[indent] [/indent][h3][hr][color=DarkOliveGreen]Everly[/color][/h3][hr]
The compact mirror in Everly’s hands blurred, her reflection wavering into nondescript shapes before fading into a separate scene entirely. A low-lit bedroom appeared, then faded into a darkened kitchen, then a face of fabric—a curtain. As the scenes flicked by, Everly flipped through a notebook, adding new marks here and there. 

When she got to the entry of interest, though, Everly paused. The mirror reflected a living room furnished with a sofa and coffee table, the latter of which was piled with various crumpled cans and takeout cartons. Other than the flickering light emanating from the corner of the room, though, the space was still. Everly frowned, and the living room was replaced with a dark room—a bedroom, the bedsheets and blankets dangling haphazardly off one side of the empty bed. Another scene took its place, dark as well, then another, this one with a trace of light from the living room but no other sign of activity. 

Setting the mirror down, Everly pushed back her chair and walked over to the door, opening it quietly and peeking into the hallway. The apartment was dark, as was the room down the hall from hers. 

Closing the door behind her, Everly slipped on her mask, adjusting it as she pressed a hand to the full-length mirror on her door. Her reflection wavered, then disappeared, a portion of the mirror replaced by blackness—the bathroom, currently void of life. Stepping into the mirror, Everly stepped onto the sink carefully, careful not to knock anything over as she slid onto the floor. The apartment was quiet around her, the only noise coming from the streets outside. A full sweep of the place showed that the living room and bedroom were the only rooms with lights on. The kitchen and bathroom were bare, and the living room offered little more in terms of value than a sheathed katana on display above the television. The bedroom, though, yielded a tin of jewelry, previously stowed away in a closet corner, and a bundle of bills stuffed between the mattresses. These Everly brought with her back to the living room, where she paused, looking at the hanging katana. Then, retrieving that as well, Everly slipped back through the mirror, stowing the money away in her own closet.

[hr]
A backpack under her oversized trench coat made her figure seem almost hunchbacked, and it wasn’t something Everly could wear around during the day. Southern California weather could hardly be described as cold considering the sunny skies, but after sunset the air tended to cool down quickly. Under the cover of night, Everly wore the coat as both a disguise and a deterrent, using it to ferry what she needed around the city while warding off attention. Few people looked twice at a hunched and hooded figure. This, as well as her ability to cut her trekking distance, made her walk a relatively short and relaxed one block when she started at the corner store window. 

Her destination was, per usual, a dinky little shack of a store situated between a herb store and a take-out restaurant that was closed more often than not. “Lucky Pawn Shop,” as it was called, was run by Madame Su, a greying woman whose vision was as gone as the gold paint that had previously furnished the store exterior. Although her hearing wasn’t fairing much better these days, she had the help of her sons to manage the place, as well as her grandsons’ “friends.” However, their dealings, from what Everly knew, were mostly overseas, so she tended to turn a blind eye. In Santa Celia, they were working to survive as much as the next store over. What got smuggled on and off cargo ships was hardly her business as long as her money went where it should. 

“Everly! My favorite young lady! Come in, come in!” The bell on the door jingled as Madame Su cackled from behind the counter. Wrinkled and tanned, the Madame easily looked the part of a grandmother, with a gap-toothed smile and bobby pins in her hair. The atmosphere could almost be described as friendly if not for the man in the muscle tank sitting behind her.

[color=DarkOliveGreen]“Hello Madame Su.”[/color] Everly smiled, dropping her coat on the coat rack and walking over. Taking care to move slowly so as to not alarm the watchman, she unloaded her collection one item at a time onto the counter before the Madame. Out came a bronze statuette, a small collection of silverware and china, and the katana from earlier that night. 

“Oh, very good.” Picking up the items as they were set down, the Madame brought each close to her face, eyeing and sniffing the pieces. Murmuring to herself, she appraised them silently, then muttered her conclusions to the man behind her in Chinese before setting the pieces down on either the left or the right side of the counter. Everly watched the right side as the items were divided, knowing the objects that went on that side would determine her payout. As such, she was a bit dismayed to see the katana get sorted to the left. 

