Chapter Five

The Specter was busy the next morning. Most of the Gang geared up in dive suits and darkened helmets. A fishing vessel was spotted nearby. They were all excited about it. Shade changed his skin to the usual white colour and his eyes the same black voids.

The youngest outlaw, whose name was Trilo, kept shouting out numbers to the outlaws who were preparing to dive.

"Go! Go! Go!" he shouted. The outlaws dived through the hatch and into the ocean.

Ty stood up and let his blanket drop to the ground. He went as far as the rope would allow him. The rope pulled at his arm as he peeked into the gear room. The weapons' pile was disorganized and gear sets were all over the floor. Didn't they know how to at least clean up after themselves? He would gladly to it for them if they would just untie him. He liked it when things were neat. Neat and in order.

"What are you doing?"

Ty whirled around and saw Pretty. He stayed behind with Trilo. His hand rested on the hilt of his knife.

"I… I was just stretching." He took a few steps back to his corner. "Just stretching," he repeated.

Pretty seemed satisfied with that answer and moved on. Ty took in a deep breath and sat down again. Pretty wasn't a very sociable guy. Best to stay out of his way in the future.

The outlaws returned with smiles on their faces and bags filled with oysters, large oysters. They whooped and cheered. It was a big haul for them. A large haul mean that they had to stop by somewhere to sell them, a black market or something like that. That meant another chance to escape.

They were all happy around the dinner table that day. They swapped their sides of the theft as they ate that fish stew again. Ty couldn't believe what he was hearing. They were laughing at the other's misfortune, the people they stole from. He didn't like their attitude towards it. Stealing was wrong. Ma and Pa taught him that when he was young enough. You should never steal from anyone no matter what situation you were in. Obliviously the outlaws didn't follow those rules.

Shade was always the last one to fall asleep. He was either in the front of the sub, making sure it was going in the right direction, or in was in the back of the sub making sure everything was running well for the long night ahead. Ty usually sat up in his corner thinking about an escape plan.

This time Shade was leaning against the table with his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm not the monster you think I am," he said quietly.

Ty held his injured arm which was becoming stiffer with each passing day. "What do you mean by that?"

"The look you had on your face at dinner clearly said you were disgusted with us. The stories we told at dinner disturbed you. I wasn't always like this."

"As if that's supposed to mean something to me," he said and pointed to myself. "How can I trust your word as an outlaw?"

"I wasn't always an outlaw, Guppy," he explained and sauntered over to where he was sitting.

"And how can I trust you? How do I know what you're saying is true?"

"Because now I'm Richard Straid, an actually trust worthy person."

Ty leaned his head against the wall. "What's the difference?"

"The difference?" Shade settled himself onto the ground. "The difference is that Richard can actually be trusted. He cares about people. Shade is the one you can't trust. He's the thief and scoundrel that everybody hates. You can't take his word but you can take Richard's word."

Ty shifted in his seat and picked at the blanket. He looked up and met the outlaw's gaze. "What were you?"

Shade shrugged. "I was once like you, a good boy. I had a sister."

"Gemma," he blurted out. "I know her."

Shade raised an eyebrow. "Do you?"

He nodded. "Met her on a sub while I was out exploring. She's looking for you."

The outlaw shook his head. "That girl is as stubborn as me. When we let you go, tell her to give up her search. Her brother is practically non-existent." He rubbed his forehead before continuing. "She was my little sister. I took care of her when we lived in the boarding home. Then Ms. Spinner-" the name sounded like the worst thing he could say- "shipped me off to a correctional facility."

"What did you do?"

"The worst crime of all when you live Topside, stealing space. The only thing she didn't tell me was that the facility was on the bottom of the ocean. Our name Seablite came from the prison we were locked up in. Four years I was stuck in that hellhole until we busted out, not without getting a few battle scars first." Shade's skin lightened until he was pale but not albino. There was a raised scar on his head in the shape of a rectangle. Like someone had cut a flap to look at his brain.

Ty felt sick when he saw that scar. Shade was operated on but for what purpose?

"Can you guess why they did this?" Ty shook his head. "Because a doctor by the name of Metzger wanted to put the theory of Dark Gifts to the test."

"Dark Gifts aren't real," Ty said, more to convince himself than anyone else.

"Aren't they?" To prove his point, Shade changed back to dark skin and tattooed version he was usually in when his temper got the better of him. "Everyone on the Specter has a Dark Gift. To Doc Metzger, we were just a bunch of orphaned lab rats. And what did we get out of the deal while we were in Seablite?"

Ty was silent.

"Noting. Not even schooling. When we broke out, we tried to make it Topside. The others of the prison dispersed and tried to fit in with society again, a few of them even went subsea to start a new life. After six months, I couldn't take it anymore. Too many people were staring at me. Met up with a few of the others and they had the same problem. After a few years in Seablite, we didn't have many social skills left. We banded together and lived subsea ever since."

"When did you start robbing everything?"

"Almost a year ago. We were all hurting pretty badly for what the government did to us so we decided to hurt them."

"But why rob from settlers? My parents worked hard for what they have now."

"Listen, kid, you don't want to be working for the 'wealth. They'll only use you and throw you to the side when they're done with you." Shade stood up and stretched. "Don't be ashamed of your Gift. Flaunt it for all its worth. It's the reason why the 'wealth can't catch us." He left Ty with that last bit of advice.

"I don't have a Gift."

Shade laughed. "You keep thinking that."

Ty lay down against the wall. He was always ashamed of his Gift ever since he found out he had one. He'll never forget the day when his parents took him Topside. He stayed there for months while a team of doctors probed him and strapped him down for tests.

He shivered and covered up a cough. It was going to be a long time before he fell asleep tonight.