Thief (The Ichor Series: book 1)

Chapter 12

Skylar

Chase. Chase. Where had I heard that name before?

We had come to an old shop and 'Chase' seemed to know the owner. They were talking as we went into the store, so I looked over to Theo. As I did so, my eyes subconsciously scanned all of the antiques in the store to see what there was. When I finally looked over to Theo, he was already looking at me. We had the same idea; to go explore the shop.

As Chase continued down the aisle with the man, Theo and I split up going to opposite sides of the store. I saw pristine gold inlaid hourglasses of all shapes and sizes, earth stones of all colors, tarot cards, and more than 16 different variations of crosses.

I picked one up, it looked like a normal cross, but on a socle which had three levels. I turned around to go find Theo, to show him what I had found. Though, when I turned around, I saw Theo slightly hunched over holding something in his clenched fist. He turned his head and looked at me, his eyes were wide with fright.

So I cautiously walked over to see what he was holding in his hand. When I had come over and was standing by his shoulder, I peered over to see what he was looking at. His hand looked like it was glowing an orange color...and slowly, he opened his hand. He was holding a medium sized amber drop that fit perfectly in the palm of his hand. But the amber drop was shining. Not with luster or with gleam from the light, no, the amber drop was shining as if there was a small star that had gotten trapped inside of it.

Eyes wide in awe, I stared at Theo and back at the amber drop again. What was going on...

I decided to go to 'Chase' to see what he thought of it. Theo was lagging behind me still staring at his hand and the glowing amber in the center of his palm.

"By the Gods and Angels..." Mr. Rabidus, I think that was his name, said as he fell to the floor and started to pray

What on earth was wrong with this store?

"Sir, what are you doing? What's wrong?"

"Thank you for sending these gifts. For showing me Faith once more and the miracles of the Divine." He bowed down to the floor once more, " From the holy embodiments of hope and restoration, may we all be saved from destruction..."

'Chase' lifted Mr. Rabidus off of the floor and onto his feet again. We all stared at him with a perplexed look on our faces for a while.

"...You don't know who you are do you?..." The crazy old man said looking at all three of us, " Sit down, sit down. Oh wait," He said just as we all sat on the floor ready for him to start explaining, "let's go to the courtyard instead. Its more secluded and quieter...and prettier this time of year."

With a sigh the three of us got back up again and followed Mr. Rabidus to the back of the store and through a small stone arch in the back wall. It led to a square surrounded by stone walls on all four sides, with old cracked marble benches lining all of the walls. In the middle of the square, there was a red apple tree standing nice and strong, with lights floating in between the leaves and branches. Making the courtyard seem more open and fairy-like, almost like a safe haven...

I could stay here forever...

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Sorry it's so short and doesn't explain much. The next chapter should hopefully be a lot better.

Picture is like the courtyard that they walk into, kind of. 

Fireflies by Owl City