Selfless

~Chapter 3~

Cindy eventually reached the familiar field, and she sat down among the tall weeds. She was tired from running so fast, and she needed time to figure out what she was going to do.

At that moment, she was only sure of one thing: she was never going back to that house. She could ask someone for a few Treasures, which was enough to catch a bus that could take her far away. Treasures were the form of currency made by the Establishment. Each Treasure was worth one dollar of the old currency. But there wasn't a such thing as change or quarter Treasures. Just Treasures. If you were rich, you'd get Treasures in hundreds.

She wiped her eyes, because tears were streaming from them. Maybe she could sleep in the field for the night. She knew that her step-father was too lazy to go in search of her.

She opened her clenched fist, revealing the broken pieces of her mother's gorgeous necklace. She spread out the pieces on the ground, and pieced them together, as if they were a puzzle. The chain was broken beyond repair, so she tossed it aside, and kept only the petals of the flower. It was a shame that she'd never seen a flower.

She touched the center of the assembled pieces, and they transformed into glass. Now she could keep part of the necklace forever. She was putting the necklace in her dress's pocket when she heard a honk. It was her step-father's car. A small shriek escaped her, and she tried to hide among the weeds.

"Cindy! C'mon, we're running away!" Magnar's voice yelled.

Cindy peeked above the weeds, making sure it was him. It was. And he was in the driver's seat of his dad's car. Cindy's eyes widened and she hurtled toward the car, opening the door and got in the passenger's seat.

"B-but...what about you? They're your family- and..." Cindy stuttered.

"Being blood doesn't make you family, Cindy. Love does." The words would've been touching, if Magnar hadn't added a "duh!" at the end and grinned.

Cindy smiled, and Magnar speeded down the street. "You realize he's gonna notice his car is gone, right?"

"Please. He won't even notice, he has like ten." Magnar said.

"Aren't you going a little fast?" Cindy asked.

"Yeah, why? Don't you want to get away from him?" Magnar raised a brow. Cindy nodded.

"We have a car, but what will we do about the gas, and we'll need-" Cindy stopped when Magnar held up around forty Treasures, that all had a '300' in the lower left corner.

"How did you-"

"Get all this? One time I saw Dad open the safe, and I memorized the combination." Magnar shrugged. "Compared to all he has, he probably won't notice. He's got mounds of money."

Cindy put her head in her hands. "I'm making you steal from your father..."

"Cindy. You didn't make me do anything. I was bound to run away anyways. We all know Phillip is his favorite." He said the last part bitterly, eyes trained on the road in front of him.

Cindy turned to him. "Magnar..." Cindy wished she could deny his statement, but it couldn't be any more true. It was obvious, the way Phillip was always treated better, had nicer things. Even though Magnar had a good life, he didn't have the good dad he wanted.

Magnar held up a hand. "Its not your fault, so don't apologize." He forced a smile.

Cindy sighed, trying to figure out something to say that wasn't a useless apology. "I wouldn't want to be his favorite anyways." Cindy said.

"Hm... Good point, sis." Magnar said, grinning at her his brown eyes seemed to brighten at her words.

Cindy froze at the last part. She had always thought of Magnar as a brother, it just had never been said officially that they were siblings.

"Oh, stop being so awkward." Magnar said, mussing her hair.

Cindy would've lunged for his black hair, but he was driving. She wasn't exactly excited for a car accident. So she settled for a "Hmph!" And a glare.

Cindy stared out the window, gazing at the bland scenery. She longed to see the flowers and blue sky, and the lush trees and green grass that her mother had told stories about.

The car stayed silent for a few hours. Silence between Cindy and Magnar was rarely awkward, because they both knew that they didn't always need to talk to be able to bond. The mere presence of the other was enough.

Cindy was glad she had Magnar. She didn't know what she'd do if she had to run away all alone, especially without a car and money.

"Where are we going?" Cindy asked, because it had just occured to her that they were steadily approaching buildings.

"To find a hotel." Magnar said sleepily, though Cindy wasn't tired at all. She felt as if she were to burst with excitement.

"Oh." She assumed they'd be sleeping in the car. But with all the money they had, a hotel would be affordable.

"Take your pick." Magnar said, driving into a parking lot shared by three magnificent hotels. They must've been at least ten stories. It was beginning to get dark, so the lights from the windows were prominent in the night.

Cindy grinned and looked around at all of them. She chose the one on the left, because it shone the brightest, due to all the open windows with light streaming through them.

Magnar drove closer to it and found a parking spot directly in front. Cindy got out of the car and pranced up to the doors. "Hurry up!" She urged Magnar. He laughed and rushed up to her after locking the car.

She pushed open the elegant-looking doors and rushed up to the front desk. A older woman with grey hair and brown eyes sitting behind it looked disdainfully at her ragged dress.

"Hello, one bedroom with two beds please." Magnar said confidently, sliding two 300's over the desk. The lady took it and smiled.

"Room one hundred and thirty-two, eighth floor." She said, handing Magnar a key.

Cindy ran to the elevator and pressed the eighth floor button, having a good feeling about life for once.