Chapter2- Disaster
As I woke up, I looked around, then at the clock. It was 4:29 AM. I rubbed my eyes. I could hear a faint sob coming from somewhere. I got out of his bed and went to the kitchen.
There, hysterically crying, was Yuffie. I ran over to her, worried, "What's wrong Yuffie?"
"It's not fair!" Yuffie said as she raised her head from the table. Her face was covered in her tears. "I can't stand it!" She wiped her eyes. "I hate stealing!"
"Shhhh… come on… it's okay, it's okay. I'm right here. Tell me all about it. You're not the only one who hates stealing, we need to do it to survive."
"It's just, I'm afraid… for myself… for the team."
"I know how you feel…," I hesitated, "I feel the same way."
"I'm afraid to steal… what if I get caught? I hate stealing! It's wrong!"
"Shhh, it's gunna be okay."
"No it's not!" Yuffie looked scared. "You do know that we will eventually get caught?"
"Yeah, I know. For now, we will have to deal with it. How about I go with you on the morning steal. Then, we will figure out a solution," I suggested.
"Okay," Yuffie wiped her tears away.
"I'm surprised that all of that screaming didn't wake anyone up."
Yuffie smiled. Within the next three hours, everyone was out in the kitchen. Chit-chatting was echoing throughout the hide out. They were eager for food.
"Yuffie," Barru started. "Are you still doing the morning shift?"
"Yeah, but Erik wants to come too," Yuffie insisted.
"Yeah, to improve my skills," I added.
Barru patted me on the back. "Good idea, Erik!"
"So I guess we had better head out now," Yuffie said.
"Good idea," Barru replied.
As we left the hide out, we were both eager to get the job done quickly. "Did you get any sleep last night?" I asked.
"No, I was thinking all night," Yuffie answered.
"Hmm… I've done that before."
"…"
"Okay, we're here. You know the drill, right? I'll distract him or her and you'll get the goods. Okay?"
"Yeah."
As they entered the store, Yuffie went down the aisles and I went to the counter. The clerk was watching a small television set. She was a teenage girl with pink hair. I cleared my throat. The girl looked up. She had bright blue eyes. She batted her eyelashes. "Can I help you?" she said as she chomped her gum.
"Yeah," I started, "do you have any Lightning Cooler Twist drinks?"
"Hold on, lemme check," the girl answered. She walked into the back room. Suddenly, she heard the hand bell on the door ring as the two escaped. She ran back out, but only a swinging door was there.
Yuffie and I ran silently. We just ran and ran. A tear trickled down Yuffie's face as we ran. We didn't talk at all because We both hated stealing and we just wanted to get the thought out of our heads. Once they were almost there, I asked, "So, what did you get?"
"Uh… I got some pancakes, waffles, and OJ. We go through a lot of food, you know. We never have any leftovers. That's why we have to steal three times a day. I think it would be better if we all stole some in the morning. We could all go to different stores and swipe as much as possible. Then we would have to steal enough for the whole day… and we wouldn't have to steal as many times. I also think that it would be safer. It'd be harder for them to get us," Yuffie rambled. She wasn't making any sense anymore. It was pathetic.
I thought. "We gotta think of something, a solution for this crazy mess."
"Yeah," Yuffie answered. She opened the door to be greeted by Josh.
"Food!" Josh yelled in joy.
"Calm down, pig boy!" Nick yelled. Shamus laughed.
"Hey!" Josh yelled back.
"All right, all right. We'll be a eatin' soon enough, boys," Barru growled. "So whatja get?"
"Pancakes, waffles, and OJ," I answered.
"Good, it took ya long enough!" Barru joked.
"Hey," Yuffie argued, "I thought we did it pretty fast!"
"Just kiddin', just kiddin'," Barru answered with a smile.
Nick took the food and started to make breakfast. Everyone except me sat at the kitchen table and watched Nick cook, impatiently waiting for food. I went into my room. I took off my necklace and started shining it with my hand cloth. For some reason, my necklace seemed to mesmerize me. I cherished it, I loved it. It was a silver pendant with a sparkly green gem of jade or some other material. There was a strange thing about the gem, though. It seemed like there was a liquid inside of the gem and it wasn't totally filled, so I could shake the liquid around in the gem. I tried to keep it secret for some reason, as if it was a magic key that would unlock the secrets of Gaia. There was something special about it that made me be obsessed with it. I always wore it everywhere, ever since it was given to me by my parents. After my parents died, I wore it as a memento of my parents, since I couldn't remember back to when my parents were alive. As a child, I would rub it when I was scared. I spent so much time with it…
"Erik, come back to our planet… Erik!" Yuffie yelled in my face.
