Neil Lurkman and the Ring of Gyges
Chapter 1: Caught Red Handed
Hey, listen, I didn't want this to happen, but it did. If you feel any connection to this, or any change in your life, stop reading, close the window, shut down your computer, and wait. If nothing happens after a while, you can reopen your browser and read on.
But if something does happen, you're one of us. Try to find someone in your school that you suspect may not be completely human. Or get in contact with the Camp.
Your life may change, and not for the better. Good luck.
I woke up, unfamiliar with my surroundings. I remembered something about a ring. I looked around the room for about five seconds, noticing I was in a bed that you'd see at a hospital. Great, I probably broke something I thought, and then I passed out.
Ω Ω Ω
The events of what had happened that day replayed in my mind as I slept. I remembered getting out of school and meeting up with my only true friend, Noel. She was the only on I brought with me on my "heists". She's like a good luck charm, ever time she's with me when I do a "heist" I never get caught, and can get more things over all.
"Hey, so where are we going today?" she asked tucking a strand of her auburn hair out of her eyes. I noticed she was wearing a hoodie and a pair of sun glasses. Perfect for the idea that just came to my mind.
"Down to the movie theater, it's an opening night for some new James Bond, so I know there'll be a bunch of people. If we can sneak in and grab a few phones, wallets, anything really, we should be good to go." I said. Yep, that's what my "Heists" are. I steal from people. Yea. I realize how bad this must sound coming from an almost 15 year old.
Well, see, I don't do then for fun or that I need them. I sell them, and use the money to help the kids at the orphanage I live at. Yea, I'm an orphan that steals things. But how am I supposed to know good from bad? My dad left my mom when I was born. Then my bad luck struck again when I was three months old; my mom died in a car accident. This left me, a three month old child, homeless due to no one really knew about my dad and my mom's parents were too old to take care of me. So I ended up in the orphanage that I've come to call home. And I use the money from my "heists" to help out the kids at there.
"So what do I do? Buy a ticket and sit there enjoying the movie as you sneak around stealing from people as you 'head down the aisle to go to the bathroom'?" she did finger quotations around the last part. Going to the bathroom was my common excuse if anyone asked why I was up during the movie.
"No, I have an idea for you, but the movies not until 7:00, so I need to check in at the orphanage before heading out. Want to come?" I asked, not yet willing to share my plan for her in case she got cold feet. Mrs. Conley was always upset if I didn't check in to the orphanage around 3:30, she gets all worried, even though I know my way around Philadelphia as good as anyone, if not better.
A few minutes off the bus stop, we reached the orphanage, a recently built building, maybe only 30 years old. It was a two story building that looked like a cross between government buildings, with round columns out front, and a wooden house, with the wood arrangement on the walls. It was shaped in a square O shape, with a courtyard in the middle of the O for gardening.
As we entered, Noel was barraged with questions from the younger girls who knew her, that were playing in the main room. As she went off to play "Barbie Princess" or whatever, I walked down to the main office. I was about to knock on the door when I heard a male voice say "…is ready to come to camp. No one will notice him gone during the break you have."
"No, he doesn't realize who he is; I will not give up custody of him just because of who his father is. Neil is in no sort of danger." I heard Mrs. Conley say, her tone serious with a hint of anger in it. And what does she mean "who my father is" and someone's trying to get custody of me? I thought to myself. But why would someone want custody of me, a student with C's and D's, along with I'm dyslexic and diagnosed with ADHD.
"Liz, he is in plenty of danger. He may not know who he is, but that just prevents a margin of his scent. They will find him, it's only a matter of time" said the voice. Whoever he was, he obviously knew Mrs. Conley well, and no one called her by her first name. And what did they mean scent; I didn't smelled that bad, did I? Also, who was "they", and why did they want to find me. Were they the police, did they find out about me stealing? Thought, and at that moment, I my unluckiness decided to strike again. I leaned closer to the door, causing my backpack to fall off my arm and make a loud Thunk sound.
