beautiful thieves | ✓

thirty-five

The tension in the house is starting to become unbearable. Everyone's scared, twitching at the smallest noises and staring at the blood stains and bullet holes dotted all over the walls and floor. We, along with many cadets, cleaned up as best as we could, but our home has been left with battle scars, just like the rest of us. At least, Blake isn't limping anymore and Maeve has stopped wincing at the slightest movement, but we've all been left with some sort of mark, whether it be physical or mental. As I was warned, I've been struggling to eat and sleep with the burden of the lives I took too heavy on my shoulders. I wish I could say I've gotten past it, but I had another nightmare last night and a flashback this morning.

So, Adam had the idea of getting us all out. Ice skating was ultimately decided, but of course it had to be done in true 'thief fashion'; breaking into a rink in the late hours of the night so we can have the place to ourselves.

I land on the other side of the fence, brushing off my hands on my dark jeans. Through the bleak darkness of the night, I watch as Enoch somehow manages to open the back door and sneak in.

"Let us know when you've done it," I hear Danielle whisper. It's so strange seeing her now, swapping out her sparkling, expensive dresses for ripped jeans and a dark leather jacket. She still looks effortlessly chic, but she seems ten years younger and full of carefree excitement.

"What's he doing?" I ask Maeve.

"He needs to turn off the alarm system," she tells me. "And he'll probably turn on the disco lights and crappy pop music while he's at it."

"Have you done this before?"

"Lots of times," Blake says, appearing at the other side of me and interrupting Maeve, who gives him an agitated look.

"I would say I'm surprised we haven't been caught yet," Colby smirks. "But then again, it is us."

There's noise from behind the door and Zavier turns to us, excitement obvious in his usually stormy eyes. "We're in," he says.

As soon as we enter the building, I can already hear the music that gets louder as we walk through a corridor and down a set of stairs. We walk through a final door and I'm immediately in awe with how the place looks.

The rink is huge, the surface of the ice flat and smooth with no one using it. There are fairy lights dangling from the ceiling and neon disco lights illuminating the place with bright colours. There's a chill in the air, not much warmer than it was outside, but I know I'll warm up as soon as we get going. I've only been ice skating once when Tristan took me with a bunch of his friends, and I ended up having the time of my life. Though, I was very young back then. I doubt I've remembered how to skate since so much time has passed.

I watch, smiling, as Maeve, Chelsea, Colby and Enoch run over to a desk and jump over it, presumably looking for their skates in the back. The rest of us follow, Adam running with Danielle on his back and the two of them laughing hysterically. Once we've all found the skates in our sizes, we sit in the seating area to strap them on.

"A fiver says that Colby will be the first to fall," Chelsea says from beside me. I'm glad she could be here with us, having given Posie to a cadet to watch over her. It wouldn't feel the same without everyone here.

Maeve snorts from my right. "He's always the first to fall."

"Am not!" he shouts from the other side, before returning to whatever animated conversation he and Jayden were having. It's always nice to see those two together, knowing Colby's feelings for Jayden. I wish I knew what Jayden thinks about it, if he even knows at all, but it's clear the two of them enjoy one another's company. They laugh together as if to prove my point, and I smile at the genuine happiness they share. It's an emotion that our group has been starved of recently.