The Evil Beginning

“Rin!” I stumbled out of my hiding place to assist my sister, running parallel to her path, jumping over obstacles and dodging through fences.

            Just as we had planned, she hurled our tattered backpack through an opening in a wall and scaled a fire escape ladder.

            Without hesitation, I scooped up the bag and was about to high tail it away from the scene when I noticed something. A man across the street was staring at me. Not in scorn or disgust as I was accustomed to, but in curious wonder. I didn’t have time to ponder this however, for the sounds of police sirens echoed from down the street and forced me to move.

            Sprinting down a series of alleys and abandoned buildings, I made my way down a pathway that no one would be able to repeat without the experiences my sister and I had gone through in the place.

            I turned the final corner and found Rin pacing back and forth in the all but dead field outside the crawl space we had to call home. When she caught site of me, she breathed a sigh of relief and launched herself at me.

            “I thought something happened when you weren’t here before me,” she admitted.

            I hugged her back before replying, “I’d never let you down like that.”

            Satisfied, we both dropped to our knees to relish our rewards. We were engulfed in the sweet scents of food. Real food. We hadn’t seen something so glorious for days. If we had, I’m sure we wouldn’t have resorted to stealing.

            Rin and I ate to our heart’s content, starved like an hourglass with no sand.

            Only… after we had finished and stashed our leftovers, we heard a voice. It was a sort of feigned confidence that resided underneath each word that had me and Rin reeling with curiosity.

             So we went to investigate, taking the high road of our trashy labyrinth. Peeking through various hidden spots, we searched until we found a man not too far from the exit to the street. With a start, I realized it was the same man that I had seen staring at me earlier that day. He wore the same apparel he had been adorned in earlier: a gray three-piece suit with a shocking red tie. Sunglasses hung from his collar.

            “Is there anybody here?” he called out.

            I shared a glance with my sister. Both our eyes were open in shock. We watched for a while longer, not sure what to do.

            “Maybe we should talk to him?” I suggested in a hushed voice.

            Rin’s grasp on my arm tightened. “I don’t think we should risk it.”

            But… if he found our hiding place, we will have lost our single safe haven; the one place we could call home. I wouldn’t let him take that away. Not from me. Not from Rin.

            I dropped down from my hiding spot, releasing Rin’s fingers. Her hand was stretched out as if she could grasp me back, but it was already too late.

            Landing with a soft thud, I slowly turned my face up to examine our mysterious visitor. He seemed just as surprised to see me as Rin and I had been to see that he had found one of our secret entrances.

            His expression of shock quickly turned into one of cocky triumph. “So the magician reveals himself. And where is your beautiful assistant?”

            I made an effort not to glance up at where Rin was surely deciding whether or not to join me.

            “Get out,” I growled.

            “Ooh, our magician doesn’t have much showmanship.”

            I stood up from where I had landed in a crouch. “Quit playing games. You’re not welcome here.”

            “Not yet anyway,” he agreed with me. “But maybe after you hear my… proposition…” He reached a hand into his coat and pulled out a stack of crisp fifty dollar bills.

            I froze. “What kind of proposition?”                           

            He waved the money in the air teasingly. “So this interests you, does it?”

            I remained silent. Rin chose that moment to drop down beside me.

            “Ah, so she appears as well.” 

            Rin took my hand. “Cut the small talk,” she insisted. “What do you want from us?”

            “So impatient,” he drawled, shaking his head with a smile. “Well, here’s my deal. I’ll pay for all of your living expenses as well as entertainment and recreation if you agree to become my business partners.” He held out the money to us once more and raised an eyebrow.

            Rin hesitantly reached out to take the temptation, but I stopped her with my hand. “What kind of business?”

            The man smiled.

Thanks for reading the first chapter! I'll post soon!