Unlatching the necklace from her neck, she looked at the necklace in her hands, fascinated.

          I can see why the necklace is worth stealing.

          Luna nudged her, snapping Emi out of her daze. She blinked, looking at her horse before patting her again, a smile on her face.

          “Yes, I know. We have to get going.” She said, starting to walk again and her eyes scanned the area for any suspicious activity. In the past, this area used to be an area full of lively people, people walking up and down the street, laughing in a carefree manner. Shopkeepers trying to sell their stuff by shouting out to customers in the streets, businessmen dashing across the street to get to their jobs as quickly as possible.

          However, the area was where the lower class people stayed at and of course, there were people who lived horribly in this area. Some grew up to become thugs, some grew up in a completely horrid way, with bad morals instilled into them. Eventually, the area became so unlawful, that the helpless started fleeing from this area, leaving those behind to start a survival race.

          Emi looked around, the shops that were once so vibrant and colourful had broken windows, rotting wooden shelves and debris all over the floor. The wind blew past and it felt like a miserable howl, reminding Emi how desolate this area was.

          There were houses in this area too, but eventually, they were broken into by ruffians and the residents of all these houses had to flee. The houses were then used by the ruffians as their bases, leading to them forming many different groups of ruffians, since everyone wanted to have ownership over this area.

          The gas lamps that illuminated more dimmer than the main streets managed to revealed how those beautiful houses had transformed into a dirty, depressing house. Due to the government not bothering to deal with this area, the houses and streets weren’t maintained.

          People littered everywhere, since no law and order was implemented, hence, even the houses experienced the abuse. There were dirty footprints everywhere on the house walls and stains that Emi did not want to think about.

          Letting out a sigh, Emi continued walking alongside Luna, not wanting to dwell on the past any longer. She could feel people leering at her from the shadows but they knew not to mess with her, after all, she was the right hand man of the leader of this town.

          “Come on, Luna. Let’s finish our business here, the quicker the better.” She muttered to her horse, climbing up and urging Luna to take off.

          *************************************************

          After a few minutes, Emi arrived at the largest house in the area. Even though it wasn’t like a mansion, it was still a huge house that she couldn’t afford in her life. It was the most gorgeous house in this area, but now, it looked like the other houses in the streets behind her.

          Jumping down from her horse, Emi’s footsteps could be hardly heard as she walked up to the horse stand to tie Luna to the fence, patting her mane lovingly as she placed the water and food down for her, before walking to the front door of the house. She was trained her whole life to walk silently as she could, it would be odd if it wasn’t a habit for her to do this.

          Still dressed in her black leather one-piece suit, she slammed open the door and the boisterous laughing from the tables in the living stopped. Everyone looked at her direction and Emi observed their faces, most of them had scars on their faces, which was to be expected, since this was the leader’s base and only the toughest were allowed to live here.

          Their menacing faces softened and they all had a lecherous grin on their faces as they greeted Emi with whistles and cheers. She ignored their greeting and walked past their tables, heading straight for the stairs. The necklace that was supposed to be latched onto her neck was now gone, inside her hidden pocket which she only knew.

          “Hey, Winters! What did ya find this time?” One of them hollered at her.

          “The usual.” She gave the same short answer, like she always did.

          “I heard you went to a ball, eh?” Another ruffian said, making all of them snicker at her.

          “Where is Sergi?” She ignored their teasing, asking them as she came to a stop.

          “Bedroom, probably. Ya know, him and his girls.” A different ruffian answered her, wagging her eyebrows at her and they all burst into chuckles.

          Giving them a nod, she started to walk until she noticed a hand creeping behind her out of the corner of her eyes. A dark expression covered her face as she spun around quickly, twisting the thug’s arm and he yelped in pain.

          “Don’t you dare touch me.” She hissed dangerously at him, before letting go of his arm, spinning her head around and slapping him with her hair, feeling gratified. Storming off, she heard the loud guffawing of the group of ruffians behind her, making fun of how their comrade lost to a female.

          I hate them.

          All of them.

          *****************************************

          Reaching a door in the house, she knocked on it and she heard a familiar deep voice asking her to enter. She opened the door, entering the bedroom, which was similarly dirty like the other parts of the houses and as what the thugs said, he is here.

          “Winters.”

          A pair of dark blue eyes stared at her, his thick and short blonde hair was messy and he was sitting up on the bed, his lower half of his body covered by a blanket while his upper half was exposed. He was a muscular man, with small scars covering his body here and there.

          “What brings you here?”

          The man asked, raising a thick eyebrow, a wicked smirk covering his thin lips. His nose was sharp, but it was slightly jagged and his jaw was defined, Emi could see why he attracted many ladies but she knew sides of him they didn’t knew. There was a scar at the side of his right cheek, which she knew it was a fight not too long ago.

          Sides that she definitely wasn’t attracted to.

          In fact, she doesn’t want to be his right hand man, she was forced to and she can’t run away, because she knew…

          She knew she was a wanted criminal in the country and she would get arrested for her crimes and maybe even get framed for killing someone. After all, this man here, her leader, is capable of anything.

          “Sergi.” She greeted coldly, that was what everyone called him, and nobody knew who he is or what his real name is. Nevertheless, everyone treats him with great respect, either out of fear or just pure admiration.

          “Here, catch.” Emi said, flinging something in his direction and he caught in easily in the air, looking at it. It was a cloth that was tied into a bag to carry something and he untied it, seeing expensive-looking pocket watches and jewelry.

