By the time I'd escaped the gambling game from hell, I was one ring down and none the richer. I spent the rest of the day trying to pickpocket the odd well-dressed man but I had to be more careful that usual since my cover was blown. In the end I didn't even have enough money for a bag of carrots.
By the time I pulled up to my street, it was already dark. I unmounted my bike then sulkingly started climbing the many steps up to the apartment. The apartment block itself looked more like a building with small wooden huts loosely attached to one another, with nothing but wooden ledges holding them together. Most of them were made by the people who lived in them, with no building experience or knowledge, and it showed. The only redeeming feature was the asian influences seen in the hard hill roofs and oriental graffiti, since the sanders like me could only afford to live in these areas.
When I arrived outside Baba's house, I peered through the window but there was no light or Baba to be seen. With a sigh I grabbed the edge of the roof and hoisted myself up, careful not to pull any of the already loose tiles off.
"Baba isn't happy with you, Chiyoko."
A wave of relief washed over me as I saw Miles was sitting on the roof looking out towards the city lights. He'd been waiting for me, as always. But he wasn't happy with me either, he only used my full name when I'd done something wrong.
"I know. I ran into some trouble." I huffed as I sat down next to him and lay my head on his shoulder. I felt Miles's eyes on me but I didn't lift my head up. I couldn't stand to see his face. Baba was going to give me a bollocking in the morning, I'd promised her we'd spend my birthday together and to make things worse, I had nothing to show for today. No money and no food.
"Was Dicer not in the bar?"
I shook my head. "That wasn't the issue. He could smell me a mile off, he was just playing games with me." My brows crossed in anger. "Literally."
"How'd he know?" He asked, looking slightly concerned. If he'd seen my face I could put us all in danger.
"There's a wanted poster for a boy wearing an orange motorcycle suit." I mumbled shamefully, looking down at my hands.
I felt Miles's eyes piercing me and I could already hear the fury ready to explode, demanding why I hadn't been more careful and how I could get all three of us killed. But to my surprise, he burst into laughter.
"Ah! A boy!" He bent over, laughing loudly to himself as I frowned. How mature.
"Shut up." I snapped. "It's better they look for a boy that doesn't exist rather than me." I crossed my arms firmly to show him I didn't appreciate his mocking.
Miles's chuckle began to fade as he wiped a tear of laughter from underneath his eye. He took a deep breath in and smiled as he aired out his last few snickers.
"Where were you last night anyway, you must've been flatout this morning because I couldn't wake you up. And I didn't here you come in last night."
He shrugged. "I ended up working late, that's all."
I raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. He was a mechanic, not a thief like me. Last time I checked, daylight was useful for fixing up busted motorbikes. But I didn't press him any further, he had a tendency to let his temper get the better of him.
"I've got a present for you." He quickly changed the topic of conversation, picking something up from behind him. "Close your eyes."
I closed my eyes and held out two hands with a grin. He placed something small and slightly squishy in my hand.
"Open your eyes."
I looked down to see what looked like a brown coloured sponge in my hands. Putting the delicacy to my nose, I breathed in. A sweet aroma filled the air and my eyes widened in shock as Miles laughed.
"Miles, is this chocolate cake?" I took a small bite and closed my eyes, savouring the earthy taste of cocoa with the syrupy sponge that melted on my tongue. "How the hell did you get this?" I demanded with my mouth full.
"A gentleman never tells." He smiled, enjoying watching me marvel at his present. "Happy seventeenth birthday."
He laughed again as I tried to speak with my mouthful before giving up and covering my mouth as I laughed with him. After eating half, I handed the remainder to Miles who shook his head.
"Please," I said, "just try it."
Miles reluctantly took the remainder of the chocolate cake but couldn't hide the bliss on his face as he bit into it.
"Didn't Baba say she had something?" I asked, looking on the rooftop to see if Miles had brought anything else with him. "I asked her to leave it with you in case I missed her."
Miles shook his head. "Nope, nothing."
"Weird." I muttered, brushing the crumbs off my lap.
I stared off in the distance for a few moments, forgetting the growing bruise on my ribs, the money I hadn't won and the ring I'd lost. For a moment I even forgot that I was a Normal. Void of magic, void of worth and void of a family name. A family I never even knew.
"You can't change the world, Koko." Miles sounded harshly, as though he knew what I was thinking. We'd spoken about change, or the lack of it, many times before but never came to an agreement about the workings of the world.
He thought The Continent was beyond saving but I didn't want to believe him. No, I didn't believe him. I was going to create a better life for us, all I needed was Baba and Miles. All we needed to do was leave this place for good.
"We can get out of here. And even if we can't, things can change. People can change." I turned to look at him now. "Today someone gave me a lifeline, even though I'm just a sander."
I grimaced as I touched my stomach, still feeling the kick that the boy, Wynn, had given me earlier. It was a reminder that I'd failed, but also a reminder that there were kind people out there.
"Don't use that word." Miles snapped. "And just because one guy didn't kill you for your race doesn't mean another ten won't try. I've learnt that the hard way."
He was right, we'd both had our fair share of prejudice and discrimination. Miles more than anyone, and it was only getting worse. Old London's growing population and withering resources has made people scared. And scared people need someone to blame.
"There'll be a place out there that accepts everyone, Miles. Outside The Continent." I grabbed his hand, wanting him to feel how I felt and believe what I believed. "There'll be people that don't care about race, that don't care if you're a Normal."
He snorted and snatched his hand away. Miles was like an older brother to me, always there for me, always stronger than me and always more clever than me. Always just more than me. I could tell he saw me as nothing but a naive little girl wanting to live in a fantasy world where everyone was equal.
"What if there's nothing outside The Continent, hm?" He looked at me with his deep brown eyes, fiery with an anger he could never fully expel no matter how hard he tried. I'd seen that anger many times before. "What if it's just us and those snakes? Don't you want to kill them, don't you want to make them pay for everything they've done?"
"Don't call them snakes." I argued. "It makes us just as bad as them when they call me a sander."
Anger started to rise in me but not because we were bickering again, but because I did want them dead, even if I didn't want to admit it. The Sorcerers had taken everything from us. Their magic wreaked havoc on the surrounding districts and they used their venom for their own personal conquests.
"I'm going to join The Magistrates." Miles said bluntly.
I immediately tried to argue but no words game out of my mouth, only a shaky stammer.
"I know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it, Koko."
His expression suddenly turned soft as he looked at me deep in the eyes. In the moonlight his sun kissed skin glistened with warmth and his black coiled hair shuddered slightly in the cool breeze. For a second I thought I saw a tear brewing in his eyes but a second later, it was gone.
"I'm supposed to keep you and Baba safe." He suddenly looked ashamed and I empathised with him. Neither one of us felt like we were doing enough. "But I need to do this."
"Is becoming a witch hunter really the way to go?" I questioned him, already knowing I couldn't change his mind. When Miles was set on something, he saw it through to the end. "Do you really know what you're getting into, Miles?"
"All I know is, the snakes don't deserve to live." His hands were trembling, but I couldn't tell if it was from the anger or the cold. "And I won't stop until every last one of them is dead."
Author's Note:
Thank you to anyone reading this far. If this chapter didn't make much sense it'll be because I changed a couple things in the last chapter so it might be easier to go back and give it a quick read, but basically Dicer knew she was a thief when she started playing the game because there was a wanted poster for her, that's why her cover is blown. Anyway thank you for reading, votes and comments are always appreciated!
Image credit:http://hongwrong.com/hong-kong-dystopian/