The Broken

1 - Life

They say kids are weak and worthless. They think that they're just another mistake waiting to happen. I'm not like them. I'm not your average kid that sits around taking orders from someone older than you are. It's pointless.

My parents were not good to me. They didn't care one bit for me. Dad was always working, and he makes a lot of money, believe me. All he does is spend it on things he doesn't even need instead of using it to take care of me. You may think I sound spoiled and rotten. That's not the truth at ALL. I finished school at the age of fifteen. Really. I've been enrolled in honors classes and passed every single one of them, skipping a grade every time I did. It's been two years since that happened. Two years ever since I ran away from home.

I'm on my own, living in San Francisco, with a couple of other friends that are runaways. They're very compassionate to me. We're our own gang, The Broken. I'm about to head over to what we like to call home. Our "home" is just an abandoned house that looked pretty worn out when we first found it, but we put a lot of work into it, and it doesn't look half bad. I walked in and put my butterfly knife that I had stolen from a knife shop on the table.

"How are things, Ellie?" Jakob asked. He's one of my runaway friends.

"Just fine. Everything alright around here? Nobody came snooping around?" I replied. My real name's Elise, but my friends like to call me Ellie. I have straight blond hair that's almost a golden color with brown eyes. When we're out doing something illegal at night, I wear my hair up with red contacts. They're not real. My eyesight is a perfect 20/20, but if the cops get a really good look at you and you're not wearing a disguise, I'll get caught and sent to jail. I also wear a black hoodie so I can't be seen in the night.

"Nope, it's all good. Nobody's shown up yet."

"Where's everyone else?"

"They went out partyin'. We might as well go see what they're up to before they get into trouble." Jakob had an old, worn out Sedan that his parents had given him before he ran away. I'm seventeen, but I don't have a license. Jakob is nineteen.

I put on my 'disguise' and we rolled out. It took us a little while to find out where they were before we saw them acting like complete morons on the sidewalk.

"Aye, idiots! Get in before you have the cops called on us!" Jakob shouted.
"Geez, Jakob. Since when have you cared about us that much?" That was Kaylee. She's been my best friend ever since I was four. She has ember-colored hair with blue eyes. She's the same age as I am, seventeen.

"Don't be so hard on the kid. Just get in the car." Ray was the oldest of the gang. Ray was really tall and had black hair and brown eyes. He is twenty years old.

"It's just you two?" I asked. "Where's Oliver and John?"

"They're walking back home the long way. Let's just head back." Oliver and John were brothers, Oliver is sixteen, John, seventeen.

Oliver and John were about thirty feet from the house as we pulled in.
"There you are. I was expecting you guys to wait here for me." Oliver said. Oliver was kind of short, with blond hair and blue eyes.

"I have some drinks for us all," John said. "Let's go in and watch a show or something." John was a lot taller than his brother. He has the same hair and eye color as Oliver.

We sat down and sipped our drinks as we sat watching TV and chatting. I was practicing some expert butterfly knife tricks, which I almost have mastered.

"Having fun, Ellie?" Oliver pulled out his butterfly knife and flipped it about ten times before just holding it normally. We enjoyed playing around with them. I had to make sure Oliver was with me while I was going to steal a weapon. Even though he's not the oldest of the group, he acts as if he's the leader, and he likes carrying a blade or a gun to keep us protected. I respect Oliver a lot.

"It's getting late," I said. "I'm going to hit the sack, if nobody minds. I'm beat."

"True. I'll be up there in bed soon." Oliver replied. But I was lying. I wanted to sneak out and snatch a few racks from my money stash in an alleyway that nobody walks into but us. I pretended to be asleep for about twenty minutes until everyone was asleep, then I put my disguise on and headed out quietly. The walk was about a fourth of a mile from our house.

I went to the bin I had put my duffel bag full of cash in, but it was gone! I heard some laughter. I knelt down and flipped my knife open, waiting to demand my money back from whoever took it. I found them. They were boys that looked no older than fifteen. I ran behind them and pinned the one that had my money down.

"That's my money you've got there, now give it back." I demanded.

"Hey, get off 'im!" his friend shouted. He pulled me off of the guy I had pinned. They started to make a break for it. I chased after them.

"Forget it, lady! It's our money now!" one of them shouted. I leapt and jumped on him, this time covering his mouth and holding my knife to his neck. His friend was still running at lightning speed. I took my money from them and booked it.

"You won't get away with that!" he shouted. He ran away.

I snuck back into the house and Ray was on the other side of the door, waiting for me.

"Well, well, well... lil' Ellie making up lies to steal herself some money." he said.

"I didn't steal it! I had saved up and stashed it somewhere so you guys wouldn't see! I was going to use it for all of us."

"So, why are you out of breath then?" I tried to ignore him. "Tell me, Elise."

"Okay, fine. Two boys in hoodies had stolen my money and I had to chase them."

"Aight, aight," Ray went on, "I guess a lot of stealing happens here in San Francisco. Maybe there's another gang?"

"I don't know. Maybe." I replied.

"Wait," Ray looked puzzled. "Where did you get this money? There's at least ten thousand dollars in here!"

"Shhh! Don't yell! Those people may be watching..." I looked outside and saw no sign of them. "I got it with you guys, remember? All that stuff we stole and cashed in? It's the only way I can make money."

"Well, you could get a job like me."

"No, don't be silly," The reason I didn't want a job is because I like being with my friends. I also don't want to risk being caught by the cops if they have snapped a picture of me without me knowing. "I couldn't do that."

"Alright then," Ray continued, "You best get some rest, girl. Head on up."