It was a small, perfectly square room built of nothing but dark stone. The only source of light was from a purposely missing brick on the high end of the opposite wall to the door. The beam that irradiated from the outside had a perfect, rectangular shape. It revealed dust particles floating in the cool air of the desolated room. Tables and chairs were spread randomly, as well as white pieces of cloth that draped over them.
Out of the darkness, a hand made its way to the small source of illumination. On its index and thumb fingers it held a shining gold coin that glistered beautifully. The light from the coin refracted across the room as the hand traveled through the beam. The grip of the coin slowly loosened, and the thumb pushed the round metal piece on top of the other fingers. In response, the fingers moved up and down, and the coin almost systematically shifted positions flowing back and forth, back and forth.
Another hand crept out of the darkness. It slowly covered the first hand, who had the coin back in its firm grip. The cover lifted, and the hand who once had a coin was now empty, as if by magic. The hands repeated this trick over and over, switching left and right hands, making the coin seemingly vanish.
After a while the pattern abruptly stopped. The hands returned to the darkness whence they had come from. Someone out of the darkness sighed, stirring the dust particles in the still air. The wood of one of the tables gave a low creaking sound announcing the silhouette that took shape in the light the peered through. A pale-skinned man with a neat beard, and an equally refined combed hair had his facial features painted in blacks, and very light yellows. His mouth was sealed in a thin line, but the look on his eyes was enough to understand the man was bored.
"Waiting, waiting, waiting..." He complained in his mind. "I am not sure why such a simple task requires more members of the guild aside from me."
Lucifer Nosferatu, age 40, a high-ranking member of the Night Fall Thieves. He was under the command of a few elite, top-ranking members of the guild. Mostly worked on his own, but sometimes it came to cases like this when he was supposed to work with a group of other guild members. Aside from the top brass, he knew little of the others. This was not related to the strict secrecy pertaining to the nature of the group per se, but despite being there for so long, he felt it mattered little. After all, his joining the organization was only means to an end. His loyalty, however twisted a loyalty such an organization could inspire, was null. This was a strong impression he gave out, and one that he did not cared to disguise. In a shell, it always appeared Lucifer had a separate agenda, ulterior motives that could probably be traced to the highest bidder of them all: his own ego. This was without a doubt the reason why despite being a high-ranking officer, he had never become more than that.
A couple of nights ago, he had been handed this mission through the usual channel. His last task had been filled with hardship, and personal effort even though objective was simply worthless, according to Lucifer's set of values. As he read the letter with his new goals laid out, he looked up at the person who had just handed it to him.
"A kidnap?" Lucifer questioned deriding.
"Lower your voice," said his superior. "You never know were spies lay."
"You are sending me to do runt work?" Lucifer asked indignant. His eyes shone with fury, but at the same time with scorn. "You might consider yourself above me in the chain of command, but you need to start thinking a bit more... thoroughly." His deep voice was filled with malignant poison.
His superior bit his lip. "The order is from my superiors. Do not question it, or you might not get away with a simple offense."
"So they yanked your collar hard enough that your brain got damaged preventing you to think straight?" Lucifer's said in a condescending tone.
"You might do well," reminded Lucifer's superior, "to remember your collar as well. It can also be yanked hard enough to spill your eyes out, Lucifer."
Lucifer Nosferatu simply chuckled. "If you can find one," he mocked. "Worry not, I shall serve their highnesses with all my sincere devotion." He bowed respectfully, but his mocking smirk did not vanish. He left the room.
Today was the due date. Several members of the guild were supposed to gather here, in this hideout. Once all of them had gathered, they had to wait until nightfall when the carriage with their target was scheduled to pass nearby. There was a matter of setting up a plan also, which, considering the plain terrain in the area, complicated matters when it came to an ambush.
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