People are so small. Millie thought, contemplating the insignificance of the human race as she stared down at the carnival from the roof of a nearby apartment block, her legs dangling over the edge. Up here, Millie felt she could almost touch the sky; the stars seemed so close, the moon looked so big. Below, the people were ants. Puny and unimportant, it baffled Millie, the impact human life had on everything. Most of the time, human life seemed to be the only important thing, the center of the universe itself.
Standing up and looking over at the open door, through which she’d reached the roof, Millie felt a breeze ripple through her loose red tank top. She inhaled deeply, the fresh, spring air an allusion to the warm summer that would surely follow. Millie, personally, couldn’t wait to trade in her jeans for shorts and looser clothing. Looser items were easier to run and climb in. Taking one last look at the sky from this level, Millie made for the door, closing it behind her and hurrying down the steps. Angel didn’t worry about many people, she didn’t care what many people got up too in the gang, but Millie was almost an exception and there was always the possibility that she’d get the heat about where she’d been.
The heat in the streets below was a sharp contrast to the clear air on top of the building. Down here, where bodies rubbed together as people made their way through the throngs of carnival-goers. She heard gun shots in the distance and paused for a second. Nobody else seemed disturbed and Millie moved before she was knocked over and trampled. Truth was, in this neighbourhood, you never could put it past anyone – gunshots could be a carnival attraction or someone’s last sight. Millie played with the ‘I’ necklace she wore as she walked around, moving from one attraction to the next. It was the only thing she had from her mother, the only thing her mother had brought from her other life, as Hayden had always referred to it. Hayden had been like a father to her, since she’d had neither of her birth parents there to care for her.
She didn’t even know who her father was, if he was even alive. She didn’t need to know. Angel and the rest of the wolves were her family, even if they were a temperamental bunch and sometimes Millie felt a little bit out of place. Sure, she’d grown up there and been there longer than half of the gang, but most of the time she felt like a bit of an outsider. They were always up for a fight and picking at each other. Millie could, and would, stand up for herself when needed, but in truth she’d rather avoid conflict all together. It was, in fact, a rare occasion when someone picked a fight specifically with her.
“Excuse me,” She heard someone behind her speak and turned around. There was an old man standing at a candy floss stand, holding out a stick of the pretty pink stuff to her. Millie shook her head and started to say she couldn’t afford it, but the man was already pressing it into her hands. “You take, you sad so you take.” She smiled and looked from the sweets to him. He returned her smile with a toothy one of his own, fake-gold plated teeth winking back at her.
Millie carried on her journey through the carnival, wondering if any of these people could be related to her and have no idea. The pink stuff was delicious, it melted on her tongue as soon as it touched it and it tasted like pure sugar. Before she got chance to finish the candyfloss, rain started falling from the sky in big droplets and Millie watched, sadly, as her candyfloss melted down in the rain. People around her were grumbling, running for cars, shutting down stalls and Millie herself was suddenly wishing she’d remembered a coat.
She threw down the stick and ran through the crowd, making her way down Main Street to the alley that was the first in an intricate series that led to the hideout. She made sure she wasn’t being followed as she skipped from alley to alley, nimble as a cat and silent as a shadow. A shadow fell over her as she finally made it to the hideout. Glancing up, Millie saw a lithe figure in a grey hoodie standing on the roof. Angel. Taking one last glance around herself, Millie ducked into the building and hurried down a level into the hideout.