The Helm of Darkness

“Now,” I mouthed to Callista, nodding slowly and hoping she got the memo to go. Thankfully, she did, and from behind a tree, I saw a black swish fly up onto the brick and begin climbing. I smiled to myself, and then shielded my face once again with the black veil.
As soon as her thin figure had climbed the wall, then made a gesture with her arm, I ran towards the gate, pressing myself against the wall so as not to be seen. There were countless guards surrounding the place, armed with guns, naturally, so at this point, I had to stay unseen. My favorite would come next.
Suddenly, I heard a sharp breath from behind me. I whipped my head around to see Callista with a knife through a guard, smiling viciously. His eyes widened and his brow furrowed, then fluttered close. His mouth hung agape and Callista drew her dagger out of his back and let him drop to the ground with a sickening thud. I rolled my eyes.
“He was going to catch us, Z,” she said, her lower lip pouted out. I glared sternly at her. She and everyone, really, called me Z. My real name was Zariah Grace, a name given to me by my idiot mother. Then, the boss thought it was interesting and now won’t let me change it.
“Even though these guys are dicks, no killing, okay?” I said, and she rolled her eyes, moving to unlock the gate before me. “You know what he said about this. As few of his men as possible, okay? He can’t suspect us again.” The gate opened with a quiet click and I smiled. I swung myself in silently, like a flash of black in this night, and closed the door. “And we’re in.”
“They really need better security,” Callista retorted, slipping her own black hood over her sandy blonde hair. I carefully stepped over the guard’s dead body, walking forward, behind Callista.
“They probably weren’t expecting a killer frog to climb their walls,” I said, and she snorted.
“Whatever, just come on.” We had been in here before, just the night before, to map out where we were going to go. We had had to steal everything tonight because, well, tonight everything went unguarded. I almost smiled at the thought as we slipped into the garden. I glanced around, vaguely being reminded of something from the medieval times, something you would see in a princess’s backyard. That’s was Greece, though.
We finally reached the back wall, and Callista fingered the black vines with a mischievous grin. “Well, up we go,” she whispered, and grabbed onto the vine. I heard a twig snap from behind me, and I grabbed Callista’s leg. “Wha—“ suddenly, from behind the corner, came a skinny boy, probably no older than seventeen, walked towards us. Sweat beads on his brow, he shakily raised his gun at us.
“G-Get down, from there,” he stuttered, and I suppressed a laugh. I looked up at Callista, who had a sickening smile on her face.
“Let me take care of him,” she said, hopping down from the vine. Next to me, her 5’2 frame was tiny, but I knew what she was capable of. “What are you going to do, sweetie?” she said, her voice dripping with sweet poison. She took off her mask, revealing her gorgeous face, and smiled at the boy. “Going to shoot me now, are you?” She stepped toward him, and he raised his gun a little higher.
“Take, t-take one m-more step-p, and I-I’ll shoot!” he said, and she let out a cold laugh that rang through the air. She turned and looked at me.
“You go ahead,” she said, grinning. “I think I’ll take this one for myself.” I sighed. I really needed her, but I knew without her, this boy would have already called the guards. Thank God for her cunningness. She turned back to him, taking another step. As figured, he didn’t shoot. “Maybe I’m not here to steal anything from your precious chest,” she said quietly, stepping forward again. His gun shook and began to fall lower and lower. “Maybe I came here to get someone like you.” I almost let out a small laugh at the poor boy’s face. His eyes widened and his mouth hung agape. She made a motion with her hand, and I backed up against the ivy. “So, want to come play with the bad girl?” his gun dropped noisily on the stone as she grabbed the collar of his jacket, grinning. “I think this collar’s a little too tight, honey.” I sighed as she grabbed the boys hands and traced them down her perfect figure. She turned her head to me. “Sorry?” she mouthed, and I groaned.
“Just kill him!” I replied, but she shook her head.
“I don’t have the heart to! Plus, he said no killing!”
“Yeah, but killing him will be better than wasting all this time!”
“Let a girl have a little fun, okay? I’ll be up later! Just go!” She let go of the boy’s hands and pressed hers against his face, drawing him in for a kiss. I turned around and began to climb the vine upwards. I wasn’t as good at this as Callista was, but I was okay. My 5’7 frame wasn’t built as small and flexibly as Callista’s.
I climbed up the ivy as quickly as possible, glancing down occasionally to see if Callista still had the boy occupied. Not like I really doubted it, though. I figured she was just going to distract him until I got up to the window, and then follow me. Once I got up there, I wasn’t exactly planning on waiting for her, though; it was her choice not to just kill him at first, and if she thought I was going to wait, then she was sadly mistaken.
Almost to the top, I thought about the weak security system of this place. Honestly. They had walls up, hundreds of guards, but ivy crawled up the walls everywhere. Why they didn’t remove that long ago was beyond me.
I swung my legs over the windowsill, immediately pressing myself against the wall. I peeked my head out to check for guards, and seeing nothing, I advanced. We were after an unusual product tonight; an apple. Now that I thought about it, though, our last two jobs had also been sort of peculiar. A bow, engraved with gold and silver, and a platinum ring. We had never strayed from Europe, either.
The boss had been urgent about it, more so than usual, and we knew we had to get it without a flaw. As I made my way through the many hallways of the house, which I began referring to in my head as a palace, I scanned every shelf and table for a glass case. The apple was gold, and hidden in a small glass display case. A sort of flimsy case for a thing of such value, especially since it was pure gold.
I turned a corner, expecting an empty room, and was soon faced with a room full of soldiers laying on the ground. I gasped, stepping back, but my brow furrowed when I realized they were dead. The pale color of their skin gave that away. I walked forward, careful not to step on any of the dead soldiers. I peered down at them, and, seeing no blood, scanned the room. An empty bowl, which smelled like it had once contained ale or another alcoholic beverage, and a ladle which appeared to have been dropped on the ground. I walked over to it and picked it up. I sniffed the small amount of ale left in the ladle, then immediately dropped it. The smell of Conium was so strong I almost wanted to vomit.
I really did have to congratulate the killer, though. Smashing up the leaves of Poison Hemlock and slipping it into their drinks? Genius. But, who really was the killer?
My question was answered as I heard a low laugh from right behind me. I moved to turn around, but strong arms wrapped around me, leaving me unable to move.
“Looks like you’re here on the same task as me, darling,” he said, and I stiffened. A white cloth rose towards my face, and I took a deep breath. I had to get out of here. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I’ll be able to let you take that.” The cloth rose up to my face, choking me, forcing me to take a breath. When I finally did, I would have had been an idiot not to recognize the sickly sweet smell. Chloroform.