"Hey, furball," the snapping of fingers startled Sciones. The small, half feline, half humanoids ears dropped at the taunt. "Do a trick for us!" The man laughed at himself. The carriage bounced violently against the gravel road. Another man dawning a sharp red coat nudged the first man.
"How can you be so calm on such a big job?"
The man shrugged lightly before replying, "I'm not worried about it. It's a big job sure, but it's also the easiest we've ever had!" The man had a point, the information given to them said that the mansion would be left completely unguarded. Honestly, it felt to good to be true, but the info broker had never been wrong before, especially with how much he charged for this information.
'The mansion's gonna be left unattended after 11 tonight. The owners, servants even guards will all be gone. It's some big family trip that's gonna need every guards hands on deck. We don't know if there's any high-tech defense mechanism in there, but as long as you're careful, should be in and out without an issue.'
Sciones was still suspicious, obviously his comrade, not so much. The first man stood up, his brown leather jacket stank of booze. He took a moment to stretch, before the carriage threw him back down to his seat.
"The hells wrong with this ride?" The man in the red coat gave no response, with his gaze focused on his pitch black gloves. Both of these men were Sciones' closest comrades, but also the people Sciones hated the most.
From the moment he was conscious, all Sciones knew was how to steal, extort, and kill. All of the credit could be given to these two.
The man in red, Leo, had been Sciones' "adoptive" father. In reality, it was just a kind term for Sciones being bought.
The other man, Glenn, was vulgar and disgusting, but he was unrivaled in the art of thievery. Thanks to Leo's cunning plans and Glenn's practical skills, they were a terrifying duo. Just for extra insurance, they brought Sciones.
His fur was pitch black, combined with a practical leather hood and coat, he was practically invisible in the night. He was small enough to fit through enclosed spaces, swift enough to remove an enemies head before they even noticed, and young enough to be morphed into an ideal thief.
The carriage had suddenly stopped, Glenn spoke up, "Ah, must be finally here." ,
Poking his head out of the window, Sciones was staring directly at a massive, dark mansion. Just looking at it made his fur stand on end. One by one, the three exited the carriage. Leo paid the driver, with a little extra to keep his mouth shut.
Getting through the gate was easy enough, they could simply slip through the bars with little to no issue. The next hurdle would be how to infiltrate the mansion.
Glenn spoke up, "Ah to hell with these intricate plans, there's nobody here! I'm goin in through the front"
Leo put his hand on Glenn's shoulder to prevent him from going any further. "You trust the info too much. We're taking a look around the outside before we go in."
Glenn brushed the hand off his shoulder and grumbled to himself.
Forty minutes must have passed before Glenn threw a fit, "C'mon, we must've circled this place a hundred times by now! There's no one here, there's no surveillance, and there's no traps!"
Leo's pose remained stoic, he stood stiff with his hand on his chin. "Something's not right, there's never been a job this simple, especially not as big a payout as this."
Glenn ignored his words and headed for the front door. Glenn had yet to meet a lock he couldn't pick, and today was no exception. As the lock clicked, Leo held his breath, the weight of doubt heavy on his shoulders.
"See? No issues!" Glenn haphazardly bounced into the building without so much a drop of hesitation in his motion. To throw extra salt into Leo's wound, Glenn whistled his way in. The frustration on Leo's face was obvious, but he had to follow Glenn in, just pretending he wasn't bothered.
Sciones followed silently.
Inside the mansion , the air was thick with the scent of wealth and excess. The grandiose interior was proved intimidating, with a single decoration being worth more than any of Sciones' previous hauls.
Glenn clapped his hands "haha! Where do we start first boys!" Glenn was fixated on shiny goblets found right at the entrance, eyeing them pervertedly.
Leo moved a little further into the mansion, admiring each painting as he passed. He wondered how he was gonna fit paintings twice the size of him into his bag.
Sciones' gaze had been locked the moment they entered the mansion.
Behind a glass wall was a strange, curved mask. The mask itself was dark, covered in small, pitch black beads. Sciones has been entranced by the mysterious of the mask. There was no label on the box, or anything to indicate what the mask was at all. Except for a single, bright red label that read "DO NOT OPEN". Sciones had seen plenty of labels like this as a thief, all of which indicated an antique, or perhaps something of extreme value that even the owners of this mansion couldn't afford to dirty. All of which made this mask even more appealing to Sciones.
"Say, whatcha got there bud?" Glenn's whisper sent a shiver up Sciones' spine.
"It's nothing. Just a mask." Sciones' short reply made Glenn frown.
"I'll tell you what kid, you go out there and gather up some shiny things," he rubbed his finger and thumb together, "and I'll get that mask outta there for ya."
Sciones could've gotten the mask himself, but Glenn could get it out without leaving so much a mark on the glass.
Instinctively, Sciones' ears rose.
Glenn let out a hardy laugh, "alright, you sold me, now go, while I take care of this."
Sciones felt frustrated, he didn't need help from anyone to get what he wanted. Especially not from Glenn.
Sciones swallowed his pride, and let out a slow nod as he turned towards the rest of the mansion.
As Sciones made his way through the grand hall, he couldn't shake off the feeling of unease that gnawed at him. Something about that mask was strange, but no matter what he couldn't determine what it was. He examined each room carefully, collecting all the little trinkets he could find. Suddenly, a terrible voice echoed through the halls.
Glenn's voice.
"Damn it! Leo!" The outburst meant something had gone terribly wrong. Never before had Sciones heard so much panic emit from Glenn's voice.
Sciones rushed back to the entrance of the building. The scene before him was puzzling. Glenn looked distraught, staring at the mask that had now been thrown onto the floor.
Leo was missing.
Sciones approached Glenn and cautiously asked, "What happened?"
Glenn didn't respond. His gaze was unmoving from the mask. Sciones gulped as looked toward the mask. Even more now he could feel an uneasy energy emitting from the mask.
Sciones slowly extended his hand to pick up the mask. Just as his fingertips brushed the surface, a sharp, piercing sound filled the air. He retracted his hand in an instant. A piercing voice boomed through his head.
"Where the hell am I? Glenn!" Suddenly, another voice.
"I want to go home!" Hundreds of voices rapidly filled Sciones' mind as he screeched in agony. Sciones reached for Glenn out of desperation.
"No! You stay away from me!" Glenn started to run towards to exit before tripping over himself, landing him prone on the ground and letting out a groan. The agonized Sciones latched onto Glenn's leg.
Suddenly, there was nothing to latch on to.
The space where Glenn had been was now empty, as if he had vanished into thin air. Tears rolled from Sciones' eyes. He went to wipe them away, but he couldn't reach his them. Instead, all he felt was a smooth, curved surface lathered with small beads.
Sciones' hands trembled as he moved his fingers across the surface, until it stopped. From his nose down, he was completely normal, but the mask now hid his eyes from the world.
No matter how much Sciones searched and screamed, he was alone with the voices screaming at him eternally.