Danger

'Where did you get that?' Sofia asks while gasping for breath.

-

-

'I-It's a family heirloom,' Ana mutters softly

. 'Why would you carry that around? Do you have any idea how dangerous that is?!' Noah says while dropping his bags, placing his hands behind his neck, and gasping for breath.

Ana just stared at her bear and remained silent. 'Why would you sell a family heirloom? Doesn't it mean a lot to your family?' Sofia asks while placing her hand on Ana's shoulder.

'It's just a necklace, and we needed the money.'

'Ana, where are your parents? We've ignored this for far too long, and we can't travel with you anymore if you aren't honest with us.'

She hesitates for a while before saying. 'They left for work a few months ago, leaving me with Nana, but she got sick, so I had to find them.' She answers.

'Couldn't you have sent them a letter?'

'No, I tried, but there was no response, so I decided to go there myself. So I asked Nana's son to buy me a ticket saying it was for my parents and me, but I couldn't ride the train alone. That's when I met you.'

'Damn it; you were right; we are kidnappers.' Noah said while pacing around in circles.

'I'm sorry, sniff', Ana says as tears start to form in her eyes.

'It's okay, Ana, everything is going to be alright.' Sofia says while hugging her tightly.

'Are you kidding me? You do realize she has told us nothing.' Noah says pointing at Ana.

'Noah! All we need to worry about now is getting money nothing else matters. We'll figure the rest out later.' Sofia snaps back.

Noah sighs in annoyance as he glances around until his eyes meet with a perplexed Antoni, who was standing there the whole time. 'Wait, kid, do you know where the banks are?'

'They're quite a few of them, but they're all closed for the holidays'

'Damn, so kid, do you know of any way to earn some money? We couldn't sell anything to that shop owner because he tried to trick us.'

'You could do what others are doing here.' He says as he points to all the street performers in the centre. But the obvious thing the others had that they didn't was equipment. They didn't have any paintbrushes or instruments. 'Hey, um, do you have any idea where we can get some instruments?'

'Actually, we have a violin at home, and there's that.' He points to a large piano in the middle of the centre.

'Why is there a piano in the middle of the street?' The piano was put there in honour of Prime Minister Paderewski, who used to be a pianist. Anyone can use it, but most people don't because you have to be good at it; otherwise, the vendors will chase you away.'

Sofia turns to the others and asks, 'Do either of you know how to play the piano?' To her shock, they both nod their heads. 'Wait, I get Noah knowing, but how do you know how to play?'

'I like music, and my father taught me how. I'm decent at most.' She says with a smile on her face.

'Okay, so do either of you know how to play the violin?' They both nod their heads again. 'What?!'

'Being normal is fine Red', Noah says in an annoying tone with a smirk on his face.

'It's okay,' Ana adds as she holds Sofia's hand.

'I'm a great painter, but since we don't have any paint on hand, I can't show you guys.'

'Sure, why not' Noah chuckles.

'It's okay, Ana repeats.

Sofia pulls her hand away in annoyance as she turns to Antoni. 'Can you please lend us the violin?'

'I'll ask my father.' He says while walking away.

-

-

Back at the pawnshop, the older man, still in a daze, walks out to his storefront and calls a random kid on the street. After whispering something in his ear and giving him a handful of coins, the kid ran to a secluded and run-down part of the city. Most of the houses were either run-down or deserted.

'Hey, kid, what are you doing here?' A tall skinny man with a bob cut asked the kid. After having said what he was asked to, the kid ran away, and the man entered one of the houses filled with random men sitting around. He passed them, heading for the stairs leading to the second floor.

'Hey, Lucas did you see this?' Another K impersonator was caught last week in Paris. When will these idiots learn?' One of the men said while reading the newspaper. Lucas stopped for a moment to chuckle and shake his head before heading up the stairs into the only used room on the second floor.

'Jean, I got what you asked for, and I heard something interesting on my way here.' He said as he placed a letter on the desk. A man with short bright blond hair, brown eyes, and a well-kept beard sat at the desk.

'Lucas, during working hours, it's boss or lieutenant.'

'Yeah, I know he says while lunging himself onto the sofa that sat in front of the desk against the wall.

'You know that old man who owns the pawnshop?'

'Yeah?' he answers passively while opening the envelope, which had a picture inside.

'He's asked us to retrieve some jewelry for him.'

A frown grew on Jean's face. 'What does he are his lapdogs?' he says in annoyance as he pulls out the picture of a man. There was an address written at the bottom of it.

'That's not the interesting part he actually offered us 10 thousand to retrieve this thing.'

'What type of jewelry would make that greedy old man pay such a price for?'

'The kid was vague about it.'

'Kid? He didn't even come here himself? The hell does this old man think this is?' as he bangs his fist on the table.

'Calm down 10 thousand is a lot for some jewellery. I think it might be a family heirloom of his or something.'

'I don't care we're not a group of thugs he can order around.'

'That a shame I wanted to see this black diamond.' He mumbles to himself.

'What did you just say?' as his head shot up and his eyebrows started to twitch.

'I know, right? I've never seen one either, and the way he described it too, it sounds like it's a big one too.'

'Lucas, forget about that for a moment and focus on this. I need you to take some of the boys with you.' He hands over the picture. 'Take him to the hall, and if he makes a fuss, rough him up a bit. I'll deal with this diamond thing.'

'Will do.' Lucas stands up and takes the picture and leaves the room.

Jean sits in place staring at the telephone on his desk for a few minutes before grabbing it and calling someone.

'Arthur… we found crows tears'…

'I'll be there soon.'

-

-

Back at the city center the Antoni brought the violin and Noah played it while Ana played the piano. After a few hours, the sun began to set, and they only made enough money for a single night and diner.

'I guess we'll have to try again tomorrow.' Noah sighs. 'Thanks for the violin, kid.' He says while handing it over.

'No, it's fine; we were not using it anyway.'

'We have to find a place to stay. Do you know where we could go?'

'There is an inn not far from here.' he says while pointing at a building. They say their goodbyes, and the group make their way in and book the night. They first make their way to the restaurant to get something to eat.

-

-

Back at the pawnshop, a carriage stops in front of it. Two big guys were in front driving it. The doors opened, and Jean stepped out, followed by Arthur, a man with pitch-black eyes and a well-shaped goatee and moustache. They all enter the shop.

*Excuse me, but we're about to close*

They all ignore him and start looking around the shop. The two big guys stood by the two windows that showed a street view.

*Claude, Blaise, help liven the mood, please.* Jean says.

The two men close the curtains and switch on the lights. The man started to step back towards the front desk.

*I am a man of principle, and I believe in absolute fairness. An eye for an eye type of deal.*

*What?*

Arthur starts smiling as he walks closer to the owner. *Where are the tears?*

The shop owner rolls over the counter and pulls out a pistol pointing it at Arthur. *I don't know who you are, but you're going to get the hell out of my shop.*

Arthur swiftly holds the gun and points it away from him causing it to miss fire. He then pulls the gun away, throwing it on the ground as he starts laughing.

The owner, shaking from fear, stumbles back.

* Wow, you're something else, aren't you?* he says as he chokes the man. *Now I'll ask you one last time where are the crow's tears?*