The Years that Were Lost

Part 1: Thief

I have spent quite a long time training and learning how to defend myself and fight off people who are bigger than me. But I never thought it would come to me stealing from the innocent, I didn't have a choice when my best friend... or only friend told me that we were running out of food. So I did what was needed.

Running for my life I realized it wasn't such a wise choice to be obvious about it. Oh well, what else can I do?

Running through town I look for a place to hide.

Nothing.

Passing through people crowding the streets trying to get these guards off my back I find a small alleyway and quickly stop there. Pressing my back against the cold wall I waited for them to run by, all I could hear was my heart pounding. After a few seconds, at least five guards ran past clueless, Idiots.

"Thank the lord!" I say pulling my mask down.
"I thought they would never go away."

"Eliza! You should be more careful. I also never said you should steal!" A familiar voice said.

I turn around "Heyy Camille! How's it going?" I say trying to act normal and steady my breathing.

She didn't answer but instead, she gave me a disappointed stare.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I just thought I could get all of those starving people food." I say putting my head down.

"I know but now those guards are going to be after you for months!" She says a little too loud.

No. I just thought they would move on with their lives instead.

If Camille heard me say that I don't think she'll think it's as funny as I do.

Keeping the smile off my face I reassure her by grabbing her shoulders. "I know I'll be careful"

"Hey! There she is!" I hear a guard say.

Uh oh. Putting my mask up, I grab Camille by her arm and run deeper into the alleyway, when she catches up to my speed I let go. Up ahead is see a fence too high to climb over but a ladder going up a house is coincidentally beside the fence. Seeing that it was poorly hidden I assume it's from another teen sneaking in and out of their house. I am about to mention it right before I see that she's also running towards it. Well, I don't think there's a need to mention it anymore. We climb up the ladder as quickly as possible and jump over the fence.

"We should split up! They're after me not you!" I yell

"What's wrong with you? I can't let you deal with them alone!" Camille yells back.

"I have a plan! Trust me!" I lie. I don't have a plan but I can think of one on the way. "Please!"

"Okay fine! If this goes badly I won't forgive you!"

Finally! I can't get Camille into my messes again. She's saved me from dying I can't just be a waste of her time.

Getting out of the alleyway through the other side we split. Camille turns right which leads back to home, I go left towards the castle. God, I should've thought this through, after a few minutes of running a guard jumps in front of me. Ugh, when is this going to end?

I get closer and slide putting my leg out to trip him. Stopping a few feet behind I watch two of the five trip over him. I giggle and keep running, Noticing I'm getting closer to the castle I make a detour through a small road and hide again.

"Are they ever going to stop?" I groan watching three of them run by again. God, they are clueless. This time not having any distractions I sneak into the house next to me through a window and hide making sure the guards haven't found me again. Sneaking through this house I clench my nose trying so hard not to gag. What the hell is that smell? Looking around the house I notice I'm in a kitchen and it looks abandoned. Shelves are open and they look full of rotten food. Guess I know where the smell is coming from, taking a step I accidentally crush an already broken plate. Looking at the ground there were multiple broken plates, looking at it even closer there didn't just seem to be plates but glasses too. "What the hell happened here?" I whisper to myself.

My mask isn't keeping the smell out because I can't help but have the need to vomit. Still clenching my nose I quickly make my way into the living room. I let go of my nose and surprisingly I don't feel the need to throw up anymore. Yay!

Looking around I see chairs that have been thrown onto the ground. Broken and not sturdy for me to sit on, well there's no way for me to rest now. My breath still hasn't slowed down, god! What is wrong with me? After training for months, I can't keep my breath steady. Great.

Startled I hear footsteps coming from a staircase on my left. Shit, I'm screwed. I quickly make my way back into the kitchen hiding behind a counter. Which is close to the window I came in from I hope no one takes a peak in.

The steps sound like they're coming from one person. Which is reassuring, glad I don't have to fight more than one. If I actually can fight them off. "I heard you! Come out and I won't harm you." The person says. Does this person think I'll answer? Because I might! But that wouldn't be too wise of a decision. Finding a door next to the window I came from I sigh of relief and make my way there, don't have to climb this time. Quickly I open the door, get out and close it as quietly as possible. Seems as if it led to the back of the house. I make my way to the front of the house around a whole bunch of bushes and leaves wanting to cut through my flesh.

Not this time! I put my hood down now that I'm out of the abandoned house I need to blend in with the crowd. I start walking as quickly as possible hoping no one will start chasing me... again.

Without realizing it I walked into a familiar place. Uh oh! It's the place where this whole problem began. The bakery I stole the bread from. Examining the place it seems as though it was surrounded by guards. I noticed I was in big trouble if I kept going that way, so I turned around and went into a shortcut, not knowing exactly where I was I looked around. This is going to be such a big mess for me.

Seeing as no one has seen me yet I put my hood back on and continue walking. Why did I have to go through with this? Why couldn't I just have stayed at home and trained like everyone else does? Thinking about that made a thought come to mind. Did Camille make it back safe? Now that I think about it they were calling for backup when they saw us. Oh no! I have to go back! But where? I take a look to see where the castle is, and it's on my right. I turn, my back facing it.

I've always kept in mind that the camp is always south-west of the castle so I start making my way there. After a long twenty or thirty minutes of walking, I made it to camp. Which isn't that far off of the castle but it's just in a forest and very well hidden. As I look for my tent which I share with Camille I ask anyone around if they've seen her. They all just either ignored me or said no. I start to worry walking faster to the tent. I finally found it and looked inside but Camille was nowhere to be found! Shoot! This is all my fault! If I hadn't been so stupid I wouldn't have messed up this bad! I start panicking. "Okay breathe. Eliza!" I tell myself, now I'll just have to get myself caught. Great!

Making my way back to the town I run into one of the guards. "Oh hey! Remember me?" I say. He looks at me confused. Really? "I'm the new friend your guys were playing tag with!" He looks at me like I have two heads. How slow are these people?

"I just stole something and your guys were chasing me!" I yell "Does that help jog your memory?" It takes him a minute to realize but then grabs me and drags me towards the castle. Great! I should've thought this through better. Do I ever think anything through? Well now that I think of it no, not really.