Cloud

A story of a bounty hunter trying to rid a city of evil.

Prologue:

     “Hey Chuck! We got another one!” A police officer called toward the building.

     Sitting in front of him on the steps outside of the station was a man tied up with a note taped to his face.

     “Cloud.”

~

     “Ivy!” A small girl with fiery, straight red hair that reached her shoulders and brown, playful eyes jumped out in front of me from behind a tree.

     “Oh, hey Jen.” I said with a blank face.

     “Does nothing scare you?” She sighed.

     “I guess not.” I shrugged and we continued to walk down the path to our school.

     Our school wasn’t very exciting. It was a private school. Everything was white and plain. The school had been built nearly one hundred years ago so the stone was cracked and old. We were all forced to wear uniforms so nobody ever really stood out. It consisted of a red plaid skirt or pants, a white blouse, and a black jacket.

     “Hey Ivy, in class can I braid your hair? It’s so long and pretty. It’s amazing how long it is, really. I don’t think many people would look good with hair that goes past their waist, but you really pull it off! I wish my hair was black too. It really makes your blue eyes stand out.” Jen babbled.

     Once Jen started talking she just didn’t stop. It got really annoying at times.

     At last we arrived. Once we got to the classroom I took my seat in front of Jen and we waited for the bell to ring.

     Jen grabbed my hair, which was already in a ponytail, and began to braid it. The bell finally rang and our teacher began roll call.

     “Ivory Silentium.” He said in a monotonous tone.

     “Present.” I called.

     “Jenifer Sermo.” He called next.

     “Here.” Jen replied.

     After a few more names he finished roll call and began to lecture about physiques. I already knew everything he was going on about, so I decided to day dream for a while. The bell finally rang for lunch and I began to get up but Jen pulled my hair.

     “Hey! I’m not done yet.” She shouted.

     “How long have you been braiding my hair?” I asked, highly confused as to how on earth she could still be braiding.

     “Off and on for a few hours.” She said this as though that was completely normal.

     I sighed and waited for her to finish.

     “Done! Come see!” She said as she grabbed my arm and dragged me to the bathroom.

     I looked in the mirror and a long, rather large braid ran all the way down my back. A large chunk of hair fell over the left half of my face.

     “Not half bad. I even kind of like it.” I said.

     Jen jumped up and down and clapped her hands. She even a made a squeal that made me flinch.

     “I’m hungry.” I said and I walked out of the bathroom and headed towards the dining hall.

     “Wait for me!” Jen shouted as she ran after me.

     We got in line at the dining hall and ordered our lunches. We chose a small table next to one of the large windows. Our school used to be a cathedral before it was our school so it was very large and there were windows everywhere. Some were even stained glass and they were all very beautiful.

     Before we knew it, it was time to go back to class.  It was time for our orchestra lesson and I retrieved my violin from a shelf and rosined the bow. My violin was very peculiar; the wood was naturally black and came from a forest nobody seems to have ever heard about.

     We got on with our lesson and after an hour it was time for our French class and finally trigonometry.

     The bell rang and class was dismissed. I walked out of the school and down the long cobblestone pathway to the road. Jen ran up to me and we walked together.

     “Hey, can I come over tonight?” She asked.

     “No, I’m busy.” I replied.

     “Awww, on a Friday? Is it a date? Who with?” She asked.

     “I don’t have a date, I’m just busy.” I said.

     “You’re always busy.” She pouted the rest of the way.

     Even though the school was old, the city certainly wasn’t. Sky scrapers towered above and reached towards the sky. Busy people on cell phones walked hastily down sidewalks.

     I caught a taxi after saying goodbye to Jen and we drove past skyscrapers and shops until we reached my penthouse.

     I got out of the taxi and paid the cab driver. I walked inside and got in the elevator and pushed the button to take me to the top floor. I stepped out of the elevator and walked through the door. I set my backpack on the white couch and sat in a recliner.

     I flicked on the T.V. above our fireplace and watched the news for a while.

