Thieves Among Us

Chapter One

D: Hello Brian.

B: Wait who is this?

D: Doesn’t matter. Call me D. Meet me in Pennsylvania.

B: Mysterious. Alright I’ll be there.

CHRISTIE LEONARD: WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA 8:30 PM. HOME.

*Ring Ring RI-*

C: Hello this is Christie. May I ask who’s speaking?

D: Ah yes. This is the Director.

C: Well sir I don’t want to by your telemarketing junk nor do I want to lower my credit score so I’m just going to hang up now.

D: Christie you and I know very well that you know who I am.

C: Fine I’ll meet you in Pennsylvania.

D: Good.

 

3 DAYS LATER…

CHRISTIE LEONARD: PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA 10 AM. HILTON HOTEL.

Why did I agree to come here?

I walk into some fancy looking penthouse only to be the first person here. That’s fine though. Now I have time to search. I look around the room for cameras, microphones, incriminating evidence, ANYTHING that might indicate this being a trap. There’s nothing. Whatever.

The others will be here soon so I sit on the couch. One by one they arrive. A scrawny looking boy first with extremely plain features. Cute I suppose, but in a nerdy way. He must be Ryan Stark. Then a clearly gorgeous girl walks in. She’s got the Irish charm working wonders for her. I decide that she is Bree. For the life of me I couldn’t figure out her full name.

My thoughts are disrupted when two more figures walk in. One is what most would consider a heartthrob. Tall, dark, mysterious and muscular. I believe his name is Carter Hayes.The other looks more my speed. A girl with crazed blonde hair and bright blue eyes covered by her glasses. She’s that scientist I read about… Tara Vayle. I think I could actually be friend with her.

I was thinking more about my new ‘teammates’ who were awkwardly finding places to sit. I’m about to break the ice, and talk to them when one more person walks in. Brian Crown the ‘actor’ with the beautiful eyes. He’s even cuter in person if possible. Not that I like him or anything. He’s merely just… easy on the eyes. He takes the seat right next to me. I wonder if he can hear my heart pounding. So much for introducing myself.

BRIAN CROWN: PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA 10:15 AM. HILTON HOTEL.

I suppose this is the correct room. There are a few people around my age moping about. They look particularly anti-social. We’re going to have to work on that… There are two seats available. One near the guy who looks like he might try to rip my head off, and the other next to an... interesting girl. She wasn’t exactly cute, but not exactly hot. I guess she was exotic? Since I really like my head I decided to sit next to her.

“Alright. We’re going to have to work together for a particularly long time. So we need to know who we’re working with”, the girl I was sitting next to said, “I’m Christie. I hack, I plan, and now apparently I’m leading y’all. Trust me not my choice.”

She pointed to the shorter boy with brown hair. “That’s Ryan Stark. Rich inventor boy. He’s in charge of the technology. He likes being locked up in his multiple mansions with his robotics for company. Yes he’s pretty much a loner, but so are most of you losers. No offense.”

Next was an Irish girl who I guess you could say was pretty. “She’s Bree. No one knows her last name. Gymnast and thief. Amazing pickpocket so if you ever lose something she probably has it. Apparently she enjoys stealing and jumping off tall buildings. Go figure. She also has no clue about her appearance just to give y’all a heads up.”

She quickly turned around until she was pointing at the scary looking boy. “That’s Carter Hayes. He’s the muscle and retrieval specialist, but don’t mistake him for stupid. He knows a bazillion different languages and ways to hurt you. Plus a short temper. Think of him as James Bond almost. You know fights the bad guys and gets the ladies. He’ll make a lot of threats but just ignore that. He likes art actually for unknown reasons.”

Then she pointed to the girl with the extremely  frizzy blonde hair. “Tara Vayle world renowned scientist and informant. Smart girl, but also a bit crazy. She has this thing with bombs and also genetic enhancements. Under no circumstances do you allow her to experiment on you!” I mentally laugh at this. She doesn’t need to tell me twice.

It takes me a while to realize Christie’s stopped talking. Everyone’s staring at me. Crap, did I laugh out loud? She points to me next. “Mr. Chuckles here is Brian Crown. He’s an actor and a grifter who pretends to be someone else to get what he wants. I’m not going to expect you to believe everything he says. But we have to trust each other with our lives. Understood?”

Everybody nodded. It was clear that she was good at being in charge. The only person I was wondering about now was D or the Director or whatever. And speak of the devil I think he just walked in.

DIRECTOR: PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA 10:30 AM. HILTON HOTEL.

I walked in just as their little introductions were done. There were hidden cameras all over the room. Luckily I took the precautions to embed them in the wallpaper. That Christie girl is a smart one. Then again they all are. However it’s the girl, Christie, that amuses me most. She knows so much yet she’s so innocent. Not naive just innocent. You know, strong moral values and such. She was going to be hard to break.

The rest of them had already jumped the cliff so to speak. Whether they had been pushed, thrown, or just jumped on their own. No need to break them because somewhere along the line they broke themselves. I suppose it was sad, but as long as it’s used for my purposes I don’t care. Maybe that’s what I like about Christie most. She reads people, from the moment she sees them. She does it well too. she knows how to make people uncomfortable without touching risky subjects. Tactfully devious. Interesting.

However she was curious. They all were curious. And as they say curiosity killed the cat. I will have to be careful around them. Wouldn’t want any… unfortunate accidents.

“Christie darling, well done with the introductions. Now let’s get to the reason why you’re here.”

And just like that I started something powerful. Just like that I was stuck in the eye of the storm attempting to control a hurricane.