Wanted

Nobody knows who I really am. All they know is a hooded figure who likes to push her luck with the government. They call me The Shadow. It started out one night when I snuck into our town’s pharmacy and "borrowed" some magical medicine for my little sister, Aleu.

-Flashback-

Ever since my mom went missing two years ago, over time Aleu has developed some really bad illnesses. Last year it was Phenomena; it got to the point where we rushed her to Kendrickson's hospital. The one she has now isn’t heard of and it's pretty bad. Sometimes she coughs so much she spits up blood and passes out. My brothers and I fear it’s something like the plague... but let’s not get into that. Usually we can afford her medications and everything turns out okay but lately money is really tight. Ty (my oldest brother) lost his job at the car shop recently and nobody’s hiring.

I stepped onto the old weathered porch attached to the front of our house, grabbed the mail and entered our home sweet home. The moment my foot entered the threshold of the house I dropped the mail and rushed to Aleu; who was passed out on the kitchen floor with specks of blood on her rose coloured lips. No. No. No! My mind shut off and my survival instincts took over.
My first thought was Ty would know what to do. “Ty… Hunter?! Get in here now! Something's wrong with Aleu! Come help!" I yelled and all I got in response was silence...
Crap.

I forgot Ty is out job searching and Hunter is probably still on his way back from school. Okay calm down Casper. Everything is okay. Aleu will be just fine. I gently rub her arms in order to wake her up. She's moving! Thank God! Her eyes fluttered open showing me her beautiful moonlight grey eyes. Her eyes found mine and formed a smile.

"Hey Cas, when'd you come home?" She called me by my nick name while rubbing her eyes to wake herself more. I hugged her tight getting her dirty blonde hair mushed in my face. I hold her tight to me as if she might disappear.

"Not too long. I found you sleeping in the kitchen are you okay? What happened?" I ask not wanting to scare her with a bunch of questions. I let go of her and realize I've been crying when I see my tear marks on her light pink shirt.

"I'm okay Cas. I remember coughing, and then I felt tired so I lay down. I guess I went bedtime!" She stands up and laughs like nothing happened. That girl amazes and scared me all at once. I'm still concerned as I watch her wobbling while walking into the living room to play with her dolls. She's okay. She's okay. I keep telling myself.

An hour later Ty and Hunter come home. They went to register Hunter for his KSMT (Kendrickson Society Measurement Test). All kids are required to take the test on their tenth birthday. It determines your usefulness to the society. If you pass you go to school and people don't mind hiring you for work. If you fail... like I did... then you’re considered a waste of resources and can't go to school, no healthcare, nothing. Hunter's birthday is only two weeks away. Him taking his test scares me. What if he fails like I did? I only got a 470/1000. With a score like that people don't want to hire you, they find it embarrassing. I'm even embarrassed by it! I was lucky enough to befriend the old couple who own the ranch before my test and when they found out I failed they offered me the job as a ranch hand. (my guess it's cause they know my life and pity me...). I've been working there since; it's been four years to be exact. People with a score like mine are pretty much useless, including me.

For supper we had the usual: canned soup, today it was chicken noodle (my favourite). I talked to Ty about Aleu and how I found her passed out. Ty got pissed and after his small anger fit, he felt guilty. He was watching Aleu but went out while she was asleep to go pick up Hunter. I tried to comfort him by telling him he couldn’t have known... but knowing Ty he won't let this go. He’ll make sure she’s never alone now. After I washed the dishes, Ty sent Hunter to bed and helped Aleu get situated into her own bed. She and Hunter share a room. Our house is on the poor side of town but for this side of town our house is big: with three bedrooms, one bath (most houses on this side usually have one to two bedrooms). I paced inside my room thinking of ways to help the family. I can prove I'm not useless, I just know I can. Can I? I continued pacing, walking four steps to one wall, turning around to do the same. I swear there should be a faint rut in my floor from all this.
As the week went by Aleu’s coughing got worse, way worse. Every time she coughs she passes out. Ty and I are too scared to leave her out of our sight. Tonight her coughing is really bad. She coughed up a lot of blood… too much blood, then passed out.

“Cas? You okay? You look really pale and you’re crying.” I didn't even know I was crying. Stop crying Casper! Crying is weak. Useless. Prove you’re not weak or useless! He came towards me and gave me a comforting big bro hug. One that makes everything feel like it will be okay. I know it's a false sense of security but can't a girl hope?
“Are you sure? I can help watch over her… really I’m fine.” Lie. I’m not fine but right now I’m feeling useless. This I am not okay with.

“She’s sleeping now. I’m sure she’ll be okay.” He looks at me and immediately I can tell he knows what I’m thinking. It’s like we have that weird sibling telekinesis thing, it's scary sometimes. “I know you feel useless right now but you’re not. You've helped a lot today. Go get some sleep. You’ve got bags under your bags.” He gives me a side hug and chuckles to himself. I smile. He always knows how to cheer me up.

“Okay fine, but if you need anything please come get me. Okay?” I ask as I walk towards his door to go find my room across the hall.
“I promise, now go to sleep.” He laughs and I leave back to my own room.
I collapsed onto my bed with a thud. Turning my lamp off and getting into the old worn-out bed that I've had forever. I curled myself into a ball under the covers, holding my knees to my chest shielding my emotions from any prying eyes. Finally alone I silently let my tears roll down my cheeks watch them make their new home on my pillow. Letting my tears shed until my eyes run dry. Why can't we be normal? Why isn't Aleu healthy? Why? Before drifting off into my restless dream world the last thought that was in my mind was: Aleu isn’t getting better and she won’t unless someone does something. Maybe I can be that someone?

