One Mistake

Following behind the others should have been easy.

Listening to his sister was the only thing he had to do. But Kyren wanted to help … That’s all he ever wished to do.

**

Kyren begged to go on the mission with his sister and her band of misfits, wanting to experience the thrill of slipping through the narrow passageways of the High City, hiding in the shadows, and stealing the decadent cuisines of the privileged, and Kora approved of him going, on one condition.

“Stay close and be quiet, Ky. That is all I am asking. This mission is supposed to be swift and easy. Do as I say, and you’ll be fine. Got it?” Kora demanded while making it clear that she was being serious.

“Yes, yes, I’ll be good. I swear,” Kyren said.

The three other teenagers in the room groan, one even going so far as to launch a sizeable pebble at the siblings with his slingshot, but Kora snatched it right out of the air before it could collide with Kyren’s head.

“He’ll slow us down, Ko! Kyren will screw this whole operation up if you let him tag along!” shouted Ward, a scrawny boy with wild blond hair and crooked teeth, and he flopped onto the worn, well-used couch in the room.

“Don’t question me, Ward! What I say goes, and I believe Kyren is ready for this,” Kora pushed back, rolling her eyes as she thwips the pebble towards the pouting boy, and he yelps when the rock hits him square in the stomach.

“I hope you are sure about this, Kora, cause this run is a big deal,” said Atlas, a lumbering boy who towered over everyone, though he was the gentlest out of the crew.

“She is, Atlas. Kora is a great judge of character!” Maeve, the bubbly brunette, squealed while grinning at the red-haired leader, and throwing her arm around her friend’s shoulder.

“I am sure, Atlas. As long as Kyren heeds my orders, then we will be just fine.”

**

The mission started off great.

Kyren made it his goal to do exactly what his sister had said and kept as close to the group as possible while they all weaved their way through the streets and alleys of the High City, and he was proud of himself.

**

“Atlas, give me a boost and I’ll help get everyone up here. We’ll have to take the rooftops the rest of the way to the pick-up spot.” Kora whispered, gesturing for the tall boy to aid her in scaling the scaffolding of the building, and Atlas kneeled, intertwining his fingers to provide Kora with a foothold, and they worked together in getting the girl up onto the first platform.

After the redhead was situated, Kora reached a hand out for Ward—who had been lifted next—to take, and once everyone was up, the whole crew worked together to help Atlas onto the scaffolding.

“We climb to the top and head towards the center of the city. There will be a house at the edge of the Inner Circle, and all we have to do is get inside and raid it. There are blueprints that Helios wants specifically, and anything we can sell will do us good to snag,” Kora explained, her eyes focusing on every one of the teenagers, but more so Kyren, who jerks his head up and down vigorously in understanding.

“Let’s get this over with,” Ward muttered under his breath, already climbing the side of the building.

Without another word, the five of them made their way to the roof, labored breathing filling the space around them as the kids climbed, and Kyren grunted as he hoisted himself over the building’s edge, huffing from the exertion.

“C’mon, Little Man, you have to keep moving! Don’t fall behind!” Maeve urged him on, waving her hand in a ‘come hither’ motion to make him run a little bit faster.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!” The youngest exclaimed.

Leaping from rooftop to rooftop was not as easy as it sounded, especially when one is as clumsy as Kyren, but he managed to keep up with his sister and her friends, though he happened to be at the back of the pack the whole time.

Dust clouded the air around the kids after each one landed on a new roof, kicking up pebbles and stumbling as they went, but when they finally arrived at their destination, Kora lifted her hand, prompting the group to stop, other than Kyren.

The boy was distracted, eyes fixated on something further ahead of them, and he crashed through the others, and nearly went over the edge of the final roof, almost plunging to his death if it wasn’t for Atlas, who snagged him by the collar of his dingy, cream-colored shirt.

“Kyren! Watch where you’re going!” snapped Ward.

“Sorry, sorry!” Kyren apologized awkwardly, heart in his throat once he realized what a fatality it would have been if Atlas hadn’t caught him.

“Shush, you guys! Be ready. There are foot soldiers everywhere, and we have to stay undetected. Get in, get out all right?”

Kora stated firmly, her words prompting the others to nod in understanding, though she focused on Kyren longer than the rest, and he made a superficial ‘x’ over his heart to symbolize his promise to be good. With a curt jerk of her head, Kora swiveled around to scan their surroundings, her grey eyes focusing on every little detail, wanting to be thorough in her search for guards, and when the coast was clear, she stepped back a little to get a running start.

Kicking up dirt as her boots hit the rooftop, Kora grunted as she pushed off the ledge, and she landed on the other building, tucking and rolling to soften the impact of her back smacking against the other roof. After that, the girl brushed off any excess grime from her clothes, never once peering over her shoulder to watch the group, and instead she scouted the access points to the building while the rest of the crew made their way to her.

“Kyren, c’mon! You hafta jump!” Maeve suddenly urged the boy, capturing Kora’s attention.

Sighing in exasperation, Kora abandoned her duties, watching her little brother balk at the sight of the huge gap between the two houses, and his breathing became labored as fear crept into his mind.

“You can do it, Little Man. I believe in you,” Kora said calmly. She spread her arms invitingly for her brother to fixate on, and Kyren peered over the ledge, hyperventilating at how far the drop was.

“I can’t, Ko!”

“Yes, you can! You’re more than capable, Ky,” she replied.

Kyren inhaled sharply, powder blue eyes finding Kora’s as he searched for any signs of doubt, and when he discovered none, Kyren shuffled backwards and, without dwelling on his fear, he ran across the roof and leapt towards his destination. When he landed, Kyren had closed his eyes briefly, then once he opened them, he grinned triumphantly, but he lost his balance and flapped his arms in hopes of steadying himself.

