Stubborn Locks

In the darkness of the night, hidden behind trees and bushes, a woman with red flaming hair was picking a lock to some wealthy person's home. A man younger than her stood beside her, keeping watch while she tried desperately to open the door to retrieve something rightfully hers. It has always been hers and always will be hers. She was angry this family bought her property and put their grimy hands on it. But she only kills if the person has made a very big mistake.

"Phoenix, do you want me to do it?" her best friend and servant asked impatiently.

"No, Elliot! Shut up and keep guard," she hissed back as she went on picking. This stupid lock! Never in her past fifteen years of lockpicking had she had this much trouble. It has always been easy and smooth. She was always in and out within minutes, except this time. What the hell was wrong with this lock? Why won't it just open for her? She was getting frustrated, annoyed — pissed-off!

"Why are we entering this house anyways?" Elliot asked after a long silence.

Phoenix sighed with exasperation. "They have something of mine. No one gave them permission to buy it. No one gave the sellers to sell it. It is mine!"

"What is it?"

Damn lock! Damn Elliot and his stupid questions! Damn this family!

"Something personal," she said, keeping her tone even.

"Let me try. Maybe I can open it?"

"I said to keep watch or I'll ditch you to deal with the authorities and pay the consequences of breaking and entering a stranger's home."

"You wouldn't do that," he said lightly.

Elliot was right. She wouldn't ditch him. Phoenix bought him out of a need for company five years ago. She was just passing an auction where orphans were sold as slaves or servants, when she saw him and they made eye contact. She knew there was something about him, something she liked, so she bought him, then made him her friend instead. Of course, he still tried to serve her at first, but within weeks, they learned more about each other and how he wasn't really a servant. "I would, because I'm faster and smarter than you."

He laughed softly and turned away, doing his job. She jiggled the door handle once again and groaned. Phoenix couldn't believe this was happening to her, couldn't believe this possession of hers had to be the hardest to get. She found out her piece of property was here by looking at a ledger from a market stall. When she saw the name, she knew exactly what it was and made quick work of finding the family and their home. On a night with festivities at the square where most people were at this late at night, it would be easy to get in and out undetected. But of course, they had a small child to take care of and stayed home. So, she was taking the risk and going for it anyways.

"Phoenix, stop. You're going to break your kit if you continue to let your emotions to get in the way," Elliot said.

Phoenix stopped and glared at the lock, silently cursing it for not letting her in much sooner. She turned her hard blue eyes to Elliot and handed him the pins and picks, sighing. "Fine. But if you don't get it, then we're breaking in."

He snorted and started picking. Within seconds, the lock clicked and he opened the door. Elliot bowed and ushered her in, smiling triumphantly to himself. "I honestly don't understand why you had so much trouble, dear lady."

"Stop gloating. It does not suit you," she hissed and strode in, quickly taking in the scene. It was a beautiful sitting area with leather chairs and lounges, bookshelves full of knickknacks and a large pool table with the heavy pool balls lined up neatly in a triangle except the white one which was set at the other end waiting for a hit by a cue stick. It wasn't in here. She went into the kitchen next, checking in the cupboards with no luck.

Room after room she went, taking care to be silent, but fast. Finally, she came to a door on the second level and carefully opened it to find a child sleeping fitfully in her bed, thumb in her mouth. A large window looked out to the back gardens while a bookshelf held all her toys and shoes. On the opposite wall, a white dresser sat with a small mirror and a brush. Phoenix went over and opened the drawers and found it! —though why it was in here was beyond her.

Tears filled her eyes as she remembered her mother coming home on her fifth birthday and giving it to her, telling Phoenix that this was special and to be very careful. She didn't truly figure out what it was until she went through her father's journal he kept at his work a few days before her life fell apart. His journal was filled with many secrets her father kept from the family. Phoenix didn't even think her mother knew what most of their belongings were.

