Theft of Light

by N. A. K. Baldron

  Their plan had been to go in where Lance had found a weakness since the motion detectors would be off inside while the mayor was home. If they could, it was still the plan, but, they needed to prepare for anything. They spent the next few hours going over all the photos Slava had taken.

  Once the sun was up, they felt confident that the backup plan was sound. It was unlikely they would need to use it, but just in case, it was there. Kandice hoped that Blake wouldn’t become anymore involved than he already was.

  Lance and Blake packed to go to the local shooting range so Blake could practice on targets. Kandice and Lance were planning to infiltrate the compound, so Blake would have to shoot the transformer. Having never shot a gun before, he needed to practice first. If the plan went sideways, Blake would then have to cut the phone line, and Slava would do what he could to stop any cars from getting to the house.

  When they left, Kandice spent the day binge watching TV. It had been several weeks since the last time. Her favorite shows were 90’s Sci-F. Something about the retro style was so appealing. That act of spacing out in front of the TV was like meditation.

  ♦ ♦ ♦

  The boys got back around 1:30 PM, Blake had a smirk on his face.

  “He’s a natural,” Lance said.

  “It was amazing,” Blake said. “At first I wasn’t hitting shit. But after I figured out how to adjust my scope, it went great.”

  “He’ll do great. We’re set.”

  Kandice looked at her phone. “We need to get ready for bed. We’ve got a long night ahead of us.”

  Lance smiled. “Agreed. We’ll take our time getting ready when we wake up. I want to leave here by three.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Sunday, October 30th

  At 3:20 AM Slava stopped the SUV. Kandice, Lance, and Blake hoped out, wach with their own packs. Slava drove off, and they made their way through the park. There was no one around, which Kandice found peaceful. She pushed what they were about to do to the back of her mind, but only for a few moments. They hadn’t seen many cops on their way down. Kandice figured since it was Sunday night, the drunks called it a night at 2:00 AM, because of work in the morning.

  The three of them walked as fast as they could without drawing attention to themselves. Lance had already said if the police showed up, he’d have no choice but to attack. Slava had a scanner online in the SUV, and was listening for any activity, just in case.

  “Domestic dispute on Barton Hills,” Slava said, they heard him through their earpieces.

  “They are coming from the east on Barton Springs,” Slava said. “You are clear, but keep an eye out.”

  “Affirmative,” Lance said.

  At 3:38, they were sitting on a hill, looking over into the mayor’s house. Kandice tapped Lance on the shoulder and pointed. There was a third guard outside. Blake had taken out his rifle, a stock AR15 with an extra laser guided sight, and aimed at the transformer to ensure he had a clear sight.

  Slava parked about two minutes up the road with his lights off, ready to come get them in a moments notice.

  Aside from the lights in the yard, the house was dark. They couldn’t see into the mayor’s office, and his bedroom was out of sight, but, with both his SUVs in the drive they knew he was home.

  There was no sign of the female Aether Walker which made Kandice nervous. They’d never been able to confirm her movements at night. Slava had tried several times, but he never saw her come or go, unless she was with the mayor. They could only assume that she lived with him, and would be inside.

  All the outside guards were human, which would make it easy for Kandice and Lance to take them out.

  They sat and waited.

  Lance didn’t want to move until 4:00 AM. He knew most of the police switched shifts at 5:30 AM - 6:00 AM, and he figured that by 4:00 AM, they would all be parked somewhere, and only respond if there was a call.

  “Stay here,” Lance said, when 4:01 AM came around. “When I give the signal, shoot the transformer. If I give the second signal, you need to cut the phone line.”

  Kandice took a breath and hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Blake was too close to the house as it was. Without being able to change he was defenseless.

  “We change only once we’re over the wall,” Lance said. “We’ll have about fifteen minutes before we have to change back. If we can, we take out the guards without changing.”

  “No killing. Agreed?” she asked.

  Lance and her had been arguing this point since day one of planning.

