13 Luke

I don't know what I expected from my first day. It wasn't hard for them to wake me up. I hadn't slept that much that night. They brought me up before the sun was up while the majority of the Hive was asleep. Danev, Meeko, Aden, and this other kid named Sunji. They unbarricaded the Hive entrance and we left. They left Meeko at the entrance to guard the Hive from any unwanted folk.

I normally didn't stay out during the night. It was easier to get snuck up on and I had heard bad things about kids my age who got caught while unwary. I didn't want that happening to me. The only times I had been out at times like this was back with Mini, when we were still good thieves. Nice, agile, and small. Then they started making buildings out of clay and stone and all went to shit.

By the time we had started on our general path, I had the knot in my gut that came from knowing where we were going. When we stopped in front of the sign, my worries were confirmed.

Danev could see the look on my face as I had my eyes trained on the sign. "You can read, huh?"

I looked down from the sign that read "Mishi's Scrap Shack", a general store in the slums that people robbed less due to how respected the owner was. At least that's what I heard. "Yeah."

"You know the owner?"

I sighed and said "Yes."

"Do you know why we're here."

I thought. "No."

"Good. I can't have you knowing everything right away. Nothing left to teach you." Aden took a step forward in front of our group and motioned at the door saying, "Aden. Go."

In 2 quick steps, Aden moved forward, placing a single kick at the handle of the wooden door, knocking it down into two pieces.

I said I knew the owner. He was an older man, around 60. I knew Mishi from when I was very young. Around 6. Before I knew Mini and knew how to sell anything, much less information. Mishi gave me odd jobs around his store. Cleaning, organizing, and even the jobs that required trust like taking stock and handling numbers. Mishi was also surprised with how well I could handle numbers. Said that I was like some sort of magician the way I added and subtracted them. It really wasn't much. It just came naturally to me. Mishi would feed me and let me stay in his storage room to spend the nights. The most memorable time I had with him was when his store was robbed and I learned just how awful some people could be. The thieves came inside, woke us both up and beat him up in front of me after he refused to tell them where he hid his money. I told them just so they wouldn't kill him. We parted ways a while later. I hadn't seen him until today, crouching behind his counter, watching in fear as his establishment got torn apart.

"You know why we're here." Danev spoke as he walked over what used to be the door.

"I don't." Mishi whimpered.

Danev looked to Aden and nodded his head, signaling Aden to kick in the bottom of a display shelf, spilling the contents all over the floor.

"How 'bout now?"

The man somehow seemed to shrink even more on the ground. "I'm sorry. I don't have the money. It's been real slow lately with the war and all."

Danev walked over to him, looking down and scoffed. "You mean the war that's been going on for the last 90 something years? You're gonna have to do try harder if you want us gone."

Mishi had nothing to say to that so Aden moved over to a bookshelf, pried two hands behind, and brought it down on the ground.

I looked over to where Sunji was, and he was just standing by the door, keeping lookout. He had no part in this aside from watching. Just what I used to be. A watcher.

The man was now starting to stand up, ready to reason with his attackers. "Okay. Okay. Look. I don't have much, but I have a few copper pieces that you can-"

Danev knocked his hand with the money away before Mishi could continue. "A few coppers, huh?" Aden looked over to me, smiling, and shook his head as though this were all a joke. That's when Mishi actually saw me. I didn't think he had recognized me at first, but he probably just hadn't seen me past the people wrecking his livelihood. I had to look away so I didn't have to see the hurt in his eyes. "The deal was-" Danev continued. "-That you give us a silver per month to avoid unfortunate incidents like this." And with that, Aden pulled out a small club from a strap on his wrist and smashed open the window of the shop, scattering glass across the entire store.

I wasn't going to let this go on. I didn't want it to come to this, but it wouldn't be the first time I bought Mishi's life. He had done enough for me as a kid. I still had much to repay him for. While the others were too busy smashing shit or questioning Mishi, I walked over to his store room and opened the door easy enough. It wasn't locked or anything. He only ever locked the front door. I walked in, with all of his inventory around me and bent down to find that one lighter floorboard. I lifted it up to reveal 4 silver pieces, 1 gold piece, and 9 copper pieces. He was hoarding. I'd never seen him with this much money. I took out 3 silver pieces, 2 coppers, and left the rest. When I left the store room, they were still not paying any attention as to my movements. All except Mishi who was somehow looking at Danev, Aden, and me at the same time.

I moved over to a vase that he kept. It was one he liked. He had found it on the streets when I still stayed with him. It had to be real for the others to buy it. It took a lot of willpower, by I swiped the damn vase off of its shelf and it fell and clattered on the ground, breaking loudly and gathering the attention of the others. Between the look on Mishi's face at the break, and me bending down as to make it look like I had found the money there, I would say it was pretty convincing.

I opened my hands to show the others the reward hidden by Mishi. Danev smiled as well as Aden who also seemed to be disappointed by an end to his destruction spree.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" asked Danev. He walked up to me and grabbed it all, counting though it. "Here. Keep it" he said, tossing one silver back to me. They left, leaving me and Mishi in what used to be a fine store. He was still panting from the encounter. I looked back on him with pity. I didn't say anything mostly because I didn't know what to say. I tossed him back his silver piece and left. I thought I might have seen him mouth the words "Thank you" before I left. I don't know.

The sun was now rising on a new day. Aden and Sunji were already making their own ways back to the Hive, leaving Danev in I in the center of a street now growing in number of pedestrians.

"That wasn't all the money."

I don't know if I should've been surprised or not. I didn't respond.

"If you keep on trying to ensure the survival of others like him, how are you going to be able to keep yourself alive?" He seemed angry. Not because I went against his intentions, but because he seemed more disappointed. As though I had done something utterly stupid.

"I owed him." I said, quietly.

"You owed him, huh?" He chuckled. "Owing people is how you get yourself killed. Doing stupid shit for stupid people."