Sweats formed into a ball and glide across her round forehead. Her inky hair had scattered on her back as she heaved for breaths that came out short from her lungs. Staring at the rundown door of her own house, Ellse had never felt more gladdened to the fact she wasn't caught this time. She didn't expect that today would be so unlucky to her. First, she had been chased by the churchmen and although part of it was her own fault, she met a vampire who was borderline sadistic. He had helped her but at the same time, he seemed to enjoy how she panicked as he was about to sell her to the churchmen for her crime.
Thankfully, that mischievous vampire seemed to have chosen to let her go, letting her to stay alive and not be brought to the punishing house for thieving.
She pushed her body that had leaned against the gray wall and looked at the sky that had turned brighter. Regaining her composure, she brushed her hair from her face with her hands and happily knocked on the door thrice. It was one of the secret gesture she had taught to the children living inside her house so she wouldn't open the door to anyone dangerous.
Knowing who it was, a small footsteps trotted across the wooden floor. She turned the door knob by standing on her toes and a wide smile spread across her lips upon seeing Elle's golden eyes. They both looked into each other where the girl giggled and jumped forward, "Elle!"
"Marcie," Elle breathed out of relieved seeing that Marcie didn't cry as she had came home late.
Marcie wrapped her small arms around Elle's shoulder and her blonde hair brushed Elle's nose. Even though today was one hell of a day, Elle felt more peaceful as she had came home to see her beloved sister. As though hearing the commotion another child walked toward the door. His small body was wrapped in the tattered brown apron and on his hand was a ladle. His brown eyes and blonde hair was the same exact copy as Marcie as they were blood related siblings. Seeing how Elle had came home with her dress covered in grim and mud, as well as the scratches and blood on her hands and cheeks, his eyebrows furrowed.
His childlike face seemed to be more mature the moment he puffed his cheeks, "God Estelle," sighed the boy. "Where have you been?! What's wrong with you? You are covered with wounds!"
Elle slowly pulled a smile, knowing how Lucas, the older brother of Marcie would be mad seeing how she was wounded. Walking forward, she closed the door behind her, "It's not as terrible as it looks, Lucas... I just tripped a little while I was running through the rain."
"Through the rain?" Lucas didn't see any rain happening on their district. The slums would have been livelier if there were rain and he was positive there was no rain around, unless Elle had stepped outside the slum district— to the town where it rain almost daily there! "You went to the avenue again!"
"Well..." Elle rubbed her cheeks only to winced and it made Lucas to panic inwardly.
"Marcie get down," Lucas said and seeing how her older brother seemed mad, Marcie obediently jumped down, holding her hand against her skirt.
Lucas then left while Eve slowly reflected on herself. Indeed, she had acted too rashly and childish by taunting the jewelry shopkeeper when Marcie and Lucas could also be in danger because of her. She wondered if she could apologize to Lucas as she had a good reason for stealing the jewelry shop when the little boy came back with a wooden box of medicines.
"Sit down, Estelle," Lucas asked as he patted the chair in front of him. Although he was much younger than her, Eve always found the boy acting more mature, almost the most mature compared to those adults in the slums. It might be great to find a young boy being mature for his age as it shows his level of intelligence but at the same time it broke her heart as she knows it was their environment that had turned the boy to mature faster than his peers.
Plopping her body down, Elle let Lucas to hold her arm and inspect the bloody wound on her elbow. Seeing it made him frown and winced. Even though it wasn't him who was hurt, he could feel that Elle must be hurting terribly now. Yet she was smiling as though nothing was off, making him sad as he was a child who is incapable of anything, let alone helping her.
As the room went silent, Elle whispered, "I'm sorry Lucas."
"You should say sorry to me when you are certain you won't repeat what happened today again," Lucas looked at Elle's golden eyes that were brighter even against his blue ones. He sighed as she didn't hide her firmness on helping the people of the slums. "I am worried about you, Elle. You saw what happened to Hans when you were young. There aren't only humans who live there in the avenue and the church members, they are blinded by the money those greedy nobles give to bribe them! If you are caught, I can only imagine the worse."
