1 The Female Phantom Thief

Year 1729–

A loud grumble was protested by the gloomy sky. As minutes progress, the grey clouds grew heavier and darker. The drizzle quickly altered the nearby town folks who quickly rush to shelter, yelling to each other and some even curses the rain that had destroyed their expensive clothes. A wealthy lady had shout upon feeling the water drops had settled on her new hat, screaming to her coachman to hurry up and lower the staircase for her to climb up. Known for their hatred of rain, whether it's humans, vampires, or werewolves, the people of Raindawn who always suffered from rain and flood didn't want to be bothered by the new rainstorm. The other twin would have loved to have the slightest rain but in Raindawn the rain that brew as winter season arrived around the corner was a curse to them. Only fools would enjoy the rain! But while everyone was screaming angrily in hope to stop the rain, a young girl dressed in beautiful green gown had instead walked under the rain with a wide smile, not letting the cold raindrops to dampened her delighted mood.

"What a good loot today," she sang alone to the rain, dancing as though she had a partner even though she was alone. All this time, she had walked down the street with her chin lifted up, her smile bright enough to chase away the rain.

Her bright golden eyes stared at the sky with smile as raindrops caressed her cheeks. There was nothing more that she enjoyed than the feeling of rain shooing off those wealthy folks from the expensive avenue. She knew they couldn't bear the thought of mud staining their silk fabrics but she didn't care, after all she wasn't like those rich people as she was born in the slums— the place where these people look down in disgust. She began to skip her steps and hop, humming a delightful tone as she had snagged quite the amount of jewelries from the shop without anyone noticing her.

Just as she thought of how this gems could bring her food for her and her fellow slum residents, a man tap her shoulders.

She turned her face, impressing the man by her beautiful angelic eyes and her gentle smile. She looked at the man, slowly lifting her round hat that had covered her wet black hair, "What may I help you with, kind sir?"

The man, in response, huffed for air as he appeared to have ran for a mile while staring at her, unable to peel her eyes away from how gorgeous she was.

When she hummed in question, urging the man to respond, only then did the man cleared his throat and wiped his sweaty hands on his shirt, "Y- Young lady, have you seen a person with short black hair and the same golden eyes as yours? He should be short, of your height maybe."

"Oh well," she placed her hands under her chin and thoughtfully knitted her eyebrows together, "I don't know who you might be talking about. Why are you searching for this man?"

"Oh Saint! That bastard I tell you my lady, was a thief!"

"Oh my," she commented, looking disturbed, playing the perfect picture of the sheltered young lady. "How did he managed to steal?"

The man stomped on his feet, splattering the puddle of water all over his brown shoes, "He pretended to be a rich man! I unfortunately cannot see his face for he had hid it with a hat but I swear on god that I will uncover his identity today!"

"So let me get this correct sir. You thought he was a rich man, gave him jewelries for him to touch and hold, then he took it away from your hands?" She reiterated the scene that had happened to the man, reading out his worse nightmare and he nodded his head profusely, still fuming with anger that he got tricked. "I say, sir," she stared at the man's red eyes upon noticing he was a vampire. So quick to fool, she thought to herself.

"Yes, milady?" The man tilted her head, looking all over her body and froze as he saw the hands the lady had pushed to her pockets, reminding him of the stance the same thief had used when he first entered the jewelry shop with a bright confident smile. As horror settled on his face, she saw her beaming smile and her curved eyes.

"You are the fool here. Who on Earth would give their jewelries to an unknown stranger unattended? It was fun watching you giving me those objects to steal for free."

"Y- you!" The man who then noticed that she was the thief pointed his finger toward her and yelled on top of his tongue, "You bastard! You are the thief! B- but you were a man."

"You didn't hear it yet?" She curled her fingers and showed it in front of the man, pretending to be a fearsome monster. "I'm a witch." Seeing how the man fell back from fear made her throw back her neck and laugh. Upon seeing some walking churchmen dressed in their black and red uniform she cursed under her tongue and immediately sped up through the alley.

The same man whose shop had been robbed quickly yelled with a voice loud enough to wake up the continent, "THIEF! THAT'S THE PHANTOM THIEF! THAT'S HER! SHE'S THERE!"

"Ah the older they are, the louder they get!" Whispered the girl as she turned back to see the councilmen who began to take their batons and chase after her as though wanting to beat her to death the moment they got a caught of her.

Even though she was chased, the girl held her pink lips high up in a smile. She held the front of her dress, running through the water while hearing people shouting at her to stop. When she heard the sound of growl, her body flinched. She looked behind, finding one of the churchmen to turn into a wolf. If there was one creature that's troublesome they are those werewolves who could sniff scent. She sighed, wondering why she had such a bad luck today but then again she was the one who did it wrong by confessing her crime to that shop owner, though she did squeeze some laughter out of it, something she wasn't guilty of.

"You will regret this young lady!" Yelled the man who had became a wolf.

She shuddered seeing a wolf in a brown coat speaking human language when they look nothing like human, "I'll regret it when I die!"

The councilmen, shocked by how brazen she was looked at her running figure speechless in a few seconds. They quickly gained back their composure and let their trustworthy werewolf comrade to chase after her. Knowing that those werewolves tend to be bigger compared to the real wolves, she slipped into a small alley filled with garbage and wooden boxes.

