Ink and Blood

Chapter 1

"Once upon a time, there was a young man of nineteen in the City of Sage, he was a thief in the night who stole prize possessions like gold, jewelry, diamonds, and even simple things; blankets, medicine, and food. Anything he could get his hands on.
He was the greatest thief in the city, he was also a spy and a great one at that. His dirty blond hair tied back in a ponytail and his blue eyes shone in the moonlight, he was handsome in a swashbuckling way and he was charming as a snake. His name was Finn Alexander. Out of all the thieves in the city, He was the best thief the city has ever had and the most dangerous-"

"Clara!" Uh oh. I lifted my eyes from my story and glance at my door. I know exactly what I was being yelled at for.

"Clara Lodge, you get down here right now." I set aside my notebook and walk out of my room. As I stop at the end of the stairs, I smell something awful and I knew I forgot to take out the trash. Mom is leaning against the counter, hand on hip, with the trash bags at her feet.

"Did you forget something?" Mom asks with her dangerous voice. "Sorry, I... forgot." Lame exercise, I know. "Seriously? I told you to take out the trash last night when I got home from work." Mom works at a hospital so she's never home, but when she is, things like this happens. Now even though mom is small, she's scary.

Middle-age, beautiful with black hair and white streaks running through it, some of that is my fault, and grey eyes for when she is mad, they would make your bunny slippers run for cover. I love mom, but sometimes I want to rip my own hair out.
"You need to take it out now and then when you finish, you need to get out of the house and socialize. Lily called me freaking out, because you didn't pick up the phone on the second ring."

Lily is my best friend, well, only friend. "Go make some friends, school is over, and you have a long list to do for the summer. Get a job, talk to actual people and not fictional characters. You need to stop reading and writing so much." Mom said. Ouch. I get what she is saying, but my life is in books. When I was little, I always had imaginary friends, then one day I wrote them on paper creating them to life and I have been writing ever since.

"Okay. I'll go out with Lily. Only for an hour." I said. Mom huffed and I went back up to my room. It is just me and my mom since dad died when I was little. Mom doesn't like to talk about him so I don't know much except he loved to write. That's where I got my writing skills from. I am an only child though I used to pretend that Peter Pan and the Lost Boys were my imaginary siblings.

I slip on my shoes and see my unfinished story on my bed. I've written half the plot but the rest and ending remains in my head. My mind insist I bring the book instead I grab my keys and walk out of my house. As I was walking to my car, I noticed someone watching me. I turn around and see a boy hidden in the shadows, starring at me. I only caught a glimpse of him before he disappeared.

Odd, but whatever. I drive over to Lily's and thought about what Mom said. I needed a job. Maybe at a local library, or a bookstore. I'm more experienced in the book system. I pull into Lily's massive driveway that was made for a runway model and she is standing on her porch smiling at me. She waves and walks to my car. In her priceless heels and Prada purse, she brushed back her smooth, brown hair. She doesn't have a driver's license so I drive her everywhere. Her parents bought her a car, yet she doesn't drive but she likes being spoiled anyway.

"Where have you been? I called a million times." She only bothered to call three times. She smiled. With her good looks, she could've been a model, she has hips that a guy could love and a smile that brighten everyone's day. "Sorry, I was busy." Which isn't a lie. She rolled her eyes. "Mhmm. Sure. I need to go to the mall to pick up my Dior purse. They finally got the order right."

"Okay. I also want to go to the bookstore. Can we go there first?" I asked. She shrugs while putting on more makeup. Lily and I have been friends since second grade and always been together. Though we are opposites from each other. Her beauty and richness with diamonds and me with books and pens. A nerd really.

I stop by the small bookstore in town and entered through the golden doors with Lily trailing behind me. The store was filled with books and people at the age of old to young. I walk to the back where few people were reading. As I stroll down the isle of books, I breathe in the paperback that smelled like magic. Each book I touch holds a different story inside them, as I graze the end of every title of books, I wondered what it would be like to live inside them.

———

He was the most dangerous thief the city has ever had. His features were all muscles, his hands were callus and strong. At midnight, he was in the city trying to find some loot to steal.
"Miles!" Finn whispered loudly. "Where are you?" He heard rustling in the bushes behind him. As he was about to run for it, a young man jumped out of the bushes and grabbed Finn by the arms.

Finn cried out in surprise and after a moment, he glared at the boy who was just his friend. "You should watch your back next time, someone might steal your brains." Miles Elliot said cackling. His red hair peaking out of his cloak.
"Funny how you don't have one." Finn snarled. Miles wrapped his arms around his friend's shoulders and started to lead them towards their hideout.

"Kyrian said he doesn't like how you are always out at night." Miles said. Finn sighed "I know, I just needed to get some fresh air and one of the new recruits is sick so I went to get some medicine."
"We have some left but you're right, we may need more. And um, we have a problem." Miles stated.

"Let me guess, you caused it?" Finn said knowingly.
"Surprisingly, no. I went to the tavern and heard some of the drunks talking about a massacre that happened outside of Bedrock. I checked it out. It was bad." Miles said.

"Then we need to talk to Kyrian fast." Finn exclaimed. They walked in an alley and turned toward a hidden, wooden gate. When they entered, the young men saw the place they called home. It was an old, worn out building, but they fixed it up nice to stay in.
Finn saw a few boys he recruited to spy around the city. One of them only ten years of age, and even though he was young, he could use those puppy dog eyes to get half the folks in the city to give him a gold piece. Finn called out to the young boy in the group.

"Hey, Thatch. How are you?" The boy turned. "Hiya, Finn! I'm great. I got a golden pocket watch from a gentleman this morning." Thatch exclaimed. He had two front teeth missing, but now they seemed to be growing back. Thatch's two best friends were smiling big up at Finn.

"Cheers, Finn." The little boys exclaimed. "Cheers, JJ and Little Bob. Have you three been out of trouble?" Finn asked. They all nodded. "I caught a bunny in a well. Kyrian said we can have it for supper tonight." Little Bob said.

"That is great. You boys keep up the good work. Well, Miles and I have some business to attend to. We need to talk to Kyrian. Is he available?"
"Yep." The circle of boys said. Miles and Finn passed the boys and stepped through the wooden doors of the building.