Thief (The Ichor Series: book 1)

Chapter 7:

Chase

It was slightly weird trying to comfort a complete stranger. But she reminded me what it was first like to be alone and how it created this big black hole in me. And I didn't want that for her. No one should have to go through that alone.

She looked so sad when she left me to go curl up in a corner. My heart went out for the poor girl. She seemed like a nice person too. Even though she didn't quite trust me yet... And a few seconds after she went over to the corner, I heard her crying. It sounded like she was breaking on the inside.

I never had any siblings. My mother thought I was enough of a hassle already. But once I was on the streets, I met some families that had five children, sometimes more. And the parents would try and work all day every day and even nights just to help their family have something to eat.

So I would help them by taking care of their kids while they were at work, and I would also give them some of the money I stole if I had anything left. Normally I would spread out the left over money to a few families each time so that I could help more people, and I would try to give them to different families and not just a select few that I liked. I tried to help as much as I could but sometimes, it wasn't enough. I've attended more make shift funerals on the streets than the parties my father would throw in the past for his council friends. Which is saying a lot.

But this girl, I knew she hasn't ever been on the streets before. Not like this. And it was seriously taking a toll on her. After a few minutes, her sobs started to become quieter. But she was still crying.

It was kind of like when your favorite pet dies, and you cry for hours because you're reminiscing on all of the past memories you have shared together. But after a while it just turns to a steady stream of tears and not an on slaughter of emotions as before. More like a dull aching pain in your chest.

I was just sitting on the floor though, while she was crying her heart out. Her comment stung a bit, about me smirking about non amusing things, but I got over it. I just didn't know what to do, so I just sat there running my hands through my hair.

I heard the footsteps above us still from the officers who were searching for Skylar, so I knew we would still be down here for a few more hours. We just needed to wait till everything died down again before we could go back to the surface. And the sooner the better. Because there were too many memories from this building that dug up unwanted emotions from the past for me. But like usual, I would have to wait.

In the meanwhile, I decided that I should be nice and try to comfort her. So I walked over to her and sat next to her for a few minutes trying to figure out what I should do; pat her on the back, should I say something, or hug her. So instead I mounted on hugging her, but it was real weird due to the position we were both in. So I just moved her so she was on my lap and then I froze.

I didn't know what to do. Should I hug her now or should I pat her back? What should I do? The moment just felt so intimate.

I eventually decided to push away that annoying inner voice again and just go with my gut feeling. So I ended up stroking her back while her arms were around me and her head was on my shoulders. I could feel my shoulder becoming wet, but I didn't give it much thought, it was just water.

I was in the moment trying not to think about all the little things that could go wrong, or how this would look to anyone else. I was there, comforting a person and helping them, while I let her comfort me. Comforting me for all the times that I had wished there was someone there to help me, for all the times that no one was there to see my tears, for all the times where I had wanted someone to care about me.

After what felt like hours, she finally stopped crying. But she still held onto me. Not that I minded, she was helping me too. And it felt nice to have something solid and real for once. Out here, on the streets, you see propaganda everywhere and you hear rumors from every one. You don't know what's real or what's not or what's just a lie told to get publicity. So having this moment that I knew was real, it made it all worth it. I didn't have to worry what was between the lines, or what the consequences would be because I knew that this was raw emotion being shown. And no one has the ability to show raw emotion, they may be amazing actors or actresses but they can't fake an emotion that came from your heart, soul, and mind.

When she finally let go, she got off my lap and sat down facing me with her back to the other wall. The sudden cold was noticeable from her letting go of me. She had salt streaks on her face from all her crying and some of her hair was stuck to her face, but it didn't really matter to me. Because I knew that I probably had tear streaks on my face as well.

Us hugging didn't solve any problems really. Or heal any wounds. All it did was help the both of us get through this rough patch until the next time that it comes again. It's a vicious cycle; you can feel happy one moment, but then something will trigger your memory so that you feel sad or depressed, you try and comfort yourself, and it works for a little bit so you feel happy again, and then the cycle repeats itself.

She was looking at me for a few minutes till she opened her mouth, but she then closed it. She did this a couple of times before I finally took the initiative to speak instead since she was at a loss for words.

"So Sky, how old are you?"

"I'm 12." she mumbled. "You?"

"Why don't you take a guess?"

"Hmmm. Are you 18?" She said while biting her thumb.

"Haha, I wish. No, I'm only 16." I said. "Not that much older than you." I concluded.

"Yeah, I guess not. But I really didn't think you were only 16. You act so much older." She mumbled. Sky seemed to get more tired the longer they kept on talking.

"The streets do that to you I guess. You learn to adapt and experience changes you too." I started to notice that her eyes were beginning to droop from exhaustion, and I didn't blame her. It was probably two o'clock in the morning by now and so far, the night had been filled with emotional distress which takes a lot of energy out of you. "Hey Sky, why don't you go to sleep. You've had a long night."

"Ok, that sounds like a good idea." And then she collapsed to her side in a ball and was out like a light bulb.

I looked at her and couldn't help smiling a little. I already felt a sort of fondness for this little girl already and I couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. But I knew instincts and they told me to be careful, and I would be. I didn't want anyone else walking out on me, especially this girl.

I looked at her one last time before I followed her into sleep and one thought echoed in my mind. This girl is something special.

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Words by Skylar Grey