March 15th, 2014 (7:38 am)
Zack was driving his car and Adam was sitting just beside him. The two were not wearing their uniforms; instead they were wearing black coat-suits with white shirts. They tried to look like some office-going men, but due to the all-black scheme, they looked professional spies like that in Men in Black. “So, how much time is it gonna take?” Adam asked.
“Dunno.”
“Are you driving or me?”
“I didn’t reply that you know; I replied that I don’t.”
“Oof,” Adam sarcastically sighed. Suddenly, Zack stopped the car around a corner and got off it. With his hands in his pockets, he started walking inwards the street beside the car. Adam observed him, got off and followed his friend. Zack continued walking down the street while watching it with such seriousness that Adam thought it to be better to just follow than disturbing him. He suddenly got the courage as he spoke, “Is it—”
“Yep, this is the street.” They had already walked a few houses. Zack pointed on one of the houses on the right of the street and told him, “This is it.” It was not just an ordinary house, it was a huge bungalow. The grand gate was in front which only opened to special people by the guards and a huge garden in front of the house. In front of the house was a great garden full of all types of roses and flowers, and between it all lay green lush grass which had water sprinkled upon them. There was also a small, thinly-cemented path in between for people to walk from the gate towards the door. Zack turned sideways and started walking back towards the car.
“Hey, what happened?” Adam asked while following him.
“Come with me,” Zack replied as he stopped by a house which was just beside the house of Mr. Johnson. He ringed their door-bell and an old man arrived from the door. He walked all the way to open the entrance. This house, unlike Mr. Johnny’s, was a considerably smaller one with not so much of flowers and decorations inside. The house only had the sprinkled green, lush grass and it was still beautiful. The man, who was wearing a t-shirt with a black pajama, corrected his spectacles while opening the gate and asked, “So, how much of the newspaper for this month?”
“What?” Adam shockingly asked.
“Sir, we’re not newspaper sellers,” Zack explained him. “We’re from the government.”
“Okay, can I ask you the reason why you’re here?”
“We’ve no specific reason. We just wanna check if you have enough security in your house or not. We may even apply for cams and all for you if you want.”
“No, we don’t store jewelry in our homes. All of that stuff is in banks. You may take your leave.”
“Sir, robbers do not only rob jewelry nowadays; expensive phones, laptops, television sets, and electronic stuff-- all of it is in their target. They can rob literally anything and you can’t just put everything in banks.”
“But—”
“Sir, this is for your own good. What profit are we having? We’re gonna roam literally every house here today and we’ve been doing this for a year now. You can even click a photo of us if you want to. We’re no thieves and we take the full guarantee if anything is robbed from here.” Zack tried his best to make the old man trust him.
That man was already very old, was feeling very sleepy, plus he was not strong enough to fight now. So, he sighed and opened the gate wide and said, “Okay, come in.” Zack kind of controlled his smile, but it was visible that he was happy. Adam, on the other hand, was smiling like mad as he put his feet into the house.
Zack walked up the verandah as he twisted the door knob and opened the door. The door made a very sharp sound as it was slowly opened by Zack. He entered inside and saw a young woman working in the kitchen whereas her probable husband was sitting in the drawing room just beside the open kitchen. He was wearing a blue shirt with black trouser while eating his breakfast on the table as the duo appeared. “What happened, sir?” He asked.
“We’re just checking the security features of this house.”
“Um, okay.”
“And we’d like to start with the top-most room. Can I go there?” Zack asked.
“Yes, sir. Sure.” That young man stood up from his table and started to walk inwards. The two followed him as he showed them the stairs and advanced to the ceiling. After opening the door, he said, “Here you are, sir. But, can I ask why do we need security features on the roof?”
“Most of the thieves arrive from the roof. They climb on the roof through a rope and then enter the house. Now, you can go. You may have important errands to run so we should be on our own here. If we find anything defective or to-be-replaced, we will contact you.”
“Um, okay then,” He nervously replied and left off. He took his leave from the roof and closed the door behind him. He was feeling a bit uncomfortable by letting two strangers alone on the roof. But, they also may be real. With such colliding thoughts in mind, he decided that it’d be better to take his leave and wait at home until the two are gone. He went back to his table and continued eating his breakfast.
“So, we’re alone here now,” Adam whispered.
