(November 10, 2008)
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In a darkening alley Aiden sifted through a dumpster. The fact that didn't faze him anymore was almost more depressing than the act itself. However, since his money had long since run out he had been left with the options of dumpster dive . . . or steal. While Aiden couldn't say the latter option hadn't been used, he tried to keep it to a last resort. Somehow, even in his current circumstances, he didn't see Dane really approving such actions.
It didn't help that some of the best dumpsters were already 'claimed' and the others were in the Dragon's fringe territory. But today Aiden hoped he could get in and out without notice. The last three days he hadn't gotten anything from his usual runs and his meager store of supplies ran out yesterday morning. After so long on the streets his body didn't have much reserve left in it to go long periods of time without food. Counting his ribs shouldn't be as easy as it currently was. A small part of him marveled at the fact he had survived this long- what he knew had to be months but had no way of knowing the exactly how long- on the streets
His stomach chose that moment to grumble. 'I know, I know.' He mentally told it. It wasn't like he wanted to essentially starve himself.
So with equal parts desperation and trepidation, Aiden dug at the bags below him. 'Papers. Ewwww bathroom stuff. Chicken bones . . .' Aiden stared at them for a long minute before shaking his head. Who knew how long they'd been sitting out and Aiden did not need to get sick on top of being technically homeless. He learned that mistake early in his months on the streets.
Toward the bottom of the bag he found a container of mixed nuts had a couple left in the bottom. Aiden frowned in disappointment but fished them out anyway. He popped them in his mouth, the meager amount doing little more than reminding his stomach how empty it was. But Aiden ignored it. Sadly he'd had a lot of practice doing so over the last several months . . .
Thump!
Aiden jerked his head up and down the alley. For a minute nothing moved, and Aiden almost wondered if he'd imagined the noise, but something in his gut warned that there was something out there. Carefully Aiden untangled his arms from the bags and gripped the edge of the dumpster, ready to launch himself into a run if need be.
Thump!
Definitely not his imagination. Two shapes moved at the front entrance to the alley.
"What do we have here?"
At that Aiden took off at a dead run in the opposite direction. Angry exclamations rose behind him giving Aiden an additional burst of speed. Blood pounded in his ears as Aiden sprinted down the street. The sun had completely set and the busted street lamps didn't offer much light to see by. He couldn't risk looking over his shoulder but he could hear multiple people running after him.
'Stupid, stupid, stupid!' Chewing himself out like that didn't help the situation, but he knew risking this had been a bad idea. Aiden zigzagged through the buildings, fear pulsing through him with every heartbeat. 'They know this area better than me! They're going to catch me!' Ducking around a corner, Aiden knew he only had seconds before they had eyes on him again.
"Kid! Hey kid!" A man's voice sounded just in front of him- distinctly less hostile than the voices coming behind him.
Aiden jerked his head up. A hand waved out of a doorway to his right, but Aiden couldn't make out the hand's owner. With the shouts growing closer Aiden paused only a second before diving in. Whoever this was couldn't be any worse than the people behind him. Hopefully.
Something grabbed his arm and Aiden found himself flying sideways seconds before landing heavily on the cement floor. For a terrifying second Aiden wondered if he just signed his death warrant. But the man only flattened himself against the wall, his attention focused on the road outside. From where he lay Aiden realized he was out of the line of vision from the doorway. Forcing himself to keep from gasping in air, both from his mad dash and being winded from the fall, Aiden tightly closed his eyes.
Footsteps thudded nearby. Aiden's heart rate spiked again. Without any hesitation the pursuers continued past their hiding spot and faded down the street. Neither Aiden or the man moved for a couple minutes, making sure no one chose to double back. Finally the man peeled himself away from the wall and turned toward Aiden.
Refusing to shrink back from the scrutinizing gaze Aiden could feel even in the dim light, Aiden pulled himself off the floor. "Thanks."
He studied the man before him. While Aiden couldn't see him very well, he could make out the man was significantly older than himself, maybe late forties, and his clothes had the worn and patchwork look Aiden's also bore.
