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Novelo Rectangle

The alarm wasn’t supposed to go off yet; I should still have at least half an hour. I tapped my earplug manically, switching off the aggressive buzzing in my ears. I spun around, re-absorbing my surroundings and trying to plot an escape route. According to the warning alarm that my sister, Ray had set off, the prince who’s home I was robbing would be home within minutes. We had tracked his schedule, he was supposed to be occupied&nbsp;until 7:00 this evening, however it seems that there has been a change of events, and I don’t have time to question why.If he was nearly home, I couldn’t risk leaving through the entrance because I had to go around the entire perimeter to avoid cameras, which would take too long. This mansion was practically a labyrinth, so I had no chance of discovering the door that led to the garden within my time limit. I took a deep breath, attempting to calm my heartrate. I can’t think clearly if I’m panicking, and this really isn’t the time to freak out. I haven’t been caught yet; I don’t want that to change. I shoved one last necklace into the satchel of possessions that I was stealing and swung the door of the master bedroom closed. Every aspect of this&nbsp;house&nbsp;stunned me. It was built entirely of solid marble and not a single speck of dust was visible. The fact that any human being could ever wield such fortune seemed so unbelievable. Why was it that some individuals were so incredibly wealthy, and others could work 3 jobs and still struggle to afford basic necessities? I bit my lip, scanning the room that I was in. There were no doors leading to the outside, but there were wide windows that were so tall that they must be at least the length of two double decker buses stacked on top of each other. If I had no other choice, I could break one, but it was most likely bullet proof glass so it would be difficult to smash and the fall was significant; it wouldn’t kill me, but I would certainly be injured.“Gen, you need to get out, now.” Ray’s voice casted through my earpiece, it was cutting out badly, but I could still make out words. “His carriage is literally 2 minutes away, and a prince of his league will have cops searching the entire country for you. You’ll be found instantly.” I could hear the fear in her voice. She had been against the idea of me doing this in the first place, but we had no other choice. It’s a massive risk, I’m not denying that – if I’m caught I’ll almost definitely be killed, but at this rate my whole family is going to starve to death, so it’s worth it.“Gen, I’m tracking you, keep moving. Don’t just stand there.” She yelled. I blinked myself back into reality. 2 minutes. The clock was ticking, and I was standing still. Right. I’m smashing a window. There was definitely a different way out, but I’m not finding it. At this point I had so many things in my bag that he would definitely realise that the place had been robbed, a broken window wouldn’t be the only evidence. “Where’s the kitchen?” I whispered, holding down a button on my earpiece.“God, I have no idea what you’re doing. Go through the door directly in front of you and turn left.” I didn’t bother replying and just jumped into action. I don’t know how she found a blueprint of the layout of the building either, but I’ve learnt not to question my sister.Within a few seconds I was dragging a fire extinguisher back to where I had been. I took a deep breath and lifted it over my head, bashing it into the window.It did literally nothing. Why had I even thought that it would? What do I do now?“You have 1 minute.” I could hear her tapping her desk, nervously. I cursed under my breath, scrambling back into the kitchen, still dragging the fire extinguisher behind me. It was definitely slowing me down, but destroying a window seemed to be the only thing that I could think of, and this was the largest object that I would actually be able to carry.Surely not all the windows are bullet proof? Surely at least one of them could be opened? Ray was still screaming at me but I was ignoring her. She wasn’t being helpful and that really wasn’t what I needed. I can feel my heart pounding in my chest but to be completely honest I’m not sure if it’s due to the fear rushing through my veins or how fast I am running through the intertwined rooms.