him on the shoulder and pressed my finger to my lips. Nico shoved the hairpin back in his zippered pocket and nodded at me before we tiptoed in through the wooden door.

"And you made sure that the owners are out today?" I verified, scanning the meticulously furnished house.

"I scanned this house last week. Both the husband and wife go out at this time and don't come back for another hour or so. We have plenty of time to grab a few things and go," Nico answered, his eyes scanning for anything of value that we can stuff into a bag.

Letting out a deep breath, I reasoned to myself that it was necessary. Stealing from someone-however rich they were-didn't sit right with me, but I had overheard the conversation between the orphanage headmaster and those government people. I was only able to hear a few comments but it seemed like our orphanage was in danger because we didn't have enough money.

"This should be enough," Nico nodded as we both looked inside the backpack we had brought.

"Now how are we going to get money for this?" I questioned. "We can't exactly give Headmaster Wilbeck all of this jewelry."

"Way ahead of you," he smirked. "I found a guy willing to pay cash for anything he finds interesting."

"And this 'guy' is okay buying off two twelve-year-olds?"

"He doesn't ask questions, I don't ask questions. Simple as that," Nico shrugged as we headed out the door.

Taking the back route toward the back end of the city, we blended in with the crowd of people walking along the cracked sidewalk. Keeping our heads low and paces brisk, we veered left into an alleyway. Weaving through the piles of trash and stacked boxes of who knows what, we stopped in front of faded red door protected behind another gated metal door.

"We're here," Nico spoke as he motioned for the bag. Slipping it off my shoulders and handing it to him, my friend knocked the door four times in an unfamiliar rhythm.

Slicking his black hair and puffing his chest out, he let out a couple coughs and narrowed his eyes to appear more intimidating-as intimidating as any scrawny ten-year-old can be, anyway.

After a few seconds, a rangy old man in a worn-out suit came out from the other side of the red door. He stared down at us from behind the metal gate with a scrutinizing eye.

"Ah, the rather persistent child. I see you brought a friend," he said, unwilling to open the gate.

Nico let out another cough to clear his voice. "I've brought some items you might have interest in."

My friend spoke in a deeper tone than normal, but surprisingly, it didn't sound fake. He opened the drawstring bag in his hands to show the lanky, narrow-eyed man a peek at some of the jewelry we had just stolen.