[color=DarkOliveGreen]“Is the katana not real?”[/color]

“Real steel, sure. Not worth explaining to officials to, though, and definitely not worth reselling.” The Madame continued without missing a beat, stashing half the china on each side and only one piece of silverware on the left. When all the objects had a side, she straightened, dusting her hands. “Eight-fifty. Nine hundred for the lot.”

Everly paused, then nodded. [color=DarkOliveGreen]“Nine hundred.”[/color] None of the silver had been antique, and she hadn’t expected the statuette to amount to much anyway. The katana, though, was disappointing. It’d been the biggest item in the stash but had failed to return profit accordingly.

“Very good.” Producing a stack of bills, the Madame smiled, flashing a silver molar as the man behind her collected the items. “And do you have any jewelry for me today?” 

Everly nodded, producing the tin she’d found. 

“Good, good. You always find good things, Everly dear,” the Madame said, rubbing her palms together as Everly poured out the contents of the tin. Sliding on a loupe, the Madame pulled her retractable lamp closer. “Pearls and jewels—my favorite.” 

Everly waited patiently as the Madame shifted through the contents. For this lot, she was expecting at least a few thousand, considering that there was a variety of gold and silver. It was the holiday season, and thieves had turned to the wealthier side of town, so the chance of fakes was low.

“Oh, how pretty,” the Madame said, holding a silvery engagement ring up to the light. “Such a tragedy that this got lost.” A grin appeared on the Madame’s face as she peered at Everly over her loupe. “Everly, dear, could this possibly be yours?”

Everly stared at her blankly, and the Madame burst into laughter.

“Just teasing, dear. Let’s see. For everything… Let’s make it forty-three hundred, minus the ring.” 

[color=DarkOliveGreen]“What about—”[/color]

“Sadly, I don’t have enough cash on me to take this beautiful piece off your hands,” the Madame said, sliding the ring back to Everly, who met her eyes with a frown. Madame Su always had enough cash, and they both knew it.

[color=DarkOliveGreen]“Next time.”[/color]

“Okay, next time.” The Madame grinned, setting her loupe on the counter beside her. “Forty-three hundred?”

[color=DarkOliveGreen]“Forty-three hundred.”[/color]

[hr]
Everly knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep much tonight. She could feel the weariness in her bones and the edges of fog in her head, but her mind kept shuffling through thoughts—of the Madame, of the money, of Emily. When she got home, she hadn’t even bothered to try sleeping. Instead, she opted to clean up and head to the restaurant early. On days sleep eluded her, she didn’t like staying home, lest her sister see how tired she was. Emily deserved nothing short of the best, everything considered, and Everly hated when she couldn’t provide that. The Golden Harbor, on these days, was her safe haven, since the staff were quick to clear out after the restaurant closed its doors at eleven. With the space to herself, Everly usually used the time to get ahead on her studies or update the budget and records. There was no winning on these nights, and since the next few would only get worse, she tried to get the important things out of the way on the first night.

So, with a post-it on the fridge, she packed her bag, intending on going straight to the restaurant through the mirror set up in her office. Though she’d been the one who’d suggested that security cameras be put up, the back camera was usually turned off at night since there were no streetlights in the back and therefore nothing to film. 

When she touched her mirror, however, she was surprised to see that could see a faint light from under her office door. Her eyes shot to her digital clock, then back to the mirror. It was one of those nights, then.

Entering her office, Everly dropped off her backpack, then unlocked the door to head to the kitchen. The hallway was dark, but the kitchen was bright, and there she found Tim sitting at the counter, his head propped up by a hand. Everly cleared her throat, and he snapped up, eyes wide before recognizing her and relaxing.

“Oh, Everly.” Tim sighed, sinking back into his seat. “So it’s one of those nights, huh?”

[color=DarkOliveGreen]“Yeah.”[/color] Everly pulled up a seat across from him. [color=DarkOliveGreen]“Is the sign on?”[/color]

“No, I… I thought I was heading home soon.”

Everly reached out to put a hand on Tim’s shoulder. [color=DarkOliveGreen]“I’ll go turn on it on.”[/color]

Leaving Tim in the kitchen, Everly walked to the front, flicking switches as she went. At the very front, she found the switch she was looking for, and the neon sign blinked to life after a brief moment of hesitation, clear against the windowpane. 

[i]OPEN[/i]