Arsonists Lullaby

Chapter 1

I wait outside the Crow Club, watching the busy hustle of the nightlife below. Tonight was when I would strike. Grabbing the money from the safe and slipping out before anyone notices anything wrong.

After hitting the other Clubs in the area, all done super easy, this was the only one I haven't broken into yet. The security detail alone made this place almost impossible to break into. But studying it for a week, the way everything moves and watching Dirty Hands carefully as he opened and closed the safe, made it simple.

When the street below was clear, I made my way across to the Club's open window. The boss of the organization was not smart enough to close it before leaving for the evening.

Before climbing in through the window, I quickly glanced around the room. Making sure it was completely empty. Getting caught was not on my list of things to do this evening.

I climb into the room without making a noise. My eyes set on the painting behind the desk. I slip behind the desk, looking for the perfect spot to grab the painting without making any noise.

Silently, I take the picture off its hooks, placing it on the ground. The safe stared back at me, waiting for the code to open. The line indicating the chosen number was zero.

I closed my eyes, trying to remember the sequence I saw not long ago. Two left turns, one right, four left, five right. Always in that order, never different.

My gloved hand reaches towards the dial, the order in my mind. I didn't know the exact combination, but so far my luck hasn't let me down. Why would it now?

Two turns to the left, a slight click. One to the right, another click. Four left, click. Five right. The safe pops open.

So glad that worked, I thought to myself.

I opened the safe. Stacks of Kruge sat in perfect piles. A couple papers stacked in a tidy order. A couple jewels stuffed in the very back.

I originally planned to take only a hundred. The other Clubs haven't seemed to notice the missing amount. But with how much was stuff inside, surely Dirty Hands himself wouldn't notice two hundred missing.

Grabbing two stacks of Kurge, I slip them into my pockets. One stack in each. Maybe another stack wouldn't hurt. I wouldn't have to come back to any club for at least two weeks. Could lay low and live like a king.

The sound of a cane banging on the wooden stairs knocked me out of my thoughts. Closing the safe and replacing the photo, I slip to the shadows with my earnings.

As the door opens, I exit through the open window. Pulling myself up onto the roof. I wait in the quiet, not daring to breathe. It was silent inside the office. No cane, no voices, no movement. 

I strain my ears to hear something, but it was complete silence. Maybe no one walked into the room? They just opened the door and stood outside? Otherwise, they would be some type of movement.

"Boss!" someone inside shouts. "You're needed downstairs."

Finally, the sounds of movement. The cane tapping against the floor. A door closing moments after. I was in the clear.

Triumphantly, I head back home. The Kruge I stole safely in my pockets.