The Prince of Thieves

Chapter I:  Prologue

By:  Michelle

His Harley Davison roared down the quiet streets of the small town.  He didn't know exactly where he was.  Alls he knew was that he was somewhere in New Jersey and it was two o'clock in the morning.  Anyway.  If he didn't knew where he was, then hopefully no one else knew. 

That was the idea anyway.  He had gotten himself in a lot of trouble this time.  Big trouble.  He gained another enemy.

Of course, this enemy was different from all the rest.  This enemy didn't play games.  While most of the people he encountered had grudges against him, they rarely took the opportunity to hunt him down.  Most of the time, they just threatened that if he ever crossed their paths again they would kill him.

However, this enemy was not like that.  He wanted him dead now.  But, in his defense, it wasn't his fault.  In fact, his enemy was the one who started the mess. 

You see, he was a thief.  A very skillful thief.  He was one of the best thieves in the world. He was the Prince of Thieves to be exact.  No object was safe from his grasp.  No security system could stop him.  No vault was invulnerable from being cracked.  He was that good.

That's why he was hired by his new enemy.  He was being paid $20,000 to steal the Ruby Gem of Cyttorak.  For what, he wasn't sure nor did he care.  He was paid $10,000 upfront before the job began.  However, when he succeeded in his mission, his new enemy refused to pay him the other half of the money.  Instead, he was offered a position on his team. 

He didn't like this one bit.  It was not part of the deal.  So, when everyone was asleep or so he thought, he stole the Gem back, blew up his enemies' headquarters, and ran like hell.  That was three days ago.

Now, he was on the run across the country from a madman and his disciples.  He should have known not to trust anyone.  Everyone he seemed to trust turned on him.  It was getting old.  It was getting hard. 

He never had the greatest life.  He spent the first ten years on the street.  Then, he was adopted. Life seemed perfect.  For the first time in his life, he had a father, brother, sister-in-law…he had a family. They even accepted him when his mutant powers surfaced. But, soon after his 18th birthday, everything came crashing down on him.  He was forced to leave his wife.  Sure, he wasn't ready to get married, but he could ask for a better person to marry.  She was his best friend.  She was only woman he loved with his heart, not his body.  To make things worse, his mutant powers spiraled out of control.  Then He made the biggest mistake of his life. 

A friend of his introduced him to a doctor who studied mutants.  The doctor preformed a brain surgery on him that reduced his powers to a manageable level.  However, it had a price.  He was now the doctor's employee.  At first, he didn't mind the work he was doing.  But after a while, he kept getting the feeling there was something wrong.  After two years of off and on work, He decided to quit, but was talked into one last mission.  When he realized what was happening, it was too late. 

Now, he lived with the guilt.  For a while, he played Robin Hood by robbing from the rich and giving to the poor.  He hoped it would at least wipe a few sins off his soul.  Then, one day he met a woman who lost most of her memories.  Like him, she was a thief.  He pitied her and decided to help her gain her memories.  For a week, they traveled the gulf coast on various thieving missions.  Soon after he took her to a family friend, she gained her memory back.  He brought her back to her friends, but refused to join her.  So, he promised to keep in touch with her.

He did.  She wasn't a friend to him.  She was a sister.  He trusted her enough to tell her his real name.  He called every two weeks to talk to her.  And, if he was in town, they would meet and have dinner.  He knew she worried about him, but still he refused every offer she made to join her at the school she worked for.  

For two more years, he had off and on jobs with various employers.  Most double crossed him.  Then, seven months ago, he got a job working for a woman in Paris.  He was paid very well and wired the money to his sister for safe keeping.  He got to travel Europe with her and she provided everything he needed.  Plus, he got bonuses if you know what I mean.  But once the job was over, he returned to the states.  That's when he ran into trouble.

Boy was he stupid.  He thought as he took a turn.  He was tired and hungry, but too afraid to stop.  It was too risky.  He yawned and kept an eye on the road ahead of him. 

His bike jerked.  Damnit, I'm falling asleep.  He thought as his eyes opened wide.  Then, his bike jerked again.  He gripped on the handle bars tightly.  Maybe, it's the road.

For the next few minutes, his ride was smooth.  So he thought nothing of it and relaxed.  That's when it happened. 

Mon Dieu.  He found me.  He whispered under his breath as he bike began to drive itself.  He swerved all around the road.  He had never been more afraid in his life.

The man in the car behind stared at him and rolled his eyes.  Its bad enough I had to get off of work at 2 in the morning, but now I'm stuck behind some lunatic that can't drive. 

With the way the bike was swerving around the road, the man decided not to try to pass him.  Maybe, he's drunk.  He thought. 

Oh shit.  The man watched as the man on the bike veered off the road.  Before it slammed into a tree, the man jumped from the bike. 

As he hit the ground, he felt a pain sting up his arm.  Then, he rolled around several times before stopping. He looked up briefly to see a car pull on the side of the road.

The driver got out of the car and rushed over to him.  "Sir, are you alright?" 

He could see an image coming towards him, but he couldn't make out what it was.

"Sir.  Don't move."  The man said to him and pulled out his cell phone.  "You need to get to a hospital."

He looked at the person talking to him and everything went black.