The Undiscovered

It’s an indisputable fact that a thief is nothing but a person in need and the justification of their morality solely depends upon their obligations, no matter what someone say or believe. I won’t deny the fact that I, Adriana Savoy, am a thief but I won’t really accept that I am an immoral person either because, as they say, desperate times call for desperate measures.

I pulled the hood of my grey sweatshirt over my head, successfully managing to hide half of my face, as I roamed around the streets of Newlyn Copse in search of my new prey. The streets were crowded with men and women dressed in their business attires as they whizzed past me without giving a second glance to anyone around them.

I carefully watched the crowd until my eyes landed on a man, dressed in a full fledged black business attire, who seemed be in his mid forties. I watched him like a hawk as I noticed that he was preoccupied with something on his smartphone as his other hand was busy holding his brown briefcase.

Walking towards him with steady steps, I noticed that his leather wallet was slightly visible from his right pocket. My eyes roamed over his face to ensure that he was still busy gawking at whatever it was on his phone as my right hand slipped a little in his pocket and grabbed the wallet that was peeking through it.

A small smirk made its way on my face as I walked past his oblivious self with his wallet dangling in my hand like a trophy. I quickly shoved it into the pockets of my ripped jeans as I walked towards my destination while humming the tune of Sorry not sorry by Demi Lovato.

I came to a halt in front of the wooden door that looked like it had witnessed the first world war but was still somehow properly functional. I noticed that the door was slightly ajar and knew that dad was home.

Uh oh...

I pushed the door as it made a creepy creaking sound and stepped inside without making any noise as I gently closed the door. I tip toed towards my room and was halfway there when I heard dad’s angry voice and knew that I was doomed.

“Adriana Dawn Savoy, where the hell were you this early in morning?” I did a slow one-eighty degree turn on my heels and looked at his fuming face which looked like, any second now, steams would start coming out of his ears and nose like a pressure cooker. I felt a slight tinge of fear and worry as I didn’t dare look in his eyes, afraid that I won’t be able to see the disappointment that was surely present in them.

He and I both knew where I was and why I was there. We had this kind of confrontations many times and every time he begged me to stop doing it, I gave him the fake assurance that I won’t, but always landed in the same situation.

“Look at me Adriana!” My head automatically raised up as I slightly jumped at his sharp tone but still didn’t look him in the eye. “How many times do I have to tell you this thing? I can support us. Just-just stop doing this...I will manage it.”

I finally looked him in the eyes with determination and slight anger as I said,“Stop lying to me dad! I am not a five year old anymore. I can see how much work you do and how much worried you look these days. Tell me dad, when was the last time you thought something about yourself? Do you really think that I don’t notice those dark bruises under your eyes?”

I stared at him as my words slowly dawned on me and I felt regret and guilt creep their way into my heart. Before dad could say anything, I quickly wrapped my arms around his skinny frame as he placed his head over mine and whispered, “I am sorry Anna, I am sorry you have to go through all of this mess...”

I hugged him more tightly as I said, “It’s okay dad, we are in this together... I love you, no matter what. Forever....” I felt his slight chuckle as he kissed my forehead and said “....and ever.”

My eyes moved towards the clock and I jumped and yelled “Dad! You are not ready! Hurry up, you’re gonna be late! Come on.” He chuckled and started getting ready as I packed his worn out briefcase. He got ready in record time and I pushed him in hurry as he was already five minutes late after yelling a goodbye.

It was the last day of holidays before I continue my job at the nearby cafe. The jobs now were quite scarce. I heard quite a few stories about how there were so many kind of jobs before the celestials revealed themselves and everything changed.

The afternoon went uneventful and I didn’t even notice that it was late evening before I heard the knock on our ancient door. I opened it and just like I had expected, dad was standing there. The second I saw his face, I knew that something was not right, I could feel it. I looked at his grim expression while trying to figure out what was wrong.

“What happened dad?” I asked as millions of scenarios started forming in my mind and I could feel the sweat forming in my palms.

Did he get fired? Was he hurt? Did someone hurt him? I swear I will kill that basta...

“You’re moving out.”

What the...

I stared at him wide eyed as if he was some kind of alien specimen. “Pardon?” I said as my utter confusion dripped from my voice. He didn’t look me in the eye as he said, “You heard me Anna.”

Wait, what’s wrong with dad? He can’t be serious.... Am I that bad? Did I do something too terrible? Does he not love me? He is my only family...

“You’re kidding me, right?” He looked me dead in the eye and I knew he wasn’t kidding...he was dead serious. “You’re gonna abandon me like that?”

He didn’t say anything.

“SAY SOMETHING, DAD!” I yelled.

Silence.

“What the hell dad! Where on earth are you sending me off to and when did you decide to do so? What did I do? If it’s about money I promise I will manage it, I will start doing some jobs...Hell I will even drop out dad. Just please...tell me dad...What’s wrong?.”

Silence.

But that silence held many answers, and the one that I feared the most was that he was not going to change his decision at any cost.

“I hate you.” Dad flinched on hearing it but remained silent. Those three words, I never in my wildest dreams expected to say them to my dad, not him. At that moment, I didn’t care where he was sending me, I just wanted to know why? But I knew I wasn’t getting any answers from him.

“Pack your bag and be ready by tomorrow morning at eight.” I just stared at him as if I didn’t even know the person who was standing in front of me.

This man can’t be my dad...

I turned on my heels to move towards my room as tears welled up in my eyes when I heard him whisper, “I am sorry Anna.”

I glared at him as a lone tear slipped out of my eye and I replied with my shaky voice, “You don’t get to call me that dad. Anna is dead.” I bolted towards my room and locked the door from behind me. I quickly packed the few clothes that I had in my old duffel bag and slumped on my creaky bed while trying to muffle my screams in my pillow. A flash of lightning echoed across the inky night sky.

That night it rained, both inside and outside, one resulted in wet land and the other one, a wet pillow.