Ablaze , ᶦᵛʸ

c.4

"How d'you know my name?" Graham looked taken aback, his features wide with shock. "Do we know each other?"

"Know each other? Graham, I'm your fucking sister!" Emlyn spat out, clenching her fists on the table. The thief who sat beside her had her eyebrows raised in sheer surprise at the scene this stranger girl was causing. Emlyn's voice broke as she spoke, her words feeble and tossed around as if she was fighting the urge to cry right on the spot. "Graham, how could you? Fake your own death? Or what? How the hell are you still alive... I saw you die, right before my eyes. And you're standing here acting as if I never existed..."

Graham's eyes scanned over Emlyn, the edges of his mouth puckering as if he was in thought. "Look, I'm sorry but I really don't know you. Now, I'm catching up with an old friend here, so if you don't mind..."

Emlyn stood up, shaking her head defiantly. "I see how it is. I don't understand how you could do this to me— to us— but you probably have your reasons. So I'll leave right now, and we can go back to pretending all over again. You can keep your life private, no family, as you prefer, I guess. Why you decided to lie to us all this time when you could've just told us you didn't care outright. Would've been a lot simpler really."

And with that, the girl huffed and left the restaurant, her skirt billowing in the soft breeze, arms flying by her sides.

***

"Hey, we need to talk."

Emlyn swiveled around on her heels, eyes widening to be as large as saucers. "W— You. You bet we do," she sniffed. "I have a lot of questions."

"As do I," replied Carmen steadfastly. "And in due time, we can both learn what answers we need. But first, privacy. We can't talk here."

"No, we can't," agreed Emlyn, glancing around the crowded hotel lounge. She had been heading to the closest one possible to try and make a reservation but as it appeared, it didn't look all that possible.

"And you can stay at my place in the meanwhile," Carmen added rather suspiciously. "After all, this doesn't look as though you will be able to book a room anytime soon." She jerked her head to the long line formed of at least twenty people, awaiting their rooms or trying to make an unprompted reservation at the front desk.

"Alright," Emlyn said slowly, knowing if anything went awry, she had taken basic self defense and knew how to protect herself. She trailed after Carmen, strutting out the glass doors and down to the parking lot.

"Pretty expensive to book a room there I'd expect," Carmen remarked, seemingly neutral by her tone, but Emlyn swore she could hear the slightest patronizing in disguise.

Still, she shrugged it off. Why should this— ah.

She had been an extreme dumbass to not remember this was a high scale thief she was talking. Of course she cared about these kinds of things. Most likely, she was about to be robbed, and she couldn't believe she almost fell for it.

The idea of her brother knowing a worldwide thief personally had been too much for her to ingest at first, but now she took it in freely, knowing that Graham was definitely associating with a bad crowd now. She decided she wasn't surprised by her brother anymore. In fact, was he even her brother anymore? To her, Graham had been long dead.

"Here it is," Carmen announced, and Emlyn glared at the large, old, white van. She then took a look around the parking lot, seeing a few people, witnesses, to anything this thief may attempt on her.

Aw, hell no, she thought to herself.

"I'm not getting in there with you," Emlyn told her firmly. "Listen, I think we got enough privacy now. No one's close enough to overhear us. So talk, Sandiego."

Carmen stared exasperatedly at Emlyn for a split second before she nodded slowly. "I suppose you're right. Okay. What questions do you have for me?"

Emlyn forced a small smile to her face as she glanced back at the red thief. "How do you know my brother?" she questioned. Dead to me, sure, she mentally rolled her eyes at her own lasting.

"We went to school together," explained Carmen, a bit of a nostalgic? shine reflecting on her eyes. Either she was lying and a hell of a good actress, or she really did go to school with him.

"Like hell you did," Emlyn went with the first guess. "Tell me the truth, or I won't be so inclined to do the same."

"I am," Carmen said tiredly. "We did go to school together. Trust me."

Emlyn stared at the other girl doubtfully. "And now you met up again? Guess there's a lot to talk about, you being a high grade thief," she commented.

Carmen let out a long exhale, running her fingers through her silky raven hair. Her nose crinkled upwards as if she was blatantly annoyed at my statement. I mean, I guess it doesn't sound too pretty on print, but what does she call herself? "Yeah... is that all you wanted to know?"

Emlyn shrugged. "Why'd you wanna meet up now of all times? Also he knows who you are right?" she added, narrowing her eyes. She knew her brother might be thick headed but he couldn't be that stupid.

The thief raised an eyebrow as if in consideration of the girl's words. Probably crafting her next lies. "Yes... and no," she admitted. "Grey knows what I'm doing and I even explained it to him... and he's a little suspicious but I told him it was kinda complicated."

Emlyn frowned. That wasn't actually a lie, but she wasn't telling her jack shit— just stalling. Stalling what, exactly?

Just as Emlyn opened my mouth to speak again, another car sped past them.

She ducked, trying not to get hit and Carmen took this to her advantage and pulled the other into the back of the truck. She flew into the front seat, diving over the floor and plugging the keys into the ignition.

"What the fuck, let me go!" Emlyn screamed, and she heard the distinct clicking noise signifying the doors being locked. "You trick ass bitch!" the girl yelled angrily, and reached to climb into the front to tackle the thief when a sheet of some see through strong glass raised up and blocked her, connecting all the way up.

She banged at it furiously but it wouldn't let up.

"We had these recently instated for situations such as these," Carmen's voice came through a speaker. "And it's soundproof so I wouldn't strain your voice."

A growl of frustration buzzed through her throat as she kept banging at the sheet aimlessly. She grabbed at the speaker and started cursing at her kidnapper, threatening her with death and pain far worse from that.

But she seemed perfectly unfazed, a perfectly neutral facade shown in the rear view mirror. She grabbed something and spoke into it calmly. "This is a one way speaker, so again. I'd advise you not to waste your breath."

Hissing, Emlyn's fists clenched up, accumulating sweat in the pores of her skin.

She succumbed into my spiraling storm of anxiety happening in her mind, trying to fight the tidal waves of nerves attempting to kill her as she finally made the rather obvious realization...

She was trapped.