The Phantom Thief | Ranpoe | Soukoku

Prologue

The air carried with it the first suggestions of dawn and fresh dew, and the sky slowly brightened, just enough to see the mist engulfing nearby fields as the trees lining them started to cast long crooked shadows that were almost indistinguishable from the dark ground. 

A man dressed from head to toe in black, save for a few red accents, twirled a cane in one hand, topped with the contorted snarling face of a silver beast, while the other clasped in it a leather suitcase. A few yards behind him the gates of The Birdwood Estate clanged shut with an unsavoury screech.

Only a little way down the twisting country road, a light blue Riley RM was parked on the shoulder, tall dripping grass cleansing the slight layer of dirt from its lower half. 

The sky was still extremely dark, making the little car almost impossible to spot against the tall gray walls of the estate and the overgrowth along it, fortunately the man knew where to look.

With a heavy sigh, he removed the red mask from his face, tucking it safely inside his coat while fishing out the cars keys from his pocket. The lock was a little stiff but after a few seconds of struggle the door swung open, slightly banging against the grey wall, it was a snug fit but the man was small and lithe and he easily squeezed into the driver's seat. With a satisfied smirk, he tossed the leather suitcase into the back, it opened slightly and a few precious stones tumbled out, no matter, it could be dealt with later.

The man settled back into his seat, hauling his coat off and also throwing it into the back, whether intentional or not it covered the suitcase and the gems it had spilt.

With a satisfied grunt the man ruffled his hair, pulling out a cap from under his seat and putting on a different coat that had been lying in the passenger's seat. He pulled out the red napkin from his pocket along with the clock pinned to his blowse and also threw them into the snug back of the car.

With all this done, at last the man, with a turn of his key, made the car burst to life, and after several attempts manoeuvred the car out onto the road, scraping along the grey estate wall as he did so.

"This'll be fun."

______

It's the prologue, it's allowed to be short...

This book is being written for
ILOVEMIDARISM  who requested that I do it, sorry it's taken so long, I keep having laps of self-doubt and it's so hard for me not to delete every letter I've typed down- anyway if you're reading this I've finally posted it whoppeeee!