Clark was struggling to understand what went wrong. Who was the leather dressed girl who had kicked their butts? If he could get his hands on her… He had put a ransom on her but so far nobody seemed to know anything. It was as if she was a ghost. Maybe he was approaching this the wrong way. Perhaps what he needed was not a ransom on her head but a trap. He needed to make her come out and take her by surprise. So he made a plan with the rest of his gang.
“What are you saying, Clark? That you plan to rob the jewellery store down town and want us to brag around about it before doing the job?” asked Greg who was not particularly smart.
“We are not really robbing it. We are just sending this message around hoping the leather girl will get wind of it and try to stop us. It's a trap, you nincompoop!”, yelled Clark wondering why he still kept Greg in his gang. But as Nick was gone, it was not the time to lose another member, even if he was sort of stupid and fat.
Greg lowered his eyes ashamed. He knew he was the weak link, but he was doing his best to please Clark. He'd be worse if Clark decided to kick him from the gang…
So Clark, Greg, Chris and Dave looked around the orphanage canteen to choose the best table for lunch, so more kids would hear their conversation. But they had to make it look like they were whispering and that from time to time they let some phrases escape their lips louder than they should have. It was all part of Clark's plan. All kids were already there for lunch, waiting for the scrappy meal. So they decided totake the table in the center to have more ears around them. Then, Clark saw Angela and Rose sitting at their table in the corner, waiting quietly for their meal. Then an idea struck Clark's mind, what if…could it be?
Clark suddenly rose from the table to his companions' puzzlement. “Follow me!”, he ordered in a low voice.
The table next to Angela and Rose was occupied by two young girls and two skinny boys. When they saw Clark and his boys coming for their table, they all rose quickly and took the table where Clark had just sat.
“We’ll take this table. I have a hunch…”, Clark whispered in Dave's ears. They all sat at the table in silence at first. Then he winked at them to begin the conversation.
“Yes….the jewellery store….should be an easy job.”, Clark was saying, peeking at Rose and Angela to see if they reacted in any way. But they seemed unperturbed in their conversation, not even looking at them.
“Lots of money out of it…..” Dave was also saying, eyeing
Angela as now he understood why Clark was suspicious of Angela. He remembered the fight with her here at the canteen when she had beaten all of them. Maybe she was indeed the leather girl…
“We do it tomorrow night!” said Clark as a conclusion, being sure that he had given the girls enough information to trap Angela if she was indeed the one who he was looking for. Meanwhile, the scrappy food had been served and the girls were eating quietly, pretending not to notice Clark and his gang.
So Clark stood up from the table and left, followed closely by his boys.
“Did you hear them, Ange?” Rose was asking as soon as they left.
“Yeah…”
“And? Aren't you going to do something about it? Or are you just going to let them rob the store?”
“That’s none of my business. The owner of the store is a greedy bastard who deserves what's coming. Let the guards handle it. I will only help who deserves to be helped, like kids being bullied by them or poor people attacked in the streets. You know what I mean. But I won't help someone who has gotten rich like the jewellery store owner.”
“Oh….”, was all Rose said as she had to agree with her friend. Angela was right in a way. Not all people deserved her help, so let him handle it himself.
On the following day, Clark and his gang were waiting for her next to the store. But no matter what they did, they didn’t see anyone coming to try to stop them. It had been a fiasco. They finally gave up and went back to the orphanage, mumbling all the way. Still, Clark believed that there was something about Angela, that she could still be the one.
“I got it!!” Clark said suddenly as they were returning to the orphanage. “There is another way. We can ask Rose.”
“And you think she'll just tell us? Don't forget Angela is her friend”, mumbled Greg but as soon as he said it, he was slapped over his head by Clark.
“Of course she won't do it willingly, but we can convince her, right boys?”, he said laughing with an evil laugh that gave Greg goose bumps.
So the next morning after breakfast they were all waiting for Angela to leave Rose by herself. She always had breakfast and then she would only come back for lunch and Rose would be by herself till then. That was when they had to make their move. They waited till they saw Angela leave the orphanage and then they knocked on Rose's room.
“Who’s there!?” came Rose's feeble voice from behind the door.
“It’s Clark, open up, I want to have a chat with you.”
“I have nothing to tell you.” She said scared from behind the door. She knew the door wouldn’t stop Clark from getting inside if that was what he wanted. And Angela had just left. She was all alone and frightened. She had no idea what Clark wanted from her but she knew it couldn’t be anything good. If only she had the guts to descend down the window… but she wasn't Angela, she was just Rose…
“Open up or I'll break the door! You know I’ll do it and then I won't be that nice to you!”, Clark commanded in an authorative voice that sent shivers down her spine. She only wished Angela was here to protect her.
