The Hearts of Venice
Chapter 1
The little thieves had just emerged from the clothing shop, with nothing in the hands.
"Why did we have to leave so early, Prop? We didn't get to steal anything!" Boniface moaned and pulled a pouty face.
"Don't ask me Bo. Scip was the one who wanted to leave this time." He replied. Bo just glared at the thief lord. Scipio was the one who usually took his time… it was quite strange to the other five.
"I'm just glad that we're away from those rich, ungrateful witches…" Hornet whispered to herself harshly under her breath.
"There were witches in there Hornet!?" Bo jumped for joy.
"Oh never mind Bo…" She stared off into space and Scipio sent a hostile stare to the girl.
"What?" She returned the look with an even meaner one.
"Guys stop fighting!" Bo banged on Scipio's knees.
"Alright Bo… but I'm only stopping for you." The Thief Lord gave in, and smiled down at him.
"Sister, why are you so quiet? You need control or else people will walk over us in this town. You have to be aggressive, like me!" Marie taught her older sibling.
"Marie, I'm your older sister. May I please get a little respect? I think I know what I'm . You should be thankful that you're not the older one of us…" Selena said as she looked all ways to check that no one was following them.
"Then, Selena, where will we go now? Where will we runaway to?" Marie asked.
"I wish I knew that…" She whispered quietly, but kept searching with her eyes. She was a little uncertain about whether they were alone or not. She could almost detect another being in their presence.
"Wait- what about those little thieves that we bumped into? Maybe they'll take us in!" The younger one smiled greedily.
"I- we can't…it's not right-" She was cut off. There they were again. The band of kid thieves a couple feet away from them. The eldest one who spoke to them earlier was catching glimpses of her. It felt completely unsafe.
Without hesitation, she grabbed her sister's hand and made an escape from the delinquents.
"Selena! What are you doing?" Marie yelled.
"We need to get away from those kids. I think they are following us! Well at least the oldest one is…" She whispered the last part quietly to herself.
"Scipio, this isn't the way to the hideout!" Hornet said, confused as the others. Scipio stopped in front of them.
"You guys head back to the Stella. I'll meet you there in a couple of minutes!" He replied urgently as he quickly ran farther away.
I need to catch up with that girl…What will I say? All I know is that I want to talk to her…
His wish quickly came true as he approached the siblings.
"Wait! I- I… want to talk to you! I don't want to hurt you!" His words accidentally jumbled up. The younger one just scowled as she looked at the boy in black. The older one looked blanked, her expressions unreadable.
"Which one of us do you wish to speak to?" Selena asked.
"I'm not to answer that…" He shook uneasily. Why couldn't he talk like his normal self? This feeling of light headedness; it wouldn't leave him!
"Well what do you want then? Spit it out already!" Marie hastily yelled.
"Well… umm… are you two orphans?" Scip asked uncertainly.
"What makes you think so?" The little brunette questioned with dagger eyes aimed at him.
"If you are and have no place to go then I can give you shelter…" Scipio tried to sound convincing.
"No th-" The older one was cut off by her sibling.
"You can give us shelter?"
"Shelter and food, together."
"It's a deal!" Marie said before her sister could reject the idea. The Thief Lord motioned for the pair to follow him.
Street lamps were dimming as they headed towards a narrow alleyway. Writing was found more often on the walls then not and trash was blown everywhere.
"Marie, how can we trust him? His friends tried to pick pocket us earlier. I don't think its safe…" Selena whispered to her sister.
Marie just rolled her eyes and replied, "Selena, you need to trust me on this one! I know that usually I'm the one to get us in trouble but I think we should follow this guy… What have we got to lose?" She smirked as the older one sighed and gave in.
Finally they had reached their destination.
"Welcome to the Stella!" Scipio announced as he quickly opened the door to the theater.
It was gorgeous!
The towering walls were made out of rich gold, and the seats were made with excellent red leather. It was a shame that the superior cinema had rusted and gone rotten out by age.
"Wow… it's beautiful…" Selena raised a soft smile slowly. She couldn't believe her eyes!
Scip looked over to see the reaction. Her smile… While she kept her eyes on the walls, he kept his on her.
But her grin dissolved quickly when she remembered her situation.
"Who is there?" The same small angelic boy they had run into before ran down the stairs.
"Scipio!" He tightly hugged the older boy, not even noticing the two girls on his side.
"Scipio, you are already here?" Hornet asked since they had only just recently arrived at their home.
"Yes and I have brought some people with me…" He looked down at the ground, hoping the reactions from his friends wouldn't be too bad.
"Scipio, why have you brought them here? Mosca asked with no particular interest.
"Yeah, we don't need more mouths to feed!" Riccio crossed his arms.
"They are orphans… You know it's my job to help runaway kids! Like you two!" Scip put on his regular smirk.
His famous smirk soon disappeared when he saw Prosper trot down. Just as expected, Selena noticed the brunette boy and blushed.
"Those are the same girls from before." He stated when he reached the bottom step. "Are they really orphans?"
Before the Thief Lord could answer for them, Selena spoke for herself. "Pretty much."
Scip's fists curled up in balls. Why did she like Prosper?