“I never thought that we actually forgot to plan how we’re gonna enter the house!” He face-palmed.
“Me too. In fact, I didn’t even think for even a single time up until now that we don’t even have a plan to enter that damn place! Just an X-Bow to enter, but from where and how, I don't remember.” Adam added.
“So now, let’s get ready.” Zack commanded as he took out an X-Bow and put it on the railing of the roof, facing one of the rooms of Mr. Johnson’s house. In the meantime, Adam took out a rope with a hook on one end. He connected the same end with the hook at the nose of the gun. Then, Zack crouched and aimed at the roof drain of Mr. Johnson’s house. He pushed the trigger, and the rope was successfully connected to the room of the house. “So, you first, Ads.”
“Um, okay.” Adam took out a cloth-hanger and while using it, he dashed down the rope towards the other house. Then, Adam threw it at Zack and he caught it. He was just about to do the same when a horrific thought haunted him. “Wait, what if someone comes down the staircase?” He suddenly stood up and ran towards the door. He locked it up as he came back and zapped down the rope.
The two were on inside the bright pink-colored room. It was probably a girl’s room, because it had all the pink and glittery things inside. Even the bed-cloth was pink. “Maybe it’s Lucy’s,” Adam pointed.
“Yep,” Zack agreed. Suddenly, the two heard the singing voice of a girl. They were from the bathroom, which was fitted at one corner of the room. “It’s Lucy.” Zack said.
“She sings so badly,” Adam whispered.
“Yeah, but that’s none of our business. Let’s proceed.” Zack took the cover on the right side of the door, which was situated just at the front of the window. The left side of the door had a little gap between the wall and door frame. The door frame was just meters away from the table full of drawers on either side. The table also had a desktop system and novels lying on it. Adam took cover just behind him. Zack searched outside and found that no one was outside for the time being. The room was at first floor, so the floor had stairs on the left side of the corridor, with a drawing room attached on the next side. The drawing room was wide open and thus, Zack easily observed that no one was inside. “Follow me. The next checkpoint is on the ground floor.”
“Roger.”
Zack walked outside the room, while walking on his toes to be as quiet as possible. He then took cover on the other side of the corridor. Unluckily, the staircase was connected to the wall on the other side where they were, but it was open with just a railing on the other. Zack was sweating in pressure. But, he started moving as carefully as possible. He kept his right foot on the first stair, then he kept the second on the same. Then, he took up the right one again and kept it on the next stair. He repeated the cycle with patience and determination. Adam was following him with the same courage in heart. The two slowly walked down the staircase. What was just a five-minute trip seemed like hours for the two. “When’s it gonna end?” Zack was constantly thinking while walking down the stairs. “Just hold yourself for some more minutes, Zack.” So, the journey ended, and the two were down the way. There was a dining hall with a grand table for dinner with chairs beside them for eating. It was decorated and the lights were shut. It had no door and there were just curtains to close it. The curtains were covering the whole room’s entrance. Nevertheless, they proceeded. Mr. Johnny’s room was just in front of the two. But, what lay between them was another corridor. It was connected to entrance right of the dining hall and the kitchen deep inside the left. And in their front lay a closed room. “This is it,” Zack tried to say by pointing towards it.
“Okay,” Adam conveyed through a thumbs-up. Zack just kept his foot on the last stair as he heard footsteps of someone coming towards the entrance from the kitchen. Zack entered the dining room beside him, but Adam just froze for a second. He was confused what to do— the person was coming inwards and because of open footsteps, maybe it was too late to try entering the room. So, he took the long way out— he ran upwards the staircase. He was on his tips all the time and he was the fastest and quietest he can. Luckily, the middle-aged woman didn’t notice him, she continued going in the dining-hall with a handful of plates. Adam, who was inside the drawing room above the stairs while observing her, narrowed his eyes and thought, “Maybe some guests are coming today. The decorated plates say it all. Or maybe just their standards are higher than mine.”
Zack was hiding underneath the table at the center of the room. He can clearly see the feet of the woman walking here and there while decorating the table for food. Zack thought, “Oh no. Maybe some guests are coming here. Or normally they dine at the table set in the kitchen.” He was very worried and pressurized. “It means that I can’t leave this place for now. Plus, guests will mean extra security, and I don’t think this woman is gonna leave this place now until the guests arrive. T-The whole plan is ruined. And this plan’s failure would mean…” His never-ending car of thoughts came to a halt by the opening sound of the door with heavy foot-step’s voices which were probably made by the guests wearing shoes. “This shit is getting bigger!” Zack thought.