"Wha…wha?" I was dazed.
"Breakfast is getting cold, everyone else is done," Yuffie explained.
"Oh!" I bolted to the kitchen. They must have saved me some food, because there was a plate with waffles and pancakes on the table. I put my necklace on, tucked it into my shirt and sat down at the table to eat. The food was cold. I didn't know I was in my room so long. Yuffie was the only other person in the room. She was watching TV.
"Where is everyone else?" I asked.
"Uh…downstairs training. Once you're done eating, we can start to think of a solution." Yuffie answered. Yuffie was crying from watching a soap opera.
I had no clue how to make sure that the team couldn't get caught. I already knew that they wouldn't be able to think up a solution, even if we thought together. I already knew it was a lost cause. I would do it though, just to make Yuffie feel better, to cheer her up.
I was already done with breakfast. I walked over to Yuffie as Yuffie flipped the TV off. "Ready?" Yuffie asked.
"Yeah," I answered.
"Okay, lets go in my room, so we can have some privacy."
"Sure." I followed Yuffie to her room. Her walls were all pink. Barru painted it that way with, surprisingly, store-bought paint. Yuffie lied down on her bed. I sat next to her.
"So… have any ideas?" Yuffie asked.
"Uh… not really."
"Hmm…"
"If only we could just have the Vatiulus stop stealing," I whined.
"Yeah, but how? That's what all the rest live for. Stealing. Being on the brink of excitement. We wouldn't be able to stop them."
"Yeah."
"Even if we did stop them, some how, what would we do then, how would we survive? None of us have any education."
"You're right." I sighed. "The only possible way to get out of this is for you, Josh, and me to quit. Then we might be able to survive,"
"… and leave my brothers and Uncle Barru here!? They'd be heart broken. I'd be heart broken. Plus, how would you get Josh to come?"
"He'd come if I'd ask him to. But you're right, we couldn't leave them after all we've been through with them."
"Hmm…"
I thought for a while. I looked at the clock. "Whoa! It's 11:30 already. Let's go see if Nick and Shamus are leaving soon."
"Okay, we need a break anyways," Yuffie said with a sigh. They went out into the kitchen where everyone was sitting next to the TV. "So, Shamus and Nick, are you two going to go get lunch?" Yuffie asked.
"Oh, yea! Come on Shamus, let's head out," Nick insisted. He got up and Shamus followed.
"We'll be right back," Shamus said.
"Bye," everyone answered. As Nick started to open the door he peeked out and slammed the door.
"What's wrong?" Josh asked.
"This is serious guys," Nick looked concerned, "There's a bunch of cop cars out there… I'd say at least five."
Yuffie gasped. "What are we going to do?"
Nick looked out the window. He gasped. "They're coming out of their cars. They must have been waiting until they saw someone."
Barru cleared his throat. "Okay, everyone get all the things you need to survive. We'll escape through the back. Meet me at a restaurant called 'John's Diner'. It's on the intersection of 18th Street and Knoll. Erik, you set the hide out on fire and call the police in. Go!" Yuffie was crying.
They all headed to their rooms. I got my two knives, my picture of the team, matches, and some clothes. I lit three matches and put them all on the rug. The fire started to spread. I ran to the front door. I could hear the demands of the police to come out with their hands up. I yelled, "Why don't you come in, chickens??" I yanked the door open and ran out the back door. As I ran away from the house, I could hear screams like, "Get them!" and, "there's a fire in here, call the fire department!"
As I ran, I heard a lot of gunshots and police and fire truck sirens. I thought that it could not get any worse. I hoped that all of the team was safe and made it to John's Diner. I knew the way to Knoll and I hoped everyone else did. I turned down an alleys as a short cut. I heard sobbing. As I looked around, I saw Yuffie scrunched up on the ground, crying.
"Yuffie! You're all right!" I said in relief.
They could hear gunshots and then, "They're down this alley!"
"Yuffie, come on, let's go!" I said.
"No! I don't care if I get caught or die, I deserve it!" she screamed.
"No you don't!" I hoisted Yuffie up over my shoulder. I started running. It was hard for me to out run the police while carrying Yuffie, but I did it. I turned Maple Street and started to slow down. I was exhausted.
Then I heard Nick's voice, "Erik!" I turned around to find Nick. "Erik," Nick started as he caught up, "do you have any idea where Barru was talking about?"
"Yeah, we're almost there," I answered.
"You can put me down now," Yuffie said.
"Okay, let's go!" Nick replied.
We started to run. Yuffie had a little trouble keeping up, but she managed. Once we turned down Knoll, we saw Shamus, Josh, and Barru at John's Diner. We started to run towards them until we saw the police who had them in handcuffs. They turned down the nearest alley to watch from a distance. The cops were putting them into the police car. My heart sank. The car started to go.
