My Brother’s Keeper September 29, 2513

Rae curls into a ball, arms covering her head as her mind begins to wander back to her childhood on Whitefall. “It was my fault, I’m jinxed. I’m bad luck.” She mumbles to herself. Marcus’ eyes widen at this new person and he leans over her trying to remove her arms. “R-Rae you’re not jinxed. What happened? It’s okay, relax.” She removes her arms from her head and turns on him, flailing, smacking and slapping at him as she yells, “You don’t know, you weren’t there. You didn’t see ” He is thankful she is not up to par, or her blows might have actually stung. He catches her hands and holds them until she settles, “Then tell me Rae.”

“I got him killed, it was bad luck, I tested it. It was my own fault I was stupid He told me it was bad luck I didn’t believe him and it got him killed ” She rambles on making no sense as he stares down at her, wondering if she is truly crazy. “Rae, slow down. I don’t understand. What was bad luck?” Rae covers her head again and says, “We were kids and I was playing where I shouldn’t have been.”

“Rae you know that’s bad luck! Something will fall on your head ” A boy of around twelve laughs as he watches a small girl of five duck and weave under the ladders leaned against the wall outside of the store front. “Besides, dad will tan your hide if’n you break something by knocking one over. Those mirrors cost a fortune!” He glances at the mirrors displayed on the wall and a post or two, wondering what his parents were thinking putting them somewhere where anyone could walk off with them. They really were too easy a mark. The little girl stops her play for a moment and sticks her tongue out at him. “You can’t catch me Sef ‘Sides no such fing as bad luck Momma says so And yer spos’d ta play wif me today ” He grins when she mangles his name and wonders if he will be “sef” forever to her. “Alright, alright. I’ll play, but let’s play something fun. I have something to show you.” He gives her a secretive smile, the one that says he’s been up to no good again and they’re both going to get into a world of trouble over it. Her eyes gleam as she asks, “What is it?” He walks over to her and takes a rock out of his pocket, holding it in his hand as if it’s a precious gem. “That’s just a wock silly Whatcha gonna do wif it?” She gives it a skeptic look. He laughs. “No Rae, its an earth rock. It came all the way from earth. I got it out of the safe Don’t tell mom and dad. That’s where our great some’odd grandparents came from. Earth. This is all that’s left of it and now we have it.” She looks at him with narrow eyes. “Nuh uh, yer pickin on me agin. I don’t believe you.” She looks down at the rock, unable to keep some hope from her eyes. Spotting this he contains a chuckle and goes on, “No Rae, it really is. I saw a letter it was in a box with this. I’m gonna sell it so we can be rich and leave this place. You an I are gonna get out of here and travel the ‘verse We’ll see all kinds of shiny things ” Her eyes grow to the size of saucers at the thought of exploring the ‘verse and all the adventure they would have. “And I gets to go? Honests? Can I hold it?” He nods and hands it to her. “You hold it Rae, but keep it safe, don’t let anyone know you have it or what it is. And for the sake of buddah don’t lose it ”

With a look of wonder she stared at the rock in her hand and took a seat under her ladder fortress so that she could better focus on it. He looked at her with a cockeyed grin, “It’s not going to do any tricks Rae. Don’t matter how long you stare.” She looks up at him, eyes wide and asks, “You gonna really take me wif you?” He nods and his smile softens as he reaches out to rub his hand in her hair. “Sure shorty, why wouldn’t I? Now, how’s about you move it before something happens and we get jinxed?” Her brows furrow and she looks at him as if he has absolutely no sense, “I told you momma said ‘s no such fing as bad luck.” He is about to speak to her as a loud noise and a crashing sound interrupt him, shards of a broken mirror spray them. Looking up frantically he yells, “Down Rae ” as he dives to cover her under her ladders. You’d think if we were going to end up at the far end of the universe the outlaws and the sheriff could at least shoot in a straight line. I hate it here Soon as I sell that rock we’re off this gose moon The shots and crashes stop and he sits up, dazed, feeling a sharp pain in his back. “See Rae, bad luck, I think a piece of the mirror got me.” He goes for a chuckle but does not finish it as he falls back on top of his little sister, gone. She lies there and cries until her parents arrive, pulling him up and shaking him. Their momma filled with tears and grief, their father silent as a stone as he lifts the body of his son. Rae is left holding the stone as she watches her momma collapse on the storefront sidewalk.

