2 Chapter 2: Riley

The foster home we all live in is overcrowded. A lot of the people here aren't even registered, so there is always someone on the floor and never enough food to eat. Some kids have to resort to pickpocketing and stealing. Most of us haven't ever been in a classroom so formal education is like a unicorn appearing in the middle of the slums. The home has books that are occasionally read by the ones who believe that there is an escape into a 'paradise' of pretty little masks and air's put on by the rich. They don't realize though that the only difference between here and there is that the Playhouse is in our backyard so it'll only take a small infraction to get you there.

Of course, we have our code. #1 Don't take from the wrong person. #2 Don't take too much from one person. And the most important one, #3 Don't get caught. How do I know this? The first time I had to steal some cash for food and broke rule #3. That was the first time I had ever been to the Playhouse. I had night terrors ever since. I ended up being caught two different times and on my third time, I was branded as a Diseased or someone who is like a plague on society. This is the worst possible punishment you can get because it doesn't come off. Always there on my forearm, for everyone to see. I have now reached the absolute rock bottom. No one wants to be associated with a Diseased so I gathered my stuff took a couple of books and left.

The streets are flooded with the stench of sweaty bodies and desperation. There are certain places you learn to avoid, like narrow alleys, large crowds, anything abandoned, and public places. The safest place to go is closer to the edge of the city near the woods. Not many people go there because it's heavily guarded. Normally that would be the first place I would go, but now that I'm branded there is no way in hell that I'd be able to blend in. Scratching that off the of-potential-places-to-hide list I figure I'll go to the biggest building that I can find so that I can stay on the rooftop.