What We're Made Of

by Shortiethegiraffe

Richard doesn't come downstairs for breakfast before school one day. When Bruce checks on him, he finds an empty room with a note saying Dick had to keep Bruce safe. From what? That is what Bruce is determined to find out when he launches into an investigation to find his missing son. (Starts out as fluff, but pay attention it turns into plot.)

22. Part 2 Chapter 7

Chapter 7

10:40 PM August 1st 1998, Minister Noah's Office

A giant pit has formed in my stomach. I can feel my dinner from hours ago threatening to make a reappearance. My throat is dry, my heart is beating at an exceptional rate yet all life feels as if it has been sucked out of me. The room is closing in. I'm only vaguely aware of Sister Genevieve gushing behind me

"Oh, isn't it wonderful! Mr. Russello just appeared at our door tonight and said he wanted to take all three of you in. You will be a family! I just knew we would find a home for you, I just knew it."

Jasmine and I stay silent as Daniel's imposing figure causes us both to shrivel in our chairs. Out of the corner of my eye, Jasmine appears as if she is about to hurl and is staring at the ground in submission to Daniel's veiled glare.

Slowly, Daniel saunters into the office. As he passes between Jasmine and my chairs, he develops a triumphant smile. My eyes are glued to his figure, not daring to stray. The nuns and Minister Noah don't seem to be aware of the hidden battle happening between their students and guest. Sister Genevieve is still dreamily ranting

"It is so rare that someone of your generosity comes here Mr. Russello. Taking in three children!"

Wait…did she say three? I frown…they can't be talking about…

"It is a blessing Sister" Daniel says charmingly as he steps up to the desk.

"Oh you are so kind!" The nun then notices my confused expression "Gracious! We haven't told the best part to Kelly and Cole yet." She begins explaining as she approaches us "Mr. Russello has also offered to take in your brother. Isn't that great!"

I want to scream, but my body is too frozen in terror to let out any sound. My expression doesn't change on my face. What is Sister Genevieve talking about? James was adopted. He's gone. He is probably far, far away by now.

Sister Genevieve must have sensed my questions, because she continues "All we have to do is track down your brother's adoptive parents. Then we will contact them and explain the situation. I'm sure they will want your brother to be with his family."

No! This can't be happening! 'Okay Joey, just calm down' I think to myself. It's not like they can track James down, I burned their file on him. That must be what Sister Maya is desperately trying to find right now.

"Isn't this great news Cole?" Sister Genevieve gushes. When I don't respond, she moves onto Jasmine. "Kelly aren't you excited?" Jasmine looks as if she is about to be sick. A couple silent tears are making their way down her face. The nun frowns when she sees this, along with Minister Noah. "Sweetheart, are you okay?" Sister Genevieve asks, concerned.

A shiver passes through Minister Noah and both nuns in the room. The three still for a second, blink, then smile. Sister Genevieve cheerfully states "Oh, poor dear is so excited she can't even speak."

Jasmine looks over at me with a broken expression, it hurts seeing her this way, but there is nothing I can do at the moment.

"Have you located the adoption papers yet?" David asks Sister Maya.

"I'm so sorry it is taking so long" the nuns calls from the filing cabinet. "I just can't seem to find the documents for some reason."

After a moment, Daniel's head slowly turns towards me as the nuns continue their chatter. I force my expression to remain stoic, refusing to cower beneath Daniel's suspicious glare. We hold eye contact for a while, before Daniel's scowl deepens and he looks back towards the adults.

Suddenly Minister Noah and the nuns freeze, staring into space for a second. Then the three robotically make their way out of the office, not saying a word. Daniel, Jasmine and I sit in a tense silence. Then Daniel slowly turns his entire body around, leans against the desk and growls

"So you thought you could get away?"

My heart is racing. Terror piling up inside me, but that doesn't stop my mouth from snarling "We did, didn't we?"

Immediately I regret it. My body stiffens, expecting a punch or slap…but I don't receive one. Instead Daniel's glare hardens and his clutch on the desk strengthens.

"And look what happened, I found you."