"I can't believe this is happening," Yuffie whined.
"At least we made it!" Nick said.
"Yeah, thank God!" said a voice from behind. They tried to flee, but it was too late. The cop was already handcuffing them. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out an intercom. He started talking. "Report, three more thieves caught by the junction of 18th Street and Knoll."
"Right, we'll be right there," answered a voice on the intercom. The cop put an arm lock on them and walked them to the intersection. They could all hear the siren getting closer. I would have struggled, but this guy was really strong and had a firearm. Nick, Yuffie and I didn't say anything. Yuffie was crying again. The car pulled up to the curb.
The man said, "Watch your heads," as he shoved us into the back seat of the car. Yuffie was still crying, silently. The cop joined the driver in the front seat. As the car zoomed down the streets, I was devastated, I couldn't believe that we got caught. I wondered, 'How? Why? What is going to happen now? Are we going to jail?'
The car stopped. We must have arrived. The police came out of the car and opened the door. "Get out!" The cop ordered. They walked us up into the Police Department. "You guys are in big trouble. We've been knuckling down on thieves lately."
We then were escorted to a room with a sign in the top of the door that said 'Department of Thieving'. As we entered, we met up with the rest of the group. There were two police sitting across from them. Nick, Yuffie, and I sat down next to the rest as the two cops who escorted us left the room.
"Is there anyone else in your so called team?" The first policeman asked.
Barru put his hand on the Bible, "No, this is all of them." Barru was a very religious person and attended church more than once a week, so he would never tell a lie when swearing on a Bible. The second person started writing.
"We have found many reports where your 'team' has stolen merchandise off of merchants," the first police stated.
"Yeah, so?" Barru answered, "We needed to steal to live. It was our only way of survival!" The second police man wrote a little bit and then paused and looked up. He was staring at me.
"Hmm… yeah, but it wasn't right and you all know that you're gunna have to pay for it, don't ya?" the first policeman asked. The second was still staring at me.
"Yeah, we know…," Barru replied. Everyone else was silent. I just realized that the second policeman wasn't staring at me, he was staring at my necklace! I suddenly felt violated for a reason I did not know. My necklace wasn't tucked into my shirt.
I stood up and slammed the table with my fists. My handcuffs cut into my skin. "Why are you staring at my necklace!?" I screamed at the second policeman. He flinched but did not respond. "Do you ever talk!?"
The second cop leaned over to the first and whispered in his ear. The first mumbled something into his intercom quiet enough so nobody else could hear. He looked upset. A few seconds later, three policemen entered the room. The immediately walked over to me and started dragging me away while yanking on my handcuffs. "What!? What are you doing!?" I yelled hysterically.
"Stop!" Yuffie cried. The two policemen dragged me out of the room and down the hall.
"What do you want from me!?" I yelled.
"Listen…first, stand up." I jumped up. "We all know who you are. You don't belong on the city. We're taking you to another place." I was baffled. They escorted me into a different room. The policemen shut the door, locked it, and left. I was silent. I didn't know what they meant. I wanted to know what they meant!
The room was the emptiest place I have ever been. It had no spirit or emotion. It was just cold and lonely. The walls were cinderblocks painted white and the floor was just white tile. There were no windows and the light was dimmed. Also, it was physically empty. There was nothing in it. Not anything. There wasn't even any dust. I just went into the corner and sat there silently. Devastated. Worried. Depressed. I could not believe what happened; being caught, being taken away from the Vatiulus. I just could not believe it.
It seemed that I was in there for an eternity. I thought that they were just going to leave me in there forever. It must have been at least three hours when the door opened. I quickly got up. "The jet is here," the policeman said calmly, "You'll be taken away now. I'll escort you to the jet." I didn't respond. Normally, I would have been excited to get on the jet. I have never been on one before. I kind of wondered what it would be like, but there was something about that room that made me overwhelmingly tired and I didn't really care. I just let the man walk me. We went down at least three halls and then exited the building. I would have thought 'This is a big place', if I wasn't so depressed. As we exited the building, we approached a small jet. "Get in," the police officer ordered. I climbed up the ladder and entered the jet. This was similar to the other room. It was very empty, but it had a chair with a seat belt and a small window in it. I sat down and buckled up. I felt the jet take off and watched buildings go by the window. The jet wasn't at all like I imagined it to be. I imagined being pulled into the clouds and all my troubles would vanish, but it wasn't like that. As we went up, my heart just sank and I was anxious of what was coming next. As I slowly fell to sleep, I grasped my necklace and tried to remember my parents.
