The Dome (Shadow Origins, Part One)

Shadowland

Three Years Later

The wet pavement made for a slippery landing as I jumped from a second story window down onto the ground below. Yells and shouts followed me all the way down but they would never catch me. Never.

Hitting the ground with a roll, I was off and running, throwing myself over a fence or two and jumping over abandoned box crates, I was almost home free. That was until a big guy came to stop me from getting out of the alleyway. 

Interesting.

Launching himself at me, I ducked his grabbing arms and launched a kick to his ribs and down he went, providing the perfect stepping stool in the form of his back, to launch me high enough onto a near fire escape. 

Climbing had become a thing of the past, I didn't need to waste my time running up all those flights of stairs. Instead, I had learned a little trick, jumping onto the side of the fire escape, I used my strength to throw myself up a few feet, grabbing onto the ledge and flipped my way all the way to the roof. It took more energy and a lot of stamina but got me there quicker and was kind of badass in my own opinion.

Over the years after my stupid little childhood mistake, I took to my natural element, the streets. With Sandrino and his goons still after me for ratting him out, my old neighborhood was no good so I switched. Got an upgrade. 

Who knows what happened with Sandrino and V. I left that all behind me... but there were whispers that V took the fight to the 'Tank' and left him pretty mangled. Word has it that Sandrino got away however and was hulled up with one of his allies. V was... well that wasn't my problem. 

Living in the richest part of the dome was hard work but I managed to make it work for me. I decided three years ago that I was done being an errand boy for thugs and I was going to make my own living, so I became what I always thought I'd be... a thief. 

I was always good at it but man! I never knew I could be this good. Stealing from the richest people in the city, they were such easy targets. 

No one suspected a little kid and when I got enough money, I figured it was time to blend in otherwise I'd wind up back in the gutter. These high-fluting, walking money bags had no idea that a low life like me was in their midst. I wore their fancy little suits, I got a haircut and was practically one of them, haha...not really. 

You're probably wondering what happened between me and Zyana. Well...after she left the hospital that night, her father found out what she had done and confined her to her castle. I knew she was one of those people who might convince me to believe in people again, but I just couldn't. So by the time she was able to sneak out of the house again, I was gone. No clue where I had gone, she decided to look for me, or so I heard. 

She had gone around for weeks, asking random street kids where to find me and word had gotten back to me. I knew she was my friend and I was hers but there was something that was making her obsessive towards me and to be honest, I felt it too. But I couldn't handle that, not now. I was fifteen and the only thing I had to worry about was getting enough money to keep up my façade and making sure I was no one to be messed with.

I had made a reputation in the underground by now, with people only knowing me as Cat. Cat the thief, Cat the fighter, Cat the sly trickster. I had many nicknames and I was proud of all of them. No one really messed with me unless they wanted their eyes scratched out and I managed to secure a few business associates that helped with business.

Charlie and Matt.

Two fellow thieves that were a little higher up on the food chain than I was, so a good social connection was ensured with these two. They were known as the Two Devils, thieves and killers who were slowly coming up through the ranks. Now I was no killer, but I was a ready fighter as well as one of the best thieves in the downtown area.