Creak. The door to Peter's room eased open, a sliver of moonlight spilling through the gap as someone slipped inside, leaving it slightly ajar.
Peter slept soundly, sprawled across his bed, oblivious to the world, unaware he was about to be robbed.
It was Mia.
She tiptoed across the creaky floorboards, her socks muffling each step.
Pausing at his bedside, she eyed the drawer, her breath shallow. With a slow, deliberate tug, she slid it open, wincing at the faint scrape of wood. Her fingers sifted through crumpled papers and random junk until they brushed against the familiar leather cover at the bottom.
"A h ah found it" she said happily.
"You know brother, u might be older than me but you are not smart when it comes to hiding things. It has always been your weakness," she said mischievously, a grin tugging at her lips.
As if annoyed by her voice, Peter stirred, twisting in his sheets like he might wake.
Mia froze, a statue in the dim light, her heart thudding. Then, clutching the journal, she crept out, beads of sweat prickling her forehead. Damn, that was close, she thought, leaving his door open.
In Peter's room, he cracked one eye open, smirking. At least if you are gonna steal from me, lock my door. It's chilly here.
Mia hurried to her room, She plopped onto her bed, crossing her legs and pulling the blanket over her head like a fort. Flicking on a small flashlight, its beam danced across the journal's pages. "Now where did we stop," she muttered, flipping to the marked entry.
Journal of Frederick Harper
Entry 5: [23/5/2002] Lower Class
The alley reeked of rotting trash and damp stone, the kind of stench that clung to your clothes. I stood frozen behind the dumpster, my heart hammering as I watched her—the girl with the mermaid eyes—kneel before Mael, the Baron, her hands shaking as she reached for him. Rage burned in my chest, hot and helpless, my nails digging into my palms.
Then Maxwell's hand covered my eyes like a veil, his grip firm but gentle.
"Don't look? I don't know much about you but I don't what u to see something like this, you are not from a wealthy home, your parents do not own any conglomerate big enterprises, companies or Investment stock. You are just a lucky country bumpkin who got into this place by either luck or hard earned money, you may not know this but those of us who are rich do unspeakable things, unforgivable things to get to our place of power, well most of is at least."maxwell said
"People are like you are just caught most times in the midst of our power struggle."
Tears stung my cheeks, slipping down as I stood there, blind behind his hand. My voice cracked with emotion. "But I can't stand it.
Why her? Why does she have to suffer? Beacuse of who she is? It's wrong, it's so wrong."
"Yes, yes it is."Maxwell said with a pained smile
"But what are u gonna do about it?" he said, his voice calm but sharp.
"You are part of the lower class, you don't get to do anything in this situation."
"But…" I stammered, my mind racing. He lifted his hand from my face, the alley's dim light flooding back.
"You don't get to do anything, but I on the other hand I'm a whole another story. Just watch."
Next thing I knew, he was walking toward them, his heels clicking on the pavement, each step echoing like a drumbeat in the narrow alley. All eyes turned to him.
Back to present day...
(Mia reading the journal lost track of time as she flipped through the pages, unaware of the morning sun, until the rooster crow brought her back from the world of Frederick Harper, it was already dawn.)
"Shit.if peter finds out I took it , I'm never gonna hear the end of it".
Mia pulling off the bedsheets that was covering her ran out of her room, Almost falling down in the process,
"shit shit shit, that dumb idiot wakes up early for no reason, it's like he is a walking dead."
Finally getting to his room she gently opens the door confirming he wasn't inside she walked into the room.
Maybe he went downstairs for his normal workout routine,
I have to hurry.
She walked over to the drawer and tried to slip it in, but just as her hand got to the knob she heard the condescending voice that she didn't want to hear right now.
What do u think you are doing? Peter coming out of the bathroom,his tooth brush in his mouth.