I stayed in the living room for the rest of the night. I can't recall if I even fell asleep; my mind was only thinking of one thing: the Patron. Aside from the Organization, he's the biggest mystery I've come across. My mind has been racing with ideas, prominently...

I pick up a book as the rays of the sunrise pierce through the shadows and fall upon the cover: The Bible. I know it's silly, but the Patron reminds me of some sort of demon or perhaps even the devil himself. As a kid, my mother would ensure I was taught about both God and the Devil, but I never believed in any of it.

"The Devil is in all of us, as is God; it's up to the individual to pick who they follow."

My mother would always say that to me. The message was clear: be good or you will fall from grace into villainy. I sigh and look out at the sunrise. The light reflects off the snow and ice, creating a soft, sparkling blanket across the ground. It's a beautiful sight. I smile and place my hand on the window.

"Hey, I'm heading out," Zahla says from behind me.

I don't bother to turn around, I just give her a barely audible grunt of acknowledgement, although born without eyes on the back of my head, I could feel her piercing stare digging into me. After what feels like an eternity, she sighs and walks towards the door, the floorboards creaking under her heavy boots.

"Don't die," She orders, and slams the door behind her.

I watch out the window as a blacked out limo rolls up to the shop, Zahla steps into it, and it drives off to the East. I make a mental note of that and turn from the window to grab my crutches. After carefully placing them under my arms, I head down to the barber shop (making sure not to use my crutches on the stairs, a mistake I learned from childhood when I gave my parents a heart attack soaring through the air like a rocket).

Mr. Giles looks at me and frowns.

"Took ya long enough," He says.

"The sun just rose," I respond.

"There's a letter for you, from the Organization. I went through the trouble of reading it for you. They want to move the timetable up; you need one million by tomorrow morning," He says coldly.

"Are you kidding me?" I shout back.

Mr. Giles glares at me and points to the doorway, offering me no room for argument. I return his glare. For the first time in my quiet life, I am not just nodding my head and going along with whatever this stupid Organization orders. I shake my head and open my mouth to speak, but Mr. Giles holds his hand up and stops me.

"Kid. Don't. They own you, and they own me. There's no arguing here, shut up and figure it out," He says, his eyes slightly softening.

That's right, he's probably on a leash too, just another hound forced to lunge at whoever they demand. I grumble a response and walk out of the shop. I hobble my way back to the park and set my crutches down at the bench. I'm early, but maybe the Patron will still be nearby. I look over at the park sign covered in snow. For all the years I've visited here, it's now dawned on me that I have no idea what this park is even named.

I stand up and stagger over, wiping the snow off the sign. It clumps together and falls down my sleeve, trickling down my arm as shivers spread through my entire body. I shake the feeling away and step back to get a clear view.

Sinbad Park

Huh. Interesting. I don't think I've ever heard of a park named like this before. As I'm viewing the sign, I hear the crunching of the snow and squeaking of leather; it's him. I whip around quickly to see a normal guy walking with his nice, expensive boots. I sigh and return to the bench; it's not like I have anywhere else to go.

I don't frequent any of the clubs or shops nearby; they don't interest me. I've only been to the club around here once, with Mr. Giles, to be honest, I can't remember much about that or even why he took me along, maybe it was just to get drunk but keep an eye on me. The one thing that stuck in my mind was he'd keep saying, "You need to loosen up, kid," But that's easier said than done when you have twenty million in debt weighing on your mind.

"You're early," The Patron says.

I turn to look at him, and a sense of relief washes over me. He's smiling and walking around the bench to sit by me; it's the smile a friend would greet you with, or so I'm guessing. I haven't had much of that.

"Yeah, I wanted to see you as soon as possible," I respond.

"Oh? What's the situation? You seem more desperate than usual," He says, not shying away from speaking his mind.

"Yeah, they want one million by tomorrow morning," I respond.

"Oh, is that all it is? Don't worry, we'll make that happen," He pats me on the back, it's warm and reassuring.

"Like I said yesterday, I have a job for you, a simple job, just to make sure I trust you. Trust is the foundation of any friendship after all," He continues and smiles.

Out of all the questions racing through my mind about the job, the money, the sickening request of my fingernail, I spout out the first thing my mind latches onto.

