Chapter Four

A/N: (12/12) Eventually I'm going to stop writing in this format. It is tiresome and annoying.

Entry Three

Through the darkness which blurred my vision, my body was out for what seemed like more than an hour. It was like flicking on a light switch inside a large building, not every light flicks on at the same time. So my memory was the first to flicker, bits and pieces such as the missing Scipio, the thugs and even the bright lights.

'Wait, bright lights?'

My mind reeled painfully as I felt cold hands on my side, causing me to jerk. Flinching was never a good thing when your ribs are bruised and I had figured that when the pain shot down my spine.

'Was I in hell?' I asked myself only to be interrupted but the shrill of bells. No wait, it was a voice. Bells could never be this annoying.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you! Just hold still," the way the girl tied her knots had my breath hitch from the tightness, she knew what she was doing.
"I had to do some re-bandaging to your side from where the cracked rib was."

My sight had yet to adjust but I could clearly see that the girl was skillful in her work and was cautious to me; the stranger. She helped me back down on to what I assumed was her bed and slowly I went to rub my eyes only to find my mask was no longer there! Frantically I sat up again, ignoring the pain, and the girl's wishes for me to sit. I turned to the girl with violent vigor and glared at her fuzzy form.

"My mask- I need my mask." My demand was simple, but why did she look at me like that?

"Do not worry about it, your mask is right here by the bed. I made sure the guys were out of the room before I started examining your wounds, here."

The cool velvet of the mask brushed my fingers and my smile returned. I had started to grow accustom to this little piece of mystery and I wasn't planning on giving up my identity to anyone just yet. Slowly- but surely- the surroundings all around me started to contrast and everything became clearer. The girl, with her hair in braids, had eyes of coffee and hair of chocolate- her face was not chubby and neither was her form. She wore long socks that came past her knees and a jean skirt that ended just above her socks with a matching jean coat and a shirt that had tiny hearts on the front, and although I had never met this girl before I could tell you two things about her: the first was that she was pretty and the second one was that she would be a great friend.

"Where am I and who are you" I inquired as the questions ticked away, matching the pounding headache within my skull. My hands tried to keep my brain within my head as I tried to listen to the girl.

"My name is Hornet and you were brought here in bad condition. The Thief Lord said that you were saving a girl and-" I held up my hand to politely silence her in mid sentence, after all- I shouldn't be rude to the one that took care of me.

"Who might I ask is the so called 'Thief Lord'? If its that guy with the bird mask then explain before this headache knocks me out," my tone- blunt and monotonous was dripping with annoyance.

Hornet nodded and stood from her perched position next to the bed and pointed over the edge of her window. My eyes followed her finger to a small group of guys down at the bottom of the three floored picture theater.

With a hand propped against the wall, I made my way down the stairs towards the boys. While walking, I ignored the spinning of the staircase and the limp that I had from the fight. I almost made it out into the open before Hornet warned me about my mask. Right, can't forget about that. When it was secure on my face I paused at the bottom to listen. There was an argument going on about a movie camera as well as a guy named Victor.

It didn't seem like any of my business so I rounded the corner and leaned against the wall, waiting to be noticed. My movement caught the attention of a boy whose hair was as curly as a pigs tail as he turned in my direction. Everyone else followed his eyes quietly and they stared at me with wonder of how was I up and walking. The one that noticed me first had curly dark brown hair as dark as chocolate, but a miniature version of him came to me and held my hand- the boy's hair was blonde and his eyes portrayed innocents of a seven year old.

"Are you okay, do you wear that mask everywhere, did you really save that girl, did you really kick those guys ars-" The little one puttered on up until the tall curly haired boy covered his mouth in silent chastise.

"Bo, watch your mouth! I'm sorry for my brother's rambling but he's just as worried as the rest of us." With his hand still on his brother's mouth, he extended the other in offer to shake my hand, " I'm Prosper but everyone just calls me Prop."

The two other boys, one with nasty teeth and another that was tall and lanky with dark skin came over and greeted me.

That's how I met the gang. It was no formal greeting, but this was better than falling into the Stella from a ceiling window!
Bo and Prosper where as sweet as could be and even Bo kept the questions of my mask out of the personal area. Hornet was extremely helpful with my wounds and offered support here and there, whenever I truly needed it. Ricco- being the little bugger that he was- his little attitude kind of rubbed me the wrong way to the point where I began to cracked some mad jokes on his teeth and his shortness. Mosco and I even tried to think of a cartoon to draw and even though being held here in the "Stella"- or so I had learnt recently- for less then half a night, I already knew these guys will be my friends.

Now on to the Thief Lord...

Though my time here at the Stella was enjoyable, my questions of who the Thief Lord was continued to be unanswered. The Thief Lord had seemed to have vanished into the shadows while I was occupied with my injuries. All that the guys(and Hornet) had to say about him was that he had rescued them from the Merciful Sisters and that they were grateful for his generosity. Clearly I wasn't going to get any answers from these guys, so I choose now to be a good time to go home. I was sure that everyone would be worried for me.

