secrets // h.s.

chapter six.

The little blue flats I wore on my feet clattered against the sidewalk as I moved, the air flowing from my lips turning to smoke as I exhaled. It sure had gotten cold, only to be the beginning of October. My fingers were balled into fists at my sides, stuffed into the pockets of the white sweater I had pulled on, my jeans clinging to my legs. I had my camera around my neck once again, going- wait. Where was I going?

This was honestly really stupid. This whole thing.

I was out, wandering the streets at nine o'clock, and I had no idea where I was even headed. I guess I was hoping that the long-haired lad would find me again, like he had for the past two nights in a row. But that wasn't exactly a solid foundation to put my hopes into, now was it?

I kept thinking back to what Sebastian had said in his office, about being careful, and it had started to make me angry. No one seemed to think that I was capable of taking care of myself, and that was really irritating. Sure, I was young. And yes, I'm small. But I'm not helpless.

I rounded the corner of Maplewood and Timms, spotting the bank up the road. I guess this was where I had unconsciously been heading the whole time. Back to the bank, in hopes that I would dig up more about the thief. My mind wasn't focused on my new Facebook stalker at all - it was still set on the case.

"Well, while I'm here..." I mumbled to myself and began to take a few steps forward, stopping again once I was across the street, beginning to  glance around. Nothing, again.

Maybe the police had gotten it wrong? The Masked Man usually made a robbery every three days or so, and it had been nearly six since his last occurrence. If he was going to hit the bank, you'd think that he'd have done it already, wouldn't you?

I paused by the door, glancing up to the security camera that danged overhead, taking note of each person that passed through the threshold. At least there was some comfort in knowing that if the burglar did stop by the bank, it was heavily guarded.

But-wait. My brows furrowed over my baby blues as I stepped closer, lifting myself up onto my toes.

The lens was covered. I strained for a moment, reaching up to brush my fingertips over the mouth of the surveillance camera, my lips pursed. A shaded substance, made to look no different from the actual camera lens, was plastered over the object. There was no way the camera would capture anything like that.

Lowering myself back down, I quickly turned to face the street again, my gaze trained on the pavement beneath the street lamps. Nothing there. Maybe the thief was just planning ahead?

Against my better judgement, my feet began to carry me around the side of the building, the camera around my neck swaying as I moved. If he was here, I planned on finding out.

I stayed quiet as I made my way off of the sidewalk, my body pressed to the bricks, my breathing gone shallow and soft in order to remain silent. I couldn't hear anything other than the occasional whoosh of a car passing on the main road, and a cat crying somewhere down the alley. That was a good sign, at least. If he was here, from his size I would probably be able to hear his footsteps. The man at the convenient store had said he was tall, with large hands. Large hands normally meant large feet as well, which meant he would have a longer stride and heavier step. I would be able to hear him long before he could hear me.

Those investigatory classes had really payed off.

"Do I sound like I'm joking?"

My brows furrowed and my body jerked to a halt as I heard a muffled voice from a few feet away, just beyond the next corner of the building. He was around back, and thankfully the small wall I was standing behind was protecting me from being seen.