“You should leave me alone, I’ll get you killed eventually too.” She says in an empty tone. “Rae that wasn’t your fault!” Marcus goes to move her arms again, causing her to curl up even tighter. He lets out a heavy sign as he gives up, wondering if he could shove any more of his foot in his mouth at this point. He places his hand on her arm, hoping to comfort her a small bit. “Don’t touch me! Can’t you figure it out? I don’t want to be here! I want to go home! GET AWAY from me!” Marcus removes his hand and makes his way to the door, turning one last time he gives her a regretful look. He opens his mouth to speak but at the last second decides against it, considering her state of mind. Instead, he opens the door and leaves her in the uncomfortable silence.

Confrontations September 29, 2513

“Matthew you Go Neong Yung Duh! What were you thinking?” He leans down beside him and gets in his face, “For all your harping on her low class it is you who stoops to the level of a common drunken street thug. Mother would be proud! Father would certainly be happy. You’re more like him than you know. Are you proud of yourself? Did you want to grow up to be the kind of man who would rape a girl? Did you?” Matthew’s eyes widen and he looks at his brother in fear, “No I just wanted to scare her! She was on me and I thought, and she, and I…she shouldn’t be fighting with men.” His voice trails off; heavy with guilt, knowing his brother won’t believe him at this point. Marcus reaches up and grabs Matthew by the hair, wrenching his head backwards, “You heal and you get out. No more Matthew. Don’t come back until you’re sorry and ready to obey me. Take nothing but the clothes on your back. Do not cause trouble while you’re gone, or I will find you and send you home.”

Moments later he returns to Rae with a bowl of warm water and a rag. Removing her guns for his own safety, he stashes them in his dresser. He then sits on the edge of the bed and commences to clean the remnants of dried blood off her face. It is in the middle of this that she raises a limp hand to push the rag away mumbling, “Es, ow? Wha, where?” As her eyes open and try to focus her expression goes through curiosity, surprise, panic to blank neutrality. “What am I doing here? Don’t touch me!” Instinct causes her to reach for her gun only to find it missing. She freezes and looks around the room searching for escape like a trapped animal. Not spotting an exit she look at him trying to maintain her calm exterior. He notices the fear and anxiety leaking out around the edges and searches for how to comfort her. “Rae, you’re safe, it’s ok.” Rae eyes him with a doubtful expression. Marcus continues, “I-I’m sorry about what happened. I would have stopped him if I had known.” When she does not interrupt him, he rushes on hoping he’s making a difference. “I had a d-doctor come and help and he said you need to stay awake as long as you can, and he gave me something incase you get sick or your head hurts and something for your scratches.” He flushes at the last part and turns away from her, “Did, did he, are you okay? Wh-why didn’t you kill him today?” Rae looks at him with wild eyes, “I want to go home.” Marcus reaches up and removes his glasses to rub his eyes. “Rae, I don’t think it’s safe for you to wander around yet. Please, I promise you’re safe. Can you sit up?” He reaches down to assist her with sitting up but changes his mind when she flinches. Getting up he moves from the bed to a chair to give her room. He puts the bowl of warm water on the floor by the chair and watches her. She slowly relaxes as she looks between the bowl, him and the doors. “Why am I here? What are you going to do with me?” He shakes his head, his face filled with sincerity and regret, “Nothing Rae, just make sure you’re okay like the doctor said. You p-passed out in the alley.” Rae sits up little by little and swings her feet to the floor, “That’s a lie. I shot your brother. You’re going to do something. You took my guns.” Her hand goes to her head for a moment and he stands up without warning, setting her on edge. She watches him like a cornered animal as he goes to the bedside table.

When his back is turned she stands up as fast as she can and makes for the door, only to be blocked by Marcus at the last second. She sways back and forth for an instant and he reaches out to steady her. “N-NO Rae. Your head hurts and you feel sick don’t you?” She looks at him in shock, not believing he means her no harm yet won’t let her leave. “What do you care Marcus? Just let me get out of here if you don’t plan on doing anything to me. I won’t bother you and yours again as long as you leave me alone.” She is calmer now and does not seem to notice his hands on her elbows, steadying her, or it no longer matters to her. He holds up the medicine and shows it to her, “This will help with the nausea and headache. You still need to be watched and you can’t sleep. If you don’t calm down you’re going to hurt yourself.” He moves forward in a patient manner, forcing her backward and back to the bed. It hits her knees and she sits back down. He gets the bowl again and crouches in front of her, continuing to clean her face up. She stares at him for a moment suspicion in her eyes. In the next instant her face crumples and she is covering it with her hands as she bursts into tears.