  “We do what we must.” He pulled out two tranquilizer guns and handed one to her.

  Lance clicked on his walkie talkie. “We’re moving out. Is it all clear?”

  “Nothing on the scanner,” Slava said.

  “Affirmative.”

  “Good luck,” Blake said, as they dropped their ropes down the small cliff and shimmied down.

  They made their way down the road, staying in the shadows, and then cut across, working their way back to the mayor’s walls.

  “Guards’ position?” Lance asked over the walkie talkie.

  “Far-right, clear,” Blake said.

  “Affirmative,” Lance said.

  Lance helped push Kandice up on the wall. The lights only lit up the interior of the property, not the outside. This left Kandice in the shadow of darkness. There was no moon out, which is why Lance had picked that night to attack.

  Once she was secure on the wall, she offered her hand to Lance, and helped pull him up as he climbed. They both lowered themselves over the other side and dropped the final three feet in silence. When Kandice landed, her ankle twisted, and the pain was instant. It started off like ice running through her veins and end with knives stabbing over and over.

  “Twisted ankle,” she whispered to Lance. “Give me a sec.”

  There wasn’t time for this, they were here. She did her best to swallow the pain and push through it.

  They hunkered down behind a bush, while Kandice flexed and rotated her ankle, trying to work out the pain. After a minute, she could stand again.

  “Can you run?” Lance whispered.

  “I’ve had worse. I’ll be fine.”

  They moved forward and peered through the bush. There was one guard carrying a larger gun.

  “Left guards?” Lance asked over the walkie talkie.

  “One in the far back. Second is looking at the far-right guard, near you,” Blake said.

  “Affirmative,” Lance said.

  “You shoot the closest one, and I’ll take out the other,” Lance whispered to Kandice. “Then, we change, and take out the last one.”

  “Okay,” she said.

  They each pulled out a seal and took aim. On the count of three, they both took their shot. The men wobbled for a second before dropping. Kandice and Lance slapped their seals onto their stomachs and charged, dropping their guns in the bushes.

  Kandice’s gloves ripped open and fell off as her hands grew and her claws developed.

  In moments, they were across the yard, and turning the corner of the house to confront the last guard.

  The guard tried to raise his gun, but before he could get it up, Lance was on top of him and snapped his neck.

  “No!” Kandice screamed. “You said no killing!”

  “He had a gun,” Lance said, brushing off her comment. “Follow me.”

  Kandice had no choice and followed Lance to the back of the house. They made their way up to the balcony of the room Lance had been in before.

  He clicked the walkie talkie. “Now!”

  A second later, there was a loud pop and the lights in the yard blinked out.

  “Fifteen minutes starts now,” Slava said.

  “Get in position,” Lance said.

  “Affirmative,” Blake said.

  Blake’s job was to get over the wall and prepare to cut the phone line if the alarm sounded.

  Kandice and Lance waited, staring through the window, hoping that no one was insi
de.

  The seconds moved by and the three minutes it took Blake to get into position felt like an eternity.

  “Ready,” Blake said.

  “Affirmative,” Lance said.

  Lance tried to lift the window, just in case it was unlocked. It wasn’t. Kandice shattered the glass with her claws and did her best to clear the broken glass. Lance slipped through the open window, and opened the door so she could get in.

  The room was pitch black. They brought flashlights in case of an emergency.

  They stopped at the door leading out of the room and listened. There wasn’t any noise coming from the other side. After opening the door with caution, they were standing on a walkway, with stairs leading down, and doors around the top. It resembled an old Victorian manor she’d seen in history films of the south.

  “One of these is his room,” Lance said.

  They opened the first door and clicked on their flashlights. It was a bedroom, but it was empty.

  He clicked off the light.

  “Guest room,” Kandice said.

  When they walked to the second door, Kandice tapped Lance on the shoulder, pointing to the corner behind them, above the stairs. There was a camera clear as day, with a red light blinking.

  “Problem,” Lance said over the walkie talkie. “We’ve got cameras, and they’re on.”