"Vampires and werewolves, they have weakness too," Elle said to Lucas. "A silver to their heart and body and they'll turn no different than us. I've taught you about them."
"I know but the fact that they are much stronger than us physically means if they really do put their mind to it, whether ripping our heart from our body or tearing our neck, it's possible," Lucas accidentally pressed too hard against her skin and she furrowed her eyebrows but swallow her pain groan. Lucas sighed seeing how even after this long, Elle still endure all the pain she suffered alone. "I know I am a child, Elle, but I wish you can rely on me more."
Elle softened her lips hearing Lucas's words. She saw how he had bitten his lips as though to punish himself and gently reached her hand forward to rub his hair, "Listen Lucas, I am stronger than most of us. You know that too, I heal faster, I run faster, and although I might not compare to those pure bloods night creatures, I am confident I can stay alive, so don't worry about me. I know my limits and I can protect myself, trust me on that."
Lucas frowned, wanting to retort against her in hope she would understand his worries but saw as she pulled a brown pouch filled with gem in front of him.
His eyes turned wide as he had never seen so many sparkling gems in different colors to be gathered in a lump altogether.
"You stole these?" Lucas' eyes went wider as he looked back and forward from the gem to Elle.
Marcie who had been playing in the corner with her wooden sticks heard the heavy sound of the gem pouch. Upon seeing the glitters, she ran toward the table and stood on her toes, looking in awe as she whisper in elation, "Woah!! They are so pretty brother!"
Lucas could only gulp upon imagining the worth of these gem if they could sell them. This worth a thousand— no even ten thousand golden coins!
She smiled, "This isn't the best yet. You should see this," Elle rummaged through her pocket and brought out a pendant.
Lucas didn't find anything too impressive with the pendant except that it was coated in the smooth golden color. Upon snapping open the pendant, Luca's eyes almost filled itself with tears as he saw the portrait of him, his baby sister Marcie, and their mother.
"This is... the pendant that mother lost three years ago," Lucas drawled as he had lost all hope in finding them again.
Elle clenched her fingers, "They weren't lost. Jennifer, your mother, thought she could provide you two with food if she could pawn off this pendant but that bastar—" her green eyes looked at Marcie who on her age will repeat whatever she said and cleared her throat, "The person who I steal from today took the pendant for only one copper. Your mother tried to bring the pendant back but he demanded to be paid with 4 silver and she couldn't afford it."
"So she was tricked," Lucas seemed to be accepting of what had happened as it wasn't strange for trickery and murder to happen in the slums.
"Keep it with you," Elle crinkled her eyes as she could see Lucas seemed to be in a better mood upon finding the lost treasure. "I will give back the rest of the gem these evening and keep this for us," she said as she brought another pouch filled with coins toward Lucas. "This should be enough for four weeks worth of food between us."
Upon seeing that Elle had pushed herself to stand, Lucas's eyes were filled with panic, "Anywhere that still hurt?"
Elle had been trying to endure the sharp pain on her tailbone as she had fallen on the wrong side after running to the horses but she put on a smile as though nothing bothers her, "Nope! All is good. I will come back later, you and Marcie can eat first."
"Ehhhh? You're going?" Marcie looked at Elle with her lips pouted. "You just came home Elle."
"I just don't want to delay this until late night, I promise I'll come back soon, god speed," whispered Elle as she coaxed Marcie.
As much as Lucas want to stop Elle, he couldn't as he know better of her persistent nature than others. "Be careful Elle."
"I will," Estelle said, waving her hands as she walked out of the door. Upon closing the door behind her, she breathed a breath of relieved and rubbed her back where she could feel a bruise had formed. She should have taken some of the medicine secretly earlier so she could apply it without Lucas' knowledge. If he had known she almost died being stepped on by horses, she could imagine him nagging and locking the the door of their house for the rest of the week. But she can't stop now... not when she almost found it—
Elle who had just took a few steps away from her house felt someone suddenly grab her by her wrist. She couldn't react as the person had also pulled her by her mouth and dragged her in a blink of an eye through the dark alleyway, making no one to witness what had happened to the young girl...