The Gangster Princess

Chapter 26

Chapter 26: The Ghosts' Past

Tyler Rael Hernandez

Funny how people always assume I'm the sneaky type because I want to be.

Truth is, I never dreamed of this life. I never wanted to be a ghost in the system, someone who steals for survival and vanishes like he doesn't exist. But life isn't always kind. Sometimes, it forces you to become what you never imagined.

You don't wake up one day and decide to be a thief. Life pushes you there-slowly, painfully, until it feels like it's your only choice.

I was ten when I first stole something. A chocolate bar. Funny, right? My brother was starving. My mom hadn't come home in three days. I grew up quiet. Too quiet. I was the invisible kid sa corner ng classroom. Hindi ako palaban. I just existed. My mom raised me alone, and kahit sobrang bait niya, life kept breaking her in ways I couldn't fix. My dad? I don't even remember his face. He left when I was two.

I didn't know that the first time I stole something. That day changed everything.

I learned quick. The streets weren't kind to slow learners. You either move fast or get left behind. So, I made a name for myself. Small jobs at first-pickpocketing tourists, distracting guards while older kids ran scams. I was the bait, the blur, the hand you never noticed. I didn't have muscles like Max. Didn't have knives like Tres. I had silence. Speed. Distraction.

And I was damn good at it.

By thirteen, I could vanish in crowds. Make wallets disappear without a trace. They started calling me The Ghost. And I lived up to it.

Stealing became a habit. Then a skill. Then an art. I wasn't proud of it, but I was good. Too good. And when you're good at something, people start to notice.

Cassie did.

I still remember that moment like it was yesterday. I tried to pick her pocket. Ang yabang ko pa noon. I didn't even notice her eyes on me until I was already caught. She didn't get mad. She just stared at me, cold and calculating, like she was solving a puzzle. Then she said:

"You move quiet. That's rare. Join me."

I didn't understand what she meant, but something about her voice made me follow.

I was her first recruit.

From there, BST was born.

Cassie built us piece by piece. BST was born after that. I helped build it from the ground up, watched every member walk in, one by one, bringing their own chaos and power. We were misfits, but we became something close to family.

James came next, then Max, then Apple. Tres was the last one to join, but that guy? He brought chaos with him.

Cassie trained me harder than I expected. She made me memorize patterns, escape routes, shadow moves. She didn't just want a thief-she wanted a phantom.

Now I move through enemy lines like smoke. I don't fight head-on. I distract. I sabotage. I make people look away. Because sometimes, the real power isn't in throwing punches. It's in pulling the strings behind the scenes while everyone's too busy looking the wrong way.

BST became my family. My chaos. My order. My second chance.

We weren't just a gang. We were a family made from broken edges. Each of us had a past too heavy to carry alone. Cassie was our mind. Max, our wall. Tres, our blade. Apple, our wild card. James, our ghost in the dark.

Me? I was the soft one. Gentle, even. Sabi nga nila, I don't look like a gangster. And they're right. I smile too easily, I think too much. I'm not the type who enjoys fights or pain. But I do what needs to be done-quietly, efficiently, without leaving a trace.