Note: Okay ya'll, here is chapter 5! Things are starting to heat up. This chapter has some important stuff for future chapters and everything, so pay attention! Also, special thanks to Austra for her faithful reviews
Place To Believe Chapter 5 - Conner
David ran, his legs pumping almost rhythmically. Breath in. Breath out. The person who had been so bold to steal from him was only half a block away. The boy is quick on his feet, David decided, his legs keeping pace even as his mind ran a marathon of thoughts. But I'm fast too.
David had always enjoyed running, when the opportunity presented itself anyway. As he grew older, the boy thought, it might be improper for him, an almost eighteen-year-old boy, to run around all day like a small child. Of course, since becoming a newsie, David had learned that "proper" and "survival" were two astonishingly different things.
"Wait!" The boy yelled to the lithe figure he refused to stop pursuing. When they didn't stop, David, being only a few yards behind, put on a quick burst of speed. As he drew close, he grabbed the thief's shoulder, spinning them around to face him.
He was met with a fist crashing unceremoniously into his nose.
"Oh," he moaned as pain coursed through his head. David, being of strong will, and (mostly) sound mind, decided he would not give up yet. As the perpetrator turned again, David grabbed his shoulder as before. When his fist came swinging, he ducked, releasing the grip on the shoulders, to instead grasp both hands.
"Lemme go!" the figure cried, struggling to break his grip. He then proceeded to let off a string of words David didn't quite recognize, but rather thought he had heard Race speak like it before.
"Permettetemi di essere! Non voglio tornare indietro! Non ho fatto niente! Ragazzo stupido!" she hissed. Wait.. she? David did a double take, taking in the elfin face shape, and long dark lashes. Now that he thought about it, the girl's voice had sounded rather feminine. Keeping a firm hold, he fixed his eyes on her greenish brown.
"Give me back my money," he growled slowly, his message clear.
She stared at him. "What money?" she finally said in a voice that suggested she really didn't know what was going on. David laughed- it was the laugh he used when he didn't believe or someone or was making fun of them.
"You con artist," he accused. She answered him with wide, innocent eyes.
"I'm waiting," he said grumpily.
"Fine," the girl spat out, clearly displeased. He released her hands, and saw a flicker in her eyes. David immediately returned his hold to her shoulder.
"Don't try to run," the boy said sternly. Her shoulders drooped, before she reached into her pocket, retrieving the change pilfered from David.
"I ain't goin' back," she said warily while he counted the pile of coins as she dropped them into his hand.
"Where?" he questioned distractedly.
"The Refuge." David's hand tightened unintentionally. When the girl gave a small grunt of pain, he swiftly lessened his grip.
"Sorry," he apologized stiffly. She just glared at him again. "I won't do it," he said at last.
"What?" she was clearly surprised.
"I won't take you to the bulls. They have never been a great friends to me anyhow."
"Oh." She stared at him slyly, and David could imagine her plotting huffed.
"Just don't steal from me again," he said, shouldering the newspapers he'd dropped when he first caught up to her.
"Right.. arrivederci," she uttered softly before turning and racing away.
David scratched his head, perplexed. He finally shrugged. "Oh man!" the boy had finally remembered his "assignment," and rushed back to search for Bekah and Shadow. But they were also looking for him.
"Hiya!" Shadow said, waving cheerily. "What happened to your nose?"
David touched the tender area, wondering how bad it looked. His hand came away bloody. "I got socked," he replied bluntly.
"So.." Bekah said, "Did you get your money back?"
David moved his hand inside his pocket, making the change jangle. "Yep."
Bekah smiled, before her eyes shifted to the sky. "Sun's goin down," she commented.
David glanced at the fiery heavens. "We'd better head back," he said. Hopefully, he would be able to dispose of some more of the papers on the way.
X-X-X
Rhoda followed Con slowly, tears coming to her eyes.
"Hey, come walk with me, doll," Conner said, grasping her hand, while polling her to his side. He rested his arma cross her shoulders, and she finched slightly. His dark eyes probed her face, suspicion clear on his features. "What's da mattah?" he asked, polling her even closer as if to make a statement.