“Trash every room that you go through.” I hear her screech. I almost laugh at how ridiculous the idea seems. “Trust me, Gen, wreck every single room that you go through, knock everything off shelves and just make a total mess. Distract him, he’ll be more focused on that when he gets home in&nbsp;20 seconds.”I listen to her. It seems like a ridiculous idea but I have nothing to lose. Glass smashes across the floor and I hear the shattering of items that I didn’t even look at, crashing onto the floor. My head is throbbing and Ray is still yelling, informing me about the lack of seconds remaining before I’m caught and will be literally axe murdered. I gasp for air as I pause, hearing the galloping of horse hooves against the concrete outside. Ray swears aggressively, then tells me that she’s going to shut up. Somehow I’m back inside the master bedroom which is extremely unlucky because he’s bound to come in here before any of the other rooms. I hear the front door swing open and the roar of the prince’s disbelief as he realises that his entire house has been demolished meaning that there has been an intruder. Automatically, I dive underneath his bed, but I quickly realise that this is the most idiotic idea that I have ever executed because everybody always searches under the bed first. I hear him shout for the police to be called instantly and then he orders for something else that I can’t hear. Most of his yells are inaudible, but I can hear him rushing around, trying to estimate the amount of money that he will have lost. My ears are ringing and warm tears are streaming down my face, my hand is covering my mouth, preparing to silence the incoherent screams that I’m managing to keep in. I roll onto my back and strands of my hair fall out of my ponytail and stick to my flushed cheeks. I take a sharp breath in, accepting the fact that there is nothing that I can do. I’m going to die and it’s my own fault. My own actions have led me here. My own actions and my terrible time management because that’s why the alarm went off, it doesn’t matter if I was supposed to have half an hour, either way I should’ve been careful enough to always be near enough an exit to escape. But then I thought about it some more and came to the conclusion that it isn’t my fault, it’s truly the governments fault because if they actually did their job and provided for their country, my family wouldn’t be on the brink of starvation and I wouldn’t be underneath the prince’s bed. I had no choice but to become a thief, I couldn’t watch everybody that I care about die, I had no choice. At least I die knowing that it was for other people, that I’m not a bad person. I’ve always been a good kid, I’ve always tried my hardest. I had so much potential. Potential that is now non-existent because I twist my head and see the shoes of the prince. I’m not sure if my heart stopped completely in that moment, or if it skyrocketed. I stop breathing. I can’t make any noise. He sighs. He doesn’t even seem phased about the fortune that he lost anymore, he seems disappointed that somebody was able to break into his home as the entire country has it labelled as “protected” and to have “impossible entry”, but that’s only because of the large wall that surrounds the mansion, but with the right equipment and training it’s easily climbable. Don’t even get me started on how effortlessly I cracked the lock. I opened the front door with a&nbsp;hairclip. But that doesn’t matter anymore, nothing matters anymore because I am dead. I have already died, I am no longer a living being, I am dead because the prince is standing inches away from me and if he were to bend over he would see me. However, it seems like God has given me another chance. I never really believed in God but I have been proved wrong because the prince has turned around and he is walking out of the door, I have been given another chance. I have been given another chance, but it has slipped from my fingers because I make some sort of odd ribbiting noise that seems to be a scream but also a sigh yet also full of relief. He has a hand on the door handle, but he heard. He heard and now he’s strutting back over to me and crouches down, his piercing blue eyes meet mine and he utters only two words. He whispers, “Found you,” and I have officially died because at least 5 security guards flood into the room and rip me from underneath the bed. They pull me to my feet and one of them grabs my wrists and holds them together behind my back. They’re all shouting at me, probably expecting some pathetic excuse but I don’t say anything. The world is spinning around me and my vision is blurred from the tears drowning my eyes. I feel my satchel being snatched from my shoulder as they throw me carelessly through the building, eventually dropping me into the corner of a pitch black room. I hear the click of a lock, and throw my head back against the cold tiles of the wall behind me. I rub my eyes, trying to comprehend what situation I’m in.“Gen.” I hear Ray whisper through my ear. They didn’t take my earpiece. They must have assumed that everything I had was in the satchel.