Knight | Celeste Academy Series BK #1

2nd Chapter ♣ The Thief

 A/N: Keira Knightley as Seraphina

"Humans are far too oblivious to be able to see farther than their own skies."

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CHAPTER TWO ♣ THE THIEF

Boston shined in its usual alacrity. Valeriana inhaled the damp morning air through her nose. There was that mild scent of pollution with the crisp smell of the nearby ocean. She brushed the hair out of her eyes and pulled her arms close to her chest. It was so crowded that she could not avoid brushing shoulders with people as she hurried down the street.

Her phone started vibrating, the Over the Horizon soundtrack playing in chorus with the blaring traffic. She fished it out of her pocket and slid her finger across the answer button.

"Hello?"

An enthusiastic voice echoed from the other side of the line. "Val!" Xandra exclaimed. "Where are you?"

She stopped at the taxi stand with the phone against her ear, waving her hand out to hail a cab. "I'm really sorry, Xan," she muttered. "I got held up by mom. Said that I should have a proper breakfast and all, ya know. But, I'm grabbing a cab, right now."

"Yeah, well . . . I'm waiting out here so get your butt over quickly."

Valeriana bit back a laugh. "I'll be there in a jiffy."

As she stood on the tip of her toes and continued hailing, a man's body collided with hers—the impact of which pushed her off-balance and to the ground. The clash was quickly followed by a rapid yank on her shoulder. With a squeak, her phone slipped off her fingers and skid to the pavement. She feared scratching or cracking the screen so she picked it up in a hurry.

"Watch where the hell you're going!" she screamed at him before taking a few moments to stand. Valeriana dusted off her jeans before realizing that something was not quite right. There was lack of weight on her shoulder.

"Holy—my bag!" she exclaimed, stunned for a moment. She then threw all hesitations aside and dashed after the thief with a slight stumble. Valeriana cursed. "Give that back!" she yelled as she raced forward.

She trained her eyes on the man dressed in a grey jacket and denim jeans, wearing a red cap. Of all the days that she could have her bag get stolen!

She brushed past against other people who regarded her with curious gazes. "Thief!" she screamed at the top of her lungs.

No one seemed to care. Damn these people and their feigned indifference.

A voice blared at the other end of the phone. "Valeriana? Val! Shiznits! Are you okay?"

The call wasn't cut just yet. Struggling a bit, she held it up against her ear. "My bag! That stupid thief is getting away and—"

"Hold up your horses a second! Your bag was stolen?"

"I'm running after him right now! My money's there damn it!"

"Should I call the police—"

"No time," she breathlessly told her, throwing her knees up higher seeing as the thief was getting out of sight. She then tucked the phone in her pocket and continued running.

"Watch where you're going!" exclaimed a man she brushed against. Papers flew all over the place along with a Starbucks coffee cup spilling over.

"You watch where you're going" she yelled back at the man who threw his hands in the air in disbelief.