  “There must be a backup power source,” Blake said.

  “Ten minutes,” Slava said.

  “We’ve got to take them out,” Lance said over the walkie talkie.

  “Won’t matter, unless you find out where the footage is going,” Blake said. “If it’s an online stream, we’re fucked.”

  “Affirmative,” Lance said.

  “Follow the plan,” he told Kandice.

  A quick flash of light in the next room told them it was a bathroom.

  They opened the third door, and Lance clicked on his light again. It was a much larger bedroom, with the bed unmade.

  “Mayor’s room?” Kandice asked.

  They moved in together and did a quick search of the room. The first door they opened inside the room was the closest to the door they came in, and it led to the master bathroom. Lance searched, while Kandice stayed in the bedroom, to open the other closed door. It led to a walk-in closet. Aside from an unbelievable number of suits, there was nothing of note.

  Lance walked back into the bedroom. “All clear.”

  “Office,” Kandice said.

  They turned their lights off and made their way down the walkway. When they got to the office door, it wouldn't open.

  Before they could bust open the door, a light shone against the wall of the stairs. A quick look over the ledge showed two figures were down below. As the figures moved up the stairs, one was the female Aether Walker, and the other was a normal man.

  “You take the man!” Lance jumped over the ledge, landing on the Aether Walker.

  She took a moment to react, but followed. She jumped over the guardrail and landed just behind the human on the stairs. He didn’t stand a chance. Before he had time to respond to the two of them falling down upon him, Kandice punched him in the side of the head. The force was enough to knock him up two steps, and he crumpled on the landing of the stairs. Kandice threw his gun down the stairs, towards the front door. It almost hit Lance in the back of the head as he spun behind the Aether Walker.

  The Aether Walker was the smallest Kandice had seen. She only came to Lance’s shoulder, and was less than half the size of Kandice, but her speed was unbelievable. Every time Lance slashed, she moved out of the way.

  Kandice jumped down the stairs, taking four steps at a time. She brought her claws down in an arc, right as Lance slashed, and caught the Aether Walker in the back, ripping through her flesh like it was butter. Purple blood flew as the lights in the house came on.

  “What’s happening?” Blake asked over the walkie talkie.

  “Seven minutes,” Slava said. “Do I need to move in?”

  Kandice and Lance moved as one, the weeks of training was paying off. They each knew what the other wanted to do before it happened. They pinned the Aether Walker, and Kandice pushed all her weight onto the woman's body. The Aether Walker wasn’t going anywhere.

  “We’re fine,” Lance said over the walkie talkie. “Stick to the plan.”

  “Where’s the mayor?” Kandice demanded.

  The Aether Walker spat in Kandice’s face, and Lance punched her in what would have been a nose.

  “Where is he?” Lance asked.

  “Fuck you,” the Aether Walker said.

  Lance shrugged and jabbed his claws into the neck of the Aether Walker. The purple blood splattered all over Kandice, some of which got in her mouth. She spat out as much as possible, but the taste of rotten eggs wouldn’t leave her mouth.

  Lance clicked on his walkie talkie. “We need a concealment seal.”

  “Affirmative,” Slava said. “Six minutes. Still nothing on the scanner.”

  “Affirmative.”

  “Let’s go,” he said to Kandice.

  They ran back up the stairs to the office door.

  “Ready?” Lance whispered.

  Kandice nodded.

  Right as they busted the door open, the mayor fired. Lance tried to push Kandice out of the way, but missed. The bullet caught her in the left arm and lodged itself halfway in.

  Kandice groaned in pain, and Lance shot off towards the mayor. He was slower than Lance, but twice the size of Kandice. His first punch knocked Lance to the floor, and he slid to the middle of the room. The mayor walked over his desk, towards them.

  Kandice had to act. The pain in her arm was blinding, but the giant form that was the mayor was obvious. She darted towards Lance, and lunged at the mayor, sinking her teeth into his arm. Vile blood poured into her mouth, and she fought down the urge to vomit.