Marcus moves her hands and guides her down onto her side on the bed. Leaning over her he says in an intimate whisper, “D-don’t cry Rae. It’ll make your head hurt more. Here, take these.” He puts the medicine in her hand. When she just looks at it, he guides her hand to her mouth. Handing her a glass of water to go with it, he lifts her head enough so she can swallow. “Don’t fall asleep though Rae. Stay awake and talk to me.” He watches her, knowing the break in her composure is hard on her and wondering if she knows how strong she must be to make it this long without a break. Kimiko would have been broken from the moment it happened. She glares at him and says in a voice coated with restrained tears, “I don’t want to talk, I want to rip your glasses off and stomp on them! Then I want to stomp on you! Then I want to finish off your brother.” She wipes an eye with her hand and then closes them. He pulls up a chair and sits in it, relieved inside that she is up for verbal warfare. “R, Rae, open your eyes! No sleeping!” She opens her reddened eyes and glares at him. “If I had kn-known you didn’t like m my glasses I’d have changed them R-Rae.” He tries a lame attempt at humor accompanying it with a half smile. “You’re not funny! Estes is going to find me and beat you to a bloody pulp,” her voice regaining some of its pomp. Marcus sighs and pushes up his glasses. “ I know he did an awful thing Rae, but he’s my brother. If it makes you feel any better I’ve told him to get out as soon as he gets on his feet.” This seems to bring on another tearful moment for Rae and she says, “It’s not fair, brothers like yours will live forever and brothers like mine don’t get any time. I should have killed him.” Marcus looks at the ground and asks, “Why didn’t you?” She looks him square in the eye and says, “Ta ma duh, because of you.”

His heart skips a beat, as he has to repeat what she said in his head, “What do you mean?” She slowly rolls over so she is facing the wall, “I owed you. I pay my debts. As horrible a person he is, he’s your brother. This is his one free pass though. Next time he touches me I’ll kill him.” She says with false bravado. He gets up and goes to sit on the edge of the bed, moving with slow caution in case she lashes out. “R-Rae, what happened to your brother?”

Deja Vu September 29, 2513

Marcus takes off his belt and hands it to Matthew. “Make a tourniquet, stop the bleeding, you’ll be okay.” He then gets his portable terminal and takes it back to Matthew. “Call Grieves, he’ll come fix you up.” Matthew looked at him in surprise, “Where are you going? You’re not going after that jinu after she shot me are you?!!” Marcus glares at him, “You brought this on yourself, accept the responsibility. I warned you. Besides, you’re not going to die. We’ll have a talk about what else you’ve done before I’ll let that happen.”

It is a miracle she makes it out of the Dojo without detection, even more of a miracle she makes it to Marcus’ shop, uses his forgotten keys to enter and makes her way to the sound of voices without falling over. What is it with this shop and these boys that has her so out of commission so often, is it jinxed, was it bad luck? As she leaves the shop, she steadies herself by leaning on the wall for a moment. She will have to take this into serious consideration when she is feeling up to it. The nausea and dizziness is back, too much too soon. She only hopes to make it back home before it’s too late. Right now, what she feels like is, is, what was that noise? She turns in its direction and stares uncomprehendingly at the man before her, within seconds the man is suddenly attached to her and she looks at him curiously trying to figure out how that happened. In the next moment she is out cold.

He holds her as upright as he can get her for a moment, arms around her waist and behind her back, pressing her close. He stands, wondering what to do, not truly wanting to leave his brother to bleed to death on the storage room floor. He does not want to leave her propped up against a wall in the alley either. He has a moment of sheer hair pulling frustration for what his brother has gotten them into before he makes a decision. Picking her up in his arms he decides Grieves can take a look at her too, hopefully before she wakes up. He shoulders his way back into the storage room and places her on the table before going over to help his brother. He sees pain, fear and panic in his brother’s eyes and is moved to pity. “It will be okay Matthew. Grieves is good. Did you call him?” A paler, more humble Matthew looks at him. “No, I, I can’t.” He looks down at his bloody hands holding the belt tight around his leg. “I’ll call. The bleeding has slowed, the belt is helping, you’ll be okay Matthew.” He puts a hand on Matthew’s shoulder and looks him square in the eye. “We will have to talk about this.” He says to Matthew, not without compassion.

