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"Are you ready, Riona?" a gruff voice whispers to me.
"Yes," I reply, my voice in a whisper as well.
The truth is that I'm not ready -- I will never
be ready. How can you be ready to commit a crime? I used to think the answer
is you can't be, but I guess I was mistaken -- because Annalyssa is more than
ready.
"So one more time, these are the plans, okay?
I break the window and we both go in and put as much stuff in our pillowcases
as possible. We then run a few blocks from here, and when we think its safe,
you give me all of your stuff. I'll take it, as well as my own, to you-know-where
and keep is stashed 'till next week when you-know-what happens, and then when
you-know-what happens, we'll meet there. Got it?"
"Yes." My voice is quivering, and my stomach
feels sick. But I have to go through with this robbery.
I pull my black scarf (which has eye-holes cut
into it) over the top part of my face, and then clasp my paws over my ears.
Annalyssa raises the club and bashes the store the window.
The alarm wails, and I feel like my whole body
freezes. I put my paws up, and just wait for the cops to arrest me.
"Come on, Riona!" Annalyssa barks, and at that,
I am snapped out of my surrendering-mode. I realize the cops are not there…yet.
Annalyssa and I squeeze through the broken windowpane,
and then start swiping items off of the neatly lined shelves and into our pillowcases.
I feel horrible stealing from an innocent shop, and I do not know why I even
agreed to do this, but it's already happening, and I can't stop it.
Soon, my pillowcase is filled to capacity and
I squeeze back outside. Annalyssa comes a few moments later, and the two of
us runs a few blocks away. She then takes my pillowcase full of goods, and nods
in approval. "I'll hold onto these, okay?" she says.
I mutter a 'yes', and then Annalyssa tells me
that I should return home before my owner gets suspicious. I concur, so after
one final wave, I run towards home. I do not stop once.
****************************
"600,000… I need 600,000 from AdidaVSVan's account," I remark to the Skeith
who runs the bank.
"What permits you to withdraw from her account?"
he replies sarcastically. "I'm her pet!" I snap.
"You got any proof? I'm not going to give 600k
without proof!"
I hand him my crumpled identity sheet, and after
going over it a few times, he hands it back.
"So, can I have the 600k?" My eyes grow wide
with hope.
"Does she know about you withdrawing this amount?"
"Yes!" This is a lie, but he does not have to
know this.
He shakes his head slowly, and I can tell he
does not believe me, but he still walks back to find my owner's vault.
A few minutes later, he returns. 600k worth
of Neopoints are cradled into his arms, and he drops them onto the counter.
They land with a deafening clank, and everybody in the bank turns their eyes
to see what the source of the noise was.
I ignore them, and quickly load the Neopoints
into my two separate backpacks. The weight is tremendous, and I can barely walk.
Somehow, though, I manage to.
Outside, the weather is grisly. My silver fur
is drenched immediately, and I am beyond cold. But I have to go meet Annalyssa.
I take one last look at the Neopia I love and
know, but then head off to the spot my friend and I planned to meet at.
**************************
It takes approximately 3 hours to get there, and when I arrive, I am a step
further than freezing. My ears seem to be ice sculptures - enclosed in frost
and stiff snow. My paws are numb, and I feel as if I will collapse any second.
Then, to top it all off, my back hurts greatly because of the backpacks' load.
As I plop down in an alleyway next to a stinking
dumpster, I feel an icy Aisha paw tap my shoulder. I swivel around, and see
Annalyssa.
She looks absolutely horrible. Her Rainbow fur
seems to have turned an eerie shade of blue from the weather conditions, and
her second set of ears are drooping so low that they hit the snowy ground.
"Lyssa!" I shriek, my energy suddenly regained.
"Oh Lyssa you need help!"
She is so weak that she can barely utter, "No,
Riona…No…"
I am panicking, and insist for her to lie down.
She does, and I do not know if it is because I asked her to, or if she is too
weak to stand anymore.
I try to help her as much as I can, but I am
not doctor. The most I did was draped a tattered blanket from the dumpster over
the upper part of her body, and set her head on one of my backpacks for a pillow.
These do not, and will not cure her, though.
My head pounds with confusion, and I feel so
helpless. There is only one thing I can do to assure that she will get better;
take her to the nearest Neohome, where the owner will help us.
I scoop Annalyssa's limp body into my arms,
and start to slowly walk out of the alleyway. I am leaving all of the 600k behind,
but my friend's health is more important than the Neopoints.
