Winor Island

Racing through the streets, Kaya tossed her head back and laughed as her and her brother, Kyle, sprinted to lose the shop owner in the crowd. This was the exhilaration she lived for, that rush of adrenaline from causing a disturbance and completing a job. In her hand, she clutched their first real hope of making it out of this town and being free to do whatever they wanted. Kyle and Kaya had landed on Winor Island when they were seven. Their parents had wanted a better life for them than what Zyra, their home country, could give them. They scraped up enough pennies to finally book passage on a ship heading toward the coast of Etheria; the promised land of opportunities and hopefully a better life for their kids. 

That promise had ended when a storm completely ravished the vessel, killing most as they were thrown into the dark waters. Kaya flailed around in the water, screaming “Mom! Dad!” at the top of her lungs. She dipped lower and lower, swallowing mouthfuls of salty water through her screams. Finally she felt a hand loop around her and tug her toward a large piece of wood to float on. She looked up into Kyle’s face, her twin had found her. He smiled and said “We’re going to be okay, we just need to keep kicking. We can do that”. And kick they did, for hours and hours until they finally spotted shore. They swam all the way up to the sandy beach and collapsed. Traders eventually found the children and brought them to the only orphanage on Winor. And that’s where they had grown up, relying constantly on each other.

Kyle ran up to Kaya’s side, bumping her shoulder. “Hey! This way, I know a shortcut”. Without comment, Kaya smiled and followed him through the small opening between buildings in the marketplace. They zigzagged around dumpsters and abandoned crates until they reached a brick wall at the end of the alley. 

“Kyle, what are we supposed to-” 

“Shhhhhhh” he mumbled, “it’s gonna be fine. I just need to find the right spot…”. Kaya trusted him completely, sometimes a little too completely. This time, he was cutting it close. The shouts of the shop owner and security were getting louder. 

“Kyle hurry up. Whatever you’re looking for, find it!” she snapped. He continued to run his hands across the bricks muttering to himself. Kaya sighed in frustration and slid her knife from its sheath on her belt, getting ready to use it if she had to. “Kyle we have about thirty seconds”. 

“I’m going, I’m going! Almost, there”. He smiled and relief flooded through Kaya’s body. “Come ON!” he yelled, grabbing her wrist and dragging her through a doorway that hadn’t been there before. Hidden in the dark passageway, he shut the door behind them, sealing it back into the wall with no trace. He looked at her again grinning and said “Told you I knew a shortcut”. She shoved him playfully and started walking down the passage.

“What is this place?” she grabbed the wall to make sure she was walking straight. The darkness was deep and her eyes were having trouble adjusting. 

“The client showed this to me, we can make the sale and leave quickly and quietly. And then we can go wherever we want to, just you and me.” He grabbed her hand and she couldn’t see it, but could feel his smile wash over her. Kyle’s smiles were the only thing that had kept her sane for so many years. The orphanage was less than idyllic for growing up. Mrs. Finnigan basically ran her own personal sweatshop out of it, and by the time Kaya and Kyle were 14 they had taken to the streets to make their own way in the world. They had struggled and for months, they went with barely any food. They would do odd jobs here and there to scrape together enough money for a blanket and some bread and cheese on some days. Their bed was below the bridge on Water street, and well hidden enough that the police and others wouldn’t bother them. It was hard, but also the most exhilarating thing Kaya had ever done. 

Recently, Kyle had come across a few merchants willing to pay for a good thief. Stealing secrets, important papers, products from a store and the like. Kyle brought the idea back to her insisting that this was their way off the island. She hadn’t wanted to at first, hadn’t they always been taught that honesty was best? But he had finally convinced her to take a small job, just listen in on a conversation and report back. She was smaller and faster than Kyle, so she was the one who climbed up the ivy on the side of the building to perch near the window and listen in on the conversation between two merchants. She came back down and they reported everything to their client the next day. Having heard the right information apparently, they walked away $100 richer. 

“KYLE!” Kaya screamed. “This is more money than we’ve ever had at one time.” He turned to her and gave her a half smile, “Welcome to the world of thieves”. The pair was good, maybe even great at spying and stealing. They had made enough money to upgrade to a room at the local hostel and rarely went days without food anymore. Last week, Kyla had come to her babbling excitedly. “Kaya, this is it. This is what we’ve been waiting for!” 

She looked up from her dinner and smiled, “What is it this time?” 

“A new client, he came to me with a job. If we do this, if we do this one job for him we can walk away from this place forever”.

“Woah Kyle, slow down. What is the job? And this client seriously wants to pay us that much?” 

He smiled again, a wild look in his eyes and passed her a scrap piece of paper. The paper said $10,000 with a squiggly signature beneath it. Kaya gasped, they had never come anywhere close to making that much money in the two years they had been scheming and spying, let alone in one job. “Kyle, are you serious?”

“I’m dead serious Kay”. 

She took a breath, trying to push out the visions of going to college and starting over with Kyle in Etheria. “Okay, what do we have to do?”

Kyle brought out scrolls of paper from his bag and spread them on the desk. “We need to steal THIS,” he pointed at an immaculately cut pendant residing in a box in the vault at the back of the store. “And I have a plan, here’s what we’re going to do.”

They sat up that whole night planning the heist, and in the days that followed they scouted out around the shop wearing different disguises every day. Finally, bursting with delight, Kaya ran through the door of their room and shouted “THIS IS IT!”

Kyle looked up from the blueprints he was studying to smirk at her. “What is Kay?”

