Long hours passed yet not even a pair of eyes had looked at her face with a show of sympathy.
She looked haggard. Her black long hair was one of admiration to many women but her appearance greatly contrasted the beauty of her black strands.
She was sickly thin with dirt pasted on the sides of her face and mosquito bites red on her skin.
The small bowl sat in front of her just like the many other beggers on the lane. She peered into her empty bowl, a strong pit opening up in her stomach.
She was hungry and angry. Was it her fault that she became an orphan at the age of 6 and was still struggling to survive from begging at the age of 10?
She sat there, waiting and trying to curb her anger. Maybe if she waited, something would happen. The patient dog gets the fattest bone, right?
She waited and waited but nothing came forth. She peered once again into her empty bowl as though it would suddenly start brimming with gold coins.
Everyday was not the same for her. Some days she received enough coins that would let her buy a decent meal to fill her raging stomach and on other days, she would end up with just a gold coin enough to buy a small loaf of bread or go hungry. She would cry because it hurt. Her stomach cried and she cried yet none of them were able to comfort each other.
Just when she was about to lose hope, she looked up to see a mother and her daughter who appeared to be about her age.
"Mummy, can I give her my coins and toy?" The little girl tugged at her mother's shirt.
"No honey," The woman cast a scornful glance at the haggard child and back at her daughter. "You can't trust people these days. You do good for them and your good may turn out to be your downfall. Many of them visit voodoo doctors after you give them money. In whatever you do darling, never give people you see begging a dine because it will never end well in times like this."
"Oh," The girl's lips formed an ' o '.
Her mother held her hand firmly and they moved ahead.
Ashley's blue eyes followed the mother and daughter and her eyes met with that of the girl who stared back at her while moving forward.
Her look of pity for Ashley had suddenly turned into one of doubts.
Maybe the patient dog always ended up with an empty bowl.
She stood up from where she had been sitting all the day long in the hopes of getting money to buy something to eat. Her parents had been poor before their death so she had nothing left after they died. They didn't even have a home - They lived under a bridge infamous for housing homeless people.
Leaving her bowl behind, she staggered across the streets of pedestrians. Her legs felt wobbly and her stomach growled.
"I just want food," She sobbed and used the back of her palms to wipe off the tears that were already running down her cheeks. "Is that too much to ask?"
Wait...
What could crying solve? It wasn't going to suddenly soften the hardened hearts of people. She halted in her steps, allowing her dead eyes to stare blankly ahead.
Pickpockets didn't have to cry or beg to eat. Robbers did have to feel pain before they could eat. Thieves could get away with anything if they were smart enough.
She had hands and legs like them. What if begging was not the solution after all?
Her hands slowly turned to fists at her sides. The world was a place of "give or take" and she was going to take.
The first scene her eyes caught after that resolution was a woman who was followed by a group of three men and another woman. The woman in front had a great build, one that could easily get her mistaken for a bulky man if not for her firm feminine features that stood out.
Her clothes were of classical leather. Everything about her looked so expensive and even the stoned cigarette slanted across her chin was another thing to be wowed about.
And Ashley thought to herself, ' She must have enough for food. Food for a week.'
"Any word from Carl?" The woman whose name was Akira, began as she proceeded to take the cigarette out of her mouth and released smoke from her mouth and nostrils.
"He made it through. He's on his way to the east," The man a little behind her left, replied.
"Very well. I just hope he doesn't mess up things for me," Her lazy eyes went sideways and she placed the cigarette back in between her lips. "I won't be cleaning up after anyone."
As she spoke to her men walking behind her, a little girl slowly walked past.
Akira's lazy eyes fell on the girl as she walked past and a smirk curled up on her lips.
Her hand swiftly gripped the girl's shoulder and for some reason, the child didn't flinch. She turned the girl to face her and crouched to her level.
"Aye now that's one hell of a talented child you are," The smirk remained in Akira's face yet she couldn't hide her awe.
Ashley blankly stared at her, silently waiting to see what would happen next. Deep down in her, the thought of how the bulky woman had caught her remained.
"Hand it back, kid," Akira chuckled.
Ashley slowly reached for the top of her hair and took out 20 gold coins buried deep into their strands.
"Take a look at this talent!" Akira exclaimed as she glanced back at her followers who also couldn't hide their awe for the little girl.
She then returned her gaze to the child.
"You know, thieves have ranks. Some are at the basic level while some surpass even the most skilled ones," She continued. "You are talented but my talent surpasses yours."
"I want food," was all the girl said in response, holding firmly to the 20 gold coins in her palm.
"I see," The woman rose up, her hand moving away from the girl's shoulder. "Where I come from, there is plenty of food."
Ashley's eyes brightened at her words.
"Are you an angel?" She asked. Her mother had always told her that angels came to the aid of those who needed God's help, especially when they had lost all hope.
Akira smiled and a dark chuckle followed.
"What do you think I am, little one?"
.
.
.
"All lies," Ashley scoffed as she ran from side to side while trying to clear off her pursuers off her trail.
Her snake reverted to its state of smog and sank into her hair.
Gunshots resounded and bullets headed in her direction.
In her defense, her silver turned hair rose and a blast of blue energy struck the men chasing after her. After two more energy blasts, the sounds of gunshots died down and she managed to escape through the tunnel that led out of the underground hideout.
She couldn't have Akira capture her, not when she had rebelled against her. She would definitely get gruesomely killed and have her shape-shifter taken away from her.