The silver blade gleamed viciously on the nape of her neck. She tried to project as much hatred as she could but could feel fear overpowering her will. Somewhere in the very back of her mind, Caitlin always knew she was insane. Of course she was, Mr. Davis had a knack for brainwashing away anything good in a person. Still, she had hoped for just a little bit more. That, despite the darkness clearly spinning out of control in the thief's eyes, the two of them had formed some kind of bond. A bond between souls, both of who had lost everything except for each other.
It was just like five years prior, in that tattered tent where she first met the conniving thief. Just like then, she had simply fallen victim to another lie.
The sword pulled back slightly before pushing forward. In a moment of numbing terror, Caitlin tried to scramble out of the way. Hot senseless pain shot through her feverish veins. She could vaguely feel cold tears streaming down her cheeks. Her vision began to waver from the demonic thief to the ground and back to the monster in a nauseating cycle. Gasping, she felt the urge to look down and find where the mind-shattering agony was originating so she could try and stop the waves of increasing torment. She was holding her right side just beneath her breast. Blood was seeping through her dirty, old shirt. Warm, sticky scarlet oozed through her fingers.
Before, she had always believed she would see her family again when she finally found herself on death's doors. Now, all she could see was the stupid thief in front of her. Where her mother should have been smiling, she remembered that mocking grin underlined with a suppressed sincerity. The memories that passed through her head were the ones she shared with the thief. She remembered the first time they met. Then, she saw the thief's belittling stare every time they crossed paths in camp.
There was a lot of mockery and snorting in disgust but, there were also good memories: when the thief broke her leg and the two spent days together laughing at homemade stories until the thief was moved to another tent and they became strangers again. She couldn't forget that time the thief ordered her to aid her in preparing a prank on Mr. Davis. Avery, the thief, and Caitlin couldn't contain their laughter when Mr. Davis walked out of his tent with a bucket full of tar and feathers coloring his tan with a chicken impression. Once, the thief and her spent a night looking up at the stars in silence. Another time, they went swimming together at the frozen Jasper Falls, somewhere in northern Icewae, when they were dared by some of their fellow orphans. It was these times, amidst all the animosity, the times between isolation broken by smiles and song-like laughter that she remembered most in all her five years with the thief.
Why couldn't she remember her mother's glowing eyes anymore? How was it that she could remember the monster in front of her more than her father's gruff face? It enraged her that in the moment nearest to her end all she could do was fantasize about the small occurrences that kept them going. These small memories that pushed her to follow the thief after the "Smiling Ghosts" disappeared. She hated that fake grin more than the devils who killed her family but she loved that rare, genuine laugh as if the thief was her own sister. Through it all, even though it definitely did not seem like it at the time, she did care for the thief who resembled her so much. This was the person who could honestly make her smile in the worst situations.
She didn't even know the thief's real name.
Yet, she understood the thief better than she knew herself at times.
The truth was, the thief saved her from the eternal darkness that came from becoming a "Ghost". As much as she hated to admit it, the thief saved her.
Caitlin had done everything for this thief's attention. She had revelled during the times she gained the thief's interest long enough for the thief to sneer back. No one at the "Smiling Ghosts", not even Avery Davis, had been as supporting to the thief as she had been. In fact, the thief had spoken to Caitlin after Avery asked for the thief's hand in a relationship. She had laughed at Caitlin and made the whole exchange incredibly awkward as-per-usual, but, at the end of the day, the thief had come to her first.
YOU ARE READING
Guardians: Dark Stars
Science FictionOur girl has had a pretty horrible, short life. On a list full of shitty events, she has recently lost the family she has known for the past ten years: the infamous group of thieves known as the "Smiling Ghosts". Ridden with guilt and taunting skele...