The werewolf knowing the place smiled as he knew how humans are less agile than him. Although he is bigger, he wouldn't be slower than those humans who had to climb and jump from one boxes to others, especially a woman in heels and dress! What he didn't know was that she had lived all her life in the slums. Running in the rain, or running in the forest was no hurdle for her as she efficiently jumped from one obstacles to another in matter of seconds.

The werewolf watched her in awe as he find the distance between them grew only even longer as the lady ran like a bolt of lightning. Seeing that the wolf was far away from her, she grinned. Her green eyes lighted with more happiness the moment she saw the bright light at the end of the tunnel as she knew it would connect to the slums and the councilmen tend to not set their foot into it, thinking it was "dirty" for them.

But just as her body peeked out from the walls, she saw the horses whose legs raised and almost stepped on her. It was too late by the time she noticed the carriage horse. Her eyes closed and she raised both her arms to protect her body and head from the impact of being tossed around and crushed. Her body collapsed to the ground where she felt her ankles had twisted from pain.

She winced, thanking the sky that she didn't crush her own head and lifted her face as she found the horse that was being tamed by the coachman. "W- What are you doing lady! Don't ya know that's dangerous!"

"I- I'm sorry," she said at once. Her jewelries slipped from her pockets and she shoved the bright gems back in her pocket with a look of panic. Once she was done in seconds, she tried to stand up but alas her ankles given up from the pain. Damn it! She was going to get caught! She cursed under her breaths and bite her lower lips. Wondering what she could do now and if crawling would safe her time when suddenly a voice that was deep enough broke her from her trance.

"What is it, Monday?"

The coachman's face turn pale almost to the point that the coachman seemed to be sweating even under the rain, "M- My apologies, Lord. It seemed that there was a lady who crossed without looking ahead."

"Is she dead?" The man asked with a hint of mirth and laughter. To this she frowned. What kind of psychopath was happy to hear someone had died?

"That's... no sir."

"Then what are you waiting for?" The man demanded. She hadn't seen the man yet she can picture him grinning as he said those words.

The coachman, Monday, looked back and forward. First he stared at the girl in front of him who appeared too beautiful that she seemed to come from a wealthy family and then to his Lord who he knew never cared about those wealthy people as he was the person with most wealth in the kingdom. He looked back and forward again and again, like a duck who had lost its way.

"Should I kill her?" Monday finally asked, his rattled words came from his mouth and her eyes snapped widely.

"What are you saying?! Have you gone insane!" She called.

"Monday, great job. You have just told your prey that you would kill them," the man who Monday called "Lord" sighed. He then slowly opened the curtain of the carriage, his eyes that were bright crimson stared down at the girl whose golden eyes seemed to have defeated him in term of lusciousness. "Are you dying?"

"If twisted ankle could kill, yes. Will you kill me now since I'm not dying?" She spat out.

"Hm," the man thought about it but chuckled upon seeing her flabbergasted face as she heard him thinking about killing her or not. "I don't usually bring a drenched stray kitten to my carriage but I will make an exception today." As though he had finished talking, the man shut the green curtain.

Monday who heard this, immediately trotted in front of her and for once the girl finally gotten a better look at the coachman's face, finding him to look even younger than her. She extended her hands, not rejecting the offer as she was being chased by the churchmen. She doesn't know who this "Lord" is but his carriage seemed like the perfect place to hide in.

As Monday helped her walk, he let her inside the carriage where she found the tall man who seemed to be stifled inside the small carriage. His crimson eyes were bright enough to light up the dark room with the red glow. As she stepped inside, she winced and the man smiled.

She couldn't help but comment under her breaths, "A psychopath great."

"That's the thank I got for saving you?" The man looked at her with a tilted head. Because of the lack of light, she couldn't see the man's face, only finding his features that seemed prominent but the man didn't enjoy the candles as he had not lit up any to help her see his features.

"Oh thank you very very much, kind gentleman," she whispered, trying to hide her rolled eyes before opening the curtain. Looking left and right, she couldn't see the wolf. Perhaps she was thrown too far that the wolf didn't notice her? But with the speed he could have gotten a hold of her, she thought to herself. Perhaps the broken bottle she left earlier did some damage to the wolf.

"Sounds very fake," commented the man, seemingly disliking that but his lips curled in a smile.

She quickly pulled a bright beaming joy that was an act she was very excellent on, "I'm very grateful for your extensive kindness upon helping this damsel in distress who got kicked by your own horses—"

"—You jumped in front of it," the man answered her words with the same smile she had, somewhat annoying her.

"You speak as if you had seen it yourse—" the girl jumped on her seat upon hearing the knocks on the door. Her eyes stared at the red eyed man in alarm as she was chased by people.

On this, the man stared at her face and broke a grin. He then opened the curtain and looked forward to find his coachman, Monday and an unknown man who was dressed in a black outfit. His silver eyes seemed to be stale as he looked shocked upon finding him.

"S- Sir!" The man said.

She was curious of who it was and peeked from the side. Her heart almost leaped from her mouth when she saw the man was the werewolf who had chased after her.

The skip of her heartbeat seemed to be detected immediately by the vampire whose smile twisted in more dark mirth, "Oh, Zennox. What can I help you with?...."