Of Thieves And Do Gooders

I looked carefully around the room I was being held in. Strangely enough, it was pretty comfortable, and big at that, not to mention there were two beds for some reason. At the farthest corner of the room was a door that led into a bathroom from what I could tell. There were dressers and whatnot beside each bed, and then two closets, both of them being closed.

Who's room was I in? It wasn't much of a holding cell.

I hopped up off of the bed and wandered over to the door that didn't lead into the bathroom. I reached forward and pulled it open. It wasn’t locked, that was certainly odd. I peaked outside the door carefully...Hmm...no guards...I was starting to think that this was the strangest kidnapping ever.

I stepped out into a broad hallway, closing the door behind me, I glanced quickly from left to right. Not a person in sight...Where the hell was I?

I turned to the right and continued down the hallway. When I heard foot steps, I shimmied on up part of the wall, where a trophy case was sitting on a ledge, but there was just enough space for me to fit beside it without knocking anything over.

I held my breath as the footsteps came closer. Two girls walked by the trophy case, giggling and talking to each other, there was no way they would've been able to detect me. They didn’t expect anyone to be sneaking around, so they wouldn’t have know to look for me. So I had worried about nothing. I sighed quietly, and moved along the wall until I could peak around the corner, they were already past the room I had come out of.

Once again, where the hell was I?

Those girls didn't look like they were being held against their will. So, why was I here?

I waited till they were out of sight, and then hopped down from the ledge, brushing myself off as I stood, watching where the two girls had gone, just in case they decided to turn around. Suddenly, someone touched my shoulder lightly, making me jump and hop forward once before turning around.

"Hey, so you're awake, huh?" I turned to see it was Leon.

"You!" I exclaimed, pointing an accusing finger in his direction, "You tricked me!"

He laughed a little. "Yeah, I guess I kinda did, but hey I got a good grade on the delivery," Leon replied with a grin.

A good grade? What the hell did that mean? What was with this guy and grades?

"So, Raymond, I have to take you to meet someone now."

Raymond? I hesitated over the name once again, and bit my lower lip when I realized he was addressing me. Oh that's right, they still thought I was a guy. Hopefully I’d be able to keep up that charade for awhile longer. At least long enough for me to escape.

"So are you gonna come quietly? Or do I have to knock you out again?" Leon challenged, still smiling the entire time. What exactly about that whole situation did he find funny?

Hmm, I had two options, it seemed. 1) get knocked out again and be brought to meet some guy in a dazed injured state and 2) or go with Leon to meet some guy and maybe get to go free…

As begrudging as I was to admit it, the second option was ever-so-slightly more appealing.

I scowled. "Fine, I'll go. But I'm not gonna be quiet," I assured him.

"Fine with me." Leon gestured me to follow him and we went in the opposite direction that the girls had gone in.

"So what am I doing here? And where is here exactly?" I glanced around at the walls as I followed him. "It reminds me of some fancy ass school..." I muttered disdainfully.

"You'll find all that out when you meet Headmaster Wilkins." Leon explained nonchalantly.

Headmaster? I mulled over the word in my head and scowled to myself. Great. It was a school! Ugh, what kind of twisted recruiting system sent random kids out to kidnap people? A shitty system if you asked me.

I frowned. "So who was it that you had knock me out anyway?" I asked, simply trying to stick to my "I'm not gonna be quiet" part of the deal.

"Hmm? Oh, you'll meet him soon enough, but his name's Damion." Leon stopped after taking a left, another left, then a right, and then one more left, stopping in front of a regular looking door. I looked above the door where a sign hung, reading: "Headmaster's Office".

"Okay, this is where I leave and you go in and talk about whatever it is he wants to talk about," Leon said brightly, then added, "Oh, and good luck, I hope I'll be seeing you later." He started walking off, and I kinda just stood there, staring at his back. He was like a crutch at that moment, the one thing that was semi-familiar in this place that I didn’t recognize. Going off on my own here felt like a bad idea.