"Friendship?" I ask, hopeful.

"Yes! I want to be your friend, Kyne. I want you to come to me when you need help, but first I need to trust you. The job is just babysitting, I need you to look after my niece," He says.

I remember the young girl who was with him yesterday, the one who asked for her five-dollar bill back. I assumed she was just told to drop that bill, and whoever picked it up would be seen as worthy by the Patron, but that doesn't reveal how the Patron knows so much about me.

"Okay, easy enough, I can do that," I say.

"Great! If you can ensure her safety for the rest of the day, I can give you five hundred thousand dollars. The other half we can talk about afterwards, how's that sound, buddy?" He holds out his hand for a shake.

I nod and shake his hand. His eyes light up, and he grins.

"Splendid, Nis will be here soon," He says.

"Nis? Is that her name? What's it short for, Nissan?" I respond.

He laughs hard and slaps me on the back, shaking his head while smiling a big grin. I smile with him, proud of the joke.

"Nah, that's her whole name, just Nis." He stands up and whistles.

Nis comes running from an alleyway and stands awkwardly at his side. She looks me up and down and gives me a shy wave. I smile and wave back, standing up and grabbing my crutches.

"Alright, I'll leave her to you," He smiles and pats Nis on the head. She flinches slightly at the gesture.

The Patron walks off into the distance, North he travels. I'll make a mental note of that too. I look back at Nis, and she looks back up at me. She looks around nervously for a while and then suddenly, and inexplicably, she sprints away from me.

"Nis!" I shout.

Damn, kids. I stagger after her, trying to keep up with my injuries, ignoring the pain. I see her round a corner further into the town, not good. This area of town is dangerous, especially for a little girl. She runs right past a bouncer and into a club; he seems to be distracted by a girl at the front. I stagger up to him, and he turns and shoves me back.

"ID." He barks out.

"You don't understand this kid, she-"

"ID, or no entry,"

"Ugh, I don't have time for this," I complain and dig into my pockets, pulling out my ID and showing it to him.

He takes it and seemingly takes his sweet time reading it over, smirking as he hands it back. He nods and steps aside, the girl beside him giggling at the interaction and returning to flirting. I enter the club and wince at the booming music and larger crowd.

I push past some people who grunt and complain, my eyes searching everywhere for Nis. If she entered the crowd and was knocked to the ground, then...she could be... I shake my head. I can't think like that. As I continue further into the belly of the beast, a woman walks up to me and presses against me.

"Hey, cutie, looking for a good time? I bet I can still make it rise with your injuries," She smirks.

"No, I'm looking for a kid," I respond.

"Ew, creep," She says, slapping me and walking away.

"No, not like that!" I call after her, but she's already gone.

"Nis! Where are you!" I yell out again, the music drowning it out, and panic starts gripping my heart.

"Hey, pal," A voice booms behind me. I turn around to see the bouncer towering over me.

"Y...yeah?" I stammer out.

"Get lost, perv, no kids around here," He says, pulling me by the arm and throwing me towards the door.

I stumble out of the club and fall to the ground outside. He throws my crutches down the alleyway and slams the doors shut. I groan and try to stand up, my legs shaking without the support. I fall back down, and tears well up in my eyes.

There's a soft crunch of snow to my side, and I look over to see Nis, holding my crutches and holding them out to me. She looks guilty, and tears prick the edges of her eyes as well. She sets the crutches down at my sides and sniffles.

"I'm sorry, mister, he told me to do that, I didn't mean for you to get hurt or anything..." She trails off.

I sigh and stand up, reaching down and rubbing her head. She has a small red beanie on with matching woolen gloves. Her coat is black and thin; it seems more like a Fall coat rather than a winter coat. Her bright blue eyes sparkle with regret and what can only be described as longing.

"It's alright, Nis, just don't run off again, okay?" I ask, and she nods.

We walk out of the alleyway, and she relaxes. She holds onto my side and smiles up at me. I look down at her and I smile back. I've never had any siblings, and certainly never have any plans for children; the idea of talking with Zahla about regular things is intimidating enough, but children, absolutely not. But in that moment, that exchange of glances, I felt a surge of protectiveness over her and more than that, I felt something new.

Happiness.