          If there is one thing I know.

          Even if I give him the necklace, he will never set me free.

          “Is that all?”

          Emi silently nodded, turning around to walk to his door, pushing it open.

          “Come here again tomorrow, in the morning.”

          She never bothered to respond anything to him, since he knew that she will come here tomorrow morning, like he instructed.

          ***************************************************

          Returning to her bedroom in the house, Emi changed out of her black leather one-piece suit into a plain white cotton shirt and cotton pants. Even though it was a little tattered, Emi couldn’t care less, as long as it was comfortable enough to keep her warm, she would wear anything.

          She took out the necklace from her hidden pocket, gazing at it again, mesmerised.

          “Freedom, huh?” She whispered to herself, the necklace dangling from her fingers as it glinted in the dim lighting.

          For a moment, I thought I had it.

          Letting out a bitter snort, Emi kept the necklace again and she hid her suit in a hidden compartment in the small closet she was provided with.

          She did the same procedure as usual before going to sleep, she wrapped the rope around her wrist, which was connected all the way to the door handle. She knew the lecherous looks she received every day, it wouldn’t be a surprise if one of them came sneaking in, even if she locked the door.

          I’ll hold onto this awhile longer, while I think of something.

          With that, Emi drifted off into a light sleep, there was never a day where she could truly sleep peacefully. Not without knowing that the whole house was filled with man almost twice her size.

          ****************************************************

          Just as he instructed, she was outside of his bedroom the next morning by nine in the morning and she knocked on his door.

          “Come in.”

          She pushed the door open, slightly surprised when she saw Sergi dressed in his outfit that he used for missions.

          “We are setting off in an hour. Get ready.” Sergi ordered her immediately and she knew not to argue, just nodding at him.

          “What exactly do you plan to do, Sergi?”

          “We are going to rob an auction.”

          “What kind of auction is it?”

          “For the needy.” Sergi smirked.

          Emi nodded at him, no sign of remorse on her face.

          If the world abandoned me, why should I help the world?

          She thought bitterly, remembering the parts of her childhood before she shook her head.

          “So, how are we going to get there?”

          “Horses, through this hidden path that we scouted out for months. It’ll hide us from the public.”

          With that, Emi exited the room, changing into her black leather outfit. Something poked her slightly through the hidden pocket, the constant reminder that she needed to think of something to free herself from this misery, using this necklace.

          ********************************************

          The next morning, the streets were bustling with exciting news. Lord Morand’s mansion was robbed by none other than the infamous Shadow Rogue, of course, people didn’t know what items were robbed but due to news travelling fast from the guards of mansion, to the maids, to their friends in the streets, everyone was busy spreading around the news.

          A man wearing a hat, dressed in the commoner’s clothing walked past two young ladies who were whispering excitedly about the recent news.

          “Did you hear it? She has done it again!”

          “Yes, the Shadow Rogue!”

          “Oh, how exciting. The way she lives her life…how adventurous!” One of the ladies gushed, her eyes becoming unfocused.

          “That is something I have to agree on, with you, for once.” Her friend , chuckling.

          The man walking past them halted for a moment, raising an amused eyebrow at them, behind their back.

          “A thief? Exciting? Adventurous?” The man scoffed, continuing down the stone path, his shoes clicking against the ground. He stopped at one part of the street, people paying no attention to him, since he was getting into a carriage.

          “Hey, Kris.” Someone greeted him the moment he sat down on the carriage which moved off. It was one of his comrades, who was quite a muscular man with a scary looking face and Kris greeted him in return, taking off his hat and letting out a relieved sigh, relaxing back into the chair.

          He ruffled his dark brown hair, which just touched his neck and his black eyes fluttering close and he inhaled in a deep breath before opening them again.

          “I’m feeling terribly tired, due to a certain idiot’s mistake.” Kris groaned into his hands, rubbing tiredly at his attractive face. One of his best comrade went on a mission to find clues about the necklace and just when he finally got it, someone snatched it right out from under his nose.

          Out of all people, it had to be the Shadow Rogue…

          She’s a tricky one to hunt down.

          However, it wasn’t entirely his fault, he was still injured in his ribcage for a previous mission and that someone managed to hit the right spot to cripple him longer.

          “Aman is still repenting over his mistake, Kris.” His comrade said, making Kris’ head shoot up.

          “What? He’s still repenting? That idiot, tell him to get some damn rest and stop over it.” Kris demanded.

          “Yes sir.” His comrade saluted mockingly, holding a pigeon cage beside him and commanding the person to stop the carriage. He took out a piece of paper from the inside of his clothes, writing something on it with a quill and an ink bottle he carried along with him all the time. He sent the pigeon off, placing the paper between his legs.

          The carriage ended up stopping at a place surrounded with trees and bushes. Hence, his comrade decided it was a safe place to discuss what he wanted to as he asked the driver to take a little break for a while.

          “Kris, we got a job.”

          “Go on.”

          “We are hired as guards to prevent any thefts during this auction.”

          “What kind of auction is it?”

          “For the needy.”

          Kris’ expression changed into an enraged one.

          “What kind of people would steal from an auction meant for helping the poor?”

          “People like the Shadow Rogue.” His comrade responded, making Kris clench his fists in anger.

          More than anything in the world…

          The kind of people I hate the most are people like her.

          “Head back to the headquarters.”

          “Yes sir.”

          “We are going all out on this job, boys.” Kris said, his mouth curving into a smirk.

Hope you guys liked it :D!