The man grunted. "You're playing with fire coming 'round here. The Dragons don't take kindly to people jumping their turf."
Grimacing, Aiden shot a look outside. "Yeah, I know. It wasn't like I wanted to come and it wasn't even worth it." Aiden waited for a barrage of questions but the man only grunted again.
"Your life kid." He shook his head. "Wait here about a half hour. It should be clear by then. But if you value your hide I'd recommend you hang around somewhere else." He got up and headed for the door.
Aiden blinked at the abruptness but stuttered out another, "T-thanks."
"Watch yourself kid." His tone softened a little. "These streets aren't kind to someone like you bein' on 'em."
Aiden couldn't help but snort at that. "Yeah. Thank you again . . ." Aiden trailed off, not really sure if asking for a name would be considered bad manners or not.
A partial smile tugged at the man's mouth. "Call me Paul."
"A-" Aiden stopped. He had no way of telling if the freaks who attacked his family knew his name- or if the local authorities had a search for him going on too- but he didn't want his name circulating if he could help it. "Levi."
"Alright, Levi, take care of yourself." With that Paul disappeared out the door.
'That was . . . unexpected.' A sudden stab of loneliness cut into Aiden. Brief as it was, that'd been one of the first (mostly) open conversations he'd had with someone since his family disappeared. When away from the warehouse he avoided most people. Both his size and age painted huge targets on his back even without risk of the monsters finding him. On top of that he couldn't afford to be pegged as homeless, if he could help it, and foster more unwanted attention from the authorities. Then there was the whole matter of avoiding Neon Dragon members . . .
Aiden shuddered slightly. So instead of dwelling on those thoughts he settled in to wait.
The minutes dragged by slowly. Random noises occasionally filtered through the walls of Aiden's hiding place causing him to jump, but the street remained void of gang members. When the thirty-ish minutes passed Aiden cautiously poked his head out the doorway.
By now the sun had completely set leaving the street shrouded in darkness. Nothing stirred. Taking a deep breath, Aiden slid between buildings and began the trek toward his warehouse. It took all of his willpower to stay slow and quiet. When he finally crossed into safe territory Aiden broke into a sprint that he didn't let up until he'd made it safely inside his warehouse.
Not bothering to climb the stairs, Aiden slumped, shaking, to the cement ground. 'That could have been very, very bad.' Aiden shuddered at the thought of the Dragons coming so close to catching him. Slowly his breathing returned to normal, but his thoughts continued to jump around.
Twice now he'd managed to get away when being surrounded by the Dragons. Not many people could say that. Aiden had seen enough evidence of their cruelty on his scavenging trips. But did they know he was the same person who'd evaded them? Granted the first time had been ages ago, and both times it had been fairly dark. But still. . .
Goosebumps rose on Aiden's arms. What would they do if they realized they'd been outrun by a kid more than once? Whatever convoluted form of honor they had probably wouldn't appreciate it.
'I've got to lay low.' He'd gotten lucky. That's all it was. Next time he might not be so lucky.
Aiden realized he was still shaking and his stomach chose that moment to grumble again. 'Great.' After almost two days without food, 'laying low' had no appeal. But if he waited and the Dragons or some other unsavory character found him, he'd be in no condition to fight or escape.
Talk about being between a rock and a hard place.
He sat there playing out the pros and cons, but the pressing ache in his gut cast the final vote. 'I need food. Though definitely not in hostile territory.' Raiding claimed dumpsters came with risks too, but not usually the stabbing kind. 'Especially if it's really early . . .' Early- early- morning would probably be safe, right after restaurants dumped their trash.
Wearily he pushed himself off the floor and pulled himself up the stairs. Once he set Dane's watch to go off at four in the morning he curled on his sleeping bed and wrapped his arms around his knees. 'Is this worth it?' Though the stray thought took his breath away, Aiden just groaned and rolled onto his side, too tired to contemplate the gravity of that question.
