Isaiah Greene knew there was no such thing as a perfect heist. Once the scheme was set in motion there were any number of things that could backfire. At times such as this, he was reminded of an old saying: “If anything can go wrong, it will go wrong”.
So, it was his job to keep an eye open for anything that could go awry. So far there was only one hiccup, more of an inconvenience really in the grand scheme of things. He didn’t know how they were supposed to break inside the manor. No one did, to be fair, but that didn’t stop their noble leader from going ahead with this mad venture. Alastor, what a prick he thought, going over the events of the previous night in his head.
They had all convened in the room Alastor and Jon were staying in. He had noticed it was considerably more spacious than the one him and the others were given. In the fireplace, the final few embers were beginning to die out. The lamplights trickled over the room from the open windows, giving it an orange hue.
Everyone had spread around the place. Isaiah stood hunched in the corner with his arms folded, furthest away from the fire, or what was left of it. He looked around the room to see where everyone was. Everilda Thorne sat near the window. in her grey dress, she looked right out of someone from high society, her back straight, legs crossed, her eyes looking everywhere, well almost everywhere. Nowhere near him. To Isaiah, she looked impatient. Who could blame her? Ezra Wright was of course sleeping, curled up on his side on the bed in the middle of the room. No one had woken him up or had the chance to at least. There was no sign of Alastor, who was late just as ever. It was just the two of them for now, she pretending he didn’t exist, and him trying his damnedest to make sure that wasn’t so.
He tried thinking of something clever to say to break the air in the room but nothing came to him; nothing ever really did, instead, he asked: “Do you think we should wake him up?”
“Best not, I assure you Ezra is as clueless as we are to this scheme of his.” She replied, looking out the window onto the street below.
“So, even you don’t know what he’s planning. Well, that’s quite interesting,” he said biting his nails.
“And what is that supposed to mean?” He could hear the irritation in her voice.
“I mean, me, Ezra and the Bannerjees. We’re used to not knowing anything up until he wants us to. That is how it has been for years. But you, well, I thought he would at least tell you something since you’re not a part of our crew”
“Yes, well, I owed him a favour and here I am.”
“Now, that is also interesting.” What had Alastor done, for her to come all this way south with nary a second thought? He doubted if he would ever find the answer to that question. It looked as if Everilda had something to say but before she could have said it the door jerked open.
“Ah, you are all here, that is good, I was beginning to worry.” The newcomer smiled, moving quickly inside the room followed by his two companions, his lackey, and his bodyguard, Isaiah thought. The latter shut the door and then stood by it. The newcomer dragged a chair from the corner of the room in front of the fireplace and climbed atop it.
If the Gods had granted Alastor one thing. It was the gift of being overlooked, he was neither handsome nor memorable. A sort of face you would look at while walking down a street without so much as a second glance. He had short trimmed hair and (an unsuccessful attempt at growing) a beard which propagated in patches across his face.
“And where have you three been?” Everilda asked.
“We were just” he gestured towards Jon, who now sat on the bed next to Ezra, “seeing the sights.”
“Oh, yes, and the sights were quite spectacular, I might add.” Jon eyed Alastor.
“Wake him up, Jon,” Alastor said, clearly gesturing towards the heap of human awkwardness that was Ezra.
“Do we really have to?”
“Everyone needs to be present for this next bit.”
“Technically, I would say he is present.”
“Yes, but not functional. Ezra!” Alastor called out.
Ezra made no movement. Jon gently tapped him on his shoulder and when that did not work, Jon began to violently shake the poor fellow. “Wake up, you lazy arse wipe?” When it became clear he was sleeping the sleep of the Gods, “Eh, you leave me no choice.” Jon shoved him right off the bed.
This seemed to have done the job because Ezra was now groaning in pain.
“That was unkind.” Ezra managed to cry out, enunciating each word as he said it. He rolled on the floor trying to gather his bearings. “I swear to the Gods, Jon, I will honestly- Oh, Miss Thorne, when did you arrive?” He was now kneeling with his arms on the left side of the bed.