“Hi.” I replied, scrambling for words.“I’m sorry.”“Don’t be,” I choked on my tears, wrapping my arms around my legs, “Ray, I love you. You’ve always been a great sister.”“No, don’t do that. It isn’t over yet. You can still get out.” I heard the false hope lingering in her voice.“No. They aren’t stupid. There isn’t an escape in here, it’s 4 walls and a door, that’s it. Even if I did get out, they’ve seen my face.”“Stop, stop, Gen, no, you can get out. Take down your hair or something, get a hairclip, crack the lock again.”“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, Ray. I love you so much. Tell Mum and Dadthat I love them too and I’m sorry that I wasn’t careful enough.”“Okay, I will.” We sat in silence for a few seconds, not sure what to say to each other.“I don’t want to die.”“I know.”“I’m scared.”“I know.”“Ray, promise me that you’ll make sure that you, Mum and Dad survive. You won’t starve. Okay?”“I’ll try my hardest.”“Thank you.”“I’m sorry.”“It’s not your fault. I didn’t have to steal from the prince. Listen to me, it’s not your fault, don’t blame yourself. There was nothing that you could do.”“I love you.”“I love you too. Always.”&nbsp;My eyes flutter open when I hear a thud. It’s still pitch black, so I have no idea what time it is. I’m not sure how long I was asleep for, but it can’t have been too long. I hear the creek of the door just metres in front of me, and the prince waltzes in. Why is he here? He flicks a switch, and a light blinks on. I would’ve liked to have known that was there. He sits down beside me, and I look at the cracked tiles of the walls and splintered wooden floor. Doesn’t seem like a very majestic room.“Do you know what happens to people like you?”“Hello, nice to see you too!” I roll my eyes, which probably isn’t the smartest idea.“They get hung.”“Oh my god, I had no idea.” I tip my head to the side, sarcastically.“Drop the attitude.”“No, you’ve come here to tell me when I’m going to be killed, so I might as well have some fun while I can.“You seem smart. Why are you here?”“What?”“Why did you decide to break into my home and steal everything?”“Take a wild guess.”“Interesting. Well this has been a pleasant encounter,” He stood back up and turned to leave the room, “My guards will be here in half an hour to take you to the gallows.”Half an hour.&nbsp;I have half an hour to live.I knew that I would be killed quickly, but I expected to be left to suffer for at least a day. Maybe they felt sympathetic because I was young. Or maybe they didn’t want to risk me escaping.&nbsp;Half an hour.Sometimes half an hour seems like a minute, sometimes it feels like a year. I don’t know if I want it to go quickly or slowly. It’s half an hour of anticipating my death, questioning what will happen to me in the afterlife, or if there really is nothing after death.“I have half an hour.” I whisper, pressing a button on my earpiece.“Gen.” She whispered in response, that was all that she was saying. Quick reply, I wonder if she was sat at her desk, waiting for me to say something.“At least they’re doing it quickly. I’m being hung, so it won’t be painful either.”“I don’t want you to die.”“That makes two of us.” I laugh emotionlessly. I want to say something meaningful and poetic, but I really can’t find the words to express how I’m feeling. Knowing that I’m going to die is weird. I always knew that I would die reasonably young, but I didn’t expect it to be as punishment. Maybe from a disease which I couldn’t afford to treat, or an attack on the streets. Not from being hung. Most thieves get caught eventually though, I knew that when I started pickpocketing. Part of me believed that I could be an exception. But I suppose that I got carried away. Such wasted potential.&nbsp;Exactly half an hour later, I was being escorted towards the gallows. They were good with timing, can’t relate.Exactly 45 minutes later, I was stood on the wooden structure, the rope being tightened around my neck. Ray was still talking to me, I probably should’ve kept listening, but I tuned her out. All that I could hear was the uncontrollable thumping of my heart and the shaky breaths that I was taking. There was so much commotion. There were people shuffling around beneath me; the rich folk who enjoyed watching people be executed. How peculiar. And there was somebody reading out a speech, explaining why I had ended up here. I took a deep breath, hearing the thundering of a countdown.3…2…1…Then everything fell silent.&nbsp;

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found you

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abbie bateman

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