the knitter

The guard didn't see the shadow as it scaled the side of the bank. She didn't notice as it crept up behind her, as it unraveled a ball of string, or was that wool? She didn't realise the faint breeze tickling her neck, and toying with her hair was, in fact, the shadow's breath.

The guard only realised she wasn't alone when the shadow slipped its length of wool over her head, and pulled it taught across her throat.

She struggled. Her hands clawed at her neck, the wool, her assailant, anything to stop that darkness seeping into the edge of her vision.

The guard fell limp and silent against the shadow's chest. It staggered slightly under her weight, but lowered her gently to the marble floor. It crouched down beside the unconscious guard and swung a backpack onto the ground. From it was pulled what seemed to be a knitted jumper. The shadow slipped it over the guard's torso, and dragged her further into the shadows.

It then, from the bag, drew a pair of wickedly sharp knitting needles, and attached them the the ball of string. The shadow tucked said ball safely into the bag, and sauntered down the unlit hall, knitting needles flashing and clicking merrily as it went.

                              *

The next morning, the local police stood utterly confused in an empty bank vault. The report they'd been handed was the most bizarre any of them had ever encountered. It seemed that the criminal had disabled the guards with knitted straitjackets, and replaced the contents of a whole bank valt with (and they were embarrassed to admit it) no less that two hundred and fifteen knitted toy pigs.

"Did we catch them on any of the cameras?" one officer asked.

The bank's head of security turned, if possible, an even darker shade of maroon.

"Well, no. Not exactly. You see, someone had covered them with..." His sholders slumped. "...with some sort of cosie."

"Cosie?"

"Like a tea cosie - you know, for a teapot," the man muttered, rubbing the back of his ruddy neck "Except for security cameras."

"So we've got nothing."

"Well, we have one photo from just before they covered a camera."

The head of security drew a picture from the file under his arm, and handed it to the officers. They crowded around it.

In the photo's dim light, the men could just about see the shadow of a slim man. His face was covered by a  balaclava with polka dots.

                                *

The officers, despite their best efforts, never caught the culprit (or The Knitter, as he became known). They never found any leads, or heard from the man again.

Although, had they asked the right people, the police would have found a homeless woman who'd recieved a spectacular blanket with pigs knitted into the pattern. She would have been happy to tell them how a shadowed man wearing a knitted, spotty balaclava presented it to her, free of charge, the night of the robbery.

Hello! I would just like to say a big thank you to a bunch of strangers on Pinterest for giving me the idea, and to you for reading this. I would really love it if you could vote or leave a comment about what you liked, and any improvements i could make. Thanks again!