“Now onto more pressing matters.” Alastor clasped his hands together. “We have a singular opportunity here. When we pull this off we’ll have enough money to go off on our own separate ways. Now it is not what our dear old master wanted for us, but it seems to me,” He crossed his arms behind his back. “We cannot continue on living with each other given the disastrous string of events since his death.”
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All of them, almost in unison, kissed the backs of their thumbs and then brought them on their eyelids. “May he find peace in the afterlife,” They all said it again in unison.
“Now here’s what you need to know,” Alastor then laid out his scheme for the crew to hear. It went like this; Everilda and Ezra would be the distraction on account of the fact that the proprietor, on the first day of every week, like clockwork, dines at the same gambling den on the eighth hour of the evening, but this time he’ll be approached by two entrepreneurs with a business opportunity. Meanwhile, Alastor, Jon and Abdul Rahim would infiltrate the manor which at this point would be guarded by a skeleton crew and his attendants, with Isaiah keeping a lookout for any signs of trouble.
“Is that it?” Everilda leaned forward. “We’ve done this a thousand times before haven’t we?” She looked around at everyone in the room. “So, why all the hush-hush? What are you not telling us?”
Alastor smiled sheepishly, looking down at his feet as if a child who had overextended himself. He stepped off the chair and started pacing to and fro in front of the fireside. He brushed his hair “I, uh” he hesitated before coming to a halt. “You've been awfully quiet Isaiah.” he stared at Isaiah.
I’m just wondering what my father saw in you, I’m just wondering why I’m not standing where you are, Isaiah thought. “I’m just wondering what sort of hell you have awaiting for us now.” He said instead.
Jon giggled which drew everyone’s attention, he threw his head backwards and leaned on the headboard. “Wait until he tells you the best bit, I almost killed the bastard when I figured it out.”
“You mean when I told you.” Alastor said.
“Oh no, you told me a few moments after I noticed the little bit of detail you left out.”
“What detail?” Ezra chimed in.
Alastor moved in closer towards the light shining through the window, a diagonal line cut through his body a little higher above his waist. Half his body in the orange hue that covered the room while the other half in darkness. “The man we are about to steal from is Sebastian Singh.”
The whole room erupted in chaos. It was as if a fire had broken out in the middle of the room but instead of running away from the point of origin, they moved towards it, towards Alastor.
“Have you lost your mind?” Everilda stood up.
“Sebastian Singh. God! Do you have a death wish?” Isaiah moved closer in.
“I’m fairly new to this game but even I know you don’t mess with a man that powerful.” Ezra said
“Will you listen to reason now? Jon said.
“I’m going to pretend this meeting never took place” Everilda made her way to the door. “I suggest you all do the same, gentlemen.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” Ezra clumsily rose up from the bed to follow her.
Both of them were stopped by the presence that stood by the door. Abdul Rahim, the dark-skinned man towered over them and Isaiah could not decide what frightened him more, his nonchalant demeanour or the way the man could crush the contents of his skulls if Alastor deemed it so.
“Three thousand pounds…” That was enough to make Ezra walk backwards and sit back down on the bed. “Each” Alastor smiled. That was enough for Everilda to stare at Alastor with her back turned. Ezra whistled low and Isiah grunted. He has them back in his leash again.
“And who is paying such an amount?” Everilda asked
“A wealthy patron whose name will remain unannounced as his anonymity is of the highest concern.”
“Wait, Singh isn’t some rich fool that we’re planning to rob. Do you know what happened to the last man who tried to cross him?” Isaiah turned around to look at everyone.”Cause there isn’t one. No one steals from him and gets away with it.”
“We’ll be the firsts now, won’t we?” Alastor smirked. Arrogant prick. “Isaiah, you worry too much. By the time we’re done, Singh won’t know what hit him. When was the last time anyone caught on to us? We’re circus freaks, gypsies and as ugly as we are penniless.” Everilda cleared her throat and Alastor shot her a sidelong glance. “I stand corrected on all accounts.”