  Lance got back to his feet and joined the fight.

  There was a flurry of limbs as Lance and Kandice both clawed and bit at the mayor. His fists struck them both several times, each time knocking them to the ground. When he knocked Kandice off, she took a chunk of flesh with her. Blood from the mayor’s arm was pouring onto the floor.

  “Two minutes,” Slava said. “Open the gate.”

  Lance lunged forward from the floor and sank his teeth into the mayor’s leg.

  “Affirmative,” Blake said.

  Kandice blocked a punch inches from Lance’s head. The mayor roared and flung Lance off his leg and in an instant he vanished.

  “Fuck!” Lance screamed and ripped off his seal. “Take your seal off!”

  Kandice did so and sunk to the ground. Her arm was bleeding. Blood pooled on the floor below her.

  Lance took a bandage from the pack on his hip and wrapped Kandice’s arm.

  “We’ll take care of this better when we’re gone,” he said.

  He walked behind the mayor’s desk, and clicked on his walkie talkie, “I found the camera footage. It’s on the computer.”

  “I’m coming in,” Blake said.

  They heard Blake open the front door, then the sound of the alarm. Lance hadn’t given the signal, and Blake hadn’t cut the wire.

  “Get out,” Slava said. “I will set the concealment seal.”

  “We have to take care of the footage,” Lance said over the walkie talkie.

  Blake came into the room and stopped when he saw Kandice on the floor.

  “I’ll be fine,” she said. “Take care of the footage.”

  Blake closed his eyes for a moment and then walked over to Lance, behind the desk.

  Blake clicked away on the computer. “I can’t be sure, but I think the footage only feeds into here.”

  “Polistsiya are coming,” Slava said. “We have to go.”

  Blake dropped to the floor and pulled wires under the desk. When he stood back up, he was carrying a desktop.

  “We’ll take it with us,” Blake said. “Only option.”

  “Fine,” Lance said.


  Blake tried to hand Lance the computer, but Lance waved him off.

  “You go,” he said. “I’ve got Kandice.”

  Lance helped Kandice to her feet. Blake was already out the door.

  The gun shot made Kandice’s heart stop. She pushed herself forward, away from Lance. Blake lay crumpled on the landing of the stairs, his blood already flowing on the carpet.

  “No!” she screamed.

  Blake didn’t move.

  Kandice pulled out a new seal from her pocket with her good arm. Lance tried to catch her, but she was too fast. The seal was on her stomach and she jumped over the ledge before the change completed. As she was falling a second bullet hit Blake.

  Kandice landed in front of the guard, changed, and furious. Before he could aim his gun at her, she ripped his arm clean off, and the gun fired into the wall. She slashed at his stomach with her claws, as his guts tumbled out, she pulled his head off, removing it clean from his neck.

  Blood was everywhere, and it was impossible to tell where the red of her scales began, and the crimson of the guard’s blood ended.

  She was panting hard, holding the guards head in her hands, and staring in his dead eyes.

  Lance’s arm reached around her body and pulled the seal off.

  The next moment, she was looking up at the ceiling. Slava picked her up over his shoulder; Lance carried Blake’s body beside them.

  Once in the SUV Lance put a computer next to her, in the back seat, then climbed into the storage section in the back. Kandice craned her neck as much as it would allow, to see what was going on.

  Lance had Blake’s shirt off and was applying bandages to the two bullet holes. Blake wasn’t moving.

  Her heart was racing, this couldn’t be happening right now. It was like a horrible dream that her mind wouldn’t wake up from. Even though it was happening right in front of her, it was too much for her mind to process. She tried to speak, but her voice wouldn’t come.

  “I need a seal, now!” Lance yelled.

  The next moment, a metal seal flew into the back, and Lance caught it. He placed it over Blake’s heart.

  Slava took an underpass so fast that Kandice’s body slammed against the door. Her body pressed into the seat as Slava accelerated onto the highway.