"It only took you two years" I snap. Jasmine gives me a look of disbelief, shocked that I am talking back to Daniel. But…I honestly don't even care anymore. I knew the day we ran away from the villa that Daniel would be furious when he found us…not much I can say that will make him angrier.

"You ever consider that I didn't try too hard" Daniel snarls, sending a flicker into my mind. Huh, that's new. "Maybe finding you two hasn't been my first priority." There it is again. I recognize what the flicker is, but…it's never happened with Daniel before.

"Yes, it was" I tell him.

The man's scowl strengthens, "I had more important issues than to look for you vermin. When I finally started, trust me, it didn't take long."

Another flicker. "You're lying" I state with confidence. Jasmine, who was previously eyeing me warily, looks shocked by my statement.

Frowning, Daniel sneers "How would you know?"

"I…I can feel it. Your…your guard is down…that's never happened before" I think aloud. "It's always been too strong for me to read you…are your…your powers…that must mean they…are your powers weakening?'

Daniels hand is suddenly around my throat, pressing the back of my head into the chair. Jasmine lets out a scared shriek from her seat. Before I can even try to gasp for a breath, Daniel is hissing in my face

"Not in the slightest. But trust me, if they did, you should still be afraid. I have a lot more power than what is in my blood. Now, I suggest you tell me where that document you stole is, before I really lose my temper.

Telling myself not to answer, I bite my tongue.

"Where is it?"

I don't talk; partly because I don't want to, partly because I can't breathe.

"I said…where is it?" Daniel growls, leaning in closer.

It takes quite a bit of effort, but I manage to gather the strength to spit in his face. Not even a second later, a hand slaps across my own. The hand locked around my throat releases, and I gasp for breath. Air burns my throat and lungs as I inhale. As I try to gain my bearings again, I hear Daniel snarl

"Do you know where it is?"

"No!" Jasmine cries. Looking over, I see Daniel towering over her chair. He grabs her by the scruff of the neck and hoists Jasmine into the air. She screams in pain. When Jasmine reaches eye level with Daniel, her body stiffens in terror except for her throat and mouth which are desperately trying to gasp for air.

Fear courses through me, but not for myself. "Stop!" I yell at Daniel. He doesn't acknowledge my cry. It isn't till I grab Minister Noah's desk name plate and throw it at his head, that Daniel snaps his head in my direction. The name plate scraped his neck, leaving a couple small cuts. I implore "She doesn't know. I didn't even tell her I took the document. Put her down! She doesn't know anything about it!"

I expect Daniel to drop Jasmine immediately by the glare he gives me, but instead he slowly, eerily sets her back down on the chair. Then, ever so intimidating, he stalks back over to me. Hovering over my head, Daniel sneers

"What. Did. You. Do?"

Taking in a deep breath, as to control my fearful stuttering, I manage "Burned it."

Daniel's jaw tenses. His hand jolt up and takes ahold of my jaw and chin. His fingernails painfully scratch their way into my skin. Before I can make a sound, Daniel asks harshly "What did it say?"

"I don't know" I lie.

The moment the words leave my mouth, a strong hold grabs onto my mind. I gasp in shock from the interloping touch, recognizing it as Daniel's powers. Back at the villa, I always felt when Daniel was controlling the guards, but he has only ever used his powers on me on a few occasions and never to this extent. Before it was always just small things Daniel would change my current emotions, attention direction, only surface thoughts. This is different. Daniel's hold is much deeper; his touch trying to break into my motor control, feelings…memories. That's it! He's trying to break into what I remember about James's adoption paperwork.

The hold on my mind is still, as if it doesn't know where to go. I can feel Daniel trying to push into my mind, mold it, break it…but he can't. Then it dawns on me 'He doesn't know how.'

With all my might, I push back. Ever since I was six, I have avoided my powers as much as possible, never learning how they exactly work. With the little bit of knowledge I do have about them, I use it to fight Daniel's hold in my mind. I push back on the wall intruding my brain.

My vision goes blurry. Daniel's touch lessens the slightest bit, but the amount of resistance needed to do that has drained me of energy. My body isn't used to using my powers. Now it's using as much strength as it can. Black spots begin to appear in my vision. My ears buzz and hear a strange loud gust of wind.