     “Today our top story for today, the mysterious bounty hunter “Cloud” has struck again. Late last night fugitive Bradford Miloy was found outside of a police station with his hands and feet bound and a note bearing the word “Cloud” taped to his forehead. As previously instructed, the bounty that was originally on Miloy’s head was donated to the local orphanage.”

     I sighed and changed the channel to a channel for local bounty hunters.

     “Be on the lookout for this man. Ryan Gila is suspect of murder and is potentially very dangerous. He is six foot three, one hundred forty-five pounds. He has blond hair and blue eyes. His bounty is $3,000. He was last seen in the urban area to the north of the city.”

     The T.V. suddenly turned off and I quickly turned my head.

     “Going out again?” My uncle James said.

     My uncle was a very nice man. A few years ago when my parents were killed by a man attempting to rob the family store, my uncle took me in. People say I look just like him. He had short black hair and blue eyes.

     “Yeah.” I replied.

     “Well just be careful, alright?” He said with a worried voice.

     I nodded as I got up and walked to my room. My room was decorated with white and black Victorian style furniture. I pulled a black bodysuit out of my dresser and quickly changed. I looked in the dresser mirror and decided to leave my hair in the braid.

     I picked up a beautiful white porcelain mask to cover my face. I put the mask on and it covered my face from my cheeks up. It was well crafted and had blue stones set into it.

     Next to where the mask was sitting was a small bag. I slung it over my head and over my shoulder. Inside were two knives, two pistols, a pair of handcuffs, and a can of mace.

     I sighed and walked to a door leading to a balcony. I grabbed the rail and jumped over going into a freefall. I landed on a building a little lower than ours and ran across the roof. There was a gutter running down the side of the building. I put on a pair of fingerless gloves and slid down the gutter. I jumped off before I reached the ground and ran down the alley.

     I hopped a metal fence and continued to run down the dark streets of a road that wasn’t used very often. There were abandoned buildings and graphite everywhere. Gangs had tagged many buildings warning others to stay out. I ran up a steep hill and I could tell I was getting close.

     I climbed up a small abandoned building and ran across the roof. I jumped a small gap and landed on a new building. Earlier I had printed off a picture and more stats on the man I was looking for. Apparently he was a drug addict who came to this part of town to get high.

     I hung around on top of the building for awhile and watched people pass by below. Finally, after what seemed like hours, he arrived. He walked inside the building I was standing on.

     I jumped off of the building backwards and grabbed a windowsill on my way down and pulled myself up and into the building through the broken window.

     There was debris everywhere. I climbed over an old couch and some rubble to get to the stairwell.

     I carefully stepped down the stairs to look for Gila. I found him on the third floor.

     I snuck up behind Gila, who was sitting on the floor, and kicked him in the head at an attempt to knock him out.

     “What the hell!?” He shouted.

     He grabbed a knife from his pocket and slashed at me. I grabbed the knives from my bag and held them up in defense. The knives clanged as the metal struck metal. I kicked his stomach and knocked him back.

     He quickly recovered and came at me again with the knife. I gave him a roundhouse kick to the head and he went down. He was out cold. I retrieved the knife from him. I cuffed his hands together. I picked him up and carried him out of the building.

     I un-cuffed one of his hands and attached it to a lamppost. I taped the knife and the handcuff keys to the other side of the post. He finally came to.

     “Who are you?” He asked groggily.

     “Call me Cloud.” I said.

     He almost instantly passed out again. I taped my “card” to his shirt before climbing up the building by the windows. I called 911 and informed them that a man was cuffed to a pole outside of an old building.

     After I made it back to my room I changed to my pajamas and sat in bed. I turned on the new and a few hours after I left the scene a story came on to the news.

     “In recent news police received a call that a man was handcuffed to a lamp post. When they arrived they found not only the man, but they found that the identity of the man was none other than Ryan Gila. Gila has been suspected of murder and had a bounty on his head that was claimed by the mysterious “Cloud.” As usual “Cloud” has requested that the bounty go to charity. The money will go to the local animal hospital.”

