(10/12/12) *Updated* Author's Note:

Hey, guys! Well, here's the first chapter of the new Even A Thief Can Love. Not much changed, other than the length and the details. But everything is still pretty much the same. Again, I'm sorry I had you guys wait so long. A lot of you were eager for me to continue the story. I know this isn't much of a continuation, but consider me rewriting the story so it's better as amends?

I'm grateful to all of you who left reviews, but a special shout-out to Lex, who begged me to update the story. But begged in a good way. I needed the push.

Sorry again for making you guys wait so long! I hope you can forgive me :(

The Thief Lord belongs to Cornelia Funke.

Bo, my younger brother, and I were in Venice, Italy after running away from our grandparents' house in Germany. Our mom died a few weeks back, so our aunt and uncle had custody over us. But they didn't want me; they just wanted Bo. As soon as the custody papers were approved, they were going to ship me off to some private school somewhere far away. And they were never going to let me see him. But neither Bo nor I wished to be separated from each other. So one night, I grabbed a picture frame of our mom, a few 20-dollar bills I stole from my uncle's wallet, some fruit bars, and we were both on our way. It took us a while to finally get here, dodging policemen and snoopy adults. The trip here was long and tiring.

But we made it in one piece.

Mom always told us stories about Venice. She described it as magical city, filled with winged lions and dragons. We were actually supposed to go to Venice on vacation the following summer, but she was in a car accident after driving back home from the library. She was getting a new book to read to us.

Anyways, the only thing she wanted from us was a wonderful experience in Venice, Italy. I wasn't going to let her down. Not now.

Somewhere along the alley ways of Venice, Italy, 11:48 PM…

"Achoo!"

Bo shivered as he sniffled. I took off my thin blue sweater and put it on him. I never did understand why mid-autumn evenings were so cold in Europe. It was never this cold back in the United States, where we lived before going to live with those devils of an aunt and uncle.

"Prosper, I'm hungry," he yawned, "and tired."

"I know, Bo. I know," I responded quietly and adjusted the sweater. We had shared a ham and cheese sandwich earlier that day with the few dollars we could salvage from in between water-boat seats and dropped coins on the streets. The multiple train rides from here to Germany were pretty expensive, and I had to buy food for us. I tried preserving the money I brought along as best as I could, but it didn't last very long. We were constantly hungry since Bo was a hyper active 6-year-old and I was a growing 14-year-old.

We were in a foreign city where we knew no one and only knew to stay together. The dark of the night was already creeping up on me, scaring me into thinking what the future might hold for us.

"When are we going to find somewhere to sleep?" he asked. We had been wandering the city all day in search of shelter from the cold weather. A futile attempt.

"Um…" I looked around and then saw a small bridge connecting two alleys under a dim streetlamp. It looked safe enough to sleep on for an hour or two. "We'll rest there, okay?"

We walked over to the bridge. I sat down on the first cold step, happy to finally let my sore legs rest, and then put Bo in my lap. He snuggled his head on my chest and slowly closed his eyes. I gently rubbed his arms to keep him warm; even with all the layers of clothing, I could still feel that his skin was ice cold.

'It's okay,' I reassured myself mentally. 'Bo and I will be just fine. We'll sleep for tonight and then I'll find some sort of abandoned church or something for us to stay in for a while. I'll find a job so that we can stay here a little longer. There's no way in hell I'm going back to Germany where those… monsters live. I'm not going to let them take Bo away from me. I won't let them touch him.'

I could hear the water quietly splashing against the side of the canals. It soothed my tense nerves a little bit. I rested my head against Bo's soft hair and closed my eyes for a few minutes. But just as I was drifting off into a sleep, I heard the slight sound of tapping against the pavement. I flashed my eyes open and looked up, holding on Bo tighter. I couldn't see what it was at first, but I was able to define what it was once it stepped under the street pole's light. It seemed to be a young man with his hair pulled back into a small ponytail, dressed in a long black coat, high-heeled boots, and a mask with a long, pointed nose like a bird's beak covering his eyes… what? This wasn't a dream, right? Did Italian people always dress like this, or were heeled boots and bird masks in fashion nowadays?

