Chapter6

"Help me Scipio," she whispered. Gabriella's face, although it seemed impossible, was even paler than usual. The sparkle had died in her eyes and seeing her like this almost terrified Scipio.

Scipio nodded. "Marco," he repeated the Bloodhound Gang member's name, "which one is he?"

Gabriella had hardly pointed before Scipio spotted him. He was tall and muscular with a shaved head and ghostly pale blue eyes. A large tattoo covered the top of his head, made up of three words wrapped around with a snake inching down Marco's neck.

Bambino di Diavolo

The market was crowded, but a ring of space surrounded Marco as people tried to avoid him.

"Bambino di Diavolo," Scipio read, "The Devil's Child?" As if he had said his name, Marco snapped his head around, spotting Gabriella cowering behind Scipio. He began to move his way across the crowded market towards them.

Scipio gripped Gabriella's arm. "We have to move." he said quickly. His dark eyes open and ready, Scipio made a bolt for it as he dragged Gabriella behind him. "Is he following us?" he asked.

Gabriella turned her head around just in time to see Marco knock over a stand of vegetables as he chased after them. "Yes!" she squeaked, and Scipio felt her grasp his hand tighter.

"Why are… you running from… him?" Scipio asked, breathing hard as he did his best not to collide into anyone.

"He lent me… some money… only I never intended… to pay him back."

"I'm not surprised," Scipio rolled his eyes.

"Only he wants… it back…" Gabriella continued, "and I was s'pose… to give it to him… earlier today… but I ran for it… when you came."

"He also probably knows it was you who stole everyone's wallets." Scipio added on as he made a sharp turn. Gabriella didn't answer; her words were stuck in her throat.

Scipio had led them into an alleyway.

"Gabriella," a raspy voice came from behind them. The two of them turned to face Marco. His chest was rising up and down as he took in deep breaths with his arms slightly outstretched, letting them know they couldn't escape.

"Gabriella," he said again, "it's been a week. I need my money back."

"Marco…" she began cautiously, but Gabriella didn't know what to say.

"I've given you plenty of time." Marco continued, "You said you'd have it all by now – "

"She doesn't have it," blurted out Scipio. Marco looked at him for the first time as if just noticing he was there. "Look, just give her a few more days."

"A few more days?" Marco's chuckle made the hairs on the back of Scipio's neck rise, "The last time I gave her a few more days, the bitch stole have of my gang's wallets." He turned back to Gabriella, "So I'll be wanting those back too Princess… now."

He began taking slow steps towards Scipio and Gabriella. They automatically inched backwards, deeper and deeper into the alleyway. Gabriella let out the tiniest whimper as Marco began listing things he would do to her unless he got his money. Scipio didn't hear any of it. He was too distracted by the old fire escape crawling up the alleyway's walls.

The fire escape went up three floors high with one door on each floor. Scipio pulled Gabriella closer as they continued to back into the alleyway. One of those doors just has to be unlocked, Scipio thought. If not, maybe they'd be able to push Marco off…

Without any warning, Scipio made a dash towards the fire escape, still clutching tightly onto Gabriella's arm. She followed along easily, just like Scipio was dragging a doll. Still caught by surprise, it took Marco a moment to realize what was going on. By the time he reacted, Scipio and Gabriella were at the first door.

Scipio cursed under his breath when he was unable to open the door. The two of them sprinted up the next flight of rusty steps, hearing Marco slip and fall while trying to catch up to them. Gabriella tried to open the second door with no luck, forcing them to go up to the third door.

Heart pounding, Scipio yelled, "Come on, open!!"

The tiniest sound of a click was all he needed. Bursting the door open, he shoved Gabriella into the tiny apartment. A woman nursing a child let out a bloodcurdling scream and man who must have been her husband jumped off the couch.

"We know, we know," Scipio said rapidly still pushing Gabriella across the apartment, "we'll be going."

"Sorry," Gabriella added quickly as she opened the apartment door and started running down the hallway. As Scipio slammed the door behind him, he caught a glimpse of the man hitting Marco in the back with a wooden stool. That was all they needed.

They could hear Marco thumping down the stairs above them, but by the time he had gotten outside, Scipio and Gabriella had vanished, disappearing into the crowded market.

"How much do you owe him?" Scipio and Gabriella, after checking to make sure they weren't being followed, were sitting on the dusty floor of what was their home. Gabriella had curled up into a tiny ball, snuggling closely to Scipio. As much as he just wanted to shove her away, Scipio let her stay put.

"More…" Gabriella hesitated, "more money then we have." She sat up, looking Scipio in the eye. "We needed it badly. It was before I started stealing money from different gangs, and Jaymie was hardly making any money by singing."

After a moment, Scipio said sternly, "You should tell Jaymie. Tell her what's going on with you and Marco. She'll listen, she'll find a new place for you to live and you'll be able to put him and the Bloodhound Gang behind you."

Gabriella just shook her head. "No, no we can't tell Jaymie. She'll get all angry at me and will never hear the end of it." She paused. "Besides, it's the only way I know how to get money. If we move somewhere else I'll just end up in some different gang."

"But Jaymie deserves to know –"

"No," Gabriella said again as she stood up, "no I'm not going to tell her and you're not going to tell her. It'll just be a secret, a secret between the two of us. Jaymie doesn't need to know anything." With that Gabriella walked towards the counter in the room, opening and closing drawers until she had found what she wanted.

"I'm going to fix this," she told Scipio, "I'll get the money to pay Marco back. I-I just need some extra time. And because Marco knows what I look like…" she approached Scipio, holding a knife in her hand, "well, I'll need to pretend to be someone else."

Scipio took the knife, knowing what Gabriella meant. She sat down on her knees, her back to Scipio. "It doesn't have to be like this," he said, "are you sure…"

Gabriella just nodded, and Scipio sighed. He took a look at Gabriella's long, blonde locks cascading down her back. Raising the blade, Scipio began cutting away her hair, letting it fall silently on the floor, until he was done. Gabriella ran her hand over the messy, jagged boy cut.

"Thank-you." She whispered, and curled up into a tiny ball, her shoulders shaking ever so slightly.

Scipio stared at her, unsure of what to say. The only sound was of the wind outside, whistling as it picked up speed. At last, he silently picked up the long strands of hair and took them outside to pass them onto the wind. They slipped out of his hands and off the blonde locks went, and just like that, they vanished.

Vanished, just like Gabriella would unless something could be done, soon and fast.