Author's Note: Sorry I've taken so long to write this! Only two more chapters left and then a sequel. I'm so excited! I hope you've been enjoying this story so far. 

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Todd, Shai, Ren, Jasper, and Mikko abandoned the car at the edge of the Slums. No one drove cars outside of the derby, and the rumble of the engine would attract a lot of attention. They were dressed as Brighties, so if anyone saw them they'd be robbed in minutes. Todd and Shai were used to sneaking to and from the Market to their apartment, but they've never had to go this far before. The extra people put them at a bigger risk of getting caught too.

"I forgot how drab this side of town was," Mikko said.

"Ssshh," Shai shushed him.

Todd was leading the group. He stopped at the edge of each building, and peered out. When he was sure that the coast was clear, he ran to the next alleyway, and they followed close behind. The sound of the Market became louder and louder and Shai knew they were close.

"We need to split up," Todd said. "At least until we get into Bright. I don't want to raise suspicion."

"Good plan," Mikko said. Shai noticed that he was a lot more agreeable with Todd than any of them. "You go first and we'll follow soon after. Buy your tickets at the station and we'll meet you there."

Shai furrowed her eyebrows and looked over her shoulder at him.

"We?" she asked.

"Yes, we," he said. "I'm not prepared to fight on my own and I saw Tegan stealing my knives earlier."

"You stole knives?" Shai asked him.

"I'm not about to walk through Bright without any protection," he said.

"You'll have to get rid of these Rat like behaviours when we get to Royale," Mikko said.

Todd fished through his pocket and pulled out a small pocketknife. He handed it over to Shai and she tucked it into her pocket.

"I can't believe you didn't bring anything," Todd said. "It's like I taught you nothing."

"Now that we have that sorted, get out there kids." Mikko pushed Todd and Ren out into the Market.

--

Ren hadn't been to a Market since the day she was arrested. Her eyes kept darting up to the Officers that were wandering around. She tried to keep her eyes down, and she pulled the brim of her hat down a bit to cover her face.

"You know," she heard Todd say. "We should be acting like we're hopelessly in love."

Ren wanted to shove Todd, but Brighty girls probably never did that. She wished someone gave her a quick run down of how to act like a Brighty. Her plan was to just keep her eyes down and stay by Todd's side.

She felt like she was wobbling with every step she took. She wasn't used to the pointy shoes that she was wearing. If she was lucky enough to get shoes at the farm they were full of holes and worn down. She was paranoid that her wig was slipping and everyone could see her dark stubble of hair. Mikko gave her a jacket to wear before they left the house when he saw the crisscrossing of white scars across her back. She and Todd had to make sure their collar's were up high enough to cover the numbers that were burned into the back of their neck. Now the sun was bright and she could feel the sweat build up on her temple.

"You should probably be wearing a ring though," Todd said. "Hide your fingers."

He held out his arm toward her and she grabbed his arm. She curled her fingers in so that his body was hiding that she was hiding her bare fingers.

They walked past the booths selling a variety of things. She saw a large metal gate, that was twisted into an intricate design. The Officers were lined shoulder-to-shoulder along the gate. Their guns were held tight up against their chest. Ren tightened her fingers into Todd's arm as her heart started to beat faster.

Once they were in Bright, Ren kept her eyes on the cobblestone under her feet. She saw an assortment of colourful shoes with long pointy heels. They walked through Bright for what felt like an hour. Neither of them spoke a word, and Ren was shocked to hear Todd be quiet for so long. She let him guide her through Bright. She wondered how many times he had snuck into Bright to know the layout so well. They walked in silence for a long time before Ren saw metal stairs under feet. She glanced up and watched them going up the stairs to a platform.

A large metal object sat beside the platform and she watched a few people walk into it. A few people were scattered along the platform, and others were sitting on a few benches. A couple of Officers were positioned around. Todd pulled her toward a booth with a man sitting inside.

"Hello," Todd said flashing a large smile. "We need to tickets to Royale."

Ren could hear her heart pounding in her ears. The man in the booth barely looked up at them, and typed a few things into a tablet. Todd took the money Mikko gave them out of his pocket and slid it over to the man. He took it and then handed two slips of paper over to Todd.

"Your train doesn't come for another forty-five minutes," the man told them.

"Thank you very much," Todd said.

Todd put the tickets into his pocket, and then placed his hand of the small of Ren's back. He guided her over to one of the benches. Ren tried her best not to look up at the high arches of the ceiling of the station. She had to look like she'd been here before.

"Shai better not mess up," Todd mumbled under his breath.

--

Shai could feel the sweat build up in Jasper's palm as he kept a tight grip on her hand. She had never taken him to the Market dressed like a Brighty. Mikko was supposed to stay two steps behind them, but he kept stepping on Shai's heels.

The Market was busier than it was most days. The booths were crowded with people, and the Officers had a close eye on them to make sure they weren't stealing, so none of them paid Shai any attention as they walked down the cobblestone.

The Gate was in sight, and lined with Officers. Jasper's grip tightened around her hand and her knuckles started to ache.

"Jessica!"

An arm grabbed Shai's arm and spun her around. Riley had a tight grip on her arm. Jasper stepped forward to lunge at him, but Shai shot her arm out across his chest.

"Officers, arrest her!" he shouted.

Jasper wanted to snap at him, but revealing his chipped tooth would prove they were Rats.

"She's a Rat!" Riley said. "Arrest her!"

"What are you talking about?" Shai asked. "I don't know who you are."

She saw an Officer behind Riley. He was tall, and Shai could see him over Riley's shoulder.

"Officer, this man is harassing me," Shai said, she let her voice has a slight whine to it like she heard Brighty girls talk.

"Let the girl go," the Officer told him.

"You don't understand," Riley said. "She's a Rat. A filthy Rat."

"How dare you talk to me like that!" Shai said.

She noticed that the Market had gone quiet and that everyone was staring at them. She glanced over her shoulder to see that Mikko was standing with the crowd.

"She's a thief," Riley said. "Arrest her."

"Officer, please." Shai tried to yank herself free from Riley's grip. "He's hurting me."

"Let her go." The Officer ripped Riley off of her.

"Thank you, Officer," Shai said.

She slipped her arm around Jasper's neck, and she could feel her heart pounding. She looked over at them, but kept herself buried in Jasper's shoulder. Riley's face was red and he was chewing on his lip. Shai had to suppress the smile that wanted to creep onto her lips.

"We are on our way to Royale," Shai said. "We're going to visit his family. We just got engaged."

Shai held out her hand. She kept the ring that Riley had given her and put it on before going to the Market so that Brighties would assume they're engaged.

"That's my ring!" Riley shouted. "She stole it from me!"

"Keep him away from me!" Shai buried herself back into Jasper, and he wrapped his arms tightly around her.

"Go to the station," the Officer told them. "I don't want you two missing your train."

Jasper nodded his head and pulled her forward. Shai looked over her shoulder to see the Officer pulling handcuffs off of his belt.

"Sir, I need to take you to the hospital for evaluation," he said.

"What? No! You just let a Rat into Bright. I'm going to tell Zimmer about this," Riley said.

Shai and Jasper hurried into Bright.