Kayleigh has finally found the ‘White Rose’, a mask with a notorious story behind it. Her story. She is the Black Thorn beneath the White Rose. Now, she needs to take the mask back from the people who stole it from her.
Kayleigh couldn’t believe her eyes. There it was! After all these decades searching, she’d finally found it.
There was just one problem.
It was under constant lock and key. Cameras watched it, guards patrolled it and lasers protected it.
Meh, she shrugged. I’ve performed more difficult heists before.
“Ah, I see you’ve found the infamous ‘White Rose’.”
Kayleigh turned. A woman in a sleek black strapless dress stood behind her, admiring the object behind the glass. The White Rose was a mask, designed to cover half of the face. It got its name from the delicate white rose pattern painted on the black surface.
“It’s beautiful,” Kayleigh commented. And it’s mine, you thieves. She glanced back at it.
“This is the first time it’s ever been displayed you know,” the woman continued. “The Graves family usually keeps it hidden in their vault. The museum managed to convince them to loan it to the collection for a week.”
Kayleigh’s lip curled at the mention of the Graves family, but she focused on what was important for the time being. “Only a week?” One week wasn’t much time to thoroughly scope out the area to plan a successful heist.
“Mm-hm. It goes back to them tomorrow, unfortunately.” She sighed. “It’s a shame. It was definitely the main attraction for this exhibition.”
Kayleigh had long ago mastered the art of keeping her emotions hidden from others, but this tidbit almost had her gasping in shock. I’m going to have to work a lot faster if I want the Rose back. She wasn’t about to let it slip from her grasp again.
The heist would have to happen tonight.
###
Kayleigh glanced at her watch. 2 am. Time to go. She snuck to the door she’d disabled while visiting the museum earlier. It opened without protest and she slipped into the dark hallway inside.
She crept to the end of the hall and peered around the corner. A camera moved back and forth at the far end of the room, but she wasn’t worried about it. She’d already disabled those. It was the guards she had to watch out for. At least there weren’t many of them.
She carefully made her way to where the White Rose was being displayed. She was most concerned about the one guard standing by the mask. This one was hired by the Graves family – she was pretty sure he had orders to kill anyone who tried to get past him.
He strolled back and forth, circling the Rose and almost always keeping his eyes on the one doorway into the room.
Time to put the plan into action.
Accessing an app on her watch, she pressed a command. Not too far away, glass shattered. Alarms started blaring. Guards were shouting.
She shook her head. This was one of her riskiest plans to date. She was pretty much announcing to everyone that she was in the building.
At least it was working. The Graves’s guard walked to the doorway and stepped out of the room, looking in the direction off all the commotion. Kayleigh slipped up behind him and shocked him with her taser. He collapsed to the floor, convulsing.
Dashing into the room, she placed a detonator on the glass casing. Everyone already knew there was an intruder – no use trying to be sneaky about it now. She accessed the app and took cover in the corner. The glass shards could sometimes fly quite far. The last thing she needed was a speck of glass in her eye.
The glass shattered the moment she pressed the command on her watch. More alarms went off.
Yes! She was almost done. She lifted the mask from its casing. Unable to help herself, she settled the mask on her face, where it belonged.
“We thought this might draw you out of hiding.”
Kayleigh spun around. A young man stood in the doorway, two bodyguards at his sides. A sneer marred his otherwise handsome face.
“You’ve been searching for the White Rose for a long time, haven’t you, Kayleigh? Or should I call you by your more notorious name, Black Thorn?”
Kayleigh froze. This was not good.
I’m actually quite surprised that I can come up with a half-decent idea everyday to turn into a story starter! Hope you enjoyed Kayleigh’s beginning!
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