Matthew looks at the unconscious girl on the table. “What did you do to her?” Marcus, in the middle of the wave to Grieves does not reply. He puts away the terminal and goes to get his med kit. He uses a patch on Matthew to stop the bleeding until Grieves can arrive. “Why don’t you tell me? Since you did it.” He looks at Matthew expectantly. Matthew looks at the floor, face filled with shame, as cold beads of sweat break out on his forehead. “Later then. Grieves will be here soon.” He stands up and goes over to collect Rae. He is not sure if he is relieved or worried she is still out. He again takes her to his room, deposits her on the bed and goes to get cold packs. Returning he flips on his light and leans over her, noticing for the first time her colorful condition. Blood is caked in her hair and some in the corner of her eye; half her face is showing a mottled bruise and her chin and mouth look pink and puffy. On impulse he picks up her arm and looks at it. She has bruises on her wrist and bicep. He turns on his heel and marches back to check on Matthew, an idea growing in his mind.

There is a knock at the back alley door and a well-dressed man walks in carrying a large bag. He walks swiftly over to Matthew and crouches down. Working swiftly he sterilizes the wound and area, deadens the area, removes the patch and bullet, and then uses a dermal mender to heal the incision. He is done in record time. He gives Matthew a shot for the pain and smiling brightly tells him, “It should be better in a no time.” He discards his bloody gloves into a small plastic bag and packs his bag up. “If that’s all should we step into the other room to discuss the fee?” Marcus gives Matthew a look as he asks, “How long until he is able to be up and around on his own?” Grieves smiles pleasantly and says, “Oh, I’d say two days or so. Nothing rough mind you, but he should be ok to move around on his own. Shall we get him to a bed?” Marcus nods and reaches down to grab an arm and haul Matthew up. Between the two of them they put Matthew in his bed. Matthew nervously watches them go.

Once out in the hallway Marcus stops Grieves, “That isn’t all. I have someone else for you to check, she is unaware of our.” He pauses as if searching for the correct term. Grieves supplies it for him, “Nefarious dealings?” Marcus nods. “I see then, well, I’ll be sensitive and discrete in dealing with the, lady is it?” Grieves asks. Marcus nods again and leads him into the other bedroom.

If Grieves is surprised by the colorful girl, he doesn’t show it. He goes over to her and quickly takes stock of her injuries. “Yes, yes, she’s going to be dizzy and most likely nauseated for awhile with that one.” Pulling out a scanner he holds it over her, taking a reading to see if there’s anything his eyes could have missed. “Hmm, seems she should recover. She should be monitored though; head injuries can be rather nasty. The rest is just superficial.” Marcus looks at Grieves and nonchalantly asks, “What is the rest?” Grieves raises his eyebrows and looks at him with surprise, “I assumed you knew. It appears to be minor abrasions and cuts, some mild bruising on the legs and arms. Mostly on the knees and thighs. Otherwise make sure to keep her awake as long as you possibly can, watch to see if anything is odd about her eyes. If there is a problem, get her to a hospital, I won’t be able to fix it. I’ll give you something for the nausea and headache she’s likely to have when she wakes up” He leans down and removes the butterfly band-aids, reaches into his bag and pulls out the dermal mender and some alcohol preps. He cleans the area and applies the mender. “There, that should take care of any scarring. Anything else I can do for you? Oh, here give her this for those scratches.” He pulls out a small tube of ointment. Marcus takes the ointment and looks at it, “Thanks Grieves, now, for your payment. This way please.”

RAE’S REVENGE September 29, 2513

Early, the morning after, Matthew sat in the back room of the shop running his fingers over the mythological stone now in his possession. Stupid bitch never had a chance. Now it’s mine. Later today, I will go on the cortex and put out the word. Maybe I will get lucky and find an on-planet buyer. I don’t want to have to go off world and raise any suspicions with Marcus.