I quickly grabbed my backpack as I heard people scrambling to the door and headed down to the bathrooms. I ran into a stall and shut the door behind me. The sound of two pairs of feet walking came closer and closer. I tensed up and prepared to be caught as someone came into the bathroom. Slowly, my feet edged up onto the toilet seat so they wouldn't be noticed. Just as I thought I was dead meat, the footsteps retreated and I heard the male voice say "Next time I come, I expect him to be ready."
I waited what must have only been three minutes, but felt like three centuries before reentering the hallway. Thankfully, Mrs. Conley was back in her office when I was out. I thought of asking her about the man she was talking to, but I felt the "Heist" was more important and that I can't let down the other kids. I knocked on the door and Mrs. Conley answered "Come in Neil, I know it's you."
"Hey Mrs. Conley, how did you know?" I asked trying to sound cheerful, and not tip her off that I had heard everything about the conversation she had earlier. I noticed she looked more weary than usual.
"Oh Neil, I can tell from your knock, it's one of the various recognizable things about you." she answered, a smile forming on her face as she talked of one of her favorite "children", me. "So what did you wish to speak about?"
"Nothing much, just wanted to check in as you always ask and to just remind you that Noel and me are going down to the movies later tonight." I said, hoping she hadn't forgotten my plans. After saying this, her face seemed to falter from her cheery attitude and became paler.
"Neil, are you sure you want to go out? It will be crowded, and there could be dangerous people there." she cautioned. Was she afraid for my safety? Could whoever "they" was be there? I thought. But I overcame my nervousness, because I knew I needed this "Heist" to happen.
"Yes, I'm sure I'll be fine." I said "Thanks for caring about me. I should be back around 9:45. Noel's dad will be driving us home." Little did I know how wrong I would be.
"Alright, just be sure you're safe. And be sure to bundle up! It can be chilly out that late!" she called out as I walked out. I responded with a "Yes mam." before heading down to meet Noel at the playroom. She said bye to the other girls and with that we walked out into the bustle of Philadelphia.
Ω Ω Ω
It was just a few minutes before the movie when we actually arrived. We spent most of the time walking around the city, in a surprisingly warm February day. I decided know would be good as ever to explain my plan to Noel.
"Hey Noel, I need to talk to you." I said looking over towards here.
"Gosh, please tell me you don't need to copy my geometry homework, because I didn't even start it." she sighed. Yep, Noel's always like that, revolving her moods around, even more than most girls.
"What? No! That's not it!" I responded, surprised at the fact she hadn't done her homework yet, she always is doing it.
"Then what do you need?" she asked, her curiosity suddenly peaked.
I sighed, then went on to say "Noel, I haven't been honest with you completely. The reasons I've brought you along tonight isn't that I want your "Good Luck", I need you to become a distraction for me."
"What? Then why?" she exclaimed, an astonished look emerging on her face.
"I need… well I…" I took a breath then quickly said "I need you to act like your pick pocketing someone and purposely get caught so I can actually be pocketing things from others." I closed my eyes and looked down, not knowing what her response would be. At first I heard her take a sharp intake of breath, then quietly, but still covered in anger say "Neil Lurkman, if you think I will actually steal and get caught for you then you're completely crazy! And I can barely stand coming along with you for your "Heists"! I only came to try to stop you, at this rate you'll end up in jail!"
I was astonished at her response and started to mumble sorry when she said "However, I will be seeing this movie, and if you even dare to try to pickpocket someone, I'll have you on your way to jail faster than you can even blink!"
I agreed, and we went down to our seats. I made it about twenty five minutes before the urge to pickpocket was getting almost impossible to ignore. I tried going to the drinking my Jic Jac (The world's greatest vintage soda) that I smuggled in, eating my pop tart (also smuggled in), and even going to the bathroom, but nothing helped, When I sat back down I looked over at Noel, who was completely engrossed in the movie. I decided to pickpocket something small, like just a dollar or something to settle my nerves.
