Into the Dark

I wake up early in the morning it is still dark out. I slowly slide out of the bed that I share with my mom and my little sister who are both still sound asleep. My feet burn on the cold wood floor of our small one-room house that sits on the outskirts of town where the rest of the nonmagic people live. Well all of them but me. I don’t have the mark around my green eyes like the rest of the marked people have. The marked are treated like royalty and the rest of the people keep the empire running. The best job a nonmarked could have is a servent in one of the houses but it is a dangerous job because of them.

Every person in the empire that is made has powers related to the four elements, fire, earth, water, and air. Each marked person is born into that family and if they are not made they are cast out so there can only be marked people in power. The people that live in the poor part of town never have any marked people born to them. That is how I know that I can’t let anyone even my mom know of my powers. The mark that they get it the color of there eminent so the fire is orange earth is brown water is blue and the air is white.

I grab my warmest close wich most of them have holes and are dirty. Most of my clothes are hand-me-downs from my mother or the girl next door. Most of them are big but they are the best you would be able to get around here. I along with all the other poor people that live here are powerless they have no magic so they live in the dumps of the darkest parts of the empire. Many like me make a living for ourselves by going into the crowded streets of the nice part of town to steal from the rich which I bet to you they do not miss anything I take. My mother was hurt so she can not get a job to help us and my sister is still too little so I get up before the sun every morning to start off my day. As I pull on my tattered jacket and let the cold of the early morning sting my bones I walk off into the dark streets towards the dim light of the town. As I got closer you could see the people walking around the town getting everything ready. As soon as the sun comes up this market would be busy with thousands of people walking around. I walk around the corner following the scent of fresh bread. In the dim light, I see a basket of bread just outside of a bakery I walk swiftly by and grabbed off a piece of the bread, and run away. I look behind me and I see the store ower cursing at me as I get farther and farther away. I run into the heart of town and just as people are starting to come. I scarf down my bread and I get to work. A watch from him, a necklace from her. Bracelets and wallets.

Later I look up at the sky slowly turning darker and darker and I hear the sound of my stomach growling for food. I stuff the rest of my loot into my pockets and headed down the hill to the only place to get food. For all the loot I got today the best I could trade it for is a bag of rice, one cup for each of us. As I was walking out of the store on the way back I saw a guy he looked about my age but it was hard to tell because it was dark not. He was just standing there looking at the stars. It was too easy. I thought. One more person before I go home couldn’t hurt. I slowly approached behind him and I was about to snag his wallet from his back pocket when his and reached out and grabbed mine. I looked up at his, my eyes widened as he slowly turned around. I thought there was something familiar about him but it was too dark to tell.

I was about to ask him who he was when he suddenly hissed at me, “What are you doing.” His dark green eye stared down at me waiting for an answer. I tried to squirm out of his grasp and run away but he was too strong so then I just stud there in defeat and stared back at him.

“Well,’’ he said. I was about to answer him when a saw it. The mark shines a bright orange in his eyes.

I took a deep breath looked him in the eye and said,

“Well, what do you think.” I know I should not be talking to a person so hight above me but I could not help it. I looked at his face and saw shock pass threw it then to my surprise he loosened his grasp on my arm without letting go and started laughing. Now it was my turn to look surprised. Why was he laughing I wasn’t sure it was a good thing or a bad thing.

“What,” I said flatly. Putting my only free hand on my hip. He looked like he wasn’t going to let me go any time soon and it doesn’t blame him because at this point I most likely would run. He finally stopped laughing and I noticed he wasn’t that much taller than me and he looked about the same age it was weird that he was out here by himself. He looked down at me and stated with a smug smile,

“You know you can get into a lot of trouble for stealing and talking to me like that.” Then what I said next seemed too shocked me and him.

“What makes you think you are so important that you can get me in trouble for talking to you.” I know it was wrong to talk back to someone like him but I was mad now because of what he said talking down to me like that. He sighed looking into my face.

“What’s your name?” He asked me. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to tell, I didn’t know if I could trust him. But I told him anyway.

“Emma,” I said. “And you?”

“Oliver,” he answered with a small smile.

“So what were you doing anyway?” He asked me.

“Talking to you,” I answered.

He sighed then tried again: “ What were you trying to do?”

I looked right into his eyes and said,

“ I was going to take your wallet on my way home.”

He looked confused for a second before a look of recollection crossed his face. He looked down at me and asked if I lived down in the bad part of town. Then he started to walk off in the direction that I lived in and turned around and said.

“Are you coming or are you just going to stand there all night?” He said with a wiry smile. Looked around thinking then I ran to catch up to him.

“Do you need money or do steel for fun?” He asked me.

“I need it because I have a little sister and a mother that is sick and can’t work anymore. But like me, all the other people that don’t have magical abilities don’t have jobs or good income so they resort to stealing and reselling whatever they get to feed there family or for the basics. I explained with a sad twinge in my voice.

“Wow.” He said. “I knew the life of the non-magical people was hard but I did not know it was that bad.” He said with a frown on his face. “I want to help.” He said with a look of determination on his face.

I looked at him with a small smile on my face It was nice of him to want to help but what can he do. “I don’t think there is much that you can do to help,” I said.

“Well, you think wrong.” He said turning to look at me with a mischievous smile on his face.

“Starting with you.” He stated.

“Starting with me?” I repeated clearly surprised.

“Yes.” He said again a little more annoyed this time.

“How?” I asked thoroughly confused.

“I am going to help you,” he said.

Still confused I looked around were getting closer to where I lived with my family. We were running out of time to talk and I really wanted to find out his plain and how I fit into it. “So where do I fit into your grand scheme?” I asked him curiosity lacing my voice.

“ I am going to help all the people that are nonmagic starting with you by providing them with jobs as servants in the houses for all the people that live with magics”

“You want me to work in a house for someone?” I started looking at him flatly.

“Not just anyone’s, mine,” he said as we pulled up to my small dark house. “You can start tomorrow,” he said and with that, he walked away into the dark of the night. I watched him walk away until I could not see him anymore. As he walked away I thought to my self that there was something familiar about him, like I have met him before.