I grazed the pad of my shoe against the stoney floor, flipping my head over to the tall building as I awaited Caleb.
He's been gone for nearly an hour and I've been keeping an eye out for him. Hovering my gaze around, to not catch a swift of suspicion from the guards.
I fisted my palms and put them into the pockets of my sweater, the hood was over my head as it helped in obscuring my face from the light.
Caleb... Caleb... Caleb...
I sighed in irritation.
Yh, I get it, we're robbing a bank but it's not that big of a heist that requires deliberate carefulness. According to our plan, this shouldn't take up to 45 minutes.
But I guess when you're robbing a bank you can't help but be too careful, thus, taking more time than planned.
I closed my eyes, hitting the back of my head against the wall as I played with the packet of cigarettes in my pocket.
I hope he hasn't been caught?
I couldn't help but let out another sigh.
Should I call him? I pondered, my fingers still inside my pocket as I felt my phone there.
Fuck!
My throat was seizing and I needed a drink and a smoke.
I pushed away from the wall, and looked up to the highest floor where Caleb was gathering our money.
This should have been really easy... We had been planning about this for over a month.
I pulled my phone from my pocket, my eyes widened at the sight of the time.
Three fucking Am!
An exasperated sigh left my lips as I went quickly to my contacts and searched for Caleb, ready to dial his number, just for me to feel a heavy tap on my shoulders.
Fear instantly filled my lungs, with the thought that I was caught by a guard.
I held the hood close to my face. If we're caught, I would make a run for it.
They saw a person, it wasn't me. Just a young girl with a brown hooded sweatshirt and a matching sweatpant.
"Sera!" I recognized the voice and I instantly whipped my hair towards the sound.
Oh. God.
It was Caleb.
"What took you so long?" I asked looking over his shoulders.
No guard in sight, if any, they were probably asleep.
"We need to leave now!"
He held my wrist, tugging me behind as we began running.
I didn't have time to ask questions, I didn't have time to think about anything, except running like he did.
The cold air was hitting harshly against my face, limbs already weak from standing at a spot for too long but I didn't complain.
Until the high-pitched sound of sirens filled my ears.
Fear hit my ribs like a jackhammer. I could literally feel the panic settled under my nerves.
We were close to the gates. Very fucking close until a pointer landed on him and I felt him stop.
"Caleb..." I called with a panicked voice.
He breath was raggy, hands gripping my wrist like a vice.
"Sera..." He drawled, looking at me with sorry eyes.
What did that mean?
We should go. We should keep running.
I want to tell him that the pointer didn't mean anything as long as we crossed over that gate but as I parted my lips to say those words, he shook his head, tears filling his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Sera." He said deflatedly and I couldn't understand, sorry for what?
But before I could question him, I felt his hands leave my wrist as he pushed me down to the floor.
What the fucking hell? Did he just push me to the floor to stall for time?
Ain't no mother fucking way!
I stood back on my feet and before he could cross over those gates. I held him by his ankles.
No chance he is leaving me out here as a scapegoat.
I knew I shouldn't have done this with him.
"Sera, let go," He thrashed against me, the bag at his back pulling him down.
I scoffed.
"You think you're smart, huh? Trying to play a double on me. Are you fucking nuts?" I hissed, and held his ankles tighter.
I see him shake his head in anger. And honestly I didn't give fuck.
We were in this together, caught, or uncaught.
He threw a pleading glance over me. Two pointers now were at the back of his shirt and I felt his pulse stutter beneath my fingers and I could hear loud footsteps getting close.
"Hey! Stop there!" A voice bellowed far away from us. A faint flashlight ghosting over us.
I smirked at him. My face was covered with a hoodie, his face wasn't. Any moment from now, they could capture his face.
"What do you want?" He asked, anxiety in his voice.
"What do I want?" I scoffed at his stupidity.
If he hadn't tried to play a double on me by now we would have been over the gate.
But no, he was a foolish partner, one that I was beginning to abhor because he lacked the ability to think like a smart person.
"We leave together. There are still a few seconds left before the guards can even spot us." I said, hearing the footsteps get louder.
He hesitated, probably because of the pointer on his back.
I almost let out a snort. That wasn't a rifle pointer but a laser one. He would have been dead if it was a rifle.
But I didn't tell him that. I watched him squirm and weigh his options for only 10 seconds before he shook his head in annoyance and stretched his palms towards me.
I didn't hesitate in placing mine on his as he jacked and helped me climb over the gate.
A chilling thrill ran through me as the sole of my shoe met the outside floor, followed by Caleb landing beside me.
The voices were louder now and instead of him taking my hand, I took his and made a run for it.
I didn't know how long we had been running until I saw the silhouette of my bungalow building and stopped.
Caleb gasped loudly and immediately I left his hands, he placed them on his knees trying to catch his breath.
I rolled my eyes at his actions. Acting like a fucking pre- teen when he's 21 years already.