"What're two kids your age doing out so late at night?" he asked. By the deepness of his voice, he had to be around at least 16, close to my age. That meant he obviously wasn't a street patrolman – thank God – but he still looked as suspicious as one. I don't think anyone would've trusted him at first glance. Not with that mask on.

"You seem pretty young yourself," I retorted, standing up as I shifted Bo to my back. He didn't look that much taller than me in his boots, even if I was standing on slightly higher ground. "What're you doing out so late at night?"

He let out a small chuckle. "I like your attitude." He shoved his hands in his pockets and lifted his head, letting me get a good look of his face from the nose down. He smiled. "Well, if you must know why I'm out so late, I'm looking for my cat. She ran away a few nights ago, and since I couldn't get any sleep tonight, I thought I might as well get up and look for her."

"A… cat?" I repeated in disbelief. Alright, Italians have officially come up with their whole new scale of weirdness.

"Yup. Female, white fur, brown spots, got a little rip in its left ear, looks a little big around the stomach. Seen it around?"

"Um, no…?"

He shrugged. "Oh, that's too bad." This strange person stared at me for a while. Or, at least I think he was staring at me since I couldn't really tell in the bad lighting and the fact that his mask was in the way. He probably noticed my tattered clothing and the little boy on my back, and naturally got a little curious.

"Hey," he started up again, "is that your brother? You two ran away from home, didn't you?"

"What's it to you?" I snapped.

"Nothing, nothing, but," he walked a little closer to the stairs, "mind me asking how old you are?"

I didn't answer. I had no idea who this was or what he intended to do. I was about to bolt the other way when I heard Bo start murmuring then shift slightly on my back.

"Huh?" he muttered sleepily. He rubbed his eyes as I set him to his feet. Once his blurry vision cleared, he saw the boy wearing the mask. "Who's that, Prosper?"

"So your name's Prosper, huh?" the other male said. He brought his hand to his chin and then scanned me over again. "You do look like the type to have an unusual name."

I glared at him. I took Bo's hand and then started turning to walk up the rest of the stairs. "I don't know, but we're leaving."

I hurried to cross the bridge; Bo still kept his eyes locked on this mysterious young man.

"Hey, Prosper," he called out, "if you want someplace to sleep tonight, I can show you a place. I have some friends there who can help you out."

I stopped where I was and then turned back around. I gave him a mixed look of anger. "Just who the hell are you?"

He walked over to me and Bo, and I saw him smile again. "The name's Scipio," he said rather happily. "But around these parts, I'm better known as 'The Thief Lord.' Nice nickname, huh? Corny but quite catchy."

"Wow," Bo gasped in amazement.

I raised my eye brow at Bo, and this "Thief Lord". "What are you? Some sort of villain of the night?" I questioned.

"In a sense."

"Well, what does The Thief Lord want with a couple of runaway kids?"

"Nothing really. I'm just simply offering you some shelter for the night. Maybe a few more days if you need to. It's pretty warm and much better than out here on the streets. I've already found three other runaways and let them live in my hideout. They've pretty much made it their home now."

He sounded convincing, but my conscious told me not to fall for his sneaky tricks, if he had any to begin with.

"…How do I know I can trust you?" I pressed on.

"I told you my name, didn't I?" Scipio replied in a mocking scoff. "I usually don't tell my name – well, at least my real name – to random kids I find sleeping on the streets. Plus I told you about my secret hideout, which I never do. And I'm only fifteen. What could a fifteen-year-old possibly do with a young boy and another boy who's probably the same age as him?"

"You could be a henchman of some old man that kidnaps street kids for their own sick and selfish needs," I suggested, not trying to be funny.

But Scipio still laughed. "You have a point, but I'm really just an ordinary thief who helps my fellow street kids. You two look like you could use some help, so I thought that I might as well offer it."

"But-" I was interrupted by Bo.

"That sounds so cool!" he said and let go of my hand. He ran over to Scipio.

"Hey, Bo, get back here!" I said angrily.