“No seriously, Ky I found the perfect day. The pendant will be taken out of the vault on the summer solstice and shown off as part of an art collection at the solstice festival. This is our chance, it’ll be in the open. We can make the grab and plan a perfect escape route.”

Kyle remained quiet for a moment, gears turning as he thought over what she said. Then a slow smile crept onto his face and he ran across the room to catch her in a hug. He whispered in her ear “This is it, this is it”.

And now they were here, their plan having gone off without a hitch. Well without a major hitch; the shop owner at the last second had seen something glisten as Kaya was smuggling it into her pocket. The rest of the square were distracted by Kyle who had successfully set off fireworks over the water to keep their attention. But the owner was watching for something to go wrong and spotted them too quickly. “HEY! Bring that back! Security, they’ve stolen my jewels!” he shrieked. 

Lucky for the twins, they had plenty of practice evading security and police. Kyle’s knowledge of the secret passage system in the city had saved them on more than one occasion and today was no different. “Kay, we’re here.” Kyle put up his hand before she could run head first into the door in front of them. He grabbed her wrist, stopping her as she was about to open the door. “Kaya, I just- I want to say-” he struggled to find the words. Kyle was never one to show much affection, but when he did he really meant it. “I just, no matter what happens today, I- I love you. Okay? Just hold on to that, remember that.” 

Kay nervously laughed, he never said ‘I love you’. “Ky, what is up with you today? First you hold my hand, now you’re saying I love you? When did you get all sentimental?”

He tucked a hair behind her ear and kissed her forehead. “I just wanted you to know that. I don’t say it enough, but I mean it.” He straightened up, “Okay enough, ready?”

She smiled and swung open the door. Bright light flooded into the dark passage as they stumbled into a private library in some merchant’s huge house near the harbor. The view of the water from the window was breathtaking. Brushing dirt off her clothes, she tried to make herself look as presentable as possible. From the corner of her eye she noticed Kyle doing the same. She also spotted his hands shaking as he hastily stuffed them into his jacket pockets. She frowned, wondering why he was so nervous but quickly shook it off as the door opened and their client stepped through. 

He was young, maybe late 20’s, younger than any other client they’d ever worked for. His wavy blond hair and piercing blue eyes caught her attention quickly, she blushed and looked away. Kyle stepped forward and shook his hand. “Mr. Everton, a pleasure.”

“Call me Cole, please.” the blond man smiled, flashing perfectly straight and whitened teeth. “Now, I assume you have the item?” his gaze turned to Kaya and his smile deepened. 

Kyle started shaking again and his gaze continually shifted between Kaya and Cole. Kaya was confused by her brother’s evasiveness. Was he not telling her something? Shaking off her worries, she stepped forward smiling. “Hello Mr. Everton, it’s so nice to put a face to the name. We have the pendant you asked for and you have the money?”

“Please, it’s Cole.” He said, smiling again. He nodded at a man behind him who brought forward a wooden box. He undid the latch and showed the contents, stacks and stacks of bills. “You may count it if you wish, but I assure you it’s all there.” He smiled as he said it, but his eyes never left Kaya’s. Feeling slightly more uncomfortable now, she slid the pendant from her pocket and handed it to Cole.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t get the box, but here it is. You can have it examined if you want but I assure you it’s real.” 

Cole shifted his gaze down to the pendant and suddenly jerked toward her wrist, gripping tightly. “Oh honey, do you think that’s what I really want?” His bright white smile made him look like a viper. Sheer panic gripped Kaya as she struggled to break his grip. Kyle shrank back against the wall as Cole finally let go. A red circle where his fingers had been was starting to blossom on her wrist and tears were welling in her eyes as she backed away quickly. 

“Kyle, I think it’s time to go now.” she said quietly, stepping further back toward the passage door. 

Kyle remained on the wall muttering under his breath “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I’m sorry Kay, I’m sorry.”

“Kyle, what’s going on?” she said a little louder this time.

He started to cry and just shook his head as he continued to mumble “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry.” 

Cole just kept that snakelike smile on his face as at the flick of a wrist more men came out of both doors and stood in front of them, blocking any escape. “Sweetheart” he purred, “I have no interest in jewels alone. I have enough already. I’m more interested in the girls who wear them.” He moved toward her, unclasped the pendant and moved her hair back from her neck. She flinched at his touch, silent tears dropping onto the floor as she let him clasp it onto her. 

Grabbing her shoulders, he turned her around and lifted her chin with a finger. “Oh yes, you’ll do nicely.” he whispered.

He stepped back and snapped his fingers. The men who were standing in front of the door leading to the rest of the house sprang forward and grabbed her, shoving her toward the door. Kaya started screaming and struggling, shouting behind her “Ky you promised! You said we’d always be together. How could you do this??” 

Kyle raised his eyes to hers and mouthed “I love you” one last time as she was yanked through the door. It slammed shut behind them, leaving Kaya completely on her own for the first time in her life. She stopped struggling and let the men lead her to another room in the house and lock her in. She slid down the wall and just let herself cry, Kyle’s betrayal carving wounds in her heart. The one person she had trusted more than anything in her life had just sold her for $10,000. That was what her life was worth to him. A one way ticket to a better life, a life without her. He left a hole in her, and she wasn’t sure that she would ever fill that again. 

She lifted her head slightly and started out the window that overlooked the harbor. One way or another, she would get out of this. And Kyle, her twin, her brother, her lifeline, would now become her biggest enemy. She wiped away her tears, hardened her heart, and set to work on a plan.