She opened the door. Clark, Dave, Chris and Greg were grinning widely at her. Clark pushed her aside while the others entered the small room. She fell to the ground with a thud. All her bones in her small feeble body hurt from the fall. She was no match for them. She was no match for anyone as a matter of fact. She felt so powerless, so helpless, so lonely and scared.
“Wait, what are you doing”, Rose managed to ask from the dank wooden floor as she was trying to get up. But none of the boys were paying any attention to her, as if she was invisible. They started ransacking the small room, obviously looking for something. Each of the boys seemed to demolish the room in his search for something.
“What are you looking for?” Rose asked as she finally managed to get up from the floor.
“Proof!” yelled Clark from the bottom of his lungs.
“Proof of what?” she barely whispered, realizing what they were looking for. They were looking for Angela's leather costume, the proof that she was the one fighting them back, giving hope to the ones who needed help, just like she did now…
Clark turned his attention towards her as if he was seeing her for the first time. He grasped her by her neck with his powerful hands and lifted her in the air while the others were still turning the room upside down.
“Where is it!?” Clark said, his eyes all red with anger while he was almost choking her.
“Uh….” was all Rose could muster when he released his grip letting her fall on the floor again.
“Boss, I think I found it!” mumbled Dave with a bag in his hands. But hardly had he said that when a tall good looking man entered the room. He was armed to the teeth.
“Put that down!” he ordered them calmly as a man used to being obeyed.
“And who the heck are you?” asked Clark dumbfounded while checking out the stranger.
“That doesn’t concern you.” The new comer said when he saw Rose lying on the floor.
“Is this your boyfriend, Rose?” Clark asked mockingly while the other boys joined him and started laughing at poor Rose who was just as surprised as they were.
“Enough talking, put the bag down and get out while this offer is still available or you'll be sorry!”, the man said threateningly.
“Get him, boys!” ordered Clark who was sure of the outcome as the stranger was alone and they were four. Or better said he could count on three, including himself, as Greg wasn't a fighter.
Dave, Chris and Clark all attacked the stranger at the same time, sharp knives in their hands. But as the room was small, they could only get at him one at a time. Clark was first to get to him. He swinged his knife and then tried to slash the man's arm but he quickly drew his sword and in a single move unarmed Clark. His knife flew in the air and fell next to Rose who picked it up. Then the stranger kicked him and Clark fell on his butt next to Rose. He grabbed her hands and took his knife back from her. Meanwhile Dave attacked the stranger but he didn’t have a better fate and he landed next to Clark, whining with pain. Chris fell on the bed and broke the poor thing in two. He screamed in pain while the stranger grabbed the bag from Clark and handed it to Rose who was speechless.
“I think this belongs to you, miss” and he bowed in front of her as if she was a fair princess or something. She was just looking at him, not knowing what to say or how to react.
“Scram!” he addressed Clark and his gang.
They crawled out, beaten and humiliated by a total stranger. In their own home, as the orphanage was their home. They ran as fast as they could once they were out of the room. Without having seen the content of the bag first, stillnot sure that Angela was the leather dressed girl. But things had just gotten worse. Now there was another enemy, this stranger who had just kicked their butts.
“Who are you and why did you help me?”, Rose asked, her cheeks red with emotion.
“Well, it looked like you needed help.” The man said helping her get up from the floor.
“ Thank you I guess. But who are you and why are you here?”
“I’m Igor. And I am afraid I am not much better than the guys that have just left.”
“Huh!?. What do you mean?” Rose asked even more puzzled now than before.
“I want something that your friend has. As soon as I have it, I will leave both of you alone, I promise.”
“What could Angela possibly have that you would want?” Rose asked thinking of the costume that he had just given her back, unknowingly.
“A ring. I must have it. I need it. Then I will leave you alone, I have no quarrel with you.”
“And what if she doesn’t want to give it to you?” asked Rose afraid to listen to the answer.
“Then I am afraid I will have to take it by force. Nothing will stand in my way!” he said and his eyes shone with desire and confidence.
“Then there might be a problem because as far as I know Angela, she won't just give it to you. She likes that ring. But by the way you are clad and all I think you can afford any other ring. There is a nice jewellery store downtown where you can choose whatever ring you like…”, but somehow Rose knew he was after that particular ring and he wasn't interested in any other, unfortunately.
“Don’t get smart with me. You know I need her ring. So we will just wait for her to return, ok?” he said smiling.
“As if I have a choice…” muttered Rose and she sat on the bed with the handsome stranger next to her. Igor…she had heard that name before. But she couldn’t remember where.