"So you're actually a thief that lives in a hideout with other runaways?" he asked, ignoring my demand. "You're just like the people on TV! I want to see where you hide! Pretty please?"

"I'd be glad to show you," he said with a smile as he tousled Bo's short blond hair, "but I don't think your brother would want me to."

Bo turned to me and gave me his begging face. "Please, Prop? He seems like he really wants to help us. And he looks really cool too. I'm sure we can trust him if we just gave him a chance…"

I stomped over to Bo and grabbed his hand roughly. "I don't care, Bo," I hissed. "C'mon, we're going to find some place else to sleep tonight!" I glared angrily at Scipio again. "One that doesn't have weird guys wandering the streets at night looking for a damn cat that call themselves 'The Thief Lord' and offer somewhere to sleep to random people he sees."

"B-But Prosper-"

"No, Bo!"

We were already on the other side of the bridge when Scipio finally said the one thing that drew me in:

"We have food."

I stopped where I was and groaned quietly to myself when I heard my stomach growling. When was the last time I actually ate something that satisfied my hunger?

Scipio walked over to us.

"That was your stomach, I presume?" Scipio quipped and leaned against the bridge. I could just tell he was looking smug under that stupid mask of his.

"Alright, fine!" I nearly shouted and whipped around. "Since you seem so eager to show me this hideout of yours, show me, O Thief Lord Scipio. Show me!"

He started walking in my direction. He stopped in front of me and smirked. "Glad you finally gave in."

'Man, this guy is manipulative!' I thought, mentally punching myself for giving into a stranger's persuasion.

He started walking into the alleyway in front of us; he seemed to disappear into his surroundings like some sort of black mist. Bo quickly followed after him, and his blond hair was the only way I could tell where Scipio was.

I stayed where I was, my legs not moving like I told them to. Something looked weird about this scene; Bo slowly fading into the dark, the last traces of his hair no longer being there for my eyes to see. It was like he was leaving me… or taken from me. I couldn't tell which one it was, but I had a tight knot in my empty stomach.

"Well, are you coming or not, Prosper?" Scipio called out, his voice snapping me out of my trance.

I blinked my eyes. Bo's appearance was suddenly clear to me. I shook my head and finally walked forward.

"Yeah, I'm coming."

I caught up to Scipio and Bo, and then Scipio led us through the many alleys of Venice. We took several different turns that led into another maze of alleys, and then took more turns. These alleys are very dimly lit, might I add. There are no lights at all; the few lights that were actually present were the ones from the apartments above us, and their light barely shone down on our heads; the only way I didn't get lost was looking for Scipio's swift movements as he turned down a different alley, watching how the darkness around us seemed to shift (and also by following Bo, whose light blond hair illuminated slightly as he intensely followed behind Scipio).

After about 10 minutes of walking and getting lost, we finally ended up in front of what looked like an abandoned movie theater. The windows were boarded shut and yellow warning tape in front of the door. It looked at though the building had been closed down for decades and left to rot.

"Uh, what exactly is this place?" I asked.

"The Stella Movie Theater," Scipio replied and looked up at the building. "It hasn't been used for years, but I've put it to a better use. It's our hideout. No one really comes to this part of the city, and the entrance we use is well hidden in that alley over there, so it's totally inconspicuous."

"This is your hideout? The Thief Lord's hideout?" I questioned. "I was expecting someplace more… extravagant. Not an abandoned movie theater! You'd think that someone who's called the 'Thief Lord' would have some big palace and special defenses to keep anyone from trying to steal his loot."

"That's one of the reasons I chose this place," he chuckled. "No one's gonna suspect someone with my reputation to live in some worn out movie theater in the empty part of town. None of the police are smart enough to find this place, especially since there's no real way to entering here without looking around first."

Taking a quick glance at the surrounding building windows, he led Bo and me to the right of the movie theater, where there were four stone steps that led down into a dark, windowless, narrow passageway. It was so thin that we could only walk in a line, one after the other. We eventually came to a metal door near the end of the passage on the right side; the words VIETATO INGRESSO – No Entry – were written across it in red paint that was slowly chipping off and fading away. It appeared to be once used as an exit.

