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Okay so. In hindsight, Shelby thought, maybe she should've expected that trusting a random kid she met on the streets to help her with her theft mission wasn't the best idea, and on one hand, it's a good thing that she realized that.
On the other hand though, maybe she should've realized that before she got into this whole situation, barely holding onto the metal beam above her and with her legs tangled up in wires.
It wasn't that uncommon for the little Shelby Trinity to be walking around by herself, unlike what most people seemed to think. Sure, she was only turning eleven the next month, but already she knew the ins and outs of the town's streets and dark alleyways better than most after spending so much time running through them in search of her next theft in the very dead of the night, when no one, not even her parents, would be any the wiser.
That night was one of those nights. One of the nights where she'd be walking in her disguise as the Wraith and looking for her target, with the soft spring breeze twirling her blonde ponytail and pushing her small frame forward, as if urging her to move along faster.
And so she picked up her speed, at the same time trying to stick to the shadows and struggling not to be heard.
The little girl finally came to an stop in front of a jewellery shop. She stood on her tiptoes abd peered through the glass, taking a look at the shimmering gold bracelets and the shining rubies and sapphires decorating them.
She had been there before, with her parents for her 10th birthday the previous year. They insisted on buying her something from the expensive shop. She didn't exactly have any interest in the bracelet they bought for her. It was less of a gift for her birthday and more of just another little trinket they could use to flaunt their wealth with.
This time though, she was by herself and there was no one holding her back.
She kneeled down by the shop's door, trying to unlock the door. Lucky for her, the lock was pretty flimsy for a store with this much valuable items in it. It would only take her a few more moments to get i--
"Who are you?"
She quickly turned around and faced the boy standing behind her. Her hands were raised in front of herself in case she needed to protect herself and she took a step back, staring at the boy.
He blinked at her with crossed arms, only raising a brow. His black hair fell onto his shoulders and made him look slightly older.
They stared at each other for a few moments, neither of them speaking a word.
"Well?" The boy frowned. "Are you going to answer me or what?"
She didn't respond.
He simply rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Whatever suits you. Be careful with that though. They've added a new alarm for when the lock is opened by force."
She lowered her guard, staring at him with a dumbfounded expression. Questions were starting to run through her head. Who even was he? What was he doing here? How long had he be watching? Why was he so calm about it? Why was he helping her again?
Instead, the only question she could form was a snarky: "Aren't you a bit too young to be out at this time?"
"Aren't you?" He retorted, a smirk tugging at his lips.
She rolled her eyes and let out a groan, glancing at the locked door and then to the boy again.
"If you know about the alarm then you know how to get in too." Shelby concluded. She had come this far to carry out her little mission and she wasn't going to give up so far in. "Help me get in."
He frowned slightly, thinking for a few moments. "Okay? And what would I get if I do that?"
Usually, when faced with that question, little Shelby Trinity would give up on the person and try to achieve her goal without them. She wasn't one to share, and she wasn't going to share the things she stole regardless of how much she got.
But that night, maybe it was the soft breeze making her shudder slightly, maybe it was the fact that it was 3 AM and she had to get it done and go home soon before her parents found out about her night time activities, or maybe it was the fear that she wouldn't be able to escape fast enough once the alarm sounded, she gave in. "You can have a few of the jewels too, if you want to. And go do whatever you want to do with them."
That seemed to satisfy the boy, as he grinned and pushed her out of the way, kneeling down next to the lock and examining it carefully.
After a few moments, he spoke up again. "Look away."
"Wha-"
"I said look away." He repeated, his frown deepening.
She sighed and turned her back from the boy and closed her eyes, waiting for him to allow her to look again.
It was quiet only for a few moments, before she heard a crackling sound and then the boy spoke up again. "You can look now."
She quickly turned around to see what he had done and if they were in trouble now, instead seeing the door now unlocked and half-open, with the lock lying broken on the ground but no alarm ringing.
She glanced at the door, then the lock on the ground and then the mysterious boy. "There wasn't an actual alarm, was it?" She said with a frown, crossing her arms.
The boy simply shrugged and entered, looking at her over his shoulder with a smile. "Guess you'd never know."
With a small pout, she entered after him, fully wary of her surroundings and the boy he was trusting.
"Wait." She stopped in her tracks. "Be careful with the--"
"The cameras are deactivated already." He cut her off, not even sparing her a glance.
"...And how do you know that?"
He didn't answer, only peering at the expensive bracelets and necklaces and rings in the shop and rushing to change the subject. "So. Which one do you think is the prettiest?"
"Answer my questi--"
"Actually. Scratch that." He caught her off again, gesturing at a batch of rings. "Which one of these do you think is the most expensive?"
She paused for a few moments, peering over the boy's shoulder and staring at the rings he was referring to. They gleamed and shone in the low light, the diamonds decorating them attracting the attention of all.