     I clicked off the television and snuggled up under the warm comforter. I sighed and went to sleep.

~

     The next morning I woke up and changed into a pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and a jacket. I went to the kitchen and made myself some waffles. My uncle had already left for work and I was all alone. I sat down and ate my waffles.

     I finished and turned on the T.V. I got bored quickly and started mumbling to myself.

     “Maybe I should call someone.” I mumbled.

     Just then the buzzer rang and I went to see who it was. It was Jen who was wearing a fancy pink dress. I went downstairs and outside and met up with Jen.

     “What’re you doing here?” I asked.

     “I thought we could go have some fun today! We could go to the mall and have a shopping spree and there’s that new movie that just came out, you know, the one about the spy? Also, my friend told me about this ice-cream that is just to die for!” She said in an extremely cheerful tone.

     “Fine, at least it’s something to do.” I sighed.

     “Yay!” She squealed.

     “I swear you’re giving me a headache.” I said.

     “Oh hey, your hair is still braided.” She said.

     “Really? I guess I never took it out. I forgot. Plus it doesn’t look to bad, I’ll probably wear my hair this way now.” I replied.

     We got a cab and drove to the mall. When we arrived Jen and I got out and Jen paid the driver. We went inside the mall and wandered a bit. Jen bought herself some new outfits and I just tagged along.

     We went into the cafeteria and bought ourselves some smoothies.

     “Ivy! Look!” Jen grabbed my arm and shook me.

     “What?” I asked as I pried her hand from my arm.

     “He’s so cute!” She screamed.

     I looked to where she was pointing and a boy with blond hair and green eyes was talking to his friends.

      “Do you think he’s sixteen? I wonder where he goes to school.” She asked.

     I shrugged and continued to sip my drink.

     After a few more minutes we got up and wandered around some more.

     “Ivy, have you heard about that bounty hunter Cloud?” Jen asked.

     “I think so.” I said.

     “Who do you think he is? They say even if you get a glimpse of him you can never see his face because he wears a mask. I wonder why he calls himself cloud, and why he would donate his hard earned money.” She wondered aloud.

     “I heard Cloud was a girl, and that she calls herself Cloud because of the color of her mask.” I said.

     “Really? I thought Cloud was a guy.” She said. She seemed slightly disappointed.

     “Anyways, are we going to that movie now?” I asked.

     “Oh! I completely forgot about that.” She said.

     We went to the theatre inside of the mall and bout two tickets to the movie. We went in and found our seats. We watched the pre-movie trivia and Jen continued to talk about meaningless stuff. Someone sat next to me but I was too busy reading the screen to notice who it was, but suddenly Jen was patting my arm trying to get my attention.

     “What?” I asked.

     “Look! Look who it is!” She said as she pointed to the person sitting next to me.

     I looked and it was the boy from before. I shrugged and the movie began. I leaned on the arm rest me and the boy were sharing and he put his arm on mine.

     “Oh, sorry.” He said.

     “It’s fine.” I said as I stared at the screen.

     “My name’s Aaron.” He said.

     “Ivory.” I replied.

     “That’s a pretty name.” He said.

     “Uh, thanks.” I said.

     Jen smacked my arm.

     “What?” I asked sharply.

     “He’s right there! Talk to him! At least ask where he goes to school.” She said.

     “Fine.” I told her.

     I turned to ask him right when the movie ended. He got up, said bye, and left.

     “You blew it!” She shouted.

     “Oh well.” I said.

     We walked out of the theatre and out of the mall and called a taxi. The driver dropped me off and continued to drive Jen back towards her house. I went back up stairs and plopped down on the squishy white couch.

     I turned on the T.V. and watched the news for a while. There was another murderer with a bounty on his head. Without turning the television off, I suited up, put on my mask, jumped off the balcony, and I was cloud once more.

~ To Be CONTINUED…