"W-wait a minute!" I called after him, running to catch up with him.

Leon looked over his shoulder curiously and asked, "What?"

"What am I doing?" I asked carefully, glancing back at the regular and yet strangely foreboding door.

"You serious?" Leon scratched the back of his head. "It's easy, just go in there, and the Headmaster is going to fill you in." He put a reassuring hand on my shoulder then turned me around and gave me a good shove. "Now, go on. I'll see you later."

Aw man! I don't want to be here! I whined internally, but took a few more steps in the direction of the door I was supposed to be entering.

I walked up to the door and paused, looking where Leon had been and he was still standing there, expectantly. Damn, couldn’t just skimp on my responsibilities and ignore the door altogether.

"I'm going!" I called with a sneer. By reading his expression, I could tell he didn’t expect me to go in. Which, on his part, was a nice call.

"Then go in already!" he called back, a sense of joking in his voice.

I blinked. That tone was oddly friendly. Not like, the tone someone would use if they were generally friendly, but like we were actually friends. I snorted at the thought. I wasn’t gonna be the type of person that made friends with her kidnapper. Because that would just be downright ridiculous.

I shook the thought from my head, pushing the door open slowly, and stepping inside. I closed the door behind me and turned around. The room was decorated like any "Principal's Office", awards on the wall, stuff on the desk, file cabinets, and the desk was--of course--in the middle of the room, and it was a big-ass desk too. It had that disgustingly academic feel to it. I had to restrain myself to keep from fleeing the room.

At the desk sat a man, probably in his late thirties to early forties. He had semi-long dark brown hair that was slicked back, and dark brown eyes. He was wearing a quite obviously expensive black suit with a generic red tie. He looked incredibly rich and incredibly professional, I had an intense urge to steal something off of his desk and rush to the nearest pawn shop. I refrained however, since that would probably be considered horribly rude.

"Ah, you must be Raymond Frost, right?" he inquired with a good-natured, but tight smile on his lips.

"I--Uh, yeah, that's me." I made sure to speak with my "guy voice", or at least the voice that made mine less feminine.

"Great. Let's get down to business then shall we?" He gestured for me to come sit in front of him, in an extremely comfortable looking chair. However, I chose to stand instead, feeling like I was off guard otherwise. And I had the slight suspicion that the chair had handcuffs built into the armrests that would shoot out and restrain me had they had the chance. That was my paranoia speaking, but I stood, nevertheless.

"So Raymond, if I've read your file correctly, your mother died during your sister's birth and your father died when you were twelve and younger sister died when you were fifteen right?" The Headmaster asked, being extremely straightforward.

I felt my throat constrict slightly at the mention of the subject. Of course, my younger sister hadn't died when I was fifteen, it was the other way around. My older brother had died when I was fifteen. My mother had died during childbirth and my father had died when I was nine, my brother was twelve at the time and took good care of me when we were in the orphanage. If anyone tried to adopt one of us and not the other they had a hell of a fight coming their way.

But my brother was killed when I was fifteen, it was a classic, "in the wrong place at the wrong time" deal. It was still a bit of a painful subject for me. I had loved my brother, it was horrible having to go out on my own, but I visited his grave everyday for a year. But as I became more involved as a thief, and had to avoid the orphanage radar, I lost time to visit him as frequently. When I turned eighteen about half a year ago I didn't have to worry about the orphanage anymore. Yet, still I hadn’t gone back to his grave.

"Yeah, that's right," I confirmed, lying quite confidently. I even managed to keep my brother's face from my mind as much as possible.

"Well Raymond, in that case you've no family left, correct?" Headmaster Wilkins continued blankly.

I bristled slightly. What was this dude's problem?

I frowned, clearly disgruntled. "Yes, that's true. Is there a reason you're bringing it up, Sir?" I asked coldly. “I also had a pet fish named Mister Shiny that died when I was twelve, would you like to bring that up as well?” I mocked ruthlessly.