I looked over to my right, where a man looking about 50 or so, sat. He had black hair with strands of gray, and a long black beard that was also peppered with gray. I looked down at his coat pocket, hoping to see a wallet or a couple of loose coins when I saw something much stranger. I saw a ring that was made of gold, with a single stripe of a bluish metal down the center, perhaps cobalt. One ring to rule them all I thought to myself as I reached out a hand to grab the ring. I succeeded in securing the ring and was about to put it on myself when I heard a male voice say "I wouldn't do that if I was you."
I stared at where the voice had come from and saw the man looking at me. He continued to say "I knew you would be tempted by my treasure, for I have watched you since you were born. I was told you would be the greatest of all thieves and that in order to save my treasure, I must turn you over."
I saw Noel look over and instantly look angry at the fact that this man had caught me trying to steal from him. To stop her from making a scene and out of my nervousness of what this guy had just said was "Turn me over? As in, to the police?"
The man laughed a deep bellowing laugh, which caused the entire theater to look over at us. Great, just what I needed I thought when the man interrupted me thinking "The police? Why, of course not! To my sponsor of course!" And with that, he snapped his fingers, making all of hell break loose.
Around the room, women that all had similar features, skinny body, long wavy black hair, a various type of purse on their shoulder, stood up. At first, I thought they were all huge James Bond fans that were mad at the man and me for interrupting the movie. That's when they transformed.
Their bodies became scaly looking, with a green hue to them, and their legs morphed to the ends of a snake, making them do a slither-walk. Their purses become long whips with objects that look like a metal ball. They turned and stared directly at me, and instantly I wanted to go hide.
"What the heck are those things?" asked Noel, backing up into me in order to get farther from the monsters.
"What child? You can see them too? Well, my sponsor will be even more proud of me!" the man said. He then turned to the monsters and clapped his hands. Not even a second later, the monsters came charging at Noel and me. That's when things got even stranger. A man stood up in the crowd, along with two teenagers next to him. The man then drew a spear that looked sharp enough to puncture through solid concrete, while both of the teens held unsheathed swords that matched each other, as if made by the same person for the two teens who had a striking resemblance.
They then proceeded to charge the snake-women, the teens charging towards the front rows, while the man sprinted towards the end rows. I focused mostly on the man, who seemed to be an excellent spearman, cutting down three of the snake-women before they could even react. However, the teens were just as skilled with their swords, slashing through the monsters quickly.
That's when I noticed the screaming. I looked around and noticed all the people panicking and just causing a general ruckus. The doors where being swarmed, and I felt bad for the ticket collector outside the doors before my back exploded in pain. I spun to see a snake-woman holding one of the whips raised for yet another strike. At me. I don't know what made me think what I was about to do was a smart idea, but I dove at her, arms outstretched like a pro football player would do.
I slammed into her, and heard Thunk as the snake-woman slammed into the seat in front of mine. I looked up, and noticed she was knocked out. Hauling myself up, I noticed that most of the snake-women had become sand-like powder. I over to Noel, and noticed she was fighting off a snake-woman with her popcorn bucket in the main aisle. I started to run to help here when my back shot up in pain again. I twisted around, thinking I had been hit again, when I noticed the particular whip the snake-woman I had tackled. It was coated in a green liquid.
Somehow, I recognized it as poison. As if my life isn't bad enough I thought before collapsing to the ground. That's when the man stood over me. "If you think you've won tonight, think again. I have an idea that will be far worse than what I had originally planned. Goodbye, Neil Lurkman." And with that, he disappeared. Seriously, there was a puff of smoke and he was gone. And then I passed out.
Ω Ω Ω
"Hey glad to see your awake, sleeping beauty, but you have some questions to answer."
*Omega's Note: Hey guys, what's up? Hope you enjoyed the story. And yes, this is a rewrite of my original story, also by the same title. If you're wondering why I'm rewriting this, is because I lost the next couple chapters in the original story, and I didn't really like the way it was turning out. Either way, my schedule for updating this will most likely be random, with a chapter coming out at max every dozen days. Once again, hope you enjoyed this, and if you want to, please review so I can see your thoughts on the story. Omega, Out. (Yes, I realize how cheesy that is.)*