1 Unholy places
"Of two sisters, one is always the watcher and one the dancer."
-Louise Gluck
**
When night falls, the city folks lock their gates and shut their doors, permitting no entrance to strangers and unwanted visitors.
But while the world slips into quiet, a lone figure steps out of the shadows and infiltrates the city's most sumptuous houses and buildings.
"Tch," the lady clicked her tongue. "I hardly broke a sweat."
She smiled mischievously, tossing the pouch filled with the best pieces of jewelry in the air.
Tonight's target was a wealthy lady's room in a brothel on Carlisle Avenue. The streets were empty then, and the wealthy lady was out, inviting the thief to pay a visit.
"I'm sure they are worth more than the last trade," she murmured, securing her abundant find between her plump chest.
Satisfied that they were relatively secured, she expertly closed the safe, putting everything back in its proper order.
"As if nothing happened," she whispered, ready to tiptoe to the opened balcony where she came through.
The thief froze midway, her keen hearing alerting her of a familiar sound coming from outside.
"Footsteps!"
In her haste, she dropped to the floor, rolled under the bed and held her breath. She covered her mouth with her hand, unable to trust her sealed lips to stay quiet.
Bang!
The door was forcefully opened and closed. She noticed two pairs of feet; one was polished shoes, while the other was heeled sandals.
'A man and a woman,' she noted. 'Of all the nights I had to get stuck,' she added bitterly, tasting the nasty flavor on her tongue.
Slap!
The sound of flesh coming in contact with another surprised her. In an instant, the thief frowned and prayed she would be able to leave this unfortunate drama soon.
'It's already bad that I'm stuck hiding under a bed. It would be twice terrible if I suddenly became a witness—'
"You need to get rid of that baggage, you hear me?!" The man's authoritative voice halted her stream of thought. She suddenly felt enraged, slowly getting the gist of what the fight was about.
"No," the woman responded meekly. Her kind voice pricked at the thief's conscience. She pressed her lips, her teeth almost biting through the skin.
"What did you say?!"
Slap!
The second slap sent the woman to fall on the floor with a heavy thud. From her unstable position, the thief caught sight of the other lady's silhouette.
She became even more confused.
'I'm sure the wealthy woman was plump….'
Pressing her hands on her mouth, she managed to suppress the gasp as the realization hit her harsher than the slap the man landed on his woman's cheek.
'Sikes!' she thought, fighting with the rising panic. 'It looked like I stashed someone else's jewelry. But,'
The thief pursed her lips.
'But whatever. I need to stay put. I'm not a protagonist in a novel. There's no miracle that can save me from the danger of getting caught. Unless they leave, there's no other choice.'
Wrinkling her nose, she fought with discomfort and curiosity. She then crossed her fingers, praying to some unknown entity. Her body was getting stiff.
'This is what I get for coming to such unholy places.'
The thought momentarily distracted her, missing the dialogue that followed. But the shouting brought her back to the chaos.
"I'm keeping it! It's not yours!" the woman screamed, her voice quivering at the last part, and she started crying.
Slap!
The woman fell on the floor again. Only this time, she hugged her abdomen, protecting her unborn child.
Looking away, the thief listened to the retreating footsteps. She heard the woman cry louder, her sobs making her feel guilty for not doing anything.
'I'm not supposed to intervene. Besides,' the thief reasoned, justifying her actions. 'It sounded like she's carrying someone else's child. That's infidelity'
The idea piqued her curiosity.
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
The man came back, disrupting her thoughts once more. It was followed by a disgruntled grunt as he roughly picked the woman from the floor.
She didn't fight. It became clear that she had come to realize that her strength was not enough to outmatch the man.
"I'm getting rid of that little devil whether you like it or not!"
This triggered the woman. She tried to break free; wriggling, kicking and even begging became her resort.
"Please!" she screamed, planting her feet on the ground but to no avail. "Don't do this."
Her pleading screams echoed as the man forcefully dragged her along with him.
There was a moment's hesitation before the lady hiding under the bed came to a decision she knew she might regret.
"Dammit," she mumbled, rolling out and helping herself to get back to her feet. Once she managed to stabilize her footing, the thief frantically searched the room, looking for a hard object.
Her eyes landed on an ornate vase that appeared capable of accomplishing what she had in mind.
It sat innocently at the corner near the door. The thief grabbed it, hurriedly chasing after the couple who happened to reach the staircase by the time she caught up with them.
Without thinking twice, the lady thief hit the man using the vase. She watched him fall to the ground, the vase shattering into tiny pieces.
Before the noise of breaking the porcelain and the falling human could make anyone else curious, she grabbed the lady by the hand, pulling her along as she flew down the stairs.
The adrenaline was slowly ebbing away. It was only a matter of time before her resolve would dissipate, and the thief would wallow in regret, questioning her life's choices.
Growing up alone and in the streets, there were many things she had come to know at an early age. One was the law of survival among thieves and others of the same illegal profession.
"Be relentless. Act now and regret later."
Muttering to herself, the thief almost missed a step. She managed to snap back to reality, and her heart pounded adamantly inside her chest.
On the first floor of the brothel, it was filled with tables and several patrons played varying sorts of gambling games. To the right, a game of cards was in full swing, gathering more audience as the bets went higher.
She heard the hoots and excited shouts, indicating that the players were relatively close to beating one another. They were good enough to entertain the crowd they had attracted.
The thief pushed past the throng of people, firmly holding the woman's hand.
Without looking back, she expertly found her way to an exit. It landed them right into a somewhat dark alley.
Finally allowing herself to breathe, she turned to the woman, wanting to ask how she was doing.
"Are you—?"
But her words died on her lips the moment she faced her. Her surroundings came to a standstill, everything faded away, and her heart hammered harder than it did earlier.
Unfortunately, the moment was immediately broken by the chaotic noise that came from inside. She knew she needed to act fast, perceiving that the man had managed to recover more quickly than she expected.
She exchanged uncertain and fearful glances with the other woman. They stared at each other for several seconds, and neither of them moved.
The thief heard the door they exited swinging open, forcing her to push the woman.
"Run!" she instructed, pulling a hidden knife from the inside soles of her boots. The door had a space allotted for a padlock.
She stuck the knife in between, delaying their pursuers enough to give them a head start.
The wind whistled in her ears, her heart still hammering. She watched the woman she had chosen to save run in front of her. Her luscious, wavy hair danced with the chilling breeze that kept blowing in the opposite direction.
Disbelief and joy sparred inside her, her emotions swirling and fighting for dominance.
In her momentary distraction, the latter didn't see what happened next, her memory capturing only a bright light and the sound of screeching tires before her vision blurred, gradually fading and turning to nothingness.