My sleep was filled with tossing and turning. The dream however was different. Not like my other ones where my whole family kicks me out because I'm of no use to them or the ones where they die and I'm all alone... This one is different; almost like a vision of what needs to be done. It's my chance to be useful...
Everything is happening just like my dream. I'm dressed in my black hooded leather jacket, my green camo shirt along with my dark blue leggings. My black sneakers and black scarf complete the look. This doesn't even look that bad! My hood is covering my face so no one can see my identity but just to be sure I wear my scarf high up my face covering my nose as well as wear my black sunglasses.
Sneaking out will be the hard. Shit this whole thing is hard!! Ty is probably still awake to make sure Aleu doesn't wake. My safest option is my window. It’s on the opposite side of the house so Ty can't see me outside. Let's hope this works! I open my window and with my luck it creaks. Shit...

"Casper is that you? It's past midnight what are you doing?" Ty whisper shouts trying not to wake Aleu or Hunter.

"Yeah...It's me." Shit! He heard and he's still up. Quick Cas think of something! "Uhm It's really hot in my room. I opened my window to let it cool down." My heart is pounding. Lying is something I really don't like doing. My mind is screaming. Please fall for it Ty. Please believe it! Just this once!

"Okay. Aleu seems fine so I'm going to sleep. You should too. Goodnight Cas!" His light to his room goes out. Oh My God! It worked! It never works. Guess there's no telekinesis tonight. I give myself a mental fist pump. Okay so faze one worked now on to the rest of my plan.

1. Find Exit (Check)
2. Leave without being noticed (semi- checked)
3. Go to the pharmacy
4. Break into the pharmacy without sounding off alarms
5. Grab medicine for Aleu
6. Successfully leave
7. Get back home before Ty or anyone else notices.

That doesn't seem too hard. WRONG! This is gonna suck...

-At the Pharmacy-

Everything's been so far so good! No one's around... Let’s keep it up! Prove I'm not useless! I'm standing across the street from the pharmacy. I figured that I can sneak in through the vent system that is open on the left side of the building where it shares an alley with the doctor's office. I haven't seen cameras anywhere so I should have no problem with being caught. I jog to the alley with the vents, hop onto the dumpster so I'm level with the opening and use my pocket knife I always keep on me to unscrew the cover. OhMyGoodness! This is actually working! My adrenaline is kicking in and I'm finding it easier to crawl through the vent. Thank god I'm not claustrophobic. I send a mental thank you to the man upstairs. I continue crawling till I come across another cover and see on the other side it's the inside of the pharmacy. Bingo! I hop down and let my eyes adjust to the faint light from the emergency lights.

My heart is pounding and my conscience is telling me to turn around and high tail it back home before my luck runs dry; it's too late to turn now. I'm here so let's do this! Looking around I spot what I'm searching for: the medicine cupboards! Hopping the counter, I am now there. All that's left to do is grab the medicine and get the hell outta here! Now if only I knew the kind of medicine she needs... Let's see... there's stuff for sore throats, heartburn, laxatives? What would Aleu need? My searching doesn't last long when I find medication labelled "Healer's Touch: Healer essence inside. Use in case of extreme emergencies." Wait I've heard about this stuff before! But I saw it in a book about made up of creatures and magic... This can't be right... I look through the window that faces the street and notice the sun is starting to rise. Shit! Looks like this will have to do. I shove the vile into my pocket and leave the way I came.

By the time I make it back to my street I'm guessing based on the sun it's between six and seven in the morning. That definitely took longer than I thought. Oh well... I'm home! I actually did it! I did something useful! I sneak back through my window and put the vile in a box as well as a note from an "anonymous" person wanting to help us out. The box is now outside our front door. Everything is set. All to do now is sleep. Seems like the easiest part of my checklist. Turns out I was wrong. My mind was going a thousand miles per hour thinking about what just happened. I robbed the pharmacy. Is it bad that I thought it was fun? No one knows, and I hope no one notices. My eyes finally feel heavy and for once in my life I had a peaceful, dreamless sleep.

-The Next Day-

"Casper! WAKE UP!" Ty shouted from the kitchen. Ugh! What time is it?! I look at my alarm clock and notice it's eight o' clock. Guess I'll have to run on an hour's worth of sleep today. I do a sleepy shuffle walk into the kitchen where I see Ty, Hunter and Aleu eating eggs and all looking healthy and happy. Wait! What? I do a double take. Aleu looks like she's in tip top shape, nothing like yesterday. The sibling telekinesis must have kicked back in because Ty is beaming an Oscar winning smile and shows me a note and an empty vile that looks very familiar. (Mentally laughs)

"Cas you will not believe it! It's a miracle! Someone gave us the medicine Aleu needed. Look at her she's. She looks... cured!" Huh I guess my little errand paid off! Yeah! I'm not totally useless. If Ty only knew it was me who did this. This will be a secret only I know. Surprisingly I'm okay with that. Way to go Kaitlyn!

The days went by and Aleu is a whole new person! I'm still confused about what that medicine actually was but Aleu's no longer shaking, coughing or tired looking! Well beside when she's up late. Who cares about what the medicine, it worked and Aleu is cured! I couldn't be happier! Not to mention no one knows who did it! It was on the news report but they said the theft took nothing so there letting it go! Going to bed that night I kept thinking to myself. This is something I'm good at! Maybe I was meant for this; meant to help those in need. Like Kendrickson's own Robin Hood! It's perfect! This is only the first of many errands for me. Then as if on cue sleep overtook me, lulling me into a restful sleep dreaming of all the ways I can help people to secretly prove to people that I am not useless. I'm more than what people think.