Metal Thief

Chapter 8 ~ Drake’s Confession

Snow bent worriedly over Drake. When he had blacked out, the siblings had quickly begun to carry him to the safety of his house. When they had removed his shirt, they discovered a horrible cut on the side of his stomach, probably made when a bullet had grazed him. Flame had found some bandages, which Snow had wrapped around Drake’s abdomen, but there was nothing else that they could do but wait. The next day had passed, and now it was night. Drake was still unconscious. Flame had fallen asleep with exhaustion, but Snow decided to keep watch over the Metal Thief in case he awoke.

Snow gently touched Drake’s metal arm. It was a wonder of a mechanism. The arm was almost perfectly smooth; there were no grooves, screws, or anything. If Snow hadn’t known better, she would have thought it was a perfect metal glove. Drake was well muscled, and Snow could see that he would be well in a few days. Her thoughts wandered to her parents. What had become of them?

Suddenly, Drake’s eyes snapped open and he sat up. Snow jumped in surprise. He groggily sat up and ran a hand through his hair.

"How long was I out?" he questioned sleepily.

"About a day," Snow answered.

Drake glanced at Snow. "What’s bothering you?"

Snow looked troubled. "How could you kill all those people?"

"They’re scum. They would have killed you, me, or Flame in a heartbeat. I’m only doing the world a favor."

"They’re humans. You’re human. Don’t you feel a little bit ashamed that you took their life?"

Drake looked away for a little bit, and then looked her in the eye. "No. I think that they should die, every one of them, for making your life miserable." He sighed and began to talk again. "Incidentally, I found out why they were after you and your brother. A guy named Wesley Rovendale hired the Gray Hounds to get your parents. Your parents had something he wanted, and they wouldn’t give it up. So he sent the Hounds after you two so that he could make your parents give in to him."

"Do you know where they are?" Snow asked eagerly.

"Shark Street, the white government building. Hey! Where are you going?"

Snow had stood up and began to walk toward the entrance of Drake’s house. She gave no answer but began to ascend the ladder. Drake grabbed her arm tightly and pulled her down. He pushed her against the wall before she could react.

"Don’t go out there, Snow. The Gray Hounds…"

"I don’t care!" she screamed. "I’m going after my parents! Shark Street isn’t far! I’ll get there quickly."

Drake pulled her closer to himself. "Don’t go. You won’t last ten minutes out there."

Snow glared at him, tears of anger in her eyes. "What do you know? You don’t have parents; you don’t know how it feels to lose them. You don’t know –"

Drake pulled her up, and without warning, without any hesitation, kissed her. He pulled away and said softly, "I may not have parents, but I don’t want to lose you. I’ll go with you. Just bear with me now. I promise that we’ll go and get your parents." Drake glanced in the corner to make sure that Flame was still asleep. "I told Flame that I rescued you and him because I was bored and feeling generous. I confess; I lied to him. It was because of you. I fell in love with you as soon as I saw you. Don’t ask me why. I just did. Anyone else, I would have left to their own fate." He stood there, relieved that he had finally gotten his feelings out.

Snow gazed at Drake, surprised and shocked at his confession. The Metal Thief was in love! With her! It was almost too incredible to believe. Snow felt confused and disorientated. Would Drake really help her? She felt as if her heart was about to burst, it was going so fast. Snow glanced at Flame in amazement. How could he sleep through such a tense moment?

As if on cue, Flame stretched out, yawned, and sat up, blinking the sleep from his eyes. "Whassgoingon?" he said drowsily.

Snow stooped down beside Flame. "We’re going to rescue our parents," she told him.