Luckily, the woman took her leave from the room so that she can meet the guests and welcome them. “Welcome,” She repeated quite a number of times.
“Ah, Mrs. Johnson. How are you?” A man asked.
“I’m good as always, sir. Johnny is working at his room for the time being. Why don’t you all wait for him in the dining room?”
It was at that particular time that Zack thought, “W-Wait, the room, i-it’s empty!” He took it as an opportunity to escape from this room. He had already noticed the open window opposite to the entrance of the room. The woman was just opening the curtains as he dashed outside the table, throwing the chair, which was between him and the window, away and jumping out of the window.
For a second, Mrs. Johnson was shocked by the chair thrown in front of her eyes. The men followed and asked, “What happened, ma’am?”
In return, she screamed, “Johnny! Th-There’s a thief in our house!”
“What?” A man asked shockingly.
“Where, ma’am?” Another one asked.
She pointed at the chair and said, “H-He was under the table and dashed outside just in front of my eyes!” She was shocked at the sight of a stranger throwing her chair away and running like hell. Her eyes were wide open in fear and she barely blinked them. Mr. Johnson came running from the other room and asked, “Where, honey? Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m damn sure!”
“Call the police! Security!” Mr. Johnson screamed.
“Maybe he’s caught,” Adam thought. He was also a kinda scared and shocked. He walked inside the drawing room. It had a grand sofa-set at the middle of the room with a small balcony at the other end of the room. He walked up there casually and opened the glass frame. He walked out and saw Zack running quickly through the small gap between the wall of the house and the boundary of the garden. He ran past the corner and sat backwards, trying his best to hide from all this mess that he’d created. “I-I needa help him.” Adam had the pressure of helping him coming out of this mess. He was sweating and his eyes were widened with shock. He held his head with his hands and scratched his hairs. “C’mon Ads! Try to think something! Please please please please please please please please please please please!” He crouched down and tried thinking of a way. But, his head was empty due to the shock. “C’mon ADS! THINK SOMETHING!” Suddenly, he opened his eyes as he thought, “Yeah, this’d be perfect!”
On the other end, Mr. Johnson was consulting his security guard about the matter. The police force soon arrived. The police group was led by James Scott. There were over seven men standing behind him for the urgent matter. “Ma’am, how did he look like?”
“I-I was unable to see the face because he was facing the other direction.”
“Okay,” He nodded. “What was he wearing?”
“Can you please shut the fuck up and try finding that asshole?!” Mr. Johnson angrily commanded him.
“Yes, sir. Your wishes are our top priority.” He saluted him and angrily commanded his men, “Inspectors, search for every single inch of this place and find that damn thief.”
Adam was sneaking downwards as he thought, “It’s gonna be damn hard to get to Lucy’s room. But I needa be quick.” He walked silently towards the other end of the room as the policemen went out of the room for searching for the thief. He entered Lucy’s room and took up the rope. “Gotta make it as quick as possible.” He started pulling the rope towards himself as hard as he can. The X-Bow was tightly tied with the rope so he’d to work hard. He pulled it as hard as he can, and finally, the rope broke. The rope split into two and the splitting-point was somewhere between the half of the distance and the X-Bow. “Thank God!” He cited as he ran back to the other room and stood again at the balcony. He looked down and saw two policemen searching for the thief. Adam threw the hook at one of the two policemen. It hit him hard and he fainted on the spot. The other one was shocked. He took out his radio and started to speak. “Hello, sir,” but then he saw another one coming out and punching him directly on his face. The punch hit him very hard as he fell on the ground backwards. The radio slipped from his hand. “Yes, investigator?” Mr. Scott was replying. But, the investigator was busy rubbing his bleeding nose. His hands were red due to blood as he saw other one coming. Another policeman fainted. Zack turned back and watched the radio for a few seconds. Then, he advanced towards it and walked on it. The radio broke into pieces.
Mr. Scott’s eyes were wide open by hearing that the radio was disconnected. With his eyes wide open in shock, he said, “Those assholes are professionals, I must say.”