“So, to summarise; We are to break into a manor which is said to be unbreakable to steal an unknown thing from the most powerful man around and we don’t get to know who we’re stealing it for?” Ezra said.
“Precisely.” Alastor said
“What are we stealing?” Isaiah asked.
“I do not know but I do have a map as to its location,” Alastor said.
“So quite literally an X marks the spot?” Everilda said.
“Well, it’s more of a circle.”
“This is going to be a disaster.” Ezra sighed.
And that was what Alastor had gotten them into and if the Gods were merciful, he would meet with an unfortunate accident that would perhaps not kill him but cripple that brain of his that was so used to getting them into things, but not so much out of them. Isaiah feared this was another one of those situations.
He could see the Singh manor adjacent to where he stood and it made him want to shove himself off the roof. The manor laid behind a boundary wall, between it lay if Isaiah had to venture a guess of at least half a mile of land. God, please let us live through this night.
The only sound was the cricket chirping in his vicinity, Jon and Alastor with Abdul Rahim behind them were walking down the street from the left of Isaiah. The lamplights lit the pavement in orange while the pavement absent the light were almost entirely too dark, which made Isaiah uneasy. Their silhouettes came and went as they stepped into the glow of the lamplights.
Alastor waved at Isaiah enthusiastically with both of his arms and Isaiah waved back, conveying that he hadn’t encountered a hitch so far. They moved closer and closer towards the gate of the manor and Isaiah’s heartbeat intensified with each of their steps. All he had to do was wait and warn them with the sound of his whistle. A coward’s job, he thought but there wasn’t much use for his skill set so, what else was he to do?
The three men stopped when they reached the gate and started conversing with each other, and by conversing it would probably be just Alastor talking for the two of them. I wonder what he's thinking?
“I wonder what he is thinking?” Alastor said looking up at Isaiah as they reached the gate. “Probably glad that he doesn’t have to do much if anything at all this time.”
“We have more pressing matters than your presumptions into Isaiah’s mind right now, like how are we going to enter? Part of me still wishes to just abandon this madness while there’s still time. We could catch up to Ezra and Everilda before it’s too late.” Jon said.
“Oh ye of little faith. Sebastian built his fortress to guard his treasure, with halls as high as the eye can see… more or less. From all directions, it's protected. The foundation is pure concrete so as to avoid diggers but he missed one crucial thing, my friends. Human error.” Alastor smiled as the gate opened and a slim fellow taller than Alastor stepped out. He looked more malnourished than anything and his clothes were loose-fitting, as if a child were given an adults’ clothes.
“I feared you might not arrive, Mister Grayson. I feared the worst.” the man said still clutching the gate, leaning on it.
“You need not have feared my friend.” Alastor placed his hands on the man’s shoulder assuringly. “The hard part is done. You did as I asked?”
“Yes, yes Mister Grayson, three drops in their drinks just as you said. They’re all asleep. Every single one.” the man said eagerly as if he was looking for approval.
“Good, good.” Alastor turned around “Gentlemen this is Amar. He’s our inside man.”
“You son of a pesky weasel. This was why you seemed so sure about this whole thing. ,” Jon said.
“Never take chances, Jon. Let’s get inside first.” Alastor urged both men to move past the gate, Jon walked past Alastor glancing all over the place while Abdul Rahim eyed him wearily. “You play a dangerous game Alastor.” he said.
“Well, as long as only I play it.” Alastor smiled.
Alastor inhaled deeply letting in the wretched air and looked outwards, at Isiah perched on the rooftop and curtly bowed, turned and walked inside.
Isaiah hadn’t noticed he was clenching his fist until they started to hurt, his nails had dug into his palms leaving reddened marks behind. First, he leaves me behind and now, he mocks me. If his heart was racing before, now it was begging his chest to let it loose so it could strangle Alastor. If only he could. But all he could do now was wait. Wait and silently pray.