Then suddenly…it stops. Daniel's touch slithers out of my mind, leaving a tainted feeling behind.

I take a few deep breaths, regaining my boundaries. When my vision finally clears and I am able to take in my surroundings, I see Daniel kneeling on the ground in a daze. His breathing is slightly heavy while his hand is clutched to the side of his neck. But the strangest aspect of the entire scene, is the white foam lightly sprayed on and around his body.

Shifting my vision to a blur standing behind Daniel, I realize it is Jasmine. She is holding a small fire extinguisher, one I recognize from every classroom. The nun's hide them under their desks. Minister Noah must have had one too.

"Jasmi…"

"C'mon!" the girl runs over and yanks on my arm. Unsteadily, I follow behind her.

Jasmine pulls me out of the office area, by the time we reach the hallway, I am finally back to normal. I glance behind to see if Daniel is following us…he isn't. He is still kneeling over on the ground in a dazed state. I find this incredibly strange. Why would…

A hand grabs onto my shoulder, shocking me into whipping around and sending a punch to it's owner. I'm only able to stop the attack by a mere luck when I see it is Minister Noah. My heart skips a beat when I notice the large man standing behind the minister, obviously one of Daniel's guards.

"Joey" Minister Noah asks "What are you doing? What is going on?"

To another, the question may have sounded as if he were referring to my actions. But the look in his eyes tells me differently. The frown on the man's face is pleading for me to explain the strangeness of Daniel's presence. He knows something is wrong. Who wouldn't? Before, he was just under the influence of Daniel's powers, letting them cloud his thoughts. But now…

"I…"

The large man behind Minister Noah cuts me off before I can continue, "Don't move kid."

He goes to grab my arm, but I swoop out of the way. Before the man can try to grab me again, Minister Noah jabs his arm back into the giant's stomach. The minister snaps his head up to me and yells "Run!" Not even a second later, the guard's fist is connecting to his face.

"Minister Noah!" Jasmine screams from a few feet behind me.

Turning, I see her standing there with a horrified expression. She runs forward to help, but I stop her. Jasmine struggles against me, desperately trying to get to Minister Noah. So I scoop her up into my arms and run down the hall; thank god she is so small.

Eventually we reach an empty hallway. I duck into a classroom, a short-term sanctuary to catch my breath and figure out what to do. I never planned on running from Daniel a second time when he found us. Over the past two years, it never once came to my mind to figure out an escape route from the school.

Placing Jasmine on a desk, I try to stop her from bolting to the door. "Let me go!" she whines while fighting my grip. "We have to help Minister Noah! The guard…" Tears are slowly making their way down her face.

"The best thing we can do for Minister Noah right now is to stay hidden" I cut her off.

Jasmine cries "But he's…"

"It will only be worse if we run to the rescue. Right now the guards are just trying to get Minister Noah out of the way, if we were there the guards wouldn't hesitate to kill him if he stood between us. Now calm down! Somebody could hear your crying!"

Jasmine takes a few deep breaths and after a few seconds is able to stop her sobs. While she is busy doing that, I try to think of our next move. Right now we are in the middle of the campus. I doubt we will be able to get back to our rooms and pack any bags. It will be tough starting over somewhere without any clothes or money, but it's possible. My biggest worry is how we are going to get away from the orphanage. The school is on top of a hill, quite a distance away from town. It would be easy for Daniel to spot us running down the road. Maybe if we borrow…

"Why didn't you tell me about the documents?" Jasmine's voice faintly whines.

"What?" I ask, snapping out of my thoughts.

"You said you burned James's adoption certificate. Why didn't you tell me?" Jasmine asks, still teary eyed.

"I…I don't know. Why do you care?"

Jasmine bites her lip and looks down at the floor "I don't know. Why did you do it?"

"So Daniel wouldn't be able to find James when he got here."

"Why do you care? I thought you said James was on his own."

"I…I don't know" I stutter. "I guess I did it to piss of Daniel."

Jasmine eyes me skeptically, "Is that really the reason?"

