Wattys 2020 Boot Camp

C M Lehmein - Valeria Torres and the Midas Vault (2020 Wattys Winner!)

Showcase entry for Rogue705

Pitch:

A sixteen-year-old orphan, hoping to find a new family, joins a faction of Rogues and becomes vital in their conflict with a rival faction.

Blurb:

For as long as she can remember, Valeria Torres has always been a girl no one cared about. After immigrating to the United States as a child after her parents' deaths, she tried to play by the rules as she navigated orphanages, homelessness, and a juvenile detention center.

But her luck is about to change.

Valeria discovers the Rogue Faction; a group of outlaws who use real world and mystical talents to steal from the wicked and give to the poor. Things seem to click into place as she joins a new family in New York City, goes back to school, trains as a Rogue, and makes new friends. But when Valeria discovers that two of her new friends are teenagers from a rival faction, she finds herself thrust into the middle of a conflict that could determine the fate of the world.

First 1000 words:

"Alright ladies! Inspection time!"

Sixteen-year-old Valeria Torres looked up from her novel and groaned. While the other girls in orange jumpsuits began panicking and hustling to hide their contraband, she did not. In the eyes of the guards, the girls at the center, and everyone else – nothing she did or said mattered, and she certainly didn't have anything valuable to protect – she never had.

She held the book at her side as she stood by her cot, surveying the overcrowded room that had served as her home intermittently over the past two years. The room was mostly unadorned; it lacked any real furniture, and the lone window near the ceiling was surrounded by brick walls covered in peeling paint. Girls stood by their beds, and their behaviors varied as the two guards entered the room.

Some of the girls hurled obscenities and taunts at them, while others smiled and offered more seductive nicknames. Valeria's stomach lurched at the latter. While the thought of male guards taking advantage of young vulnerable girls was disgusting enough, for Valeria, there was more to it than that. Something...personal.

Valeria's cot was near the back of the room and was the last to be searched. She studied the two guards as they approached. One was light skinned, overweight, and short. The other was tall, skinny, and had the gross habit of scratching his butt in front of them all the time. And thus, Valeria had come up with their nicknames: Bigs and Wedgie.

"Last, but not least, we have our little escape artist," Bigs said as he approached.

Wedgie upended her cot's mattress and started tearing it apart. "What's her name again?" he asked, inspecting her pillowcase.

"It doesn't matter," Bigs said, eyeing the book in her hands. "She's nothing but a penny thief. Speaking of which, I'm guessing you stole this from the library. Give it here."

Valeria shook her head. Part of her refusal was personal. She had grown attached to the character in the story. He was an orphan like her, but more importantly, he started off as a kid no one cared about, and that hit close to home. But there was another reason she had refused. A more...strategic one.

"Maybe you don't understand," Bigs growled, his face inches away from her own. "You do what I tell you to do! But maybe you're deaf? Dumb? Or maybe you just no understand English?"

I speak English just fine, asshole, Valeria thought to herself. She met his eyes with a defiant stare and waited patiently. When he tried to steal the book from her, she used one hand to cradle it like a football, and the two of them struggled for a moment.

"Give me a hand here, Wiggins!" Bigs yelped.

The other guard grabbed Valeria from behind, and the three of them tussled for a moment. Once her plan had succeeded, she released the book. The two guards took a moment to catch their breath as they moved in front of her and studied the cause of the commotion.

"Aren't you a little old to be reading this?" Bigs asked, holding up the book.

Valeria remained silent; she didn't feel obligated to respond. Plus, her focus was on something else – something she stole during the commotion. Wedgie's key-ring was bulky in her hands, and she did her best to steady them so they didn't make a sound.

"Whatever," Bigs said, turning away. He placed her book in the box with the other contraband, picked it up and yelled, "Alright ladies! Line up by the door. It's time for breakfast!"

The other girls filed into a line, and Valeria made sure to be last. She had expected the guards waiting for them by the exit, but they weren't the only ones there. A short, elderly lady yawned by the doorway. Valeria recognized her, the penguin-like woman had been her probation officer over the past two years. But there was another man standing next to her, one she had never seen before.

The man was tall, with black hair interspersed with grey. Based on his semi-formal attire, Valeria would have guessed he was a lawyer, but something about his face suggested otherwise. He had olive colored skin, a wide set jaw, and dark eyes that watched her every move. It was hard to pin down what troubled her about him. But she recognized the subtle smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth.

Valeria had seen a smile like that once before. She remembered how she had felt in that moment two years ago. She had finally felt visible. Important. Special. But it had all been a lie. The man she expected to be her new father figure back then didn't see her that way at all.

I was an object to him, Valeria thought to herself. I was just another possession. Nothing more.

Valeria watched their new guest from the back of the line until he broke eye contact with her, turned to the probation officer, and whispered something. Afterward, he collided with Officer Bigs and almost knocked the box of contraband out of his hand.

While the collision appeared harmless and accidental, Valeria swore she saw something else. A flash of movement too subtle for an untrained eye to notice. But she knew the man had grabbed something and held it behind his back. This was ironic; she was concealing a set of keys behind her back. When she reached the exit, the probation officer motioned for Valeria and the other guard to stop. They were the only ones left in the room, and the elderly woman nodded at the guard as she spoke.

"Thank you, Officer Wiggins. I have a special visitor for you today, Valeria," she said, motioning to the other man. "This is your uncle, Luis."

This was a lie. Valeria had no Uncle Luis, and while it was tempting to expose this smug figure's charade, she decided it might be fun to mess with him first.