When his breath finally calmed, he ran a hand through his golden strands with the other placed finely on his waist, then he directed his anger on me.
Pfft. I scoffed and stretched out my palms, "I need my share now. Later, you can get mad."
Caleb shrugged and opened his back pack.
Bundles and bundles of dollars were filled inside there.
A smile crept on my face as my mouth watered at the sight.
Yes, fucking money! I couldn't control my happiness.
He handed me 15 bundles of 100 dollar bills.
This was so fucking big, my eye widened at the beauty.
"This is yours. Don't contact me anymore. I'm not doing this with you." He said and walked away.
Me?
I just chuckled dismissively. His words held no weight because by tomorrow he would be the one calling me and asking to take me on a date.
He had a crush on me for the longest time and I didn't return the feeling because he wasn't my type.
Big. Bold. Huge. Rich.
A sigh left my lips because I knew the last one was going to be hard for a human.
The Vampires, wolf and Witches are the ones at the top chain of the world.
They were also the ones who controlled the money and financial circulation among humans.
I pushed away my thoughts. Getting a boyfriend will probably be like trying to find a single wealthy human guy in a room full of supernatural trust-fund bros flashing fangs and crypto wallets.
I let my shoulders fall as I stuffed the cash in my pockets, and when full I stuffed the remaining in my breast and walked to my bungalow.
Yh! It was mine. I built it with the money I had stolen for me and my father.
My legs were weak and numb and by the time I arrived it was 4:30 am.
I guessed my father would probably be asleep but as I walked through the door, I found my dad sitting on the sofa watching TV.
I swallowed hard because I was about to go through a series of queries.
I pursed my lips, trying to sneak in when he spoke,
"Where are you coming from, Sera?" He turned off the TV, facing me as I was almost out of his sight.
I straightened my shoulders, staring boldly into his black eyes as he did mine.
Seriously, he had an award for glares that I've mastered not backing down for anyone.
"Tell, me what did my pretty thief of a daughter steal this night?" He asked with pure distaste in his tongue.
"Nothing." I lied and he knew.
"Where are you coming from then?"
"I got a new job. As a new worker I had a lot of stuff to do and I got two off days."
He sighed wearily, and pushed himself off the sofa as he approached me and held my hand in his.
"You need to stop this behavior, Sera. You need to attend school -"
I shut down my brain at the mention of school.
I didn't have the time or zeal for that.
For over a year now, he had been telling me to attend the Aetherforge Academy where many humans schooled with the supernatural and I didn't want that.
How worse could it be there when it was already bad for us here.
My dad is struggling with cancer and heart diseases. And I can see how the illness is eating him so bad.
His bright black eyes were now dull no matter how hard he tried to bring the light back. His muscles were weak and almost every week we visited the hospital for check-up and each time it ended in a heavy heart.
My dad isn't healing and I didn't have the five hundred thousand dollars for surgery. I only had money for a few more check-ups, the weekly blood tests, and the cheap generic pills that eased the pain but did nothing to stop the illness.
And that's the reason I decided to take a bold step and steal from the bank.
I opted for the lower ones operated by humans and not the ones by supernaturals because obviously Caleb and I would have gotten caught.
"Sera!"
I jerked back to his voice.
He was about to begin again when I beat him to it,
"Dad please... Can you not talk about school. I don't like it. I have no dreams to achieve." Well that was a lie because every human had a dream but I didn't indulge myself with that because my dad was my priority.
He didn't say a word, only let out a deflated sigh and I took that as the cue to run to my room but I didn't move past a step before his words halted me.
"I got a card."
My ears perked instantly. What card?
"I was resting at the porch when I had a knock at the gate. Surprisingly, I didn't see a person only a box that held some enticement and a card."
Well... I wasn't interested in the enticement only the card.
"What card, Dad?"
"An invitation to attend Aetherforge Academy."
My heart stuttered.
What? That was impossible! How?!
Did my Dad apply for it?
I ignored the racing thoughts in my head and asked instead,
"What did you do? I'm sure you left it back as you saw it. Maybe it was delivered to the wrong address."
He shook his head and stared at me with pleading eyes.
"Please, Sera. This is a rare opportunity. Happens to few humans. It's a scholarship. You do not need to pay any fee -"
"Dad stop it! I already said I'm not attending any school. I have a decent job, now where I'm earning decent money." I said exasperatedly.
Seriously! The mention of school was beginning to get on my nerves.
My heart stilled at the sound of something.
I crank my head up to stare at my father.
He was crying? His eyes had turned red, sullen and heavy with hot tears that strolled down his cheeks.
"Dad..." I whispered low, unable to look at his teary eyes again, I looked at the floor.
Guilt crashed over me. My throat tightened at the guilt of not being enough. Of not having enough money to take care of him and most importantly, declining the offer to go to school.
His next actions shook me. He moved away from me and before I could stop him, his knees met the cold floor.
He held my hands together and placed his forehead to it, "Attend the Aetherforge Academy, Sera." He begged.