Thieves' Race

by Isaac Padgett

  "Puck! Come here for a moment, will you?" I called out to the man who had brought me to this damned city and the one I trusted the most. He looked at me lazily and flicked a knife around his fingers once more, the edge catching the sunlight, sending glares around the room.

  "Am I going to be able to do something useful finally, or do I have to sit around here again? This place is nice and all, but I'm growing tired of just staring at the walls and hoping something happens."

  I rolled my eyes at him and threw a crumpled piece of paper at him. "Like you could ever sit around. Whenever I turn around, I hear 'Puck did this,' or 'Puck did that, can I do it too?' You're a bad influence, you. But I do actually have a rather large job for you to do. And you have to keep it hushed; I don't want anyone to know about this. Not even the rest of our crew, it's life or death to keep this on the down-low."

  He dropped his knife with a clatter but ignored it, looking at me with a sudden gleam in his eye, "You have my interest. Sounds like a big deal. What is it you need me to do, mate? If it involves that fine girl you got there, I'd be happy to help."

  I waved a hand at him, brushing his comment aside, "Nothing to do with my Victoria, keep your paws to yourself, boy. Actually, what I need you to do involves East Gate." He motioned for me to go on, the light even brighter in his eyes, "Take a few of the fellows you trust the most and go set up another crew. I have enough here already that you can take half a score or so, enough to get you going. Name them something catchy, but have nothing to do with the Mercs. Understand?"

  "You trying to take over the city or something, mate? I gotta admit, it's smart to have 'em as diff crews. Makes it seem like you're less powerful. Who's gonna be running this crew? I'm assuming you ain't cuz t'would defeat the purpose."

  "You are Puck, my friend. Gotta keep you away from Victoria somehow, don't I? 'Sides, things might get crowded here in a bit when we grow a tad more. I already have to have people bunk three to a room. It'll be easier this way, and as you said, we'll own the town before long. Go take East Gate for me, will you?"

  "What about the crew in Central? What are we gonna do about them? The...Markers ain't they called?" He stood and walked to the door but stopped and looked back at me, one hand on his knife.

  “I'll take care of them when it's time. Go ahead and set up the East. When that's solid, we'll move into West and South. And by then, Central will be easy. And if you see Victoria on your way out, tell her not to spend too much of my money, will you? I swear, that girl goes through more than I can steal in a day.”

  He laughed and walked out, waving back at me. I looked around the modest apartment I had bought for myself with the funds from the first couple of weeks in this joint. The city had been an ample opportunity for me, and I was happy to see how well off I'd become in so short a time. Victoria had been an excellent find, with fingers the like I’d never seen before. She could pick a man's pocket and steal everything off him and have him never notice a thing.

  And as much as I joked about her spending my coin, I had hidden stashes all around the city. Enough that, if I decided, I could retire for the rest of my life. But as I looked around, I knew it wasn't about the money, though that surely made life easier. It was the kinship, the family, and the love my crew had for me. I was home, in a way.

  The moment of peace didn't last long before the main doorway to my abode slammed open to reveal a scantily clad young girl with knives strapped to her legs.

  “Jack!” Victoria squealed and ran to me, jumping into my lap and bouncing up and down appreciatively. “What is this I’ve heard about me not allowed to spend your money?” She pouted, and I placed my hands on her hips, pulling her close to me.

  “Aw, how can I say no to my Victoria? And I didn't say you couldn't spend any. Just don't bleed me dry. Can't be going broke now, can I?” I smiled at her and kissed her neck softly, the smell of violets coming from her hair.

  She ran a nail down the side of my face and part of my neck, “But bleeding you dry can be quite fun...in more than one way. In fact, why don't we go make a head start on it right now?” She stood and pulled me to my feet, trying to bring me into the makeshift bedchamber.

  With a small sigh of regret, I held back and pushed her to the side. “I can't, Victoria. I got some work to do. And so do you, by the way. I need you to go organize all the lifters that you can find and tell them to get a few crowns. We don't need a lot, but a bit would be useful. Not too many from the same mark.”

  Victoria pouted once more but spoke in a condescending voice, “I know how to pickpockets, boy. Believe it or not, I had been doing this a long time before you got here. I'll be the first to admit I wasn't doing that good for myself, no, but still. I know the technique. I'll take care of it. You sure you don't want to romp around a bit first? Have a bit of fun?”

  “As much as I’d like to, I need to go see that merchant about setting up a fence. He seems like the kind who'd like to, and he has the contacts for it. So go, I’ll see you later darlin', and maybe then we can have some fun, just the two of us.”

  She nodded once, still pouting at me, and then ducked out of the doorway and into the street. My eyes could follow her for a few moments before I lost sight of her. After a moment or two of fruitless search, I looked around the room and picked up my coin purse and knife before following her out the door.

  I knew which merchant I wanted to see, but he wasn't always at his stall. He tended to have hushed meetings with the shadiest kind of people, which is why I was interested in seeing if he would fence for my crew. Some of the more expensive items were getting more and more difficult to move.

