Chapter 1

Laura

Laura sprinted through the streets of New York City, trying her hardest to dodge the seemingly never-ending stream of carriages and pedestrians. The shouts behind her meant her pursuer was closing in. Normally she would be home free by now, but no. She just had to steal from some kind of freaky track enthusiast or something. The guy was fast. With an irritated sigh she took a sharp turn into an alley in an attempt to lose him. The shouts stopped. Laura looked over her shoulder to check if he was still there, and immediately ran face-first into a pole. Fantastic.

The man was, in fact, still there. Moments after Laura fell to the ground, he was standing over her, breathing heavily. His boots and trousers were covered with dirt from the chase and a gold pocket watch hung clumsily from his sack coat. Laura glanced at a similar watch she held tightly in her hand.

"Alright Freckles," he said, huffing for breath. "You gonna turn yourself in or will I have to drag you to the police myself?"

Laura took a second to catch her breath. "Neither?"

The man sighed angrily and reached down to grab her, but was instead greeted with a strong kick to the chest. The blow sent him stumbling backwards while Laura jumped to her feet and continued running down the alley with a smile. There was no way she going to give up this watch without a fight, and fighting was what she did best.

Her smile soon faded however as she was met with a dead end. To make matters worse, the man was running full speed towards her.

Something told her he was not very happy.

He stopped a few yards in front of her with an enraged look on his face. She focused on him, ignoring familiar shadows starting to appear in the corners of her vision.

"I didn't want to do this kid, but you leave me no choice."

Through the darkness of the alley Laura could see the glint of a knife being drawn. Holy shit this guy was crazy! Backing up, she narrowed her eyes and pocketed the watch with a grin. Excited energy flowed through her, making her feel warm and energized. She could feel familiar lime green sparks coming from her fingertips as she reached for her own knife. It'd been awhile since she had a good knife fight.

No sooner than she had drawn her weapon, he lurched forward, only to fall to the ground with a grunt a few feet in front of her. She stared at him, puzzled, and prodded him with her foot.

"Guess he had a heart attack or something," she muttered to herself.

Someone cleared their throat in front of her. Startled, she looked up to see two glowing amber orbs staring back at her.

"You're welcome 'Freckles' ", said the figure, pulling down a bandana to reveal the exposed teeth and jaw of a skeleton.

"James what the hell! I could've handled that!"

James reached down to check the man's pulse. "I'm aware of that. However, I can't just stand by and watch as you fight some knife wielding lunatic. You need to be more careful who you steal from."

"Hey, it's not my fault! How was I supposed to know he was some crazy shopkeeper who'd kill some teenager over a stupid pocket watch!" She grumbled. "Speaking of which…"

Laura drew the watch from her pocket and studied it proudly. Both the watch and chain were made from 16K gold with beautiful designs expertly engraved to resemble flowers. Dick was gonna be so jealous.

"Isn't it beautiful?" She cried, holding it out to her friend. "It's gotta be worth at least fifty points!"

James got up and took the watch, studying it carefully. The golden orbs that acted as his eyes illuminated his face, revealing a pasty white skull. "How much was it worth?"

"Twenty dollars," Laura said proudly.

The skeleton turned the watch over with his black-gloved hand. "Forty points for outside interference," he said, putting it in his tail coat pocket and turning to exit the alley.

She followed after him with a groan. "Awww come on! I didn't even need help!"

"I wasn't going to take any chances," He said, pulling the bandana back over his face, "Sebastian would've given me a mouthful if he had to patch you up again so soon."

Laura sighed in compliance and watched as James pulled his floppy hat over where his eyes would be, completely covering his face. His large hat and bandana combined with gloves and coat made him look completely normal, if a bit out of place.

As she followed him through the crowds of people, she couldn't help but feel giddy. The city was as large and beautiful as Laura remembered from their last visit. Its tall buildings and overall grandness set it apart from the other ports they'd visited over the past few years.

After awhile, the two stopped in front of a small brick building lined with colorful flowers. The faded sign on it's window revealed it was a pawn shop. There was no doubt this was the place Dick was trying to steal something just as valuable as her gold pocket watch, as was part of their game.

James sat down on a nearby bench and produced a newspaper. "He won't be much longer I suspect. Just a few more moments."

Laura nodded and leaned up against the building, trying to look as innocent as she could, which was rather hard in her case. Her light brown hair, though currently tied up in a ponytail, looked like it had never been brushed and not many girls wore a simple, non layered skirt and dirty rolled up blouses, especially in a place like this. The jagged scar across her right cheek didn't help too much either.

She picked a flower from the patch next to her foot and studied it, trying to look busy. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see shadows of people with glowing white eyes whispering unintelligible things. Laura stifled a groan and ignored them. She wished Dick would hurry up and steal whatever it was so they could be on their way already.

As if the universe had heard her thoughts, Dick suddenly stumbled out of the door, falling to the ground with a yelp. Following him was a large man in a grey suit and bowler hat. Laura scrambled out of sight, and hid behind a tree to watch. Energy sparked from her hands defensively, ready to step in if needed.

Meanwhile, Dick had stood to his feet, brushing the dirt off his pants. "Oi! What's the big idea? I didn't even do anything!"

"Shut it, you filthy half-breed!" The shopkeeper scowled, staring down the young man despite being several inches shorter than him. "Your kind isn't welcome here. Go back to Africa where you belong!"

"I'm Arabic actually, but ya' know, you were kinda close," Dick remarked sarcastically as the man marched back into the pawn shop, slamming the door behind him.

Dick let out a sigh as Laura stepped into view. "Sorry you had to see that kid," he said with a smile, reaching down to ruffle her hair.

Laura gave him a sympathetic smile in return. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened to Dick. Most times his charisma would be able to convince someone that his golden brown skin was merely a tan, however, occasionally his rugged looks could put one off and result in something like this.

"Wanna vandalize his shop?" She asked hopefully.

Dick ran a hand through his long, poorly dyed hair. "I would, but I got to steal somethin' before sundown or I'm disqualified. Bet you have somethin' nice already huh?"

Laura nodded excitedly and pointed to James who was now walking towards them, pocket watch in hand. Dick took the watch and studied it eagerly, marveling at the stolen good, while holding it out into the sun to watch it shimmer. "Damn Lar, how'd you manage to steal somethin' like this in broad daylight?"

"Guess I'm just too good at this game," she said with a smug grin.

"She was chased by the shopkeeper who pulled a knife on her," James clarified.

Laura smacked his hat, causing it to fall to the ground. "Don't be rude, James."

James reached down in panic just as Dick swiped the hat and placed it firmly on his own head, strutting around proudly while ignoring the furious swipes from James and reveling in Laura's cheers from behind.

"Richard, stop being childish! I could be seen!" James hissed, pulling his coat up over his head to hide his gleaming skull.

"What?" Asked Dick coyly, "You afraid they can-"

"Sir, please. I-"

"SEE RIGHT THROUGH YOU?"

The orbs in James's eye sockets narrowed as Dick laughed hysterically. Laura chuckled and snatched the hat back, placing it on James's head, who adjusted it with an annoyed grumble.

"You two need to be more careful! Who knows what could happen if someone were to-"

Before he could finish, the sound of an explosion ripped through the air.