Ghost Scarab

A Thief at the Mall

This story was inspired by the fact that I have seen a lot of comments from people who can't stand Kayli and haven't been able to read the Scarab Beetle series. So I thought what if I change things up and make Sang the main character. I plan to follow the main plot of the books but some things are going to have to change because Sang and Kayli are exact opposites in terms of personality.

A special thanks to mia1200s for letting me use her description of Corey's smell. Her writing is amazing and anyone who isn't familiar with it should definitely check it out.

I strolled through the crowded mall doing my best to blend into the crowd and to appear as though I belonged there. I passed a group of tween girls gathered outside the entrance to a Claire's but the lights were far too bright and I would never target anyone that young. Also ironically enough although my mother had spent almost my entire life warning me of the dangers of men and how they will only ever want one thing from me I was far more frightened of women than of men.

My heart pounded in my chest and guilt gnawed at my stomach as I continued to keep my eyes peeled for my next target. I hated stealing; I threw up after almost every wallet I pulled. I tried to assuage my own conscience by only ever taking a couple of twenties from each wallet and then leaving the wallet where mall security would find it. I told myself at least I wasn't taking their credit cards or IDs and at least they got the wallets back in the end.

I hurriedly cut off that line of thinking before I became too nervous to even make an attempt at someone's wallet and turned my attention on the people around me. This had not been a great week for me, not only had tips been really bad but my sister Marie had managed to find one the many money stashes I have hidden all around my room and emptied it. This left me about $80 short on the rent this week.

Getting angry about it wouldn't do me any good; our mother would never believe me if I went to her about it and besides I knew Marie was in the same boat as I was. Mother was never forgiving about rent not being paid on time and I couldn't really blame Marie for wanting to avoid one of her punishments.

I paused outside a shoe store to examine a pair of heels that I doubted I would be able to walk in and out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a possible target. The man was by himself, he wore a dark red jacket and at a glance, I could tell there was no telltale bulge in his pants pocket to indicate a wallet meaning he probably kept his wallet in his jacket. Even better he had his hand stuffed into the pockets of his pants causing the jacket to bulge out on either side of him.

A part of me was nervous about this man; it was a little early in the fall to be wearing a jacket. I normally wouldn't even consider going after someone if my gut warned me not to but a quick glance at my watch showed me it was already 4, that meant Mother expected me back home in an hour. I didn't have time to scope out somebody else and I hoped this man had a good amount in his wallet because I may be forced to take more than I normally did.

I noticed him stop in front of a shop that sold giant cookies and decided it was now or never. I left the front of the shoe store and casually headed in the direction of my target as I scoped out the ideal position to wait.

My long dirty blonde hair, which I normally wore pulled up in a clip currently hung down past my shoulders to prevent my target from getting a good look at my face. I wore an old pair of converse, a nice pleated skirt that fell just about my knees and a lightweight hoodie that helped keep me warm in the mall's air conditioning and gave me a nice big pocket to tuck any wallet I pulled into.

I stopped in front of a clothing display and watched my target purchase a cookie making sure I saw which pocket he got his wallet out of. I watched him sit down on a nearby bench to eat his cookie. It didn't take him long to finish his cookie and when he got up and headed over to the trash cans I knew it was time to act. I quickly made sure one of my shoelaces was untied and then I silently approached him only to 'notice' that my shoelace was untied when I was right behind him. I bent down to fix it just as he was turning away from the trash cans and he collided with me.