A middle-aged woman slowly made her way down the street, two bags in tow. One held a fast-food meal, a hamburger that let its scent entice the boy watching from the shadows of an alleyway. The other bag was a purse, which no doubt held at least some cash.

The boy grinned. He found his next target.

To anyone who may have been within earshot, there wasn't much warning. In the alley, the soft shuffling of pages could be heard, followed by low, incoherent mumbling. Suddenly, the perch where there was once a person was empty.

On the streets below, a boy knelt in a doorway, mere feet away from his intended target. A book was open on his lap. He read the same words over and over again, mouthing them to himself repeatedly so that he would be able to utilize his spell in a moment's notice. Then, he stood.

The book in question shrunk to a size that would fit inside his pocket. Now, with both hands free, he started off at a brisk pace towards the woman. He collided with her back with enough force to knock her to the ground. Upon impact, both bags went flying. Quickly, the boy grabbed one in each hand, and then recited the words that he'd practiced just seconds earlier.

When the woman sat up and looked around, the person who'd knocked her over was gone. So were her bags.

Safely in the alley once more, the boy opened the bags to examine his prize. First, the fast food: a double cheeseburger and a large fries. Not a bad haul, all things considered. While he ate, he rifled through the purse. Lipstick, ticket stubs, cigarettes… and a wallet. He eagerly opened up the wallet.

The boy stopped chewing and frowned. Only twenty-five dollars? He pocketed the cash and examined the wallet itself. Maybe he could sell it on the market, although he couldn't imagine it going for more than eight. The boy sighed, and then quickly finished his meal. There were a few more hours left in the day. Maybe he could find another target.

"Seb," Aurora called as she headed for the front door. As she walked past another room, she caught sight of movement.

"Sebastian! I told you to get ready! We're going to the store."

Sebastian was still in his pajamas, again. At five in the afternoon, the boy hadn't changed.

"I don't wanna go to the store!" A now nine-year-old Sebastian wailed. He was lying on the floor of the room, notebooks spread in all directions. Each notebook had page upon page filled with overlapping circles and equations that didn't make sense. Aurora sighed. Maybe they just didn't make sense to her. After all, Sebastian was one of those super-genius children.

"I told you we're going to the store! I told you an hour ago! Get dressed!"

"No!" Sebastian said, crossing his arms.

Aurora sighed. It was getting late, and she really needed to go. Nobody liked hanging around in the city after dark. She didn't have time to argue with her temperamental brother.

"Fine, Seb, fine. Bliss," she said to the alien sitting on the sofa, "You'll watch after him, right? And where's Riley?"

Bliss nodded. "Riley's in her room."

"Well, if she asks," Aurora instructed, "Tell her I've gone to the store. And none of you even think about going out alone. You've heard the stories of robberies in our area. I'll be back as soon as I can."

She slung her shoulder bag across her body and headed for the door.

As soon as she was out of sight, Sebastian went back to his notebooks. Bliss busied herself with the television set that they'd managed to put together.

"Hey."

Bliss startled. She wasn't used to Sebastian talking much as of late, especially if nobody addressed him first. And he never, ever talked while he was working on his notebooks.

"Yes?" Bliss answered, turning towards the boy.

"Do you like it here?" He asked, placing his pencil down and giving all of his attention to Bliss.

"Of c-course!" she stammered, "Why wouldn't I? You and Aurora are nice to let me stay," she said, each word halting as she struggled to put together a complete sentence.

"No, no, that's not what I meant," Sebastian said, waving his hands in a "no" gesture. "I mean, do you like it here, in this world, with all of this badness and crime and poverty."

Bliss ducked her head, not sure how to answer. "I," she started, then paused and changed her answer, "This is the world we live in. I have no choice."

"Yes, but," Sebastian insisted, "Do you like it."

Bliss turned back to the television, suddenly uncomfortable with the conversation.

"No," she whispered. Then, in a stronger voice, she said, "But this is the world we live in. There is no changing that."

Sebastian fell silent, and soon, she heard the scratching of pencil on paper. Bliss went back to flipping through channels, no longer really paying attention. Minutes passed, all in silence.

Had her mind not been running through the conversation she just had, she might've missed the meaning of his next words, nearly ten minutes after they both stopped talking.

"Isn't there?"

The sun was setting earlier, a sign of the oncoming winter. It had been nearly a year since Aurora and Sebastian arrived at the Station. About six months after that, Aurora found Riley.