"Yes! Now shut up so I can think of a way to get us out of here."

Some footsteps begin sounding from down the hall, hurried ones. Jasmine begins telling me "Wait…I think I know…"

"Shhhh" I rush over and press my hand against her mouth. Jasmine stops talking and we both listen as the footsteps grow closer.

My heart begins racing. Quietly as I can, I tiptoe over to the door and peak through a tiny window. My blood freezes as I see three or four men coming down the hall. I turn and mouth to Jasmine 'Daniel'. Her eyes widen and almost immediately her breathing goes silent. We both know what is going to happen next. Daniel is going to feel our presence in the classroom and come barging in.

One of the guards is walking next to Daniel, talking urgently. "…the church. Des is currently searching the playground area. But we just don't have enough men to cover all areas of this place. By the time we finish searching one, the two could have easily slipped by."

"Where is Curt? Didn't he see them run off?" Daniel's gruff voice asks. There is a hint of uncertainty in it.

"He was too busy fighting with the priest? Weren't you there? Did you see…"

Daniel silences the man with a harsh glare "If I knew where the two are hiding, I wouldn't need your pathetic asses looking for them, would I?"

"I'm sorry" the guard says shakily. Daniel turns away, scowling. As he does, the guard's expression goes from fearful to confused. He contemplates something for a second before asking

"Sir…who are these kids? Are they…I mean…they look a lot like you."

Daniel whips around so he is facing the guards. At this point the ground is farther down the hall and have already passed the room I am spying from. So when Daniel turns to look at the men, I can see his face. Daniel stares at his men for a minute, as if concentrating on something. I frown and think 'What is he doing?'

"Sir?" one of the guards questions, "Are you okay?"

Daniel stares for a few more seconds before grumbling "Burn the place down. If we can't find the two, we'll smoke them out."

"But Sir! There are children here!"

"If they have any brains they will get out in time. Natural selection at work." With that Daniel leaves, disappearing down the hall.

After a few seconds, the guards begin whispering to each other "Are we really doing this?"

"We have no choice" another argues. "It sucks, but I don't want to be the one receiving the boss's punishment."

"What the hell is he going to do!?"

"Both of you shut up!" the largest guard snarls. He is the one who was speaking to Daniel earlier, probably his second in command. "We do as the boss orders, no questions asked."

"But…"

"No questions asked" the guard asserts. He looks around, his eyes traveling to the window I am peeking through. I duck out of sight, praying that the guard didn't see me. I hear him growl "Now go find the others and tell them the orders."

Footsteps sound from the other side of the door, making their way down the hall and around the corner. I let out a deep breath and sink to the ground, relieved at not being caught. Jasmine crawls over and sits next to me. She whispers

"Are they gone?"

I nod in response.

"How didn't Daniel find us?"

"I…I don't know. Something must be up with his powers. He should have felt our minds in here; he could before."

"That means" Jasmine eyes widen. "Joey…we could get away. Daniel won't be able to mentally track us."

"If we find a way out of here" I mumble.

"That's what I was trying to tell you before. I know how we can get out of the school. There's a tunnel, one that leads to town from the church."

"What? Really?"

Jasmine nods, "I've been inside it a few times. Freddie told me that it leads to St. Michael's chapel at the bottom of the hill."

"That's awesome" I tell her. Hope wells up inside me. We could really do it…really get away. "Do you know how to get in it?"

"Yeah" she nods. "Is the hallway clear?"

"I think so" I whisper, standing to look through the tiny window. "From what I can see, nobody is there."

"Good, follow me" Jasmine begins to open the door. She takes a step into the hall, and a screams when a hand grabs her from the side.

"Jasmine!" I yell, running to see the kidnapper. Daniel's second in command is standing next to the wall by the door. There was no way I could have seen him from the angle I was looking through the window. He has an arm wrapped around Jasmine and a gun pointed at her head with the other hand. "Let her go" I snarl.

The man laughs, "Why? What are you going to do?" He pushes the muzzle of the gun against Jasmine's temple, making her whimper in fear.

Anger seers through me. I use the only threat I know would scare the guard, "Hurt her and our father will kill you."

