Night Thief

“This way, you idiot!” Kaz whispered. Kali, Raya, Juniper and I all slowly and silently crept toward the vent.

Kaz busted the vent open with his crobar. The opening fell and clattered on the white marble floor. He flinched at the loud noise, then fastened the rope to his gym weight, which he’d been carrying in his backpack.

“Me first,” he said, sounding irritated. He was leading the mission, and according to him, Juniper wasn’t doing a good job with the directions. Kali was the bagger, Raya was the watcher, Juniper was the mapmaker, Kaz was the leader, and I was the distractor- only if necessary. 

We all shimmied down the rope gracefully. Kaz gave Juniper the thumbs up to leave and head toward the front, and that’s exactly what he did.

We looked around the room in awe. These shiny, colorful gemstones would be ours in no time.

Kali immediately began snatching the diamonds. I crept around the back to see if anyone was there, but it was empty.

That’s when I saw the most beautiful diamond I’ve ever seen in my life.

It was the size of my eyeball, and it was in pristine condition. Not a scratch on it.

“Kali!” I whispered. “Kali, get over here!”

She walked over and picked it up. She threw it in the bag, gave me a thumbs up, and continued scraping priceless jewels off of the shelves.

Kaz motioned me over to him. 

“Anyone here?” he asked me.

“All clear.”

“Then let’s get digging!” he said.

We snatched emeralds, rubies, jades, diamonds, pearls, opals, peridots, amethysts, and pretty much every other gemstone known to man. Every single one was perfectly polished and carved, as if someone had extreme OCD when working on it.

After we stole all of the gems, we began looking for less valuable things like gold and sterling silver.

And that’s when I sounded the alarm.

A loud and disturbing wail came from the sirens, and we were all trapped in a laser maze. 

“KALI! WHAT DID YOU DO?!” Kaz shouted angrily.

“IT WASN’T ME!” she shouted back. “IT WAS RAYA!”

“IT WASN’T ME EITHER! I WAS STANDING STILL!” Raya retorted. That’s when they all turned to look at me.

“Oh, crap,” I whispered to myself. Police sirens wailed in the distance, and I knew it was only a matter of time before we were cuffed and filed into those awful cars. 

I dove under the lasers and crawled to the rope. They all started doing the same, but it was too late. I had made it up to the vent, and I crawled inside. They loomed around the bottom, but the doors were busted down by the police officers. Suddenly, the entire room was filled with men and women in blue uniforms. Kaz, Kali, and Raya were pinned against the wall with their hands up. The last thing I saw before turning to leave was the look Kaz gave me, which was pure hatred.

I still had the gemstones.

I scurried out of the vent and into the alleyway. There, Juniper waited for me with his car. We sped down the alleyway and down the street, making sure that no one saw us.

When we got to the apartment, it was silent.

“What happened back there?” he asked, visibly worried. His dark brown skin glowed in the fluorescent light.

“I…” I couldn’t spit the words out. “I set off the alarm.”

He stood up out of his chair. He’s a big dude, I thought. He’s gonna pound me. 

But he just pushed his chair into the table and said, “See you tomorrow.”

I ducked my head into my arms and started bawling. I’m such a failure, I thought. You deserve to be behind those bars.

Juniper overheard me crying, and I could tell because of the disapproving look he gave me before heading upstairs. 

“Weakling,” he finally said. “Girls like you shouldn’t cry like that.”

And he was absolutely right.

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of T.V. static. I fell asleep in the metal dining chair I was sitting in the previous night. 

“Come on,” he said. “Get ready. We’re gonna go visit them.”

I dragged myself up the stairs and dressed myself in regular clothes, did my best to style my ugly brown hair, and headed out the door with Juniper already in the car.

“You know you’re in trouble, right?” Kaz said with a scowl on his face.

“Kaz…” I said. The funny, handsome man I used to know was a wreck now, with his messy blond hair and evil blue eyes.

“You should feel ashamed,” he said. “You better bail us out with those diamonds.”

“I… I will, okay?” I said, starting to break under pressure. “You shouldn’t blame me. YOU’RE the one who came up with that.”

He looked at me, shocked. Then he realized I was right. He paused, then he licked his lips, concentrating on what to say next.

“Break us out, first thing tonight. You and Juniper can plan it.”

“Fine.”

Time was almost up.

“There aren’t any vents, but you can somehow break through the cinder blocks using a hammer or something. Juniper may have to help you, I’m not sure, but whatever. You do you.”

At this point, I did not feel like helping him at all. My gut was screaming at me, telling me that it wasn’t worth it, and that I’d just get in trouble again, and get busted. I got lucky last time, and it was clear to me now. 

As much as I loved Kaz, I had to leave.

“Kaz… I’m gonna get caught, I just know it. If I get caught trying to sneak you, Kali, and Raya out, then I’ll be in jail with you.”

“So? At least you’re not in here alone.”

“But I never wanted to end up here in the first place!” I shouted. “I was broke, I needed money… you were so handsome and I couldn’t say no, I needed it, I needed you-”

“You thought I was WHAT now?!”

“Just forget it!” I shouted.

The silence was so strong. My ears were ringing.

“You failed, and you will redeem yourself. Otherwise, you’re leaving the gang and we get the gemstones.”

I thought for a moment.

“I want to be in the gang. I just don’t want to bust you out. Why can’t Juniper do it?”

“Because! He’s not the one who set the alarm.”

I gave him a nasty look. He returned it.

I started bringing the phone down to my palm.

“Oh, and one last thing,” he said right before I was about to hang up.

“Yeah?” I asked, my mind racing a million miles an hour after the argument we had.

“You’re fired.”