  Slipping through the crowd was easy if you knew how to read it, and my eyes automatically scanned my surroundings to see if there was trouble brewing. A day like today was great for thieving but also more dangerous. More people meant you were more likely to be spotted.

  One person stuck out in the crowd, a woman with her cloak clasped way up on her shoulders and a hood drawn close over her head. She pulled the eyes of many, for no one else was wearing a cloak on a day this warm, let alone one covering the whole of their bodies.

  I could see nothing recognizable about her except that she moved with a liquid grace that only reminded me of one person, “Aether?” The question was but a breath of hope, a sigh of futility, scarcely heard over the crowd, but for one moment, it seemed as if she had heard me as she turned, and I could suddenly see her face.

  A dark purple, ugly bruise covered her right cheek, and I could see parts of other, older bruises that were starting to heal. Not one portion of her visible skin was any color other than purple or a fading yellow of a healing bruise. Someone had beaten her, and badly.

  Tracking her through the crowd was easy, and all the while I followed her, it seemed as if she knew, for she kept looking back and around, trying to locate someone. “Probably whoever gave her those damn bruises. If I find out who did that... There's gonna be hell to pay.”

  Deciding that the time to follow was done, I cut through two alleyways and got in front of her. As soon as she turned the corner beside me, I grabbed her wrist and spun her around; the face that greeted me was the same as the one from my dreams. She looked harder around the edges than before, like she had been through a lot in the time since I'd seen her last.

  She let out a short scream and sent two fingers jabbing towards my eyes, but I grabbed that hand as well and pulled her against me, cooing softly, “Aether, it's just me, everything is okay. Shhh, what happened to your face? Who hit you?”

  Disbelief filled her eyes as she looked at me, and in the smallest voice I’ve ever heard from her, she spoke, “Tom did. After you left, he...forced himself on me. Made me pregnant, to carry his child, and I....I just...he hits me. Because I don't love him, and I never will because I... I love someone else. Someone who won't love me back.” I controlled myself and masked my face over and spoke through gritted teeth, “Oh? Who is it that you love now, Aether? Is it Franklin, the butcher's boy?”<
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  She crumpled into my arms, her tears making me regret my words, but what she said next was what truly made me regret everything that had happened since that day in the woods, “It's you, Jack. It's always been you. Forever and always.”

  I looked into her eyes, which could always make me forget all the bad in the world, and bent down to kiss her when Victoria's voice ripped through the crowd, “Jack! Benny is down; we need you!” She scrambled up to us with a look of terror and pain flitting openly across her face, “Come quick, back to the house; it's really bad.”

  I broke away from Aether with a sigh but also relieved in a way and ran with Victoria back to the house. “Victoria, what the hell happened with Benny? Last I heard, he was doing a smash and grab with Steve; how did he get in trouble already?”

  Victoria couldn't speak past her fearful tears, just motioned for me to follow before running even faster in the direction of my apartment.

  The main door was slightly open, and I walked in to find Benny on the floor, prone, hand held against his side, covering a wound. A knife wound from what I could see, the edge's perfectly straight and even, a clean wound that bled quite freely.

  “Victoria, what the hell happened to him? And Steve,” talking to a boy crouched in the corner, “Go run and get Mitch; he's the only one with medic training; he can stitch the boy up. It looks like a clean cut. Now Victoria, tell me exactly what happened.”

  Victoria gulped hard and spoke in a trembling voice, “Steve and Benny did the smash and grab great and all. But on the way back, he ended up going in Central, and two of their boys got to him. It was bad, love. I thought he was going to bleed out before I got you.”

  I stood there with a clenched fist before walking out the door. Both Victoria and Aether ran after me, and Victoria asked, “Where are you off to? Benny needs you!”

  “I'm going to end this now. Central hits my boys; I'm going to hit them back harder than that.” I brushed past both of them and kept moving down the boulevard towards Central Market.

  “Then I'm going with you!” Aether moved to my side and whipped out a kitchen knife she had brought along, spinning it through the air and catching it by the handle. A few more idle spins really impressed me, and I had to wonder where she got the talents to do that. The Aether I had known knew how to use a knife for eating, and that was about it. This new aspect to her was intriguing.

  I looked at the resolve in her eyes and the way she set her shoulders, just like she always does when she decides that she wants something. I smiled a little half-smile and tossed her a dagger, “If you're gonna help, how about you use an actual blade? Just like old times, huh, Aeth? Just me and you.”

  Victoria stood shocked, “Aeth? Jack, who is this girl? And you can't be thinking of going off with her alone, can you? You need me, your Victoria, by your side! What if you need help?” She was almost pleading with me, tears showing once again in her eyes.

  “Victoria, I need you here more than anything else. Someone needs to watch over Benny and make sure all our mates make it back home safe. Besides, I trust this girl with my life. I shouldn't but...I do. Let's go, Aether. We got some people to mess up."

