I woke up in a cold sweat, unaware of where I was. I turned my head sharply and jumped up, my hand reaching for my belt, and closing on air. I looked quickly for my knives, or anything I could use as a weapon against this boy who was just sitting and watching my mental freak out. Knowing that there was nothing I could do now, I sat down cross-legged on the cot, feeling like a trapped prisoner beneath his gaze. "His eyes are such a lovely dark brown," I thought. Still, his stare unnerved me, for nobody had stared at me since the auction, ten years ago.

"Hello" he said to me in an English accent. "My name is Prosper. I'm the only who you stabbed in the stomach. It's a very beautiful knife, by the way," he said to me, smiling. When he smiled, I noticed, his eyes crinkled in a good-hearted way. "What"…he never got to finish, for an Italian boy came in and motioned for him to leave. The boy named Prosper did, but not without a forlorn glance back at me as I watched him leave. I watched to new boy come in. Unlike Prosper, this boy did not sit, but paced, occasionally stopping to turn to me, open his mouth, close it again, and continue pacing. During the 10ish minutes he did this, I got to really examine him. He was tall, maybe about 6 feet, yet he seemed my age, 17. He was thin, not scrawny, but lean, as if he was well acquainted with police chases and jumping from roofs. His hair was black, as I had often wished mine was. It was thick and unruly, growing out from his head in a way that was, well…sexy. The thought startled me. It had been a long time since I had thought anything was sexy. Mostly, it was necessary or unnecessary.

He finally stopped pacing and turned toward me, sitting directly across from me, cross- legged. "Ciao" he said, looking at something behind me. I didn't reply. "I guess you don't speak Italian?" He asked, fidgeting. Again, no reply. "Well, so um…do you want a tour?" He asked, standing up. I didn't move, yet my head followed his ever move. "It's either come, or stay here. And seeing as Riccio wants to kill you, I wouldn't suggest the latter" he said to me smiling. I considered this, and then slowly and painfully got to my feet, feeling like if I walked, I would surly die. I should not have jumped when Prosper had appeared, but it's in my nature to defend myself.

"Good choice" he said. "Follow me." And with that, he led me down the fall and 2 flights of stairs, into a theatre. "Welcome to the Stella" he said as he took me around, introducing me. "This is Hornet. She's our medic. She's the one who stitched you up. This is Mosca. He's our…builder, I guess. He fixes stuff. This is Riccio, the one who wants to kill you. This is Prosper, who you already met, and his little brother Bo." Looking at the little boy, who was smiling up ay my like I was his personal savior was too much. I felt it coming up and he continued to show me the different things in the theatre, I knelt down and started violently coughing up blood.

Hornet ran to me, her arms covering my back. "Scip, I told you that you shouldn't have taken her around yet. It's to soon after her injury. She needs rest" Hornet yelled at him. Wanting to reassure her that it wasn't his fault, I blindly reached out for her hand, finally finding it and giving it a reassuring squeeze. Then, my world went black.