The True Me

Prologue

The bank manager's footsteps click on the marble flooring, echoing around the empty bank. Looking out at him, he flips the keys in his hand before locking the door with a soft click. Skittering across the floor, I watch as he turns a corner and walks out of sight. A few minutes before I move from my spot near the bottom of the window. I stand on my hind feet and morph back to my regular form. The fur pulls into my body replaced by my clothes, and the hair on my head grows and fades to white. Stretching taller and taller until I stand to look out near the top of the display window. I turn around a walk to the back.

Flash. A light catches my eye as the white light shone on the wall seconds ago. I make my way silently to the source. The door is opened enough to see two security guards watching a football game on the screens. I exam the progress of the game and conclude it will be awhile before they make their rounds. Gliding over the floor, I reach the back hallway with the vault.

I morph my arm into a circular saw and run it across the floor. Minutes later it has cut through. My other arm shifts into a large suction cup and grabs the marble slab before it falls. Lowering it, I look down into the dark space below. I turn my head the other way coming face to face with large multicolor slitted eyes.

"Quit daydreaming, love. Tryin' to beat the clock here," Alyosha snaps.

"The bank manager took his time leaving," I drone, "I surmise we have a half an hour before the guards make their rounds." I lower the marble the rest of the way and turn my arm into a small ladder for her to climb up.

"Oh well," she giggles, completely changing emotions, "If we fail it's your head."

"Just get started on the vault door," I mutter.

Behind her stands Thorn, his small bony face sporting a cocky grin. "She couldn't have given us an easier job, could she," he jokes, grabbing the bottom rung of the ladder. I turn it into a sharp blade for a second slicing his hand.

"I'd be careful what I say if I were you," I counter. He climbs up the rest of the ladder into the hallway behind me. Turning around in time to see Alyosha melting the vault wall down, I walk over and peer inside. "Ok, remember the floor has sensors. So don't drop anything." I lecturing pointing a finger at Alyosha who shrugs and then at Thorn, who cowers before nodding. Planting my feet, I stretch my body so I hover an inch over the floor. Holding steady to the walls, I secure myself into a solid concrete path around the edge of the walls.

Alyosha's eyes grow wide, and she jumps up onto me, and Thorn follows behind with a tentative glance at the floor. She stops lifting an eyebrow at me. "What now love," she asks, folding her arms over the tight material of her top.

I nod at Thorn. "His turn. Time to prove yourself." Pointing at the many security boxes lining the walls, he walks toward them. Pressing his palm against the keyholes, his tongue pokes out of his mouth until I hear a small click. "Ah," he exclaims, bringing his hand away from the box. I look up and see the small ends of keys sticking out of the two keyholes. Thorn clears his throat before saying "I picked the lock and made the keys solid." He holds his hand up, and a small thorn emerges from his hand in the shape of a key. "It's quite simple," he says with a smirk.

"Just do the next one," I scoff. He shrugs, moving on to the next one. Alyosha walks up and turns the keys, opening up the boxes to find a large diamond bracelet.

"Ooo, I'll take that," Alyosha says, sliding it over her wrist. She goes to the next one and opens it up, throwing the contents into a large cloth bag. She continues, turning the keys and throwing them over her shoulder onto my path.

"Alyosha quit it; if you miss, you will set off the alarm," I say pointedly. She chortles, saying "what harm can it do, love?"

She continues going through other boxes, pulling out one and swaying under its weight. After setting it onto the path and opening the lid, she pulls out a pearl necklace. "Ooo," she says, but before she can put it into the bag, the prongs of the bracelet catch the string of the necklace. With a loud snap, it breaks onto the path. Where the pearls roll right to the edge.