The Summoner Series - Book One - DUALITY

Chapter 20: Jazzy - The Trouble with Trouble

I had just placed the bug on the security camera, and Nocturnus and I were making a mad dash at the gate, trying to get over. Luckily, the two of us had experience getting into places we didn't belong. Since Nocturnus was stronger, he knelt down and made a platform with his hands. I wrapped some rope we took with us around my shoulder ran at him and lifted off his hands with one foot, getting to near the top of the gate, which was spiked on every column. I leap to the other side of the gate while still clinging on, and wrapped a good length of rope around it so Nocturnus could scale his side. I finished wrapping and dropped down with ease. Nocturnus scaled the rope with just as much ease, and untied the rope when he got across so we could use it for later.

"You're not so bad at this whole thieving thing." I whispered as we crouched down and made ourselves as small as possible while getting to the side of the building.

"You're not so bad yourself." He replied.

I couldn't see any guards, and I didn't think Nocturnus did either, but that didn't mean that they weren't there. There were large shrubs and bushes that lead from the giant mansion in a straight line near the edge of the property. None of the back of the house was lit up, and all of the security and focus would be at the front of the house. But there were still a few guards lingering about.

We were walking by the large shrubs and bushes when we heard twigs snapping and footsteps come from the other side of the shrubs. Nocturnus and I instantly stopped moving. I could feel my own heart in my stomach, but I kept my composure. I've been in worse positions, but not ones that had stakes this high. I looked over at Nocturnus, expecting him to look worried or at least concerned. But all I saw was the face of a stone cold executioner. I don't know what he did in the past to make him this way, but I sure didn't want to be on the side against him.

There was a gap in the shrubbery that allowed people to walk through and around the house, and we were right next to it. I reached for my knife in my sleeve, ready to slice at him so we could get past unseen, but Nocturnus grabbed my arm, stopping me from pulling it out and was shaking his head. I tried to move my arm again, but his grip tightened on me. He mouthed the words "I have a plan" to me before removing his grip. His eyes glowed a bright purple before he peeked over the shrubs. That moment was when my heart sank. He was going to get us caught for sure. But he just stared at him while just looking over the shrubbery. I didn't know what he was doing, but I was already reaching for my knife again. All of a sudden, the guard snapped to attention and started running through the gap in the bushes and kept running until he was out of sight.

"Alright, let's move." He started to crouch walk past me and to the wall of the mansion.

I was still shocked to see what just occurred. "What did you do to that guard?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing special. I just heightened his anxiety levels so that he thought he heard a noise coming from the back of the house, far from where we are."

"Ok, but how? Summoners can't do that."

"I'm not just any Summoner. I'm an Anx. There's no one else in the world quite like me." He started to get the rope set up in a loop so it could wrap around one of the spike at the top of the mansion. E. Wages either loved his security, deadly spikes, or both.

"I still want to know how you did it."

"How does any Summoner do what they do? Just like how a Pyro needs heat to start a fire, or how a Biter or an Aerol needs moisture, I just need someone with enough anxiety already for me to latch onto. From there I can control their emotional state and alter their anxiety levels, making it easier for me to kill them or for them to be an emotional wreck, which also makes them easier to kill." He finished the loop at the end of the rope and started twirling it before he tossed it up and caught it on the end of a spike. He tugged on it to make sure it would stay.

"But why didn't you let me kill him?"

"Because then we would have to dispose of a body on grounds that are heavily patrolled, and even if I let you knock him out, he would wake up and sound the alarm. And even before that happened, the guards would grow suspicious and lock the place down when the guard didn't check in with the other guards."

I didn't think about that. I should have known that the guard not being in place would have caused suspicion. Maybe I'm losing my edge.

We started scaling the side of the building with the rope and made it to the roof. Luckily there was no security to worry about because Wages was confident that no one would get past his lackeys at the front gate. But once we get inside the security will increase one hundred fold.

There was a large dome skylight that was above the ballroom where most of the gala was. But that wasn't where we needed to be. We walked around the outside of the large dome of glass to the side where a small room building was built. It looked like the size of an apartment, but the entire housing unit was made for a single artifact and laced with security. If all went according to plan, we would be in and out with no one knowing we were ever there until we were long gone.

There was another skylight that was on the ceiling of the building. It was built directly over the artifact that we needed. The six of us have never seen the artifact before, but considering the high level of security and the age of it, it looked like exactly what we needed. We could look down into the room, and we saw lasers crossing the entire room along with an array of cameras. With any luck, Cain will give us a blind spot.

"All we can do now is wait, right?" Asked Nocturnus, already sitting down on the roof.

"Yep. We just need to wait until Cece opens up the door."

"Great. I'm gonna get some shut eye. Wake me up when something happens."

Just as he laid down, an uproar of applause could be heard coming from the ballroom. Nocturnus didn't stir, so I walked over to the glass to kill some time. Cece would let us know when she would be moving forward. I got to the edge of the glass and saw a large stage near the opposite wall. I heard someone say something about a guest of honor. I saw someone step up to the microphone.

"Thank you, thank you all for coming. I am honored to be here with all of you tonight."

"Oh shit." I turned on my earpiece. "Cain, do you copy? We have a problem."