The Thief : Osiris
Chapter Six
Aiden's Proof

"You think the thief is some broke college student, and that's why he's stealing?" Justin grinned as he kept his attention on Hayden. Flustered, Hayden quickly shook his head, "No, I just have this strong gut feeling that he goes to the same campus because it's so close to all of the locations, in a way. Look. I'm just trying my best to piece all of this together, so we can find  ."

     "Maskie?" I laughed, "You're nine, man."

     Hayden shrugged as he turned his glance back on Justin, "I know I don't have a lot of proof yet, but it interested Jamie, and in the moment, I just wanted her to be on my side."

     His words sparked a different look in Justin's eyes as he laxed back and put his arm on the back of his seat, "You into... Jamie?" He asked slowly, I could immediately feel the change of atmosphere, but Hayden became increasingly flushed, "No way, I can't say I like someone only after texting them for a few nights and having two classes with them." He paused for a split second as he looked up then around, then he rested his chin on his knuckles as he leaned foreword on the table, "But she is nice on the eyes." He admitted.

     Justin's eyebrows raised, "I know I agreed to buy both of your food out here, but I changed my mind. I'm not paying for you, Hayden." He said.

     "What did I do?" Hayden exclaimed, oblivious to the tension. I let out a laugh and Justin a sigh before I asked, "I thought you had a thing for June? She seems into you too, so why do you care?" Justin frowned over at me and corrected himself, "I'm not paying for either of you."

     Hayden's eyes almost lit up as he, though last, understood the situation, "Do you like Jamie?" He was blunt.

     Justin didn't hesitate as he replied back, "I do not." If I didn't know any better, I would have believed him too.

     Hayden became confused a bit, however, he gave a half smile before glancing out the window then back at Justin and I, "Well... How did we get on this conversation anyway?" He laughed lightly.

     "Honestly, I think we were talking about your dumb idea that the Masked-"

"Maskie. His name is Maskie." Hayden interrupted me lamely.

     I continued, "Maskie... Well, you better come up with some more proof to back up your statement or Jamie's not gonna be too impressed. I mean, who likes a liar?"

     "It's-" Hayden began only to pause and think or a moment. You could see the second that an idea hit him because his eyes immediately lit up, "It's not lying if you yourself believe it too."

     "Who? Me?" I wondered like an idiot. Hayden shook his head, "Me. If I believe what I'm saying, it's not a lie, but a fake truth."

     "Well if anyone gets a hold of your fake truth and spreads it, it becomes a rumor. I don't think that's a good rumor to spread around on a campus to a bunch of kids. So, unless you have proof to back your claim up, don't repeat that again or you'll end up hurting yourself." Justin hissed from his seat.

     He wasn't wrong though, if Hayden's belief that there is a wanted criminal among us, who knows what the school would do to uphold it's reputation. Not only that, but the paranoia it could cause – even if it was a few days until the police manage to catch the thief – it could cause misinformed people to frame people they don't like or paranoid people to report the most random of things.

     "Or maybe you're just paranoid." Hayden spoke out, "If this dumb criminal is so threatened by a college kid with a go pro, he's not really that good of a criminal, is he? Besides, it's a fifty percent chance he goes to this school. I'm willing to take those odds."

     "So, the other fifty is that he doesn't?" I smiled, "At least you're passing math, I'm for one, impressed, Hayden Gold." I laughed as I glanced down at the time on my phone.

     "All I'm saying is that if this becomes a rumor, I don't want any part of it. I have grades to worry about, not sleeping with an eye open because I'm concerned some guy could come in and get me while I sleep." Justin said.

     "You're actually afraid of this guy?" Hayden perked up, "Well look, anything you hear or find out, report it to me and you don't even have to get your name involved. I'll take the fall for this so you won't have to!" He sounded so proud as if this lowlife criminal was on the level of the Joker and worth talking about over a pizza restaurant's table. However, it instilled fear into Justin more than Hayden, which I was, by far, most surprised by. Hayden just seemed more childish than Justin. Although, it could be that very factor that allows Hayden to have that innocence and arrogance about the whole situation, Justin however, has a more realistic concern. If this thief is dangerous, of course that is something to be concerned about. Especially if your idiot English class partner is intent on catching him.