"Yes there is a reason I’m bringing it up, rather than simply for the emotional response,” the man said simply, completely ignoring my fish comment. “Since you've no family, there will be no reason why you shouldn't be able to attend my school." He smiled warmly in my direction, "We can provide food, shelter, an education directed toward your profession--"

I stopped him in his list, "Wait, what? My profession? You mean stealing?" I asked strangely.

"Yes, welcome to Shadowstep Academy."

"Shadowstep...? I've never even heard of the place," I retorted incredulously.

"Of course not, if word got around that there was a school where you could learn master thievery that would create quite a stir, not to mention every petty thief would show up on our doorstep claiming to be the best. That's why it's in our best interest to keep the school's whereabouts and recruiting secret." The Headmaster explained patiently.

A school for thieves? This might actually be beneficial...I mused carefully.

"What's the catch?" I narrowed my eyes in his direction.

"There isn't one. Of course when you succeed in pilfering something of worth during class assignments we ask that you give them to the school in return for room and board and classes." The Headmaster smiled again. "So, will you be attending Shadowstep Academy?" he asked as if he already knew the answer.

It definitely would've been a good idea, I would learn more about thievery and definitely get better at it. And free room and board, that sounded pretty good. Now if they had good food I'd be sold. "Okay, I'll stay here I guess. But why'd you recruit me anyway?" I asked casually.

"Simple, you showed potential,” the Headmaster said with a toothy grin. “Now, Damion should be waiting outside to escort you to your room, and he should be showing you around the campus." The Headmaster pulled a pile of papers in front of him and with a gesture of his wrist, he sent me on my way.

"Uh, okay, bye, I guess." I wandered back toward the door, opened it, walked out and closed it behind me.

"Hey! You must be Raymond right?" A casual voice asked from beside the door, almost causing me to jump.

I blinked rapidly, startled by the sudden presence. "Wha…? Oh, yeah, that's me...You must be, Damion?" I inquired a little hesitantly.

"That's me, I'm supposed to show you around or somethin'." Damion--like both Leon and Hayden--was extremely attractive. His black hair was short, and yet long enough to almost fall in his eyes, and it was ruffled at best, and yet he seemed to pull off the look quite well. He had dark blue eyes that were dulled slightly against his dark hair. Damion was probably an inch or two shorter than Leon, but Leon was pretty tall so that was understandable.

School for thieves? More like a school for hot guys who were to tall for their own good.

"Apparently I have a room somewhere around here," I offered casually when he didn’t proceed to lead me in any particular direction.

"Oh, that's right, Leon mentioned that, come on, I know where that is." He walked past me and took a right, a left, another right and one more right. When Damion led me past the trophy case that I had hid behind, I realized we were going back to the room I had woken up in. An obvious coincidence.

Damion pointed at the door I had exited from earlier that day. "This is it. I think you were in it earlier, so you probably already know what's in it right?" he asked and I nodded. "Your closet's already got all your stuff in it, if I heard right. So come on, I'll show you some of the basics around here."

"So how's this place anyway? It looks pretty damn big," I commented, regarding the walls every now and then.

"It's pretty cool, saved my life actually. I used to be a pretty shitty thief." Damion admitted with a shrug and a slight smirk on his lips. "Lived on the streets, managed to pick pocket every now and then so I could survive. Apparently I showed promise and was recruited for Shadowstep Academy. Free room and Board was enough to get me to stay, and I got some skills along the way."

"Hmph. And the classes? How are they?" I asked next, not particularly interested in his past at the moment.

"Eh, they're pretty tough, especially during hell week, just before midterm exams. But that's not for a few months, hopefully you'll be able to catch up by then rookie," he said the last word jokingly, making me smile slightly. Unlike the thief I had met on my failed break-in attempt, he didn’t say the word spitefully.

"Hey if I heard right, it sounds to me like you were a ‘rookie’ once punk," I shot back just as prone to joking as him.