"Wait" the man raises an eyebrow. "Father? So that's why Russello is so determined to get his hands on you two. Getting his two little babies back" he snickers.

"You didn't know…" I frown.

"Russello isn't one for sharing information, you of all people should probably know that." The man cuts me off, then an idea sparks in his eye. "You should know more than most people. Tell me kid, what secrets are you keeping for your dear old dad?"

I gulp, trying to keep on a brave face. "Nothing that would interest you."

"Trust me, I would find it very interesting. Let's start with why you disappeared."

"We ran away, simple as that."

"Why?"

"You work for him! Why the hell do you think?!" I snap. "Put the gun down!"

"Not yet" the man grins evilly, "What did you mean when you said powers?"

My blood runs cold. "What are you talking about?"

"I overheard you and this merda talking in the classroom. You mentioned Russello's powers not working; what powers were you referring to, something to do with minds?"

"You misheard…"

"Tt!" he scoffs. "I don't think so. Russello having powers would actually explain quite a few things."

"Nobody has mind control powers…"

"Please, with all the freaks popping up in America, it wouldn't surprise me if Russello is one. Now…how did he get them?"

"You're crazy! Put my sister down!"

The man's grasp on Jasmine tightens. She lets out a shriek of pain as he growls "That's not going to…"

Bang!

My heart leaps into my throat as I see the man and Jasmine topple to the ground. The sound echoes through the halls, leaving a sickening feeling in my gut. The gun was still in the man's hand, still pointing at Jasmine. Oh god. No, no, no.

I run to the fallen man. There is some movement underneath him…Jasmine. Thank goodness. Jasmine is struggling to get out from under the unconscious guard. I grab one of his arms, trying to help Jasmine, but he is too heavy. It isn't until another set of arms helps me lift the man, that I am able to get my sister free.

Jasmine crawls to freedom, terrified tears pouring down her face. I bend down and pull her into a comforting hug, trying to calm her. I notice the gun a few feet away.

"Is she okay?" a voice asks.

"Yeah" I look up. "Thanks Steve."

My roommate nods. I can tell by his expression that he is a bit overwhelmed, probably freaking out about what he just saw.

"Did you…?"

"Hit him with that meter stick Sister Magdalena always threatened us with. It split in half when I hit him though" he indicates to the two broken pieces of wood on the floor.

"That was enough to knock him out?"

"If you know where to hit, then yeah."

We sit in quiet for a second. The only sound being Jasmine's heavy breathing, recovering from her near death experience. I pull her closer as Steven comments

"So you're dad's an ass?"

"Yeah" I mumble. "How much did you hear?"

"Doesn't matter" Steven stops me. "We need to get you two out of here."

"You're…You're going to help us?" I ask, bewildered.

"Of course I am."

"But, all this is my fault. They…they are going to burn down the orphanage because of us."

"I know, I heard."

"And you're still…"

"You are my friend, of course I'm going to help!"

"But…"

Steven kneels before me so we are face to face. "None of this is your fault. Yeah, these men are after you, but you obviously ran away for a good reason. Now stop feeling sorry for yourself, and let's get you both out of here." He helps Jasmine to her feet; I slowly stand up on my own, still in shock about Steven's willingness to help us.

My roommate…or now former roommate, leads Jasmine and I to the end of the hall. There is a small hiding spot in the corner. A small janitor closet that holds only a few brooms. Steven opens the door and pulls out two bags. "Here" he hands them to Jasmine and me.

"What are these?" I ask.

"A while after she dropped you two off at Minister Noah's office, Sister Genevieve came back to the dorms and asked Johanna and I to pack your things. She told us that you two were getting adopted…Drew and I were dropping your stuff off when we heard the commotion. We ran here and hid in the closet while the men were talking in the hall."

"Where's Drew now?" Jasmine worries.

"I told her to go warn the nuns and dorms about the fire while I stayed back to help you two" Steven explains. "I'm not sure what Johanna packed for you Kelly…or…" all three of us frown. Steven sighs and tells me "I packed some clothes for you. I also knew you kept your money in that stupid book under your bed, so I threw that in there along with some other things. I hope it's enough."