"N-nothing," she mumbled, feeling cold inside.
His eyes narrowed. "We'll talk about this when we get home." Rhoda nodded obediently as more tears pricked at her eyelids.
The two were flanked by five men, all looking rather deadly. At length, they approached the entrance to an old alleyway, beside some kind of abandoned warehouse. They stopped, and Conner lout out several clear, whistled notes.
"Who's dere?" a voice called loudly, causing chills to chase each other up and down Rhoda's back, as they always did.
"It's Mad Dog, who do ya think?" Conner barked roughly.
"Alright," the voice replied apologetically. "Come on." A dark figure stepped out of the shadows where he had been sitting behind a pile of boxes. A rifle was cradled in the crook of his arm. He waved them through. Conner pulled her past more boxes, and a couple of more young men. The group stopped before an old door with rusted hinges leading into the warehouse.
Conner rapped on the door, and it soon opened, hinges creaking painfully. A skinny boy stepped aside as they entered. A long wooden table, with various unmatching chairs filled most of the room. Seated at the table was a man in his mid to late twenties wearing a bowler hat. He shot Rhoda an overly friendly glance, and Conner tightened his grip on her hand, while his took on a menacing glint.
"I can see you're already here, Snake," Con said, spilling out the name as if it tasted bitter to his tongue.
Snake tipped his hat up, a sneer on his lips. "Yeah, I'm here. But you wasn't here to meet me. Dat hurts Dog," he said, his vioce like a hiss. (How appropriate.) Conner glanced at his companion and she reddened. It was her fault, after all, that Con had been late.
Conner nodded warily. "Fine, we'll start in a minute." He turned to Rhoda, his eyes wolfish. He leaned low, and she tried not to flinch as the youth whispered directly into her ear. "You go slip into something more comfortable whiles I take care of some business."
Rhoda felt the cold again as she slipped away, opening another door connected to the room. Often, Rhoda had wondered why an old warehouse was used for their purposes. Of course, now the reason was rather apparent. It was in a slum area of the city, was abandoned, and perfectly suited to their needs. Conner and his boys had made it into a home- of sorts. Rhoda walked down a hall to a door near the middle. She knew most of the doors she passed were former storage areas, including the room she now stood in front of.
Rhoda entered the room, taking in its contents. A small bureau with a cracked mirror sat on one side of the room, and there was a nightstand with a lamp atop it. Rhoda's eyes were first drawn to the large bed in the middle of the room. The blankets were still rumpled. No one had bothered to make it up again. The girl turned away, opening the bureau to pull out a silky nightgown. She let her dark hair down, knowing that was how Con liked it. Peeking in the mirror, Rhoda saw her sad eyes, full of pain and confusion. She turned away. She couldn't even look at herself anymore. The girl perched on the edge of the bed, staring into nothingness for what seemed like hours.
Finally, the door creaked open, and the girl jumped up, surprised by the sound after her solitude. Con stealthily padded in. First he sat down, removing his shoes and socks. Then he turned to her, a smile pulling back his lips.
"Rhoda," he said, stepping toward her, and embracing her. She felt her body go stiff once again. "Rhoda baby, what's wrong?" he questioned, taking her head between his hands. She tried to turn, but he forced her to look at him. "Are ya.. involved with a guy from 'Hattan?" She shook her head. He then roughly pressed his mouth to hers.
This isn't right, she thought.
"Oh Rhoda," he said softly. "I love you so." He kissed her again, before letting go. "Crawl in," he said, jerking his head toward the bed. She did so, flushing with shame.
God wouldn't love a sinner like me.
Con finished preparing for bed, before pulling back the covers and getting in. She turned away as his hands reached for her, pulling her closer into him. He wrapped his arms around her, his breath tickling her neck.
"Don't you love me anymore Rhoda?" He mumbled into her hair.
"Of course," she breathed, lying. Yet another sin, she realized miserably. How could she love him?
"Kiss me den." Rhoda turned her face, giving him what he wanted. She always had, after all. When he finally left her alone to fall into an uneasy slumber, she could only dream of one thing.. A little hand clutching her own.
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