Most people fear the night, especially in the city where criminals run free. Criminals like me, Shadow the Thief. I take pride in the fact that I've taken the night and made it my own.

As I walk down the sidewalk, I pass a poster with my name on it. It reads:

'Shadow of the Night

Wanted for theft, murder, vandalization, and intent of homicide.

Wanted dead or alive

40,000 pages'

Wow, they bumped up my bounty since my last job. My eyes slid to the artists rendering of me. What I looked at was a lady who appeared to be in her early thirties. She had black hair and brown eyes. Her chin was thin and pointed and her eyes glared daggers at civilians who passed by.

"Hey miss." A male voice called out from behind me, drawing my attention. I turned to see a man with a nice black top hat and handle bar mustache looking at me. He wore nice clothes and carried a cane that he obviously didn't need. The flush on his face told me he was clearly drunk. "You shouldn't be walking the streets alone."

His eyes left a trail of disgust up my body and then moved to the poster behind me. Luckily, the artists rendering looked nothing like me. Her sharp features were were nothing like my soft round ones, her eyes nothing like my bright blues ones, and her hair nothing like my wavy blonde locks. Even her age was off. I, myself, was about twenty years old.

"Come on." His mouth reeked of alcohol him as he bent over to take my hand. I let, deciding he'd be easy prey. "Why don't I escort you home."

"Why thank you." I let my voice fall into a smooth and sweet purr that I had gotten used to after years of stealing from lusty men.

His soft hand, free of the callouses of a working man, wrapped around my waist, gripping me harder than I liked.

I led him to a vacant house that I'd slept in many times. When I open the door, his drunken mind didn't take notice when I didn't have to unlock it. When I closed the door, I let him entangle me in his arms, but felt bile rising in my throat.

I made the job quick, slipping a dagger from under my sleeve into his blubbery neck and ending it quickly. He fell onto my shoulder, his full weight taking me onto the ground. I swear, all the rich people in this city were overweight.

I struggled, pulling him off me and wiggling out from under him. The damned man had left a bloodstain on the shoulder of my only nice dress. Oh well, I'd pay for it with his money.

With much effort, I rolled him onto his back and looted him. In his wallet was 483 pages, a fair amount for a new dress and maybe even a snack. In his other pocket was a silver watch that I might make a couple hundred pages off. Finally, I pulled a ring from his finger with a dazzling green jewel on it. I'd have to sell these to the black market just in case they had any family insignias on them. I had a few friends who came to mind at the moment.

A knock at the door made me jump.

"Excuse me?" The soft voice of a young woman asked. I ran, following a path I often took into the second story of the house.

I heard the creaking of the door open and then a scream.

I quickly opened a window besides a door in the bathroom of the second story. Planting my feet firmly on the windowsill, I jumped, my hands catching on the roof of the next building. Using all my strength, I pulled myself up and ran.

I could never go back there again, never. Too bad, because I was actually starting to like that place. I mean, a few of the floor boards were bloodstained but hey, a home is a home. It wasn't my real home, but it worked when I was in the area.

When I heard the thumping of footsteps, I turned to see police filing behind a slowly moving carriage. Oh shit! Did the man I kill really mean that much? Was he some kind of noble? I'd have to lay low for a while.

I made the hour long run to the slums on the roofs of houses. I was welcomed by the slipping of a few ceiling tiles when I reached my district, the Orchid district. Seriously, it was called Orchid. Most of the districts were named based off parts of plants or flowers. Orchid was on the west side of the city. To the north was Rosemary, to the south Evergreen, and to the east was Maple. On the dead center of the city, where I'd just came from, was the Pacific Rose. You wanna know what they names it after? A freakin Apple. Yes there's an apple named the pacific rose. And that's also the name of the center of our city. I guess it's better than banana, but still.

I'd switched from the roofs to the streets, not having to worry about the police chasing me. I tapped my purse where the ring, pages, and watch still sat comfortably.

It's been a long time since any police've made their way around here. This districts overrun by crime and the government gave up on it. It also meant that we had to make money for ourselves cause the government didn't support us. Thievery became a common source of income for a lot of us. However, the second we stepped foot into wealthier districts we were free game and usually got arrested. Well, not me.

Before I went out to sell my wares, I went home to change out of this dress. I walked down the center of the street, the sides were too crowded with couples and stalls. Down the centers I had to dodge men and women on horses, running children, pickpockets and the wandering hands of drunken men.

When I finally reached my house which was in a less crowded part of the district, I pulled out my key and opened the door. I had to force the rusted aluminum door open, but I managed to slip in. The inside of my house consisted of a bed and a bathroom, seriously that's it. Unlike a lot of the city, I had running water so I didn't worry much about that. Here in Orchid, we'd managed to come up with our own water supply facilities without the governments help. It was actually a bit cheaper because it used water from a river that flowed through the area.

I know what you're thinking, they have running water and they still use horses? What time period is this?

To answer that question, it's 2138. A while ago, when they realized how polluted the world was becoming, the government outlawed the use of cars in fear that the pollution would start acting as poison and attack our lounges. Eventually, they found that the power plants were starting to store an 'unsafe' amount of electricity and if it kept going on like that, it's cause a mass explosion, and I mean on a nuclear level, that would kill most of the population. Oops.

After changing from my shiny green dress into a T-shirt and jeans, my comfy clothes and the only pair of jeans I had, I left my house once again. By now, the sun was already down and the sky had filled with stars. They were much brighter after pollution and electricity use went down. Living in this screwed up society wasn't actually that bad. I'd learned to make the most of my pathetic little life.

Anyway, I walked down the streets, my black converse making footprints in the mud. I made a few turns, dodging a few more pickpockets and finally turned into a building without a name. When the door opened the little bell in the corner made a small ding. The man behind the counter looked at me and then smiled.

"Hey there, little miss!" Ravi was, in a way, one of the few friends I could actually trust. Ironically, he worked in the blackmarket, one of the shadiest businesses in the city of Lament.

"Ravi! How's business?" I made my way over to him.

"Good, good. Now, what've you got for me today Miss Shadow?"

With a Cheshire smile, I set the ring and watch onto the counter. With a warm smile, he took the ring and inspected it closely. He turned it over and upside down looking at the inside of the silver but mostly the jewel. Next he took the watch, opening it and making sure it worked and then playing with the chain.

"Alright." He wasn't wearing his usually smile which concerned me. "I can only give you three hundred for the watch."

"What!? Come on Ravi can't you give me like a friends deal or something? Do you have those?"

"Sorry but I don't."

"Well can you make one just for me?"

"I'm sorry, Shadow, this is the best I can give you for the watch."

He let me sulk in my own self pity for a minute before he smiled again.

"The ring, however, I can give you ten thousand pages for."

"Seriously!? I mean, I'm not complaining or anything, that's a loot of money, but ten thousand- that's a fourth of my bounty!"

"Well, it's an emerald so it'd be highway robbery not to give you anything less. I'll go grab your money."

He went back into his shop and came back carrying a wad of pages.

"In cash, just how you like it."

With a smile and a thanks, I shoved the wad of cash back into my bag and left. Ravi's always been good to me, he's always given me the best deals since I came in ten years ago with a gun. Oh, did I forget to mention? Guns were outlawed across the globe. People thought it'd help end wars. It didn't, wars are just a hell of a lot longer now and more gruesome.

When I reached home, I dumped my money in my safe and closed the door. I plopped onto my bed and drifted off into dreamland.