     Hayden was jittering in his seat like a child who was getting what he wanted. In a sense, he was. He just got the last person I suspected of falling for his idiotic ideas to fall for his idiotic ideas. He of course, nodded, "I swear!"

     The two turned towards me, I let out a sigh as I leaned back and smiled, this was so childish, "I swear too." I responded.

     It was a Monday night around ten in the afternoon and I was finishing up work on my biology homework when my phone buzzed on the desk beside me. I took my time glancing over, knowing it would probably be Hayden gloating about how heroic he is for going after a criminal the police were after.

     "You up?" Justin asked.

     I found it strange, but he probably meant to send that to June or even Jamie. I replied nonetheless, with "Yup."

     It didn't even take a second before another message arrived. He must have had it already typed out and ready to send.

     "Do you know an Amelia?" It read.

     My eyes lit up at the sight of her name, "Of course." I said.

     "Why does she have my number?" He asked me.

     Amelia had his phone number? Why was he asking me? "Did you give it to her?" I asked. I didn't even have to be facing him to see the attitude in his messages.

     "Of fucking course not. Why does she have my number? She won't let me fucking sleep." He said bluntly.

     I leaned back in my chair, although he was having his own problems, I ended up being the one to feel bad. I didn't have her number, so why did he have her number so soon? I let out the longest sigh I possibly could but still felt upset by the news, "Well idk" I messaged back, I wanted to add, "Boo you, having a cute girl message you, how problematic." But of course, I didn't want him to know I liked her.

     My phone fell silent as I stared up at the ceiling of my room. Maybe I wasn't putting myself out there enough. Tomorrow, for sure, I'll ask her for her number. After all, she went to get lunch with me, so she must like me at least a little!

     Ignoring the rest of my biology, I slammed my textbook shut and pushed it aside as I walked over to my bed and fell back on it.

     At that moment, I heard my father's footsteps coming towards my room. I turned my chin up, so I could look at the door upside-down. My father was wearing his police uniform and looked beyond tired as he glanced down at me, "Aiden, I'll be back as soon as I can, there's a break-in down the road."

     His words were urgent, but he himself was not. I almost knew he didn't particularly enjoy his job, but I suppose I always imagined he did, so even now, I saw him as just being bored with his job because it was so easy for him.

     "Down the road? Break-in?" I sat up quickly and turned to face him. He simply nodded, " home, they think someone is inside and I'm the closest so naturally, even though I'm off, fuck me." He sighed as he turned and headed towards the door, "I'm off. Lock the door, Aiden."

     "Aye, sir!" I said, saluting him as he walked out. I locked the door behind him, but as I did, the situation at hand hit me like a brick.

     There was a break-in nearby and I personally know the victims of the break-in. I pulled my phone out and went to the group chat, "Is Maskie active, Hayden?" I hit send then pondered whether or not to go out and follow my father to an active crime scene.

     Hayden took a few minutes to text back with a question mark. It was followed by, "Dunno, I haven't heard anything, but to be fair, I just got outta the shower :3"

     I pressed my lips together then huffed out as a grin snuck up on my face, "There's a break-in down the road right now, and I know the people!" I texted back only now realizing how childish I too was behaving, treating a criminal breaking-in to a home as some sort of exciting event to behold.

     "Legit??" He replied, "Address???"

     I typed out the road name, but was unfamiliar with the house number, so I decided against it, "I'll go myself and record what I can, I'll show you what I see tomorrow!"

     I put my phone away before I could fall victim to his cries of protest, it had only been about five minutes since my father had left, so I ran to my room and slipped on my untied converse and made a grab for my limited edition Evil Monkey Zombie Survival Kit. I am, admittedly, a huge fan of the franchise. However – the kit consisted of four band-aids, each one had one of the original four main characters on it. It also had a small infrared flashlight and a notebook and pen with the monkey's head as the cap. I shoved the kit in my jacket's pocket then ran towards the backdoor to reach at my bicycle.

