Adrian shivered as he walked down an empty back street, drawing his threadbare coat closer to his body. It didn't do much to ward off the chill of the London morning, and Adrian found himself once again wishing he could just buy a new coat without anyone noticing and getting suspicious. But the thought was quickly shooed away by the young man. If that group got suspicious and raided his place, they'd find his stash, and take everything from him, and then where would he be? In the same place as the multitude of orphans and urchins living on the London streets. He would deal with the cold. It was really nothing, compared to the other trials he'd been forced to endure.
A harsh wind blew, messing Adrian's light brown hair up. He frowned and braved a few seconds of bitter cold to reach up and fix it. It would most likely be mussed up again in no time. Adrian squared his shoulders with a grimace.
The only reason the brunette was out this morning was because that group had contacted him. They had a job for him. Adrian was the best sneak thief in all of London, and unfortunately, that group knew it. The group had no qualms about threatening Adrian into doing their bidding, and Adrian was smart enough to know that they would act on their threats. So here he was, waiting in the bitter cold for one of the usual informants. Hopefully it was Hawk, not Spider.
"Good morning, Ian."
Curse my luck.
Adrian spun around and came face to face with the cruel informant. Spider was a terrifying person. He was very tall, and his gray eyes glinted coldly. It was no mystery to Adrian why the 26 year old was called Spider.
"Hello." Adrian greeted, eyeing Spider cautiously. Spider stalked closer with an evil smirk and Adrian took a step back, mark on the back of his neck beginning to tingle. "Stop. You're close enough, don't you think?"
"No." Spider disagreed, coming closer still. Adrian backed up more until he hit the alley wall. The mark stung painfully.
Damn it all.
"Are you here to give me a job or torture me?" Adrian snapped at Spider with false confidence. The informant finally stopped closing in and chuckled.
"You're right. How unprofessional of me." Spider pulled a piece of folded paper from his sleeve and handed it to the younger man. "Here is your job, Ian."
Adrian scanned over the familiar scrawl, then froze and read it again.
Phantomhive vault, Markson Bank. Pick up at 11, Thursday. Don't mess up, little thief~
"Are you people insane?!" Adrian barked, head snapping up to glare at Spider. The older man raised an warning eyebrow, but anger kept Adrian going. "I'll get killed! Or captured!"
"Are you saying you're not good enough to do this? Disappointing." Spider sighed. Adrian scrunched up his nose in an unvoiced snarl.
"It's the Phantomhives." He hissed. "The Evil Earl? Queen's Guard Dog? And you lunatics want me to rob them?! I rather enjoy living, thank you!"
"You can do it or not, makes no difference to me." Spider said with a shrug. He grinned down at Adrian maliciously. "You know what happens if you're not at pickup. Your choice, Ian."
With that, Spider turned on his heel and made quick work of disappearing, leaving Adrian shaking. In anger and because of the cold. His blood red eyes glared at the cobblestones, mind scrambling to find a way out of this mess. But nothing short of leaving London entirely came to mind. Adrian hung his head in defeat.
"Looks like I'm doing it..." He muttered. He straightened up and began walking back to his place, quietly planning aloud.
(눈_눈)
The streets were devoid of normal people, and the alley Adrian was waiting in was as well. The weak light of the partially covered moon slightly illuminated the area, but not enough that someone would be able to see him if they passed by.
Adrian was staring sharply up at a third story window, watching a light come closer. The thief tensed, and when the light retreated, began to scramble up the side of the building, using chips in bricks and the windowsills. In no time, Adrian was silently prying the window open and climbing inside.
The--misleadingly named--'vault' was down the hall, third door on the left from the window. Adrian crept down to it in complete silence, eyes sweeping across the black hallway cautiously. The mark prickled uncomfortably, but not badly enough that Adrian felt the need to turn back.
At the door, Adrian swiftly pulled out his pick locks and set to work on the lock. After a few moments, the lock clicked open and a wave of pain flooded Adrian's body. He lept back, away from the door, and stared at it like a deer would an oncoming carriage. There was something in there. Something very dangerous. Even away from the door, Adrian was feeling stabs of pain.
"No thank you." Adrian breathed, turning and bolting towards the window he had come from. He'd have to take some money from his small funds and tell that group that it was all he could get before guards showed up. Getting roughed up for bringing a small amount was better than facing whatever was in that room.
As Adrian began climbing out the window, a lightning bolt of pain hit him a second before someone grabbed his arm, keeping him from fleeing. The thief gasped at the hot red pain and tried to jerk his arm away. When the grip held firm, Adrian finally turned to face his captor. His wide eyes met with a pair of amused, burning magenta ones.
"Demon!" Adrian gasped, free hand flying up to cover the back of his neck. The magenta eyes, the only thing he could see, narrowed. The thief felt the hand on his arm tighten it's grip painfully. He once again tried to yank his arm away, despite the attempt before's failure. And to Adrian's surprise, the hand let go completely. The thief stared at the magenta eyes in shock as he leaned too far out of the window and began falling.
The fall was a short one, yet it seemed impossibly long at the same time. But no matter how long it took, in the end, Adrian's back slammed into the cobblestone and all air rushed out of his lungs. He gasped pitifully, trying to get any air he could. As he did so, a figure seemed to appear next to him, burning magenta eyes watching almost judgementally. A smaller, more childlike figure joined it, watching coldly as Adrian rolled onto his side and finally sucked in a giant breath, then began coughing.
"Is this really the infamous sneak thief?" The smaller figure scoffed, eyeing Adrian disdainfully. The taller one hummed.
"It would seem so, Young Master. Shall we be taking him to the manor for questioning?"
"Of course. Hurry up, it's chilly out here." The small one turned and walked away, leaving the other figure alone with Adrian. The thief was still one his side, coughing fit over and breathing normally. The magenta eyes scanned him from head to foot. The being sighed, and a dark aura surrounded them and him.
"How bothersome..."
That was the last thing Adrian heard before black overtook him.