*******************************
I soon find out that the area is pretty much deserted, and I am angry, depressed
and tired all at the same time. I want to give up, but that would be leaving
Annalyssa to die. I cannot do that, so I continue on.
After hours of walking, I arrive at a Neohome.
It is made of cardboard, and it is small, but it is better than nothing.
I anxiously go up to the drenched door and knock
lightly. Soon, a teenage boy with fiery red hair answers.
"What'd you want Gelert… and Aisha?" he snaps.
"Can you help us?" I ask. I had not realized
before that I am so weak from venturing through the snow that my voice is so
quiet it is basically untraceable.
"I can't hear you," he says, "and even if I
could the answer would be NO!"
He slams the door in my face. I half expect
the cardboard to fall, but it doesn't.
I go on to find the next home.
Only a matter of minutes later, I stumble upon
a cave. It has the words 'Home of Mariella' sloppily engraved on a boulder in
the front, so I know - or at least am pretty sure - that somebody occupies it.
I walk slowly into the mouth of the dimly lit
area.
"Hello?" I call, my voice again in a whisper.
"What'd you want?" A low voice croaks from a
few feet back.
I strain my eyes to see the figure of a scrawny
Lupe lying next to a piece of stone furniture. Her bushy fur is red, and she
is resting her head on her tail.
"I'm sorry for bothering you… but my friend…
she needs help." I close my eyes, as if waiting for the Lupe to tell me to go
away.
"I'll try to help." I am grateful when I hear
those words, and I reopen my eyes.
I now see the Lupe advancing towards us. Her
eyes show a gentle, yet distant expression, and her lips are weakly smiling.
"What happened to her?" she asked, setting her
front right paw on Annalyssa's limp body.
"She's been out in the open for a week," I reply.
"Does she not have an owner?"
"She does… it's just… it's just a long story."
Images of the robbery we committed flashed through my mind, and I wince.
"I assume you do not want to tell the story,
seeing your reaction and all." I nod, and so does the Lupe. She then takes Annalyssa
from my grip and walks to the back of the cave. I follow.
A fire is burning, and a great amount of warmth
overcomes me. My body seems to be spring back to full life, and my mood increases
dramatically.
The Lupe sets Annalyssa down a few feet from
the fire and then walks to a tattered handbag resting on a large stone. She
digs into it, and a few moments later comes back with an injection of some sort,
a mug of water, a pillow, and a blanket.
She first positions Annalyssa onto the pillow,
and drapes the blanket over her body.
"Open her mouth," the Lupe then instructs. I
do as I'm told, and she then pours the water into her jaw.
All that is left is the injection, and I wonder
what medicine is in it. But I do not ask, because for some reason, I trust this
mysterious Lupe.
After the injection, the whole cave is literally
silent. The only sound is that of the crackling embers in the fire. The Lupe
and I simply stare at Annalyssa, waiting for something to happen.
Nothing does.
The Lupe sighs, and buries her face into her
paws. I can tell she is crying, and I want to comfort her.
So I say, "It's okay."
"No," she murmurs. "She'll probably never wake
up, so that means I've failed."
"It's not your fault," I whisper, and sling
a reassuring paw over her shoulder.
"You and that Aisha came to me…and I thought
I would make everything better. But I haven't… I really haven't."
"But you haven't done any wrong now, have you?"
I am trying to look at the bright side, but I do not think that side is very
bright at all, because Annalyssa is not now suddenly awake.
The Lupe does not reply. She simply brings her
face up and stares vacantly at the wall.
The silence is awkward, and I feel I should
to say something. But there is nothing to say.
And then, it feels like an unseen force overpowers
me. I slowly reach my paw out and touch Annalyssa's forehead. My heart is pumping
wildly, and I do not know what I am doing. But slowly, I bring my paw down until
I am touching her left cheek. Now my paw goes horizontal - towards the fire.
My legs seem to fall under the force, too, and I stand up. I am inching towards
the blaze against my own will.
I am so close to the fire I feel as if I am
in it. I want to run, and scream, but I am not able to. Trembling, I set my
paw into the flames. And it does not burn.
To be continued...
A/N: Hey everybody ^_^ Thanks for reading the beginning of my new story,
and I hope you enjoyed it. Neomail me with anything you might have to say, m'kay?
Thankles <(^_^)>
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