Phoenix looked to the sleeping child to see her staring right at her. The child looked just like Phoenix's sister, but darker. Her brown eyes blinked once before whining a little, hungry. Phoenix swallowed and went over, seeing the child was uncovered even though it was a cold night. She grabbed a bottle from a nearby shelf and started feeding the tiny girl, picking her up into her arms and pacing slowly. Memories clouded her mind, making her depressed for the first time in a long time. She tried to keep them at the back of her mind, but this child brought them back in a rush.

Finally, the child was finished eating, burped and asleep again in her bed, thumb back in her mouth. Phoenix grabbed her possession and crept out the door, closing it softly and making her way back to the door where Elliot was waiting.

They made their way home several miles outside of town in silence, Elliot somehow sensing the change in his friend's mood. He knew she was different than most people, had a past she would not or could not explain. He never pried, but after every break in she does, she is like this for the rest of the night. She denied his offers of doing anything fun and locked herself in her room. Sometimes, he could hear her crying and sat himself outside her door until he was sure she was asleep, hoping being just outside her door was enough to make her feel safe. He won't deny how strong she was though.

They were just on the outskirts of town when someone grabbed Elliot's arm and put a hand over his mouth. Phoenix sensed something wrong and drew a blade, turning to defend her friend. Her eyes found a dark man clad in black from head to toe, just like herself. Though her face was left for all to see, his was covered in charcoal to blend in with the night and shadows. He held a dagger to Elliot's throat with his free hand and kept his dark eyes on her, smirking. She adjusted her stance into a fighting position and curled her lip into a snarl. "What is your business with him?"

"Nothing," the deep voice replied barely audible. "He isn't the one who just broke into a house and stole something from a child's dresser."

"Your point?"

"Give me the glass and I'll let him go."

Elliot's throat bobbed unsteadily and nodded to his friend to do as this man asked. She straightened up and put her hands on her hips. "How do you know I was in there?"

"I was there, watching from my hiding spot."

She rose her brows. "Hiding spot?"

He smirked. "That's what I said. So, are you going to give me the piece of glass or am I going to have to kill your friend and fight you for it?"

Phoenix sighed and reached into her pocket finding two items there. She wrapped her fingers around her very missed possession and felt her emotions rising to the surface again. Pulling it out, she held it up and glared at the man. "Let him go and I'll give it to you."

Immediately, Elliot was released and pushed towards her while the man held out his hand. "Give it to me."

She didn't. "Tell me why you want it."

"I'm going to return it to the poor child and her family," he said, looking straight into her eyes.

Phoenix paused for a moment, finding the eyes familiar but couldn't place them. She looked for all the tell-tale signs that might suggest he was lying, but there was nothing. She then thought of how her mother gave it to her, telling her how special it was. Remembered her father's words in his journal about what it truly was. She heard her family's words of love and saw the baby girl staring at her, letting her feed her. Closing her eyes, Phoenix walked up to the man and held out the item. When he went to take it, she drew back suddenly and asked, "I will be checking at some point. If it is not there, I'll find you and kill you."

He smiled delightedly. "And I'll do the same if you steal something else, my lady." He bowed mockingly.

Phoenix rolled her eyes and handed him the item, holding it for a moment while staring into his deep dark eyes. They were serious and full of calm determination. Finally, she let go and stepped back. "I have business to take care of. I bid you goodnight."

The man nodded and turned to walk away, putting the item in his own pocket. Phoenix watched him for a moment before turning to Elliot to make sure he was alright. Although his eyes were a bit wild and his hands were shaking visibly, he seemed unharmed. She nodded and they took off in the opposite direction. The man they had just encountered, turned and stared after them, curiosity in his dark eyes. His mouth turned up into a cruel smile as he took the glass from his pocket and held it up to the moonlight, letting it shimmer softly.

