broken thieves

eleven

I'm not really sure how to feel. I don't think anyone is. As we stand in front of the mansion that we used to call home, no one says a word. I think the memories are still too new, too raw. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"I almost forgot how big it was," Jayden mutters from nearby. Everyone nods and murmurs their agreement. The house stretches much farther than I remember, and the gravel driveway that leads to the front door seems a mile long.

Jayden seems to be doing better now. He was pretty upset after going to the junkyard last night and telling me his story, but he's put on a smile for today. Whether it's genuine or not, I can't be sure.

"Ugh, this is going to suck," Danielle sighs. She looks especially pretty today, wearing a flowy dress that reaches the floor with delicate, gold jewellery that glitters in the sunlight. "Thanks for coming with me, guys."

Danielle has been needing to come back to the house for a while now, after leaving some precious item of her Grandmother's down in the basement, but it's only today that she's plucked up the motivation to do so. But she didn't want to come alone, so we all agreed to come with her.

All except two, of course.

The Winter Thieves offered to come too, but Crystal thought that this was something us Vasquez Thieves had to do ourselves. They're having a extravagant picnic back at the village instead, taking care of Posie for us. I'm grateful that they did, as I doubt Posie would have liked the four hour journey to get here.

Adam wraps his arm around Danielle. "Look, the faster we get in there, the faster we can get back to the village." He gives us all an expectant look, before leading Danielle up to the house. The rest of us follow silently.

As soon as we step through the grand doors to the house, I'm hit with a strong wave of nostalgia. We've been away for barely a few months but I can't help but remember how the last time I left our home was when we went to get our revenge on the Drakan's.

I never got to say a proper goodbye. I was so sure we'd all be coming back.

Everyone starts to cautiously step through the house as if we're breaking and entering on someone else's property. I walk slowly over to the wall, lifting my hand to trace the bullet holes with my fingertips. I notice a small blood stain underneath one and instantly look away. I'm greeted by Maeve, who gives me a small, reassuring smile.

She looks exhausted.

The group starts to disperse over to different parts of the house. While Danielle, Zavier and Adam head over to the basement to get whatever they need, Colby and Jayden go into the kitchen and Maeve climbs the stairs, wanting to see her bedroom again.

"This is so weird," Blake says, strolling over. "I lived here for so long and, just like that, we were leaving."

I nod. "It's weird for me and I was only here for a few months."

Blake smirks at me. I remember when I used to hate it when he did that, when his smirk made me uncomfortable because I wasn't sure what he meant by it. Now, of course, I love it. "I feel like I've known you a lot longer than a few months. But maybe that's because of Hattie."

Hattie. My doppelgänger and Blake's first love who ended up committing suicide shortly after Danielle's mother passed away. I guess it must be weird for him to have seen a face so similar to mine years ago, only to see it again on a completely different person.

"And it's weird that this is the first place we met."

I give him a sly look. "Wrong. That was when you came to my house to kidnap me, remember?"