     It was go time.

I petted like I never had before and found my way three houses down from the house my father's patroller was parked at. The lights were flashing but sirens off. He was alone talking to the owners. That lead me to wonder if the burglar was still inside. Was my father waiting for backup? I set my bike down on the front lawn and quietly snuck across the road under the protection of the dark. I reached for my phone and as the screen lit up, I saw all the missed texts and calls Hayden was making in an attempt to get the address from me. I continued to ignore it as I turned my camera on and began to make my way towards the house while also staying at a safe enough distance to not get seen by my dad.

     As I walked, I managed to get a few feet from the house when I heard the sirens of another police car in the distance. I looked to the front yard to see the car right as it stopped on the road and two officers quickly stepped out and approached my father.

     From where I stood, their words were inaudible, but I figured they'd be making their way inside now. Of course, it's not as if I were going to be entering the house with my father here and all – not to mention it is illegal anyway. Focusing back on the reason I came out here, however, I hid over in a bush beside the house. I backed up all the way until my back was touching the wall of the house and slowly, I rose my camera phone up to the window and aimed it in all directions so as to capture all the footage I possibly could.

     I shifted the weight on my feet as I turned my body slightly to move a little further towards the front of the house where there was another window viewing in. As I did so, however, I heard my father's voice a little clearer. I froze in my spot as I squatted down and held my breath so as to be as silent as possible. His voice was getting closer until finally, I could see a ray of light coming from a flashlight getting closer and closer. My heartbeat felt like it was slowing down as time around me seemed to slow down.

     As I sat frozen like a child,   My eyes remained locked on my father as he grew nearer, however a quiet whisper of a voice brought me back to reality, "Do not move."

     I felt goosebumps on my arms and the back of my neck as the mysterious voice reached into my pockets and grabbed my limited edition evil zombie pack. I don't know what I felt, but in that moment, it was a mixture of fear of getting caught but also anger that this person was perhaps the thief and he had bested me – I was in a situation where if I moved or did anything, my father would catch me. I heard the quiet zipper of the bag opening slowly and then there was silence for a split second. He tossed the bag back at me then shifted his position. As he did so, I turned my head ever so slightly to see who it was.

     He wore what appeared to be a mask over his face. And over his head, a plain black beanie that covered his dark hair. The rest of his figure, however, was well covered the way it was in the first video footage of him. I couldn't even see his neck in his dark getup.

     My hands were frozen in place and I felt, in that moment, a sense of dread that disabled me from raising my camera towards him. I watched as he turned the tiny flashlight on and threw it as hard as he could over the wooden fence of the backyard. I was confused at first, but it didn't take long before the consequences were in action. My father had seen the light, and, in the darkness, he must have assumed there was a person holding that flashlight who threw it over the fence to jump it and flee the crime scene.

     "Hey! Stop!" My father's voice boomed as he ran to the front of the house and shouted towards the other officers. They all began to run around the house's yard to get to the back of the wooden fence.

     As they did so, I felt the man's hand on my shoulder as he shoved me through the bush, however his shove was so rough that on my way out, I collapsed on the ground. I could feel a burning sensation on my face which had pushed through many tiny branches that were furious over being disturbed from their slumber.

     I glanced back up at him as he stood up so eerily above me, he didn't say a word more to me, but as I stared up at the plain white mask he wore, I heard everything I had to. "Run." He was saying to me without actually speaking. He took a quick glance back at the house and huffed out loudly before shaking his head and taking off before I could get to my feet. Then it hit me, I still wasn't recording a thing.

     I shoved myself up and stumbled slightly as I tried to catch up to him, but he was so fast and I barley managed to pass gym class. I raised my phone ahead of me in an attempt to catch his figure. It was dark outside and especially dark in the shadows behind the houses, however, I remained hopeful as I chased after. It wouldn't last forever, though. As I continued running, my body began to just shut down, he was just so fast. I stopped chasing as my legs gave out beneath me and I collapsed to my knees as I gasped for air. He, however continued on. I just stared as I kept my phone aimed at him. At least, I had proof.