The Thief

8: Carrot-like mush

Ember's P.O.V.

Noises fade in and out of my conscious mind. Laughter. A stern voice. Footsteps. The rest of my senses are numb, lost to this world.

Then the feeling starts coming to back to my body. The hard cold metal pressing against my back. You'd think a secret agency could afford a mattress, or is pickpocketing an avenger such serious crime that it warrants a metal bed?

The room is deadly silent when I finally return to the land of living. I'm in a small metal cell. Glancing around I sigh. Everything is grey. They are in serious need of some decorators in here.

Knowing it will be a few hours until they bother to speak to me I take a look around. On the floor is a freshly cooked dinner, if you could call it that. It's worse then school dinners and they're bad. I prod at it disgusted. Something that looks vaguely like meat and some carrot-like mush.

I flop back down on the 'bed', this should be interesting. They chased me around the world so I assume they consider me a threat. If it was just for the pickpocketing they wouldn't have sent the avengers after me, sure I damaged Pumpkin's ego but that doesn't mean avenger level problem.

After lying there thinking for a couple of minutes I jump up again bored. Sighing I look for anything to do. An evil grin slowly spreads across my face and I walk back over to the dinner, designs for a trap formulating in my head. As I work I allow my brain to drift back to when I first discovered I had powers:

My feet thud against the gravel as a sprint away as fast as I can, the hooded man at my feet. I shoot down an alley trying to lose him, but he is faster and sends a foot out to trip me.

My body slams against the ground and my eyes water. I know I need to escape but I struggle to climb back up again.

The man grabs me by my throat and throws me harshly against a wall. '"Where's your money little girl? Come on, hanf it over" He cackles loudly.

I curl up in a ball against the wall bleeding slightly from the fresh wounds. He slowly walks towards me grinning manically and I cower away. "I - I don't h - have any." I whimper quietly.

"LIAR!" He yells suddenly and I flinch away. Since I ran away I had sold most of the things I owned and I barely had anything amyway. He draws a knife from his belt and stalks towards me, I had no means of protection. "Do you want to die little girl?" He asked angrily.

I shake my head violently before bolting, attempting to run around him before it's too late. He grabs me by the neck again and I kick out hitting him in the face. He snarls angrily "Stupid little girl!"

His nose starts bleeding and I cringe. If I broke it he won't be happy. I probably just doomed myself.

The man shoves me back against the brick wall and pushes the knife against my throat. Tears flow freely down my face as I attempt to wiggle free from his grip.

Warm blood drips from my throat and I shove my hand out, trying to push him off. Suddenly a strange feeling spreads across my hands. Not knowing what to do I cling onto that feeling, knowing it might well be the last thing I ever feel.

The tingling in my hands increases and I focus on it ignoring everything else as the knife digs deeper. Slowly, black mist emerges from my hand and the man drops me.

I watch on in horror as the knife dissolves into nothing and he begins to clutch at his throat, seemingly unable to breath. I panic, scared that I was able to do such things and bolt.

My feet carry me away from the scene and back onto the main road. I go to a local park and sit there, attempting to get my head around what just happened.

I come back a few hours later to see several police in the alley. The man was dead. I had killed someone.

Days went by as I tried to justify it to myself, he was a murderer about to kill me. Surely his death had to be self defence. Right?

My mind comes back to the present as I finish setting up the trap. The food is resting above the door where a ledge hangs. The bowl is attached by a network of string to a trip wire below. The string I got from unravelling the edge of a rough blanket I found rolled up in the corner of the room.

I lie back down in wait, hoping that flame head will come herself to interrogate me. Knowing her she will.

Either way, the first person to come in here will need a long shower to get that out of their hair, unless they're bald...

A/N I am so sorry I haven't updated for absolutely ages. I have had important exams and I have been unable to spend much time on this.

Thank you to everyone who commented on my last chapter, I'm glad you are enjoying my story. Keep reading.

-TheBookThief11