Chapter 1
Night raid
Katelyn Smith clipped her cloak to her shoulders. She was decked out in a black strap less tube top, black jeans, and black ankle boots. She slipped her mask that covered her eyes down to her cheekbones. The mask was black with a red borderline around the face part. Katelyn walked out the door of the abandoned warehouse she lived in and crept into the night. The city always had a mysterious look to it at night and that was how Katelyn liked it. "Good night for a raid" she said softly. The night shrouded her from eyes that were probably awake. Katelyn walked into the rich part of the city and eyed for a large house to rob. She finally chose a large house that was probably the biggest in the neighborhood. Katelynn climbed over the fence that probably led to the backyard and tried the backdoor. Katelyn twisted the knob but it was locked. "Damn it" she hissed and stepped away from the door and saw a deck above it. Katelyn smirked to herself and took a rope that she had in her cloak and threw it up to the deck railing and the rope wrapped itself around the railing. Katelynn pulled on the rope to see if it was strong enough to hold her weight. When she was sure it would hold her weight she began to climb up to the deck. The deck was only a short distance from the ground so it didn't take long for Katelyn to climb it and land on the deck. "This is gonna be fun" she whispered with a smirk and opened the deck door. The house was extremely large on the inside and was entirely made out of marble except the furniture. The furniture was all leather and looked like it came from the best furniture makers in Venice. Katelyn crept as silently as a cat through the house and looked around for any valuables. Katelyn stole a pair of reading glasses she had found on the desk, pure silver knives, and even some small china cups. Katelyn stuffed the items in the pockets of her cloak and was about to head back to the door when she felt a hand grab her wrist and spin her around. Katelyn was face to face with a boy who had dark brown hair and brown eyes and wore a black trench coat, dark blue jeans, black high heeled boots, and a black mask that had the appearance of a bird. "What are you doing here, this is my robbery" he hissed. "Well you snooze you lose, I got here first" Katelyn hissed back. "Oh really, then where are your stolen items?" he asked with a smirk. "In the pockets of my cloak, I don't carry them in a bag" Katelyn said with a frown. "Impressive, but it was a good thing that you were leaving than I can get more stuff" the boy said arrogantly. Katelynn put her hands on her hips and raised her eye brows. "Who the hell are you?" she asked. "I am the Thief Lord, greatest thief in Venice" he said proudly. "You look a bit young" Katelyn said raising her eye brows. "Look who's talking, how old are you 15, 16" he said smirking. "Sixteen, if you must know and I bet that's how old you are" Katelyn said right back. "Whatever, and who might you be?" he asked. "I'm Katelyn Smith, best thief in Italy" Katelyn said bowing a little. "Yeah right" he scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "Wanna bet?" Katelyn smirked and walked over to the deck door but the Thief Lord spun her around. "Lucky for you I'm not a gambling man and besides I think that I'm the greatest thief in Venice and the papers think so too" the Thief lord said. "I only said Italy" Katelyn said. "It doesn't matter, we have our loot now let's get the hell out of here" he said and gestured to the door and Katelyn nodded. "Fine by me" Katelyn said and they escaped out the door, climbed down the rope, climbed the fence, and ran from the house. They stopped to catch their breath in the middle of the square. "Well that wasn't so bad" Katelyn huffed. "No kidding" the Thief Lord huffed and leaned his weight on his knees. "By the way what's your name?" Katelyn asked. "Scipio" he said and stood up. "Well it was great meeting you Scipio but I've gotta go" Katelyn said and was about to head back to the warehouse but Scipio grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. "You're not seriously thinking of going to the docks are you?" he asked with seriousness. "Yeah, that's where I live" Katelyn shrugged. "I wouldn't if I were you, that's where all the rapists, gangsters, and thugs go to hang out late at night and like to live in those warehouses" Scipio said. "Okay, than what do you suggest I do?" Katelyn asked. "Come with me" Scipio said letting go of her wrist and started walking and Katelyn followed. Scipio led Katelyn to a large movie theatre that said the Stella in big bright letters on the front. "This way" he said softly and led her to an alley way Scipio rang a large bell that was above the door and a boy with dark skin answered the door. "Where have you been?" he asked. "Out on a raid and I met a friend, Katelyn this is Mosca" Scipio said and gestured her to come to his side. "Nice to meet you" Mosca said and opened the door wider for the two to come in. The Stella was very large and had red velvet seats in ten to twenty rows and a large movie screen was in front with a medium sized stage below it. A wooden table stood in from of the stage. Katelyn could see air mattresses on a floor above them. A girl with black hair in a ponytail came bounding down the stairs. "Hey Scipio and who's she" she asked brightly. "Katelyn this is Hornet, she's the only girl in the gang but acts like a mother to all of us" Scipio said. "Hello Katelyn it's nice to meet you and I promise you that you'll like it here" Hornet said and shook Katelyn's hand. "Likewise" Katelyn said smiling a little. "Hey Scip, who's the new girl?" a boy with red hair that looked like a hedgehog came running down the stairs. "Katelyn this is Riccio" Scipio said. "Hey Katelyn" Riccio smiled and had a mouth of bad teeth. "Nice to meet you" Katelyn said cringing a little but not that much. A boy with brown hair that came down to his ears with a little boy with blonde hair came running down the stairs. "Scipio, I heard we have a new girl" the boy with brown hair said. "Yes, Katelyn this is Prosper and his little brother Bo, I brought them here last night" Scipio said. "Nice to meet you" Bo said with a smile. Katelyn smiled and knelt down to his level and took off her black mask. "It's nice to meet you Bo" she said sweetly. "Is she staying permanently?" Prosper asked. "That's up to her" Scipio said crossing his arms and Katelyn could see that he had taken off his mask. "Sure, I'll stay since my place was a rathole to begin with and I have nowhere else to go" Katelyn said. "Perfect, you shall have the spare mattress" Hornet said and grabbed Katelyn's hand and dragged her up the stairs and led her to a circular room where mattresses were lined up in different areas. Hornet dragged out a spare mattress and set it in an empty spot in the room. Katelyn saw that Hornet's mattress was surrounded by a mountain of books. Hornet came back with an armful of blankets and a pillow. "Here you'll need these" she said. Hornet went into the bathroom to change into her pajamas and came back in light blue pajama pants and a red shirt and she noticed that Katelyn didn't bring any other clothes with her. "Do you need some pajamas" Hornet asked. "If you don't mind" Katelyn said and Hornet grabbed a pair of black shorts and a black t shirt from a large bag. "This is the wardrobe where we keep spare clothes" Hornet said and gave the clothes to Katelyn to change into. Katelyn went into the bathroom and stripped out of her cloak, shirt, jeans, and boots. Katelyn changed into the pajamas and folded up her clothes and put the mask and boots on top of them and walked out of the bathroom. When she came out Hornet was sitting on her mattress with a book on her lap. Katelyn walked over to her and sat down on the mattress. "What are you reading" she asked. "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe my favorite book" Hornet said not even looking up from the book. "I've read that book and loved it" Katelyn said. "Really, I've read it a hundred and fifty times and still can't get enough of it" Hornet said. "Same here" Katelyn yawned and got off of the mattress. "See you in the morning Hornet" "See you in the morning" Hornet said and Katelyn went back to her mattress and lied down and put her clothes at the foot of the mattress. Katelyn crawled under the covers and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.