Damion laughed a little, "Yeah, guess so." He stopped the conversation and pointed to a pair of double doors on the inner wall, "That leads to the courtyard, it's a shortcut if you need to get to the hall opposite this one, other than that the only purpose is for a garden to be put there, so the girls will stop whining about how the Academy isn't 'pretty enough'." Damion rolled his eyes and continued down the hall.

A thievery school and there were people wanting it to be prettier? I snorted to myself at the ridiculous notion.

"That's stupid," I commented dryly. I mean I liked flowers and all but they didn't really have a use.

"I know, that's what the majority of the school says since the school's mostly made up of guys." He turned around and offered me a high five, which I obliged happily, I didn't know what it was about high fives, but I loved'em. "Looks like we reign," Damion commented in amusement, making me laugh, even though I wasn't really a guy.

Damion paused again, this time pointing at a sign on the wall. "This is the start of the 100-wing, it isn't too hard to figure out, from here the numbers go all the way around the courtyard and then back here. And up a flight is the same for the 200-wing, and up another flight is the 300-wing," he explained nonchalantly.

"That's easy enough,” I commented, blatantly uninterested in how the school was built.
“Hey, where do you get some food around here?" I asked, feeling my stomach beginning to growl. There were more important matters than knowing where the hell everything was.

"Ah, a big eater huh?" he asked with a slight smile. I didn't think so, but let him continue, "Well the café is in a separate building. Outside the main entrance and to the right, you can't miss it, it's pretty damn big itself."

Damion began walking, and paused again shortly after, pointing at a sign that read: "Boys" He shrugged and commented, "That's the guy's bathroom, you know, if your crapper's on the fritz." He moved on, and I snickered slightly at his use of the word "crapper". I’m a bit immature, but I’m also mature enough to accept this fact about myself. Ponder that. Man, maybe I should think about becoming a philosopher.

"So we covered all the bases yet?" I asked, thoroughly bored already, I figured I'd find my way around later, in the heat of the moment when I had thirty seconds to get to the right room.

"Yeah I think so. Oh, and if you get bored there's an arcade on the fifth floor, you know pool tables, video games, movies, there's a theater too, but that's on the opposite side of the Academy. And of course the first floor is for the students dorm rooms," Damion finished off with a clap of his hands, "That's it I think."

"Alright, well I think I'm gonna head back to my room, check some stuff." I started to turn around but stopped, "Oh, by the way, why are there two beds in my room?" I asked curiously.

"Dude, you've got a room mate, didn't Leon tell you?" I shook my head. "Oh, well I think you've already met him, so you'll get along great, he's a cool dude. See you at diner. Which is at eight ’o clock by the way." Damion continued off in the opposite direction.

"Alright, I'll be there." I turned toward the direction of the stairs and went down a flight, then followed the halls until I came to the trophy case then easily found my room.

I pushed open the door quickly, wanting to see if they had actually brought all of my things. God help them if they had forgotten something vital.

"Hey!" I heard someone shout in surprise, making me jump and fling myself around to face them.

I narrowed my eyes, realizing it was the thief that had not only sold me out but knocked me out as well. I looked somewhere else just as quickly, realizing he was half putting his shirt on, half glaring at me.

"So you're finally all caught up right?" Hayden pulled his shirt on the rest of the way, annoyance in his voice.

"Yeah, and you are an ass you know that?" I shot back quickly. "What the hell was with the constant backstabbing?" I asked with a bite of irritation tacked onto my tone. “‘Hey we’ll work together, oh wait, no we won’t cause I’m gonna hand you over to a butler that’s gonna punch your face in. Oh just kidding, let’s get out of the forest together now, and then I can knock your ass out when we’re home free’.” I mocked bitterly.

Hayden rolled his eyes. “I didn’t say any of that.” He continued to say, “sorry about the whole ‘knocking you out’ thing, I didn't want you following me later, as you've figured out this place is supposed to be a secret. And besides I already had my grade lowered on that last mission of mine, thanks to you finding me all the time, that should be revenge enough," he stated, sounding a little butt hurt about the whole mess.