"That one." She pointed at one of the rings, one that had smaller diamonds compared to the rest and didn't attract much of the attention compared to its peers. "The diamonds on it look so much less compared to the others, but that's just because they're tiny in comparison. The amount of diamonds used on it is actually much more than the other ones, it just doesn't look that way since they're relatively scattered."
He cocked his head and stared back at her, before turning away and picking out a necklace with a blue sapphire and putting it in his pocket. "Interesting."
She nodded slightly, walking over to another batch and slowly and carefully putting the precious items in her small bag.
"So." He leaped onto one of the counters, sitting cross legged and staring at her. "You didn't answer me the first time. Who are you?"
She let out an exasperated sigh, before shooting the question right back at him. "Who are you? "
"I'm Kevin."
She stared at him, obviously taken back by how easily the boy, Kevin, appeared to give out his name.
"I'm…" She paused. Sure, the boy had given out his name and helped her, but that still didn't prove him to be trustable enough. "I'm The Wraith."
"Wraith?" He frowned, tilting his head slightly. "That's… an interesting name. But what's your real name?"
"Nope."
"Alright miss 'Nope'." He muttered.
The next few minutes were spent in relative quiet, as Shelby finally took all the rings and most of the bracelets available there that she was sure wouldn't set off any alarms if she took, alongside a necklace she found pretty, stuffed them into her bag and then proceeded to turn to her companion.
"Well?" She shrugged, gesturing at the door with her head. "Are we going now or what?"
"Aren't you going to take the rest?" He questioned, raising a brow and hopping off the counter. "Like that really expensive one you talked about."
"No. Those are rigged and if someone picks them up they'll--" She only got a split second of a chance as she saw Kevin reach out for the aforementioned ring. "Wait don't--"
She was too late. Kevin was already holding the ring in his hands and the alarms were already blaring loudly.
Before she knew it, both of them were running, struggling to get away as fast as they possibly could in order to escape. It was the first time in months that she had messed like this during one of her little missions, and she had genuinely thought that her days of rookie mistakes had ended.
"This way." Kevin told her, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her into a dark alleyway.
"Wha-- Where are you bringing me?!" She shouted, trying to keep up with him with the weight of her bag on her shoulders.
"I know a shortcut. Just trust me." He replied, not stopping once to let her catch up properly.
To be fair, trusting him so far had had… mixed results, to say the least. So she wasn't sure how much she was willing to actually follow along with the boy's 'shortcut'. Either way though, she followed.
She wasn't sure when Kevin let go of her arm. Maybe it was when they had just entered the alleyway. Maybe it was when they stopped in front of a half-built apartment. Maybe it was when Shelby had protested, saying that she wasn't going to go in there even if it was part of the shortcut and it'd help them get away faster and she and Kevin started arguing about it. Maybe it was when he finally coerced her into entering the building. Or maybe it was when they started walking on the metal beams, Kevin insisting that he had done it a billion times before, that it'd be alright and that be6was sure this was part of his mysterious shortcut.
What she was sure of, however, was that she only realized it when she had dozed off slightly and fallen off the metal beam she was walking on only moments before, and just before she had grabbed onto the metal in an attempt to stop herself from falling.
She had tried to push herself up, only to realize that her legs had been caught in a flurry of ropes hanging from the beams and left there by the workers earlier that day, restricting her movements.
She didn't even dare look down. She wasn't sure how high up they were anymore.
The little girl looked up to see Kevin, slowly making his way back towards her. He probably wasn't that slow about it, but at that moment it felt like he was taking hours to get to her. Like he was contemplating whether or not to let her fall with every step he took.
But at last, he reached out and grabbed her by the arm, helping her haul herself back up onto the beam, while also being careful not to tip over the edge and fall himself.
And he broke out running again, once her legs were finally freed from the ropes and she had gotten to her feet again.
And again, she found herself having no choice but to follow, having no idea where she was anymore and assuming it too late to turn back from.
At last, they had both reached a safer corner of the half-finished building, where Kevin stopped, panting and attempting to catch his breath.
"Why did you do that?!" She snapped at last, glaring at the older boy. "We almost got in trouble and--"
"Well how was I supposed to know it'd do that!" He snapped back. "None of the others caused something like that to happen!"
"Well if you listened to me for 5 more seconds than you would've." She shouted, throwing her hands up in exasperation.
He simply glared at her, falling quiet.
" And your little shortcut was stupid and I almost died because of it too."
"But you didn't." He smirked, obviously taking at least a tiny bit of enjoyment out of her annoyance. "Now why don't you calm down and get over it, Miss Nope."
She clanched her fists, pushing him out of frustration. "Just give me a map and tell me where I am so I can go home now."
""Well unfortunately, Nope. I don't have a map." He stated, crossing his arms. "Just go three streets up then to the left and you'll get back to the same street you were on before."
She took a moment to make sure her bag was strapped on correctly, before turning and walking away.
"Not even saying good bye, Nopesy?" Kevin shouted as she got further away.
"My name is Shelby! " She shouted back, disappearing from sight.