There was a cord next to the door. Scipio tugged on it twice, waited a moment, and then pulled on it once more. I could hear the rings echoing throughout the building.

"That's our secret code," he whispered to me as we waited for something to happen. We waited for a long time, or at least what felt like a long time.

Finally, the door opened a tiny crack.

"Password?" a male voice asked.

"Riccio, c'mon, it's Scipio," the Thief Lord said in a sigh. "I've already told you a hundred times to give up on those passwords I came up with. None of you could ever remember them, and you guys are so idiotically paranoid that you wouldn't even believe who was on the other side of the door if you didn't say the password correctly."

"You're the one who came up with them!" the same voice argued, not opening the door.

"Just open the door already!"

"Riccio!" another voice inside called. It sounded like a girl's this time. "Move, you hedgehog." Her voice became much clearer once she stood where the previous boy was standing before. And soon a new voice entered in the background, another boy's.

"Can't you believe Scipio when he says he's there? We're the only ones who know about this place and the Thief Lord's real name," the new boy's voice said.

"Hey, you can never know if it's really Scipio or some guy that's impersonating him! He is the Thief Lord, a lot of people want to know where his hideout is!" the boy from before said angrily. "This could be some guy who kidnapped Scipio and tortured him until he gave up the information!"

"Are they always like this?" I whispered to Scipio.

"Yeah," he replied, "but you'll get used to it in no time. Trust me."

"Shush!" the girl snapped at the boys inside. "Scipio, why did you come here through the emergency exit? What happened to your secret entrance? You only come through this way unless it was important," she said over the two other boys' arguing voices.

"I have my reasons."

The door opened wider, revealing a girl that looked around my age with a long braid going down her back, a boy much shorter than I with hair that stuck up in all directions, and a dark-skinned boy who was just about the same height as Scipio.

"Hey, Scip-" the shorter boy started to greet but immediately froze when he spotted me and Bo after he took a step outside. Scipio tried to walk in, but the door was quickly slammed in his face. I could tell he was getting irritated.

"Riccio! Hornet! Mosca! Open this door!" he yelled angrily and banged on the door loudly. A few of the lights of the surrounding buildings turned on, but Scipio paid no attention.

"Who are those two? Why did you bring them here?" the smaller boy asked suspiciously.

Scipio let out a loud groan as his hand met his forehead. "I picked them off the streets just now. They needed someplace to stay, and I wasn't going to let them freeze to death out here," he explained exasperatedly. "Like we are right now.

"Do we really need more people?" the other boy questioned.

"Mosca!" the girl hissed. She pushed them away from the door and opened it slightly. "Scipio, is it really alright that you bring them in? I mean, do you approve of it?"

"Well, why not?" Scipio quipped. "I took all of you guys in, didn't I? So why can't I bring in two more? Besides, I wouldn't have led them here if I didn't think we could trust them."

The door was once again closed. Scipio impatiently tapped his foot on the ground as the three were inside discussing. Bo and I just stood there, our hands holding the other's tightly.

The door opened again, the boy with the crazy hair standing next to the doorway.

"Geez, finally," Scipio muttered as he walked in. He looked back to me and Bo and then motioned with his head to follow him. Bo and I exchanged quick looks before I walked in.

The inside looked just as bad as the outside. All across the ceiling were light bulbs strung on to a cable wire and white Christmas lights; they lit up the room just enough to see slightly, but I think the place looked better in the dark. There were about seven rows of chairs set in middle of the theater, each row having ten seats. All but the first two rows were missing each of their seats, though those rows were missing several seats as well. The red fabric that covered them was faded and slightly ripping off, revealing the yellow, spongy cushion underneath; they did not look very stable to sit on. On either side of the first row of seats were stairs that led up to the stage. The unused screen was hidden behind a large, old, blue curtain embroidered with surprisingly-still-shiny golden stars. (On the right side of the stage was the door where Scipio, Bo, and I had walked into earlier) Behind the seats – where me, Bo, and the others were standing – were a couple of mattresses sprawled out across the floor covered in all sorts of bizarre objects, like fishing poles and thick books. And behind us were double doors that probably led to the lobby of the building, though I didn't know what they did with that room. It was probably where they stored they food and other supplies.

