Chapter1

Checking one last time to make sure Bo was in a deep sleep, Prosper tiptoed across the room and opened up the window. The cold morning rushed through the window, making Bo stir in his sleep. Moving briskly, Prosper slipped through the window onto the roof, closing the window silently behind him.

Taking in a deep breath of cold, early morning air, Prosper took a seat on the roof, still not sure why he was exactly there. Well, he knew part of why he was there. It was because of that dream, the dream where he was trying to avoid something, trying run away from something. Only it was so bright in his dream that he had to squint and kept tripping over unknown objects on the ground until the thing behind him got so close that…. He still didn't know what would happen because he would wake up just before he was devoured.

Prosper wasn't used to having dreams, especially not dreams that appeared every night. It began to bother him because he didn't know what it was, but it had to be something. Hornet and Bo kept asking what was wrong; obviously the dream was somehow showing up on his face. He didn't want to tell them about the dream in case they thought he was overreacting.

Deciding the roof still wasn't good enough, Prosper walked along the slanted roof until he spotted the drain spout – he had quite good eyesight at night. Gripping onto it tightly, he slowly slid down until his feet landed softly on the ground. Smiling with excitement, Prosper turned on his feet and began to run. He didn't know why he was running (he still didn't know why he was outside!), but he couldn't hold it in anymore. He began running through the empty streets of Venice, the frigid air slapping his face.

Turning sharply down a narrow street, Prosper suddenly hit something hard and was flung backwards onto the street. He hit his head hard, even though he tried to stop himself with his hands.

"Oh no!" he heard a female voice gasp. Suddenly the owner of the voice grabbed his hand and he was being pulled. Not sure what he had gotten himself into, Prosper decided to follow until he and the stranger stopped under the bridge.

"Don't say anything," the female hissed. Prosper silently obeyed until and used the moonlight and his excellent eyes to look at the girl. She was small and fragile looking with long black hair and enormous eyes. Her chin stuck out slightly as if she were listening for something. Prosper strained his ears as well but heard nothing. Giving up, he looked down at the girl's hand, which held a small bag.

"What's that?" Prosper grinned, motioning to the sack.

The girl pulled the bag towards her chest, almost as if she were afraid he would try to snatch it. "Nothing," she said angrily, although her stunning eyes gave away her nervousness.

"I'm not going to take it," he told her, "but what are you doing out here so late? Or should I say early? It must be two or three a.m."

The girl eyed him suspiciously. "I'd like to ask you the same question. What are you doing out here?"

"Going out for a stroll."

"At two in the morning?"

"I'm presuming that's what you're doing as well." Prosper winked at the girl and she finally smiled.

"I'm Rio." She said at last.

"Prosper," he told her. Suddenly feeling awkward sitting underneath a bridge and whether he should shake hands with her or not, he pretended to warm his hands up although he didn't mind the cold.

"I was running away," Rio admitted softly, "from the cops."

Prosper felt himself stiffen. Was it from being nervous or being excited?

"I… I broke into a store," she continued, "and was doing fine until I left. It was a jewelry store and my elbow hit a vase which smashed on the ground. They must have a sound alarm because all of a sudden there was a siren and… and I panicked. It's never happened to me before and it took me too long to decide what I should do…"

"And then the cops showed up." Prosper finished for her. The girl nodded, her eyes looking glassy as if the memory haunted her. Feeling awkward again, Prosper shuffled his feet. He wanted to put his arm around Rio like he would for Hornet when she was upset, but this wasn't Hornet.

"Thanks for saving me though," he told her, "if you hadn't dragged me along I would have been caught by the cops and they would have blamed it on me."

Rio smiled her beautiful smile once again. "Honestly though; what are you doing out? Are you a thief too?"

Prosper opened his mouth, but no sounds came out. He wasn't sure how to answer. Luckily though, the church bells went off, signaling it was 3 a.m. Prosper gave Rio a lopsided grin. "Guess it is 3 a.m."

The girl's face was suddenly struck by fear. "You mean it's actually 3? Oh God, oh no I have to go."

"Wait, go? Why?"

Rio began to run out from underneath the bridge, looking around her to make sure no one was there. "I can't, I have to go. He's going to kill me."

"Come one, don't go," Prosper said as he grabbed onto her arm. Rio turned to him and he continued, "What's so important about being on time? You're a thief! Whoever he is won't actually kill you."

He grinned at Rio again, hoping to get her to smile. Instead, her already enormous eyes got even bigger, as if something she didn't want to remember flashed through her mind. Sucking in her breath, she yanked her arm out of Prosper's grasp. It was an unbelievably strong yank for such a small girl, and Prosper was so amazed by it that he didn't even notice Rio disappear into the misty morning.