"The hell it is! Let me knock you out a couple of times, then we'll be even," I retorted, hoping he might take me up on that offer. Although I highly doubted it.

Hayden looked at me to see if I was serious, and I was. "What? No way, I'm not letting you knock me out, people die like that you know," he said matter-of-factly.

"What? I could've died? You knocked me out chancing that I might die?" I asked incredulously. This kid really was an ass hole.

"Hey, you're alive aren't you? I don't see the problem." Hayden rolled his eyes, and began to put on some shoes.

It was my turn to roll my eyes, "Never mind. How'd I end up being room mates with you?" I asked semi-curiously, but my tone was mostly scathing.

"I was the only guy without a room mate, and we don't have co-ed dorms here. Besides, the Headmaster thought we'd be good room mates since we had already met," Hayden explained simply. "Are you done interrogating me? 'Cause I'm heading down to dinner. You know where the Dining room is right?"

"Dining room?” I searched my newest memories of the tour and got nothing. “No, I know where the café is," I offered with a shrug.

Hayden sighed, clearly annoyed that he had to even deal with me. "Fine then, hurry up and change, I'll go there with you." Hayden moved over to the bed I hadn't been sleeping on and sat down.

I moved to a closet, not sure which was my own. "Hey, that's mine, other closet rookie," Hayden corrected me, in that irritating way of his.

I glared at him and moved over to the other closet. I was a little shocked to see that my entire dresser from home was actually in my closet. I kneeled down and rummaged through the drawers to look for something that wasn't exactly too girly to wear but would also hide my...feminine features...well enough. I found a black band T-shirt and a pair of dark blue jeans, baggy enough to hide my curves, and then I figured I'd just wear my black sweat shirt over my shirt.

I was a little skeptical about Hayden being in the room, and as I stood up I was contemplating how I was going to change, but at that moment I heard the bathroom door close.

Perfect.

That gave me roughly three minutes to change my clothes, it would be a new record for me. I ripped off my shirt and sweat shirt and pulled on my t-shirt, then the sweat shirt. From there it was easy enough, since I had covered the most obvious part of my feminine features.

I had just finished buttoning up my pants when Hayden came out of the bathroom. "Wow, you changed fast," he commented, unimpressed, just sarcastic.

"Come on then, let's get down there already, the Headmaster hates when people are late." Hayden went to the door and continued through it without waiting for me. I quickly ran to where my closet was and grabbed a baseball cap to replace my beanie, I tucked my hair up inside of it as I had with the beanie and then was out the door.

"Thanks for waiting," I retorted gruffly, having to jog to catch up with him.

Hayden shrugged. "You should learn to keep up," he replied coolly. Hayden smiled suddenly, and I didn't realize why until I followed his gaze down the hall to where Leon was waving enthusiastically in our direction. Hayden offered a quick flick of his wrist as a substitute for waving.

Too impatient to wait for us to come to him, Leon jogged over to stand beside me. "Hey Hayden, getting to know your new roomy?" Leon grinned and put an arm around my shoulders, "So what d'you think of this place? Pretty nice, eh?" he commented without waiting for Hayden’s reply.

"Yeah, damn big though," I commented, knowing that I'd get lost one time or another, probably soon now that I'd mentioned it.

Leon chuckled. "Yeah? Well you get used to it quick, as for rules, they're pretty lax around here. But the rules that there are, you don't wanna break'em." He sounded grave at the mention of breaking rules, telling me he'd probably broken a few before, and most likely suffered the consequences.

"But that's enough of negative talk, let's get some food eh? Damion said Raymond here's a big eater." As if it were possible, Leon grinned wider. "Hope you're up for an eating contest then."

Oh great, and eating contest, I was probably gonna lose that fight. I mean I wasn’t exactly a ravenous hobo here, and he looked like he’d eat his food with a shovel if they offered them at the dinner table. Sheesh, my first challenge and I was already gonna be beaten...

I paused at that thought, and a sly sort of smirk played across my lips. Or was I...? What if I put up one hell of a fight?