Snatching his wrist, Kora caught her brother effortlessly, then yanked him towards her, a soft, proud smile slipping onto her lips, but then it was gone, and they all got back to work.

**

But when the misfits finally broke into the home they were to raid, things ended up getting out of hand.

Kyren didn’t want anything to happen, but he had never seen such unique gadgets and knick-knacks before, and his curiosity got the best of him!

**

“You guys gather anything that might be worth something. I’m going to find those blueprints,” Kora commanded.

The teens all nodded, including Kyren, and they all set about rummaging through drawers and cabinets, sifting through the junk and valuable belongings while Kora sidled down a hallway in search of the supposed blueprints.

While Ward, Atlas, and Maeve pilfered the home, Kyren “oo’ed” and “ah’ed” at the trinkets on the owner’s shelves, snagging up at screwdriver and even some nuts and bolts to utilize later, and he padded through the hallway Kora had gone down before opening a door at the far end of the walkway.

Inside the room looked pretty ordinary. A bed in the far left corner, a dresser with a few drawers partially ajar sat in the opposite corner, and a desk stood erect to his right with notes, pens, and pencils scattered all over the surface.

All of that was not what caught the boy’s eye, though …

Something was laid out on the owner’s bed, glinting in the rays of the setting sun that peeked through the window, and Kyren beelined for the object. Upon closer inspection, Kyren assumed it was a tool, considering it was all metal save for the little button that rested on top of it, and without weighing the consequences, the boy picked it up.

Kyren flipped the object around in his hands, toying with it to see if he could possibly take it apart and use its contents for something else, and as he chewed on the inside of his cheeks, the boy determinedly attempted to do just that.

The boy's frustration mounted as he headed back to the group of teens. His attention was completely consumed by the do-hickey, and when he stumbled into Atlas unexpectedly, the impact sent the strange object tumbling from his hands.

“Kyren, what are you doing? You should be helping us!” grumbled Atlas.

As Kyren apologized, the foreign object clattered to the wooden floor, smacking right against the button at the top of the metal, and before the younger boy could scoop it back up, an alarm sounded through the house, shrill and deafening.

The kids screeched and shouted, covering their ears to block out the horrendous noise, and Ward tripped over his feet as he attempted to stomp on the object and silence it, but to no avail.

“What the hell is going on!”

Kora hollered over the alarm while she made her way back to her friends and brother, tucking something away into the waistband of her pants, and all three teenagers pointed at Kyren.

“I’m sorry, Ko! I just dropped it!” the boy shouted over the blaring cacophony.

After another beat or two, the object cut out abruptly, causing collective sighs to escape everyone’s lips, but their relief is short-lived when pounding footsteps are heard from below them, and Kora’s eyes widen.

“We have to go, now!”

“We don’t have every—”

“Now!”

Her demand was immediately heeded. The teens and Kyren scrambled to pack everything up, the shouts of the foot soldiers growing ever closer, and Kora searched the room for a way for them to buy some time, and her eyes zeroed in on the bookshelf near the closed entrance.

“Atlas, get everyone out and onto the roof. I’ll buy us some time,” she said.

Kora’s words left no room for argument. Atlas nodded, ushering his friends and Kyren to the window they entered through, but Kyren seized the device that had given them away before he climbed out of the window, and he heard the sound of something heavy crashing down from behind him.

**

He hadn’t meant for anything to happen.

It was a mistake borne from his innate curiosity.

But now they were being hunted by the High City’s guards, due to one slip-up he had made.

**

“Run!”

“Go!”

“Faster!”

Voices exclaimed as he pushed himself to go faster, the alarm he had stolen now clutched to his chest, and the crew of kids stumbled and crashed through the streets, high-tailing it past innocent bystanders as they raced towards the Lower City.

Foot soldiers yelled for someone to stop them, but no one seemed to care, merely side-stepping to allow the misfits to rush by, and when they shimmy into an incredibly narrow passageway—one nearly too small for Atlas to squeeze through—they all paused to catch their breath.

“What were you thinking, Kyren?” Kora scolded her brother, grabbing his shoulders to shake him in irritation, anger written all over her face.

“I—I wasn’t!”

“Yeah, I know! You don’t ever think!”

Kora shot back, wading passed her friends as she threw her hands up into the air, and they all followed her, quietly maneuvering their way to their planned exit.

Kyren huffed in annoyance, pouting as the five of them headed to the concealed sewage drain at the back end of the alley, but as he fell behind the group to fiddle with the object he stole, Kyren could hear a faint ticking noise coming from within the metal.

With a furrowed brow, the boy fought to get it open, grunting as he twisted it in his hands, and it somehow popped loose, and he opened it up. As he peeked inside, Kyren was stumped at first, wondering what on earth these mechanisms were inside, but then he noticed two little hands within it, and he freaked out.

The object wasn’t just an alarm …

It was a timer.

A timer for a crude, haphazardly built bomb.

Instead of informing his sister of anyone else, Kyren sealed the bomb back up, then quickly swiveled on his heels, and chucked the thing into the air, hoping to get it away from them as soon as possible.

“Let’s go, Little Man! We have to get these back to the Lower City!” Kora called out to her brother, prompting him to spin around, and he ran towards her, hopping down into the open sewage drain.

When Kora jumped down as well, allowing the cover to slam shut, an explosion shook the ground, startling the kids, and Atlas murmured, saying,

“The soldiers are searching for us. We need to get out of here, immediately.”

A collective agreement resounded in the group, though Kyren was quiet, knowing that he was the cause for the explosion, not the foot soldiers, but he wouldn’t admit that.

Not after what he had done back at the house.

But unfortunately, he didn’t know the consequences that would follow him.