I do NOT own Thief Lord or any of the characters. I only own Alex.

I leaned on the mysterious boy until he helped me lean against the stage. I flopped down and fought the tears that dwelled.

"Now I have a few questions to ask you moroso. First off, who are you," the masked boy asked me.

"Alex. My name is Alex," I whispered hoarsely. I felt so weak in front of this audience. Their eyes were filled with confusion and pity for the scene before them.

"Do you have a family," a boy with messy blonde hair asked. I couldn't help but to notice his eyes looked slightly crazy.

"No. Will you pass me my backpack?"

My bag was thrown to me and I dug through it desperately until my fingers found a small bottle. I quickly opened it and swallowed two pills with stingy liquid from my flask.

"Hey, I don't think it would be wise for you to take pills with more alcohol," a girl with black braided hair said while taking away my flask.

"Aren't you a little young to be drinking anyway," the one named Prosper said. Behind him I could see a little boy around 11 staring at me with wide eyes.

"What is this? Am I being interrogated or something?"

The mysterious one sat beside me. He removed his mask revealing two dark eyes that were filled with pity. Typical.

"Please, we just want to help you. Can you tell us why you tried to kill yourself last night?"

I bit my lip before speaking, "Why would I tell you."

"You are welcome to stay here if you would like. You do not need to tell us everything," Prosper smiled.

"Why would I stay here? I don't even know any of you," I whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.

"That's right! Where are my manners, I forgot to introduce you to everyone," the girl said cheerfully. "My name is Hornet."

"I'm Riccio and this is Mosca," a boy with crooked teeth smiled.

"You've already met me, this is my little brother Bo," Prosper said. Bo simply waved at me.

"I am the Thief Lord, but you may call me Scipio," Scipio smiled at me. I shook it off and got up. I pushed past the crowd and grabbed my guitar and backpack.

"This really does seem like a very cozy family of orphans, but I need to leave," I announced.

"Will you play us a song first," Bo asked me with hopeful eyes. I didn't know what to say.

"Yes, play us a song before you leave," Mosca encouraged Bo.

"Please," Bo said with a pout.

I sighed and gave up. There was no winning with these people. I got out my guitar and began to strum a song I was all too familiar with. It was a song that I had written on my own. It was always the last song I would play when I tried to make money in the streets. It was a song that came truly from my heart. I had no lyrics for it, because I believed that the best songs tell a story without words. When I finished the song I looked up to see a teary eyed audience.

"You should really think about staying here with us," Hornet said to me quietly. I looked around for a moment. These kids were a big happy family. I didn't want to intrude and ruin their happiness with my morbid ways.

"I-I just can't stay here. I mean look around, you guys are a big happy family. Having me around will only crush it," I said while grabbing my things. I felt a firm hand grab my wrist.

"Please, just stay here. Let us help you. I can't just let you go after what you tried to do last night," Scipio said with sympathy. I bit my lip and sighed. They were all looking at me like I was some sort of damaged record they could just fix.

"Okay, as long as you don't get too nosey."

Hornet smiled at me. I tried to smile back, I tried my very hardest. It was as if my lips were paralyzed.

"Great, you can share a room with Hornet," Prosper said.

"I uh, I don't think that's a good idea. Thanks for the offer though. I'll just sleep out here."

Scipio looked at me intensely, "Why, it'll be warmer in one of the rooms."

"I just don't want to wake you guys. I have nightmares," I whispered.

"Great, we're dealing with a psycho," Riccio snickered to Mosca. In response Mosca lightly punched Riccio.

Scipio

When I looked into her eyes it was as if there was a whole world of fear and sadness within them. She was hiding something. A secret she doesn't want to keep. You could hear it in her song. The way her fingers moved across the fret board put a picture of a damaged girl into my head, a damaged girl in a dark room, trying to hide from the real world.

When everyone get settled and went out to the city to take care of duties I took this advantage to figure out Alex. She was sitting across from me in one of the chairs. It looked as if she was thinking intently.

"Alex," I said to her while taking the seat next to hers," why did you try to kill yourself that night?"

She hesitated, "Because the world would be better off without me."

"Where is your family?"

"Dead, I only had my mama and papa. They died in a car crash when I was 13."

I could see tears starting to form in her eyes. There was something more, something she was trying to hide. I ran a hand through my hair and tried to think of a way she could trust me.

"How old are you? 16?"

"15, I'm turning 16 in a few months."

"So what have you been doing the past two years?"

"I- I can't tell you. I don't want to go back there," she was now crying softly. What could be so terrible about her past that she would need to hide?

"Please, you can trust me," I said. I rested my hand on hers and she suddenly shot up from her seat.

"I thought I said to not get too nosey!" she shouted.

"I'm going out. I need more cash."

I watched her as she rushed out of the door with her guitar. Nice going Scipio.

Alex

The past two weeks living in the Stella has been extremely awkward. Scipio had stopped asking questions about my past, which made it easier for me to keep away from drinking again. I've been on constant watch by Hornet and Prosper whenever I go out to earn some cash. Lately I've been playing the same old songs on the same corner, so the amount of money I make isn't as much as I did when I started. But I guess we're all doing fine since we have the "Thief Lord" to bring us things to sell.

Although I have been distant to humanity, I've found myself comfortable talking to Prosper and Mosca. I know I should be more comfortable around the others, but I feel like they won't judge me. I've tried speaking to Hornet and vice versa, but we don't have much in common. I still feel like she looks at me with pity, and I hate that.

"Hey Prosper," I called out while walking into his room, "do you have a minute to talk?"

He looked up from his seat, "Yeah, what do you want to talk about?"

I let out a big sigh while trying to find the words for what I wanted to vent out.

"I know that not a lot of you trust me because you don't really know anything about my past. I want to be able to tell everyone but, I'm scared of what everyone will think of me. I'm terrified none of you will look at me the same way ever again."

Prosper looked at me with concern in his eyes. "Alex, do you want to sit down?"

I took the seat next to him and continued. "When I was 13 my parents and I went to Verona for my father's business. Shortly after we had settled in they were in a car crash and died. I had no other relatives and was sent to an orphanage. Not too long after I was adopted by a man." I stopped there. It was as if the air had left me. I wanted to keep on going, but I didn't have it in me. Not while I was sober at least.

"Alex, are you okay?"

It took everything in me not to cry. "Yeah. You know what, can you just forget that I was about to tell you anything? I just can't do it. Not today at least."

Prosper squeezed my hand. Not in a way that was romantic or anything. We were only friends, and I could tell he liked Hornet. It was more of a comforting way. A way that made me calm.

"Alex, if you're not ready to reveal or past to anyone its fine. Just know that whenever you need someone, we're all here for you," he said in a hush tone.

"Thanks Prosper, for being my friend," I chuckled a little, "it's funny; I haven't had a real friend in almost three years."

"Maybe you should go to sleep. It's pretty late now."

I got up and went to one of the rows where I had my sleeping bag. Hornet kept insisting that I share the bed next to hers, but then she would never sleep. I closed my eyes and drifted off to another nightmare. I began to mumble, kick, and sweat. The next thing I know, there are a pair of hands on my shoulders trying to wake me up.