I pressed up against the stall, brushed a pile of candies into my bag, and scurried away.

Not bothering to glance behind, I stayed to the side of the street, scuttled through an alley, and passed through to the other side. Once there, I leaned against the wall, finally able to breathe again.

Every time I stole, I feared getting caught.

But that wouldn’t stop me from doing it. After all, this was the only revenge I had against the vampires. They might have taken away my family, and they might have taken away my freedom, but I refused to let them take away my dignity.

As a human, I was weak and they were strong. I hated them for it, but at the same time, I envied them for it. Because after they’d murdered my family in front of my eyes and I was powerless to stop it, I never wanted to feel that helpless again.

But I did feel helpless. Every day since I was taken here. How could I not, as a human amongst such powerful creatures? To them, we were animals. We were slaves.

I wish I had the power to change that.

For now, all I had was the power to take from them. Small things, and they never even noticed, but it was the only revenge I had.

I leaned against the wall and smiled, since once again, I’d gotten away with it. And so, after taking a few more deep breaths and steadying the pounding of my heart, I turned the corner and approached the bookstore.

It was empty inside besides the owner, Norbert. He sat at his desk, his eyeglasses on as he read a book. He was an older man—I always imagined that if we weren’t prisoners in the Vale, he would have been a professor at some fancy college. Perhaps even a college I might have chosen to attend.

The moment the door closed, he looked up and smiled at me. “Annika,” he said, placing his glasses down at the table. “Anything specific you’re looking for today?”

“Just browsing,” I told him. “Have you gotten in a new shipment yet?”

“It’s only been a few days!” He laughed and leaned back in his chair. “I swear, you read faster than new books can arrive.”

“I’m sure I can find something I missed before.” I smiled and made my way over to my favorite shelf—the fantasy section—and got started on examining the spines, pulling out the titles that looked interesting and reading the back covers.

Before coming to the Vale, I hadn’t been much of a reader—at least, I’d never read books that weren’t assigned for class. Between school, gymnastics practices, homework, and spending time with my friends, I didn’t have time to read for fun. If I needed to relax after a long day, I usually went straight to the television.

But us humans in the Vale didn’t have access to televisions—or to the internet at all. And even with my work at the Tavern, now that I was no longer training for gymnastics competitions I had a lot more extra time on my hands. So I’d discovered the one pastime that humans in the Vale were allowed—books.

The books I found at the store here were much more to my taste than the books I’d been assigned to read at school. It hadn’t been long until I’d discovered that I loved getting lost in the lives and stories of other people. I loved exploring their hardships, their trials, their love, and how they overcame most everything, despite what seemed like impossible odds.

These days, books were the only things that gave me hope. I treasured them and the stories within them more than anything else in the world.

“That’ll be five coins,” Norbert said once I placed the book I’d chosen on the counter.

“I don’t have coins,” I told him. “But I do have something I can trade.”

He watched me, waiting, and I pulled one of the candy bars out of my bag. His eyes widened, and he leaned forward with such enthusiasm that I imagined he could practically taste the chocolate already.

It worked every time.

“You’re going to get yourself in some serious trouble one day,” he said, his eyes full of warning.

“Perhaps. But that doesn’t stop you from enjoying the candy,” I teased. “So… are you willing to trade, or not?”

“You know I am.” He smiled, and as he passed me the book, I handed him the chocolate.

I pulled the book to my chest to give it a small hug, placed it in my bag with the rest of the candies, and headed back to the Tavern.