But it was much warmer in there than outside, like Scipio had said.

"Hey, you guys wouldn't have seen a cat come by this way recently, have you?" Scipio asked, adjusting his mask.

No response was given. Not even a slight head twitch.

"No?" Scipio waited another moment. "Alright, I'll take that as a no."

He looked around as though he had expected something to spontaneously happen.

"Well, you guys go get yourself acquainted," Scipio said and patted Mosca's shoulder as he turned around to the double doors. "I have to go check something over in the storage room."

Scipio went through the double doors and disappeared.

The 3 residents stood in front of Bo and me, scanning us up and down; Bo and I did the same. They didn't look too excited to see us, especially the shorter one with crazy hair. And to be the honest, the feeling was rather mutual. I didn't know how someone could possibly live in a rundown building like this movie theater. Bo seemed eager to live here, but it really didn't look like a stable place to live. If things didn't work out, I would take Bo while the others were sleeping and go somewhere far, where no one could find us.

Until then, this is where we called home.

"I'm Prosper," I finally said, deciding to be a man and make the first move. I wrapped my arm around Bo. "And this is my younger brother, Boniface. Bo for short."

"It's nice meeting you," Bo smiled.

"Well, I'm Hornet," the girl with the braid said and stepped forward.

"This is Riccio and Mosca." She first gestured to the short boy then the one with dark skin.

"Nice to meet you," Mosca said, flashing me a quick smile and sticking out his hand. I took his in my own and shook it. Bo shook his hand as well.

"Riccio, say something," Hornet whispered and nudged the male.

Riccio glared at Hornet then looked at us. He rolled his eyes.

"Nice meeting you," he grumbled, not bothering to stick out his hand.

Yeah, that guy didn't seem very happy about newcomers.

I shook it off and took another look at them. They looked like ordinary street kids, living under someone who kept them warm and fed. But they didn't look any older than I was. How young were they when they first ran away from home? When did Scipio find them and take them in?

"How old are you guys?" I semi-unintentionally asked.

"Riccio and I are both thirteen, and Mosca's fifteen," Hornet responded. "And you?"

"Fourteen."

"I'm six," Bo added and showed them all five fingers on his right hand and his index finger on his left, showcasing his famous grin that made all the girls fall in love with him instantly.

"Aw, he's so adorable!" Hornet squealed and crouched down in front of my brother then hugged him. He smiled and giggled. She looked at his face and brushed the loose blond strands out of his eyes. "Your skin is freezing cold. I can't believe you've been outside this entire time! You must be hungry."

"A little," Bo chuckled nervously.

She turned to the two other boys standing behind her, giving them stern looks. "Get them some food, would ya?"

They nodded and quickly ran through the double doors. Bo followed after them.

Hornet stood to her feet and looked at me. She tucked a stray hair behind her ear then smiled. "Your brother really is adorable."

"I know. I get that a lot," I laughed.

She let out a giggle. What in the world was a cute girl like her be doing living in an empty movie theater with a group of boys like Scipio?

Scipio came back into the room as soon as the other left.

"I'm guessin' you guys introduced yourselves?" Scipio asked and walked over to Hornet and me.

We both nodded.

"Thank goodness," he sighed. "I thought I was going to have to do everything for you guys."

"Scipio, how many times have I told you not to wear your mask in here?" Hornet scolded.

"I'm leaving soon, so there's no need for me to take it off," he shrugged.

Hornet scoffed crossing her arms against her chest.

"Hornet's kinda like the mom around here," Scipio told me as he started

walking over to the worn-out seats. "She keeps things organized, manages the money we get from the stuff I steal, and even reads stories to help the others fall asleep at night. She does everything a regular mom would do, especially yelling at us." He laughed at his joke, earning him a glare from the girl.

"Really?" I turned to Hornet with surprise in my eyes, quite impressed with her. "With three other boys living here, I'm surprised that you can deal with all the chaos that must go on."