It was small, only the size of a shot glass. Its surface was a light blue and white, with a hint of pearl pink here and there. It was square and on one side of it was a key hole, shaped intricately like a bird. Of course, he didn't have the key or else he'd have opened it right there and then. Instead, the man brought the item up to his ear and listened. He also knew of the item's secret and had wanted to wait for the right time to grab it, but now was as likely a time as ever. Stuffing into the breast pocket of his shirt, he buttoned the pocket up to make sure the item didn't fall out, then he made his way back into town to speak with his boss and deliver the news of what he had found earlier that day.

Phoenix and Elliot arrived at their home and lit a candle with a match that was always on a table near the door. Phoenix strode up the stairs and slammed a door shut while Elliot walked wearily into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle out of the ice box. Screwing the top off, he drank deeply, anticipation for the numbness to overtake him rising with each gulp. When at last he put the bottle down, it was half empty. Elliot frowned, and looked into the ice box again to see there wasn't another bottle left. It looks like he'd just have to deal with what he's got.

He left the kitchen and walked down to the basement and to his bed, sitting against the headboard with his eyes closed and his head resting on the wall. Elliot was used to danger and enemies, he's had them all the time, but something was different about tonight. The man felt different from everyone else he'd ran into. Darker. Colder. Malevolent. He couldn't get the feel of the cool metal against his neck out of his mind, or the way Phoenix had hesitated. Had she seen the difference in him too? She didn't seem fazed by the man, nor did she act any different towards him. No, Elliot didn't think she was one bit affected because she had other things running through her head. Maybe, she would've left him to die if it weren't for the fact they were friends and not servant-and-master relationship.

It disappointed him a little that this was the only reason. He knew their friendship didn't go deep like most, but he had hoped it would grow. Elliot cared for Phoenix more than she would ever know. He'd die for her if it came down to it. But would she do the same for him? She wasn't like most women who wore dresses and found a husband to bare children with. She wasn't like those her age who became house wives and stayed at home while the men go out and worked. Elliot wondered if she ever was normal in the past, or if she had always been a rebel. Her hair, a beautiful orange-red of flaming fire was her best feature, Elliot thought Then her pale face with red lips and bright blue eyes and high cheek bones complimented her wonderful hair. As you went down her body…

"Elliot?" her voice came from the top of the stairs, soft and cracking, like she'd been crying.

"What?" he slurred. Shit, he was more drunk than he realized.

Phoenix hesitated, then her light footsteps came down the stares to stand across the room to look at him. Her brows furrowed and her shoulders slumped. "Never mind."

"What, master!" he demanded.

"I'm not going to tell you while you're wasted in a bottle of liquor." She began to turn around but thought twice before walking over and taking the now empty bottle from his hands. Her nose wrinkled at the smell of her friend and she threw the bottle away. "This is why I don't drink."

"It's not all bad," he said sympathetically. "Try it, and you'll see."

"I'm fine. Take a shower," she ordered and started out the room again.

"I don't need one," he said before falling asleep.

Phoenix shook her head and gave a soft smile, understanding her friend's need to drink off the night's events. She never would though. She wanted to remember every single moment. She wanted to see Elliot's face drawn in fear the next time she met that man in the middle of darkness where horrible creatures lived. Tonight, didn't sit well with her, not the way it was so difficult for her to open the lock, not the man being able to watch them without her noticing, not the way Elliot's fear radiated off him like heat when the knife was held to his throat.

But she couldn't think about it now. It was late and she had much to do when the sun rose high into the sky. She went back upstairs into her room and shut the door, looking at her dresser now. The identical piece of glass she gave to the man sat there, shining in the moonlight. She smiled at the thought of how he took the replica and hadn't noticed. If he would've looked closer, he'd have noticed that the key hole was not just any silhouette of a bird, but one her father nicknamed her, with the wings spread wide and the tail like the flames of fire. Her possession was now safe, and she was now happy. Phoenix laid back on her bed and closed her eyes, sleep overwhelming her within seconds.