I pulled my jacket tighter around me as I walked down the dark street. It was almost midnight, but my tattoo artist works nights anyway. The bell chimed as I pushed the door open and I smiled as I breathed in the familiar scent. I skipped the counter and walked to the back, I sat down in the "meeting chair" and slouched back down a bit after straightening myself out. I crossed my ankles and swung my feet as I heard footsteps nearing me. 

  "Ms. Nova, you're here a bit early, aren't you?" 

  "Not at all, Venni," I answered, sitting up a little straighter as he sat in the chair opposite across the table. 

  "Someone's eager, then I guess," he chuckled. I just threw my head back and laughed like a child. 

  "How could I not be?" 

  "I honestly can't say I remember why you are," he said, looking a tad sorry to tell me this.

  "You're the only artist that I could find that I knew could do it exactly the way I wanted it to be done," I shrugged.

  "I'm flattered, but how do you know that for certain?" 

  "I've seen your work, Venni, and I've also eavesdropped in on design meetings of yours. The end results are always near exact to what they described," I explained, watching the realization hit him. 

  "You sneaky little devil," he chuckled in his rough accent. I grinned at him widely.

  "Yes, I believe that that would indeed describe me," I responded cheekily. 

   "Alright, alright, let's get on with what we were meant to do in the first place, shall we?" he said, shaking his head at me. I nodded in agreement as he pulled out a notepad and sketchbook. 

  "So, what exactly did you have in mind, my dear?" he asked, hovering his pencil over the paper. 

  "Well, you see, it's a long story," 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

After the meeting 

"Bye, Venni, see you in a few weeks!" I called to him over my shoulder as I walked back out of the door, the little bell chiming again. 

  "It best be sooner than that, Ms. Nova!" he called back after me, I chuckled as I shook my head and kept walking. I need to get back soon or Ms. Jahle might notice that I'm gone. I tightened my jacket around me and quickened my pace. I heard footsteps behind me and sucked in a slow, deep breath. I quickened my pace even more than I had just previously, hoping that the footsteps would stop following me. I hissed as I felt someone grab my forearm, jerking it away from their grasp. 

  "I wouldn't do that if I were you," a terrible voice nearly growled in my ear. I forced back a shiver and moved my head away from where I presumed his face was. He grabbed my arm again and I threw my weight into throwing my other elbow in the direction that I assumed his gut was. I felt my bone hit something soft and the man let out a grunt of pain and doubled over, almost taking me with him. Just before his body pushed mine to the ground with it, I jerked my arm away from his now weakened grip and made a run for it. I ran until I was out of breath and ducked into a somewhat lit alley to catch it. I heard footsteps nearing me and held my breath, pressing myself up against the wall, inching closer to the dim portion of the alley. 

  "Um, little girl, are you here?" a very different voice than the sicko's that I had encountered previously. I debated on whether or not I should respond, when all of the sudden, he turns into the alley. 

  "Fuck," I muttered under my breath as he came closer and I realized that he did in fact already know that I was there. 

  "Maybe not a little girl?" he chuckled slightly. I grunted at his conclusion and he laughed a little more. 

  "Could you shut up? That creep could be here by now," I hissed at him. He laughed a little louder, which made me kick him in the shin as he was now standing directly in front of me. 

  "Ow," he nearly squeaked. 

  "What was that for?" he asked, sounding slightly irritated. I rolled my eyes as his attempt to make me seem like the person at fault here. 

  "Why are you laughing anyway? Do you find amusement in people's danger?" I'm getting annoyed with this guy, I'm gonna have to ditch him when that creep gets here. He should be able to fend for himself, right?

  "I don't think you're in any danger anymore, actually," he said as he finally stopped laughing. I rolled my eyes at him yet again. I'm getting the feeling that if I spend too much longer with this guy my eyes are going to end up falling out of my head. 

  "What do you mean?" I asked, sadly generally confused. He began laughing again as he answered me. 

  "Do you know where you hit him?" 

  "Yeah, I aimed for his gut," 

  "Well, you didn't hit that," he laughed even harder.

  "What are you talking about?" 

  "You nailed him in the balls, he's not running after you anytime soon," he laughed. I shook my head at him. 

  "Whatever, if that's the case then I have to be going," I told him, walking past him and into the lit portion of the alley. 

  "Aww, no, already?" he whined like a child. 

  "Yeah?" I answered with more of a question than anything. 

  "Why?" he asked, holding out the "y" at the end. 

  "I don't know you, why would I stay with you, anyway I have to get back before anyone notices that I'm gone," I answered him, walking out of the alley and back onto the sidewalk. I realized that I was lucky that I decided to run in the same direction that I had been walking because I could now see the orphanage right ahead of me. 

  "Oh, well fine if you want to be like that," he huffed and I really couldn't tell if he was joking or not. 

  "I do, I'm going back now. I have to pack," I told him, walking quickly back to the orphanage. I heard footsteps and turned to see him following behind me. 

  "What are you doing?" I asked him, walking a bit faster as I headed into the yard of the building and began climbing the tree that was close enough to leap into my window from. 

  "I could ask you the same thing," he pointed out. I shrugged as I realized he had a point. 

  "I have to get back in before she realizes that I'm gone," 

  "You live here?" he asked, sounding shocked.

  "No, I don't live here. I just need to get back in before the person that knows I don't live here notices that I'm not here," I said sarcastically, rolling my eyes at him. 

  "So you do live here?" 

  "Only until tomorrow," I answered, reaching the top of the tree which was quite tall. I looked down to see him looking up at me with a questioning look on his face. 

  "Where are you going to live tomorrow?" he asked, sounding just as confused as he looked. 

  "I dunno," I shrugged, sticking my leg into the window that I had left open for a quiet entry. 

  "What do you mean you don't know?" 

  "I'm getting adopted, they're picking me up tomorrow," 

  "Oh," 

 "Yep, bye now,"

  "Wait, what's your name then?" 

  "Why?" 

  "I know someone who's adopting a girl from here," 

  "Oh, my name's Nova," I shrugged, slinging my other leg into the window. 

  "Couldn't be you, then. Well, good luck at your new home!" he called and began to walk away. I scoffed to myself. New home? Yeah right, I'll be back here in less than a week at the most.