As Matthew sat with his back to the door, he didn’t hear Marcus enter the room. Marcus walked over to Matthew, peered over his unsuspecting shoulder, and was just about to ask him what hell he was doing sitting on his pigu again, when he suddenly realized what was in his brother’s hands. “Oh God, Matthew, please tell me that is not what I think it is! You didn’t? You stupid son of a bitch!” Before he knew it, Marcus picked Matthew up by the collar, twisted him around so they were face to face and slammed him hard up against the nearest wall. Through clenched teeth, Marcus glowered, “why?”

Matthew struggled to free himself but realized quickly it was fruitless. His brother’s grip was that good. Settled with his back against the wall he replied with a smile, “why not?” Marcus filled with red. He glared at his brother, and said, “Give it back. Now.” Matthew was just about to respond when he saw metal. A split second later, he heard the female voice of controlled fury coming from over his brother’s right shoulder. “Yes Matthew. Give it back. Now.” Click.

Marcus realized quickly what was happening and turned his head at a snail's pace to the right, the barrel just grazing his forehead. “Rae, calm down. He’s giving it back.” He released his brother and raised his hands, slowly in a non threatening manner. He turned back to his brother, “aren’t you, Matthew?” Matthew looked at his brother and back at Rae. She was standing in front of them, a gun in each hand, a barrel pointed at each of their temples. No words could describe the look of anger in her eyes.

I will not be shown up by this white trash. No ruttin’ way. He taunted her, even though he knew he shouldn’t. It was already over. She had him. She had them both. He looked at her again, a nervous smile painted on his lips, “Why should I? What are you going to do, kill us b…” Before he could finish that sentence, she lowered her right hand, still holding his gaze, and shot him in the right thigh. Matthew collapsed into his brother and screamed in agony, “You stupid pofu!” For a moment, Marcus stood there, horrified at what just happened. He then laid his brother down on the floor, and Rae stepped back a few paces to give him some space, still holding the guns at both men.

Marcus saw the necklace still clutched in his brother’s fist. He held out his hand, “give it to me, Matthew.” Defeated, Matthew gripped his bleeding leg with one hand, and gave the necklace to Marcus. Marcus took it, stood up and turned to face Rae. In complete silence, he held out the necklace for her to take. She stood there and stared at him. After a few moments pause, a look of understanding passed between them. She lowered both her guns and walked toward Marcus to retrieve it from his non-threatening hands. Rae looked at it with longing just for a moment, and then turned her gaze back to the brothers with a look of hurt and disgust. She turned on her heels and walked out the door, knocking over a pile of books off the counter in one last angry explosion. Marcus turned to his brother and shook his head in frustration, “Now look what you did!”

Who’s Been Breakin In My Dojo September 28, 2513

Estes slowly crept down the stairs, gun drawn. Reaching the bottom he peered into the darkness, listening for the sounds he heard earlier. The noises were not typical Rae noises; she was normally done with her routine and asleep by now. There was the noise again, the front seemed clear. Noise came from the back area! He slowly crept in that direction; the ambient light his only guide. Reaching the hallway he stopped again and listened carefully. The noise had stopped and there was light coming from Rae’s small room and her door was flung wide open. He stayed in the shadows as he crept closer, watching for any signs of danger. Sensing none, he holstered his gun and quickly checked the back door. It was closed. Going back to Rae’s room he says, “Rae what was that..?” Before he could finish he spots her splayed on the floor, blood pooling on her face.

“Rae!!” He swiftly crouched down beside her and checked her pulse, but if the blood on her face was any indication she was still alive. She was out cold with a scalp wound, always looked more serious than it usually was with those. They bled a lot. Still, she was out cold, and was not responding to him. He quickly did a once over for any serious damage. There were abrasions and raw spots on her bare thighs and legs, her mouth was swollen and her face looked raw, but the head wound seemed the worst of it. She gave them an argument whoever it was. There would be hell to pay if he found them. He left the room and quickly came back with a first aid kit. He first applied pressure to her left temple area to stop the bleeding, then, with his other hand he carefully wiped blood off her face as best he could. Once the bleeding was controlled, he placed butterfly bandages on the wound, figuring he’d get her to the doctor and have it fixed correctly. He then placed ointment on the worst of the abrasions on her legs and thighs, leaving some areas for her to do herself. He grew angrier the longer he worked on her; he should not have let her stay down here in this closet. Should have known it was not safe. Should move her to my place from here on out! She’s not ready yet, stupid punk kid, thinking to take on the ‘verse. He carefully picked her up and put her on the bed and covered her. He got up and went to secure the door and bring a chair to sit on.