  And we were gone. It was just like the old days, with the two of us both running through a town together. Crowds parted before us like we were a hot knife slicing through butter, and Central Market seemed to appear in mere moments.

  We made our way to the Markers hideout, having discreetly asked around with the begging community, and found the door open wide and two of the members tied up and gagged on the floor of the building. A shadow unattached itself from the back wall and came out into the light, “Hey, Jack, right? I don't recognize your friend, but we have a problem. One of yours was running through our space. It was obvious he ain't mean nothing, and he was just a boy running through, so I left orders to leave him be...but these two maggots decided to disobey me. Felt their honor was being sullied by your boy's presence.” He kicked one of the boys in the sides and spat on both of them.

  “Aye, I came here to bash some heads together. They nicked my man good, though he should live if my guess is right. I just wanted to get retribution for my man, that’s all.” I slipped my blade back in its sheath and stood comfortable with hands in my pockets, trying to look like I wasn’t worried about being almost weaponless in a rival street gang's “lair.”

  The man that faced me had short black hair and a sly look in his eyes, “My names Max. You ever need a favor, ONE favor, you can have it. Other than that, there ain't much we can do. I'll punish these two, but I need 'em. Two of the best bashers I have, though not cuz what's in their heads, obviously. But try to keep your peeps outside of Central, alright? I can't keep my guys from bustin' y'alls balls too much, a sign of weakness and all that.”

  I nodded my thanks, knowing that to be as good a deal as I'd get, and hustled Aeth out of there. Central was a well-run place, and while it had one of the better cash gains, I could give Max a while to stay in charge. And he seemed like he'd be a bit of a thorn to try to remove any time soon anyway.

  “Thanks for having my back Aeth. I mean you....Aeth?” I turned to look at her and saw her standing there, stock still, staring out into the crowd. It took me a while to notice what it was she was staring at, but I soon picked out Tom's tall frame as he rammed his way through the crowd of people who were standing around the stalls and haggling for wares.

  I could tell from his walk that he had drunk a good bit since getting to town, and I wouldn't be surprised to find that he had a drink on his person right this moment. The people he passed turned to snap at him but stopped as soon as they saw his face. Or maybe it was as soon as they registered his smell.

  “Aether. Hey, Aeth, zone in for me, will you?” I asked the question I had always asked when she got in her thinking or brooding mood, “What's wrong, lass? Is he the one that hit you? Put the bruise around your eye?” Her silence was enough for me to know what the answer was, and I called out, “Yo Tom. Got your girl here; come and get her!” Then I grabbed her hand, feeling her latch on to me as if I were a lifeline, and we were running off again, though this time it was to a place I knew all too well.

  Aether

  When I saw Tom's face in that crowd, angry and drunk, I had a flashback to all the times he had hit me. Beaten up on me in a drunken fit for not being as good as Jack, or whatever it was that went through his drunken mind during those episodes. And I couldn't take it; part of my brain just shut itself off. It was almost as if it was hiding itself behind some door, and I zoned out.

  If Jack hadn't grabbed my hand and pulled me along, I probably would have ended up staying there long enough for Tom to spot me on his own.

  I could feel, more than see or hear, Tom following along after us, stumbling around like the drunken fool. He didn't even notice when the people thinned out to the point of only the three of us being around, so intent was he on catching up.

  I saw Jack turn to confront Tom and my heart leaped up into my throat. With a short sprint and a flying tackle, he closed the distance between them in a flash. The month's Jack had spent fighting on the streets made his reaction times even faster than they had been a year ago. I saw steel flash, but all it was was Jack throwing his knife to the side in order to fight with bare hands.

  Tom couldn't fight worth a damn on a good day, but when he had so much drink in him that he couldn’t speak straight, it made the fight even more one-sided.

  I watched Jack literally beat the piss out of Tom, and I knew that he was doing all of this for me. It made a girl feel special to know that someone cared that much. But a small part of me in the back of my mind was a little scared...I had never seen this side of Jack. Could he have changed entirely in our time apart? Maybe he wasn't my Jack anymore...

  I couldn’t bear to help him in the fight...as much as I wanted to stick a knife in Tom, that whole time of being beaten by him...it left an impression on me. I just couldn't stand up against him. Anyone else, someone trying to hurt Jack, and I�
��d rip out their throat, but this one man, all that training just seemed to drift away... All I could do was watch.

  Jack

  I seemed to shake myself awake, and I was standing over Tom, busted knuckles already darkening from broken bones and blood pooling in the creases of my skin.

  Tom lay on the ground, face a bloody mess, and he didn't seem to be breathing anymore. “Aeth, I think...I think I killed him. Shit, I killed him. Come on; we have to get out of here before someone comes along. Kind of hard to explain all of...this.”

  I grabbed her hand with my uninjured one and pulled her along, trying to get her away from the place I killed her ex-lover. I had killed him, and while I knew and could keep telling myself it was necessary, there was a small, evil part of me that had enjoyed it.