Aurora sighed. Her eighteenth birthday had come and gone, and no changes could be seen in that area.

As each day passed, she found her patience with her brother growing shorter and shorter. Her mother said not to blame him; he couldn't control his actions. But the fact that her brother showed no remorse for ruining his sister's life was infuriating.

Aurora walked on, her head in a daze.

The boy from before was having a hard time finding another target. He preferred to nab people who weren't walking in groups, and who weren't keeping close watch on their belongings. The pickings were slim.

As the sun sank lower in the sky, he decided that tonight just wasn't his night. The twenty-five dollars would just have to suffice until he could find something more.

As he turned to leave his post and head back to his usual roost, he caught sight of her. A girl, walking alone in the streets. He crouched back down again, focusing. This could be his new target. He scowled slightly at the sight of her shoulder bag. The way it was slung across her body would make it hard to just grab and go. On the other hand, though, it looked heavy. She'd probably have to stop and shift its weight. That would be his moment to move in.

It would be close.

He closed his eyes, mentally reciting the teleportation spell. As soon as he felt he was ready, he opened his eyes and started towards the girl.

Sure enough, she reached for her shoulder strap. She simply grabbed it with one hand and shifted it slightly, but that proved to her follower that she would get tired soon.

The boy mapped out the city streets in his head. Going this way, the girl would most likely be headed to the grocery store, which was a few blocks down from their current location.

The boy's breath caught when he saw her reach for her shoulder strap again. She shrugged, and began to lift the strap over her head.

He quickened his pace and ran into her.

In the second it took for him to complete his action, everything slowed down for the boy. He saw the bag separate from its owner, just within his reach. He was prepared, the spell was on his lips-

But he was cut off when he felt a foot slam into his leg, knocking him over. He crashed to the ground, hard, and the wind was knocked out of him. He groaned.

The light that he could see through his eyelids dimmed slightly, indicating that someone was blocking his view. He slowly opened his eyes.

The girl he had been following was standing above him, silhouetted against the setting sun. She was replacing her bag over her shoulder, and in one hand she held…

Oh, no.

The boy frantically patted his pockets, and he felt his stomach drop when he realized that he no longer had his book. It must have fallen out when he fell. But he needed that book, without it he couldn't cast spells…

"Give that back!" he shouted, beginning to get up.

"Why should I? You tried to steal from me."

"But I didn't," the boy said, growing more anxious by the second. Without his book, he really had no way of gaining anything. He couldn't well defend himself without it, and he couldn't obtain his necessary things in life without using it.

"How many people have you stolen from?"

The boy began to back away.

"How many?" she shouted.

When he didn't answer again, she took a step forward.

Aurora wasn't sure exactly what happened. One second, she was standing over a strange boy with long, dark hair and red eyes, and the next second…

A turtle shell?

She warily approached the large shell. "Hello?"

"Don't hurt me…" a voice said from inside the shell.

Aurora knelt down in front of the shell, trying to peer inside. She couldn't see.

"I'm not… I'm not going to hurt you," Aurora said, feeling all anger about him trying to steal from her seep away.

He was just doing what he needed to do to survive, after all. Just like everyone else in this shell of a city.

"I won't hurt you. Please, come out."

She was surprised and slightly amused by the sheer size of the sandwich that the boy, Samuel, fixed. After she had coaxed him out of his shell, literally, she went to the store and let him buy what he wanted. Now, it was dinnertime, and she and Samuel were alone in the kitchen.

When he looked like he was going to take a break, she asked; "What's your story?"

Samuel, who was preparing to take a bite, put the sandwich down. He sat there, quietly, staring at the edible concoction before him, but not really seeing it.

"I… I'm a half-demon? And, well, I… when I was little… Because someone found out my dad's a demon… they… they killed my parents. And then, then I… I had to live on my own. Stealing was how I survived." He gulped, cutting off before he said anything else. He didn't really need to talk about the rest.

Aurora put a hand on his shoulder, offering as much comfort as she could without getting too personal. "You don't need to do that anymore."

Sebastian and Bliss hadn't moved from their spots in the other room. Both were silent; the earlier discussion all but forgotten. Finally, Sebastian stood and collected his notebooks. In a quiet voice, so as not to disturb Bliss, he promised.

"I'll fix this."

Wow! I finally cranked this last one out! Whoo!

Okay, so the remaining Origins are Jacquelyn, Riley, and Charlie.

By the way, I don't want to threaten you guys, but I am putting forth effort to write your characters. Please review.