"It's more than I expected" I smile. "Thanks Steven."

He returns the sad smile before asking "You two have an escape plan?"

"Yes" Jasmine answers. "There's a tunnel…"

"In the church. Heard Freddie bragging about it a month ago. Didn't know it actually existed though."

"It does" I state. "You should go, warn the others and get everyone to safety."

Steven nods solemnly, "This is really happening, isn't it?"

"Unfortunately, yes."

"I'm…" Steven sighs. "You're the only roommate I could ever stand. Even with all of our fights and everything…now that you're leaving. I'm…I'm going to miss you man." He turns to Jasmine, "Both of you."

Jasmine and I both just stare at Steven, not knowing what to say.

"Look, whatever all this is, whatever your father is trying to do…just stay safe. Okay?" he begins to walk away, towards the stairs. Before disappearing, he stops and tells me "What I said earlier is still true. You should talk to someone. All these secrets…it's not good to bottle things up. This wall you two are building to keep everything in, it's not healthy. You have to trust somebody."

"It's not that simple" I begin.

"I'm sure it's not. But just…be careful." Pause, "Bye guys." With that, Steven walks down the stairs.

-30 minutes later-

"Careful!" Jasmine hisses as I scrape by another car.

"Shut up! I'm trying. Give me a break, I've never driven one of these before."

"I can see that" Jasmine grumbles.

"Do you want to try?!" I snap.

"Yes."

"No! Now be quiet" I growl as I pull our car out of the pub's parking lot. It wasn't hard to swipe the keys off a drunk sitting at the bar, that's how we got this hunk of junk.

Luckily there isn't any other cars on the road, so no witnesses of my driving. It's taking me a bit to get used to driving; but steadily I get Jasmine and I onto the street and heading towards the highway that will get us out of Zirl.

The passing buildings leave me with a melancholy feeling. Even though I didn't visit the town itself that often, I will miss it and the orphanage. I'm not going to lie, I do have a bit of excitement for what is to come. Jasmine and I haven't yet discussed where we are heading to, but the new adventure is intriguing to me. But still…I will miss Zirl. I'll miss the people, the mountains, the school, everything. I'm sad to see it all whizz by for the last time.

Jasmine lets out a small gasp next to me. I turn to see her staring out the window. Following her gaze, I spot the cause. Up the hill, a faint orange glow is starting to grow in the orphanage. The fire has started to take over entire buildings.

"Do you think everybody got out in time?" Jasmine whispers.

"I don't know. I hope so."

I press harder on the gas pedal, forcing our car to speed down the road.

9:40 AM September 20th 1998, London England

Damn, only twenty euros. How come the only people easy to snag wallets off of, never have any money. I could try to do something with the credit cards, if only I knew what or how to do it. I'm meeting up with Jasmine in an hour, I should probably try to get my hands on a bit more money before then…and I should get rid of the wallets so she doesn't see them.

Oh, if Jasmine knew what I am doing. She'd be furious. The nuns at the school always taught us that stealing is wrong, and let's just say Jasmine took more to their lectures than I did.

Not that I don't feel bad about stealing people's wallets, but I honestly don't know what else to do. Jasmine and I have been living in a shelter for the past week, trying to figure out what to do next. We want to stay in England, far away from Austria where Daniel last saw us. But it is definitely going to be harder than last time to find a place to stay. Jasmine and I tried to go to an orphanage, but it was all computerized. They wanted to put pictures of us into a program along with our names. Neither Jasmine nor I thought this was a good idea. It would be too easy for Daniel to track us. So we decided to stay on the streets, living in shelters, hostels, wherever we can get a roof over our head and not draw too much attention to ourselves.

Jasmine has been going around collecting bottles and other recyclables for money, but honestly it just isn't enough. I don't tell her that, but it's true. When we both were trying to make money in an honest way, we were broke almost immediately. I don't want to put that stress of that knowledge on Jasmine. So here I am now, hoping another idiot walks by with his wallet falling out of his pocket, ready to be taken. I know it's wrong, but until I find a better solution, it's what I have to do.