She woke up frantically clawing at the air and her face as she tried to escape. She let out a panicked sound when a dark shadow loomed over her. It reached down and trapped her hands in its own and it was a while before the pounding in her head allowed her to realize it was Estes. She gave him a trapped look for a moment before she was able to calm down and stop struggling against him. He asked her, “What happened Rae? Do you know who did this? Why?” She rolled slightly onto her side and peered around the room, as if to check it was just the two of them. She bit her slightly swollen bottom lip to keep from crying, knowing her necklace was gone. “Noo, noo.” She cried out, and he took her comment to mean something else. “You don’t know who it was? I’m going to call the police.” He looked at her, unsure if she was ok to be left alone. She attempted to push herself up and her eyes rolled back in her head and she sagged back onto the bed. He sat next to her and cuped her face in his hands, angry again. “Rae, open those eyes Rae. I’m going to take you in to the hospital if you don’t.” Her eyes fluttered and opened, she reached up to hold his wrist clumsily. “No, no hospital, rest, be okay tomorrow, please.” She said drowsily. He gave her a stern look of concern but as always, gave in, figuring she would feel better tomorrow and not much could be done for a head injury anyway. “Fine Rae, if you’re not better tomorrow, we go in though. You want I should call the police?” She blinks slowly at him, fighting back a touch of nausea. “No, didn’t get anything from the shop, you interrupted I think. Gonna be sick.” He swiftly reached down and shoved a bucket over to her just in time. Her hands shook as she wiped her mouth and her vision danced with black spots. She gave in for a moment, hoping it would fade enough that she could escape and get her necklace back. “Thanks, Es. Just need some rest now, you go back to bed.” She closed her eyes and waited. He let out a sigh and said, “I’ll be in the front, keeping an eye out. If you need me, just call.” He wandered out, seriously debating calling the police, but either way determined to put word out on the street to find out who had done this.

It was several hours before she was able to sit up, and a long time after before she was able to stand and get dressed at a turtles pace. She was determined to get her necklace back and put some fear into Matthew’s heart though, and she doggedly continued to get her things together. She holstered two guns as she leaned against the wall heavily, fighting still to stay upright. She tried to be as quiet as possible so as not to disturb Estes in the front. He would never let her do this. Gotta be quiet, shi gotta stay awake, gotta stay up. Get this done, get out, never see him again. No killing.

THE SNATCH II

“You!” she raged. In a flash she was out of her bed. Standing face to face with Matthew, she stared in his eyes. He stared right back. She calmly held out her right hand, and demanded, “Give it back. Now.” Matthew took a moment and looked down at the priceless stone, then looked back into Rae’s fiery eyes. He snorted a simple, “No.”

Rae did not hesitate. Before he knew what hit him, she had sucker-punched him square in the throat. It stunned him. He staggered backward, dropped the scissors to the floor and clutched his throat. Even in his agony, he still held on to the necklace. As he was doubled over gagging, trying to catch his breath again, she struggled to remove the necklace from his clenched fist. Matthew would not let go. She leaned back using the bed as a crutch, and kicked him square in the mouth, drawing blood. He fell to the floor with a thud. She straddled him, and struggled some more to free the stone from his grip. He was stronger than her. He knew this. But she also hurt him first. I just need one good hit, and she’s down. He used this moment to regain his composure and catch his breath. He decided he was going to let her wriggle on top of him for few to experience a moment of twisted amusement.

A wicked grin spread across his cruel lips as he lost focus for a moment of inappropriate excitement. Rae seized upon it, and punched him hard in the face. Again, he gasped in pain. “Pofu,” he said harshly.