"When will you be back?" asked Bo as he hugged me good-bye when I announced I had to leave. The gang had came to understand that I had no family to call my own but I didn't say I had a foster father.

"Don't worry I'll come back soon and then we can play some more!" I smiled and hugged everyone, even Ricco who didn't want one, he even tried to run away!

"We never asked you this because I know that you say it's not important- but who are you, I mean, your name?" asked Hornet with wonder on her mind as she pulled away from our final hug. Everyone shared her questionable look and was hesitant as I was. I had dodged that question all night and now I knew I had slipped too close into the friend zone to ignore this question. I guess I have to say something.

"Just call me the Queen of Hearts for I have stolen your hearts and held them in mine."

I vanished behind the curtain and out the door into the chilly dawn of Venice, and never looked back.

I was enjoying the early stroll of the city, no one was out and the streets were paved in blissful silence as I listened to the sounds of my footsteps against the cobble roads. This was the start of a good day- or so I had hoped. The clamor of commotion behind me had me turn only to see a cloaked figure being chased by two policemen. Their shouts went ignored as the mystery man tossed me something that was under his arms and continued to run past me. My mind kicked it into gear and my body turned on a dime and I followed the figure while keeping a distance from the police. The night echoed as we ran and our labored breathing became in sync , but that didn't seem to stop either party from running.

"Your under arrest for breaking and entering "Thief Lord" as well as your partner for being out past curfew!" roared one of the policia. In his hand he held up a pair of handcuffs and brandish it like a trophy. The other simply kept his flashlight zoomed in on our fleeting figures. The Thief Lord only glanced back my way and nodded as if signaling me to turn right. Without a moments notice, we went down a narrow alley way and kept our pace; each turn that we made had the space get smaller and smaller. The cops had difficulty following us down the tiny corridor and as we gained more distance between them, the Thief Lord jerked right into a corridor again and the police went by just as if they didn't see us at all. My footsteps slowed down to look back only for the light to blaze into my eyes and the shout of the police to echo once again. I whirled back around to see that the Thief Lord had not stopped running and I caught up to him with difficulty, which had used more energy then needed. We took the alleys that kept getting smaller until the Thief Lord grabs my hand and yanks me into a small indent where clothes were hanged up a few floors.

This time the cops ran by with no intent of ever turning back, but neither of us knew that. I had no memory of ever closing my eyes but once I opened them- my face was mere inches from the the Thief Lord and his head was downcast to keep the nose of his mask out of the way. He as well was hugging me close under his coat, which was black and created the illusion that we never went down the alleyway. The feeling of heat rose to my cheeks as his breath was hot against my neck. I could feel everything around me- the hands that held me had tighten his hold, the faint smell waft my nose to cloud my senses an-

"What the-" I started to say but was interrupted only with something warm against my lips and a hand tightening on my hips.

My eyes widen to stare into the thief's dark eyes until something clicked inside me, the bloody idiot is kissing me!
My senses flared back I balled my fist up and my arm flew up to slugged him right in the jaw.

"You asshole! I can't believe you did that" my yell could of woken the whole neighborhood if he didn't shoot a hand up to cover my mouth while the other went to his jaw to rub it. While doing so, I tried to hide the huge blush that was on my cheeks under his hand but even I could feel the warmth there, and so could he. The Thief Lord spat at the ground and a small drop of blood appeared on the concrete. He looked up still holding his jaw as if to rub away the pain from the redden area.

"Dammit you punch like a man- that hurt!" he shot back, trying not to shout hurt from the action. I would retaliated but my speech came as a muffle. Slowly, the Thief Lord removed his hand,

"Sorry but do I have duct tape on my forehead that says 'Kiss this Miss'? I don't think so, because that kiss was totally uncalled for! And... and I don't even know you!" My hushed town slowly started to elevate and the Thief Lord puts his hand over my mouth again to silence me once more. Sure, the guy looks hot and mysterious in that mask but honestly, I have morals- I'm not an american slut.

"I only did that as a last resort. It looked like you were going to scream or something along the lines of that," he replied as he looked away in embarrassment. Once he moved his hand away from my mouth again, I could feel his fingers brush against velvet material of my mask that obstructed the Thief Lord's view of my face. Only this time, he prepared himself for another tongue lashing.

"Oh, so I'm not pretty enough? You just did that just to make me quiet- YOU ASS HOLE!" I slapped him again with no remorse needed. It was such a terrible feeling to feel used. Who ever this guy was, he must not be that popular with the ladies.

He held his cheek as we walked back to the main street while the sun was slowly peaking out of the sky. My brain clicked and screamed that we must get home. With that thought, I turned to the Thief Lord and gave him a two finger salute and dashed away while hearing him mutter,

"Women are so confusing."

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