High pitched beeping jolted Aiden awake much earlier than his body appreciated. Groaning loudly, he rolled over and blindly reached for the shrieking device. After finding it and turning it off Aiden rubbed his eyes reminding himself that, yes, being up this early really was necessary. Darkness hung heavily in the room but having lived there for several months Aiden didn't need lights to know where his supplies were. Foregoing his backpack, Aiden grabbed a plastic grocery bag and slid his flashlight into a jacket pocket. Then with one final mental sweep Aiden crept into the predawn morning.
It took almost an hour to reach a street that had six different fast food restaurants lined next to each other. A few cars were lined up at the drive-through but Aiden hoped it'd be too early for people to care about him. Slipping to the McDonald's dumpster, Aiden scaled the small fence and landed softly on the ground. Though a lock held the top closed, Aiden had found that if twisted just right it would wiggle loose. Others on the street knew this, but currently he didn't have any competitors and he wasn't about to waste time.
Sliding the flashlight out of his pocket, Aiden lifted the lid and slid inside. The smells wafting over him were less than pleasant, but breathing shallowly through his mouth Aiden dug through the nearest bag. 'Nope, nope . . . Score!' A couple partially eaten sandwiches wrapped in their plastic lay before him. More digging found an unopened granola bar and a handful of stray fries.
With enough food for the next two days, Aiden scrambled out of the dumpster. Wiping trash and some goop, that he actively tried to ignore thinking about what it could be, off his clothes, he slunk out of the parking lot. The streets were still fairly quiet but Aiden took a side road to keep from excessive prying eyes. Plus taking a different route back offered more security.
A ways down the new street, Aiden passed the backside of a thrift store. Several large trash bags rested against the back door. Given that the dumpster sat on the opposite side of the parking lot, they were probably a donation that'd been left after hours.
Aiden paused, eyeing them. His gaze then trailed down his own clothes and he grimaced at the sight. They'd seen better days despite Aiden's occasional attempts to wash them in the river. 'Oh what the heck.' Pulling his hood low over his face Aiden hurried to the bags. He had no guarantee that he'd find something suitable but no harm could come from looking.
The first bag opened to some frilly purple shirts. He might be somewhat desperate for clothes, but not that desperate. The rest of the bag had a variety of women's items and shoes so he set it aside. The second bag had men's clothing, but when Aiden pulled out a shirt to look at it he was promptly dwarfed in fabric. 'Hopefully I won't be out here long enough to need a shirt that size.' Not that his current diet - or lack thereof - already had his own clothes hanging on him looser than when he'd first left home. Still he grabbed a couple of the softer shirts to use as a pillowcase and pjs.
Sighing Aiden moved to the next bag. There were a few really little kid outfits but also several toys and stuffed animals. Aiden shifted the bag to push it off to the side when one caught his eye- a stuffed black dragon with red accents on its spikes, wings and stomach. While not a perfect match, it was similar enough to the one Aiden had to leave at home several months ago. Part of Aiden wanted to laugh at the irony of being pulled toward this tiny stuffed dragon when he had a pack of, practically, fire-breathing Dragons out for his hide. It didn't qualify as a need but Aiden put it in the bag next to the shirts anyway. At the very least now he'd have something tangible to talk to besides himself.
By now Aiden didn't have high hopes for the last bag but he opened it up. The top few shirts were women's ones again but underneath were several items of boy's clothing that looked like they might fit Aiden. Excitedly he pulled out the shirts and held them up to better gauge the size. They looked a little big, but rather that than too small. Digging through the bag Aiden found a total of four shirts and two pairs of jeans that would probably fit.
A year or so ago Aiden hadn't thought anything of the clothes in his closet and now these few donated items meant so much to him. Thankfulness swelled within him as he looked at his few treasures from the night's- or rather early morning's- run. So with a significantly lighter heart than he'd had only a few hours earlier, Aiden slipped through the predawn shadows, making it back to the warehouse just as the sun's first rays crested the horizon.