He pulled her body closer to him and he felt the rise and fall of her breath against his chest. She gave a painful groan. “Don’t do that again,” he said firmly. She struggled some more as he obtained the upper hand, and twisted his body. They both rolled, Matthew being the victor. He was now on top. She should know better than to fight with a man. She has no clue what her wriggling could lead to. She’s lucky I have some standards, but, if she wants to play rough two can play that game. I’ll scare the hell out of her. She won’t come nosing around our place anymore and good riddance! “I only came for the necklace, you jinu, but since you seemed like you were into it, maybe I should take something else while I’m here.” She opened her mouth to scream, “Es . . .” but that’s the only sound that escaped from her lips before he had clasped his hand over her mouth. Her eyes widened in fear. She tried unsuccessfully to bite his fingers but his grip was too firm. She could not pry her lips open wide enough to get her teeth clamped over his thick fingers. She lay there helpless.

With one hand clamped over her mouth, he attempted to use the other one to hold both her hands over her head as she lay on the floor. She struggled a bit, and her nails dug into his sweaty skin. She wouldn’t be much of a challenge for someone who was really out to get her goods. She’s lucky I only intend to scare the death out of her. He let go of her mouth for a split second and slapped her hard in the face as she let out a muffled a cry. As the sting sunk in, he used the moment to grab both her arms and held them over her head. Before he could do what he intended, he heard the thump of footsteps trudging down a flight of stairs. He quickly covered her mouth again so she wouldn’t scream. He didn’t know who it was and wasn’t about to stick around to find out. In a flash he decided there was no time to finish the dastardly deed he was about to perform. He was thoroughly disappointed. Guess I’ll have to scare her more next time. Now to shut her up so I can get the diyu out of here.

As the heavy footsteps were getting closer, his hand, still gripping the necklace, remained over Rae’s lips. She was weak now, but still conscious enough. She was barely whimpering now. He removed his hand from her mouth and quickly reached over on his left side and grabbed a rattan stick lying on the unswept floor. In one swift motion, he raised the rattan stick and knocked her on the side of the head with it. Immediately she stopped moving and lay motionless underneath him.

He wasted no time and fled the room, the building, through the alley, out into the street, never turning back. He headed for home clutching exactly what he had come for.

THE SNATCH September 28, 2513

Night fell upon Persephone. It was very late and Matthew never did return to the shop. Matthew was not worried about pissing off Marcus. He had other plans. Standing in the alley, he waited to make his move. After what seemed like hours, Matthew emerged from the shadows and made his way over to the back door of the dojo.

From his bag, he took out his lock pick. To his surprise, the door opened without a fight. Matthew stalked into the dojo, using the complete darkness as his cover. He made no sound at all when he walked. Breathing was an afterthought. Sweat dripped from his furrowed brow. He wiped his face with the sleeve of his already damp shirt.

In complete darkness, Matthew reached out and felt for the wall. Using it as his guide, he followed it around a corner and into another darkened room. After he walked a few paces, his foot accidentally bumped a door. “Shi,” he whispered. After a long pause, he felt around for the doorknob. Matthew put his hand on the cold metal hoping that what he had come to retrieve was on the other side of the door.

The door creaked only once. Again, Matthew paused. He crept inside, leaving the door slightly ajar so he could make a clean getaway. A small lamp in the on position sat on a cluttered desk, casting orange shadows in the small dusty room. She lay there sleeping, unaware of the ominous intruder in her sad little room. Matthew made his way toward the sleeping beauty. He hovered over Rae for a moment, listening to her breath. He watched as her chest expanded in and out. He wondered for a moment if he should take something else from her besides the necklace. Matthew extended his left arm, and traced his hand over the sleeping woman’s cleavage. No time. Get in, get out. He snapped his hand back. She did not even stir.

Using what light he had in the room, he leaned over and touched the stone laying in the center of Rae’s chest. He wondered for a moment how to remove it. Rip it off right quick and flee, or cut it slowly from her slender neck so as to not wake her. He decided he would cut it off. After all, the stone was the important thing, not the necklace itself. Matthew looked around the room for anything that would cut the band off. He did not want to make a ruckus. He saw a pair of rusty scissors handle side up inside a grubby coffee mug on the desk next to the lamp. He grabbed them and made his way back over to Rae.

Slowly . . . carefully . . . quietly . . . he cut the band around her neck. Just before he could slide the necklace completely from her neck, she stirred. Shocked, she opened her eyes and quickly clasped her left hand around the wrist of the intruder. She stared for a moment at the stranger standing over her holding scissors in one hand, and her necklace in the other. It took her another split second to realize who the intruder was.