A light blush crept on Hornet face.

"O-Oh, it's nothing really, honest," she insisted quietly as she smiled. "Scipio is barely here most of the time and Mosca and Riccio aren't that much of a handful anymore. They were much more difficult to deal with back when we first started living here."

"Well, I'll make sure Bo and I don't cause too much trouble." I gave her a genuine smile, something I wasn't known to do very often.

The blush on Hornet's face darkened about three shades. She tried hiding it by looking down at the ground, but I still noticed it. I had to admit, seeing her blush was cute.

Scipio, who had stopped in the middle of the walkway to observe Hornet and me, scoffed quietly to himself and shook his head slightly. He continued on his back to the front row of seats and flopped down on the second to last chair on the right, for it was the only one stable enough to withstand his weight. He put his arms behind the backs of the seats next to him.

"Prosper, a warning though," Scipio said, not turning around. "That girl is mean as hell when she's ticked off. So try not to do anything that'll make her angry."

"What did you say?!" Hornet exclaimed angrily, her embarrassment temporarily vanishing.

"My point exactly," Scipio chirped.

"You're obnoxious," Hornet grumbled to herself and rolled her eyes.

"So, props to you, Prosper," Scipio added.

"What?" I asked.

"You totally made Hornet fall in love with you just now, and our little Stinger-Bee isn't prone to falling in love so easily."

Both mine and Hornet's faces turned bright red. We exchanged quick glances then quickly moved away from each other.

Scipio started laughing. "Oh, you're gonna fit in here just fine, Prosper."

And before either me or Hornet could die of embarrassment, we were fortunately interrupted.

"Hey, Hornet, did you buy bread last time we were in town?" Mosca shouted from the room he, Riccio and Bo went into to get food from earlier.

"What? I don't buy bread," Hornet responded.

"Then what's this fuzzy thing in the – Oh, god, it's a rat!"

Some screaming was heard, some loud, quick footsteps, and I think something broke. Hornet quickly ran into the other room to help her fellow theater-dwellers.

I stood there and looked at the chipped-off-green-painted doors, listening to the chaos that was happening on the other side. I turned to Scipio, who was sitting there, whistling as though that night was like any other night.

"Aren't you going to go help them?" I questioned.

"Nah, they'll be fine on their own," he said and shrugged me off. "They've dealt with this kind of stuff before."

"Ah! Kill it!" Bo shrieked.

"No, don't kill it!" Hornet yelled.

"Come back here, you foul little beast!" Mosca shouted.

"Hey, look, I found another loaf of bread. Oh, crap, that's another rat!" Riccio screamed.

More screaming, more things shattering.

"You picked a hell of a place to live, Scipio," I joked.

"Hey, still better than living on the streets, right?" he retorted. Then his tone of voice changed from cheerful to serious as he continued. "Look, I know I kinda forced you and your brother to come here, but I wasn't going to leave you out there. This city can be cruel sometimes. Riccio, Mosca, and Hornet all know that."

I felt something grip at my heart.

"Before I found them, Mosca was the one taking care of them. He was only twelve, Riccio and Hornet about ten. They found each other around the same time they ran away. They lived in the basement of an abandoned house. They didn't have much to eat and very little clothing. And it was raining a lot that year. If I hadn't found them when I did, they wouldn't have been able to make it on their own for very long. I took them to my hideout and gave them a new home." He paused for a second. "But here, we're able to leave our pasts and all our problems behind. Even the Star Palace couldn't match up to this place – our sanctuary."

"Scipio?"

Scipio got up from his seat and walked over to me. He removed his bird mask, revealing his dark brown eyes to me for the first time. There was something sad hidden behind them, but his warm, bright smile quickly made up for it. I had to admit, for a guy, he looked absolutely beautiful in the lighting. He put his forearm against his abdomen and bowed, like how a servant would do to their master. He came back up and gave me a warm, bright smile that seemed to slowly captivate me.

"Prosper, it is my pleasure to welcome you to the Stella Movie Theater, our very own Star Palace."

So what do you think about the revised chapter one? Still prefer the original over this one? Please leave a review~