I walk down the street, keeping my eyes out for another opportunity. A younger man, around 19 or 20, is walking the opposite direction of me. There is a bulge in his pocket, bingo. I steadily meander my way towards the center of the sidewalk, pretending not to notice him. When he approaches, I 'accidently' bump into him. As I do, I make a grab for the pocket. My fingers tough the wallet's leather, when suddenly a hand is wrapped around my throat, dragging me into an alley.

The man let's go of me when I send a kick to his gut. I try to make a run for it, but he pulls me back and slams my back into the alley's brick wall. My head throbs from the pain. Before I can scream, he places a hand over my mouth and taunts

"You think I'm an idiot. I know a pick-pocket when I see one. A normal kid would be in school right now."

My arm goes flying, trying to hit the man in the face, but he dodges it. I try a few other attacks, but each fails miserably. Finally, another voice calls from the alley's entrance. Thank god! Someone to help.

"What have you got here Jay?"

Crap! They're friends!

"I think I found a recruit."

"Really now?"

What the hell are they talking about? I try again to get away, sending a punch to my captors face. He lets go of me, but when I try to run, his friend grabs me.

"Well he does put up a good fight" the second man jokes.

"Let me go" I snarl.

"Hold on kid, we just want to talk."

"I'll get the cops!"

"Well considering you were the one who tried to steal my wallet, I don't think that would be in your best interest" the first man, Jay I guess, smirks. I glare at him; as I do, I take in his facial features. Jay has bright green eyes with freckles. A scar runs from his eyebrow into his red hairline.

"What do you want?"

"First I want to know why you wanted my wallet."

"For the money, why else?" I snap.

"Can't you get money from your parents?" I send him another glare as a response. Jay smirks again and says "Haven't got any, do you? Thought so."

"Great, you were right. Now let me go!"

"Just wait kid" the second man tells me. "We've got a proposition for you."

"What?"

"We'll get to that later" Jay states nonchalantly. "First I need to know, where are you staying?"

"Why the hell would I tell you…?"

He cuts me off, "Have any aunts or uncles you living with? Or how about a nice grandma?"

"No."

"So you're living on the streets."

"Why do you care?"

Jay's smile grows bigger, "How would you like a place to stay?"

I stop struggling, "What?"

"A nice roof over your head, three meals a day, and your own bed. We'll even throw in a shower, sorry to tell you this kid, but you kind of have a funky smell to you."

"What are you talking about?"

"It's a bit of a mix between BO and week old fish. What do you think Liam?"

The man holding me adds "There's a hint of wet dog in there."

"Oh definitely…"

"I'm not talking about my smell! What do you mean about a place for me to stay?"

"Well it's the proposition my colleague here was talking about. We take in kids like you, street kids with nowhere else to go. We feed you, clean you, and let you sleep in a house with your own bed. All you have to do is work for us."

I ask cautiously, "What would that 'work' be?"

"Just a couple deliveries a few times a month. Trust me kid, it's a good deal. All you have to do is carry a backpack from one side of the city to the other, no questions asked. In exchange, you get to live comfortably in one of our houses with a few other kids. If you do a good job, you may even be promoted in our little operation. Then you can make enough money to get your own house. How does that sound."

I pause and take a second to think. "Will it be illegal?"

"Kid, don't ask questions you don't want answers to. Are you in or are you out?"

"I…" I falter, trying to come up with an answer. "I have a sister, I have to take care of her..."

"She can come too" Jay smiles coolly. "As long as you two do what we ask, you can stay as long as you want."

"Really?" I question skeptically. This seems a bit too good to be true.

"Cross my heart. Now, I'll ask for the last time. Are you in, or are you out?"

"I'm…I'm in" I state, taking in a deep breath. Something about this may not feel right, but it is better that starving on the streets.

"Excellent. Liam, let our new protégé go." The second man releases me. Jay claps me on the back and asks "So kid, what's your name?"

"Billy."

A hand slaps across my face. "Kid, first lesson you need to learn; don't lie to your superiors. Now tell me your real name."

"Jo…Joey" I stutter.

"Joey" Jay repeats before icily telling me "Welcome to the business."