Chapter 2 – Manor Mission
Elise left the building with a strong feeling of unease. What a strange comment for Mr. Smith to make to her she thought, “You won’t regret it.” Why would she anyway, hmm, well the sooner she delivered this precious silver box to him, the better.
During the previous hour, Elise had been given instructions, guidelines and the location for her assignment. The elusive silver box was to be found in the house of a Mr. Andris Blackstone. This was no ordinary house, just around the corner, but was in fact a Manor house located in a remote wooded area of the Pacific North West, in the state of Washington. Elise was told that the target object would be found locked away in a wall vault within the master bedroom of the property, which was apparently where Mr. Blackstone kept his valuables. Elise had carefully studied the estate plans and room layouts and now carried them with her for future reference, although her memory was excellent, usually once studied, not forgotten!
Elise was anxious to complete the task at hand. She had successfully carried out much more complex and high-risk assignments during her career as a high class thief. At face value, this seemed like a rather simple assignment, too simple in fact, and Elise’s gut feeling kept telling her that something was amiss. Time to go to work now and get this over with Elise thought to herself while hurrying out of the building, so she could go home and pack the required essentials she’ll be needing for her trip.
Two nights later, following the directions Mr. Smith had given her during their meeting, Elise found herself trekking carefully through the dense wooded area towards the Blackstone’s Manor estate. By a strange quirk of fate it was a full moon, which illuminated the area quite sufficiently, enabling Elise to navigate easily through the thick woodland. After about an hour of walking, she calculated the Manor should be within sight, and paused to scan the area around her. Her eyes caught site of a pair of high iron gates, just barely visible through the thick foliage, and they were surrounded on either side by moss covered stone walls. That has got to be the Manor, Elise thought, making her way stealthily in the direction towards the iron gates.
Standing behind the huge walls, initially hidden from view, Elise peered through an adjoining gate, and caught herself gasping at her first close-up view of the Manor house. It was a truly magnificent structure, huge, imposing, and with an almost supernatural eerie presence. The house itself looked like a gothic castle, and was heavily adorned with thick trailing ivy. The enormous driveway was flanked on either side by a thick canopy of trees and foliage, culminating in two imposing stone statues that appeared to be seemingly guarding the entrance.
Amazing, thought Elise, as she felt like she was stepping back in time into another era, but she had a job to do and needed to stay focused. Her first priority was to assess the security arrangements and break them, which was something she was quite adept at doing. Slipping easily through the wide gaps in the Iron Gates, Elise quietly crept along the side of the walls using the foliage and trees as a cover. Through one or two windows she could make out a faint glimmer of light, which meant either low lighting or heavy drapes. Either way, she would wait until they were switched off before making her move to go inside the house.
By now, Elise had reached one of the many side entrances of the expansive house, and she stood quietly to survey the area. Listening to the wind rustling through the trees, and watching the full moon covered temporarily by passing clouds, this location definitely had an imposing supernatural feel to it, Elise thought, almost expecting to hear the cries of a lone wolf at any moment.
Elise paced the perimeter methodically; searching for any obvious, or not-so-obvious, security arrangements. It seemed incredible to her that a house of this size and supposed wealth, appeared not to have any security to contend with. Checking once again, Elise could only find the most basic of window and door locks, and no signs of any electronic equipment whatsoever, which was extremely unusual. Concern rose within her, as this was not something she was used to, and alarm bells started to ring a warning in her head. She must be overlooking some important factor, but what could it be? Rechecking the back entrance once more, Elise noticed a set of canine footprints, originating it would appear, from inside the house. Dogs she could deal with. If she entered quickly and silently, she would remain undetected, and they would never even know she was in the house .If they did find her, most dogs could be distracted. She has yet to have any of her assignments foiled by man’s ‘best friend’. If that was the best this Andris Blackstone had to offer, then perhaps this job was going to be ‘child`s play’ after all. Which begged the question, why then would Mr. Smith’s client require someone as skilled and expensive as herself?
Standing in the darkness under the cover of a huge overhanging tree, Elise decided to wait another fifteen minutes, and then it’s time to spring into action, she thought. Feeling around in her pockets, she mentally checked her usual array of tools necessary for this specific type of work. Night vision goggles, small bottle of oil, pliers, twine, small torch, file etc, etc. As for the layout of the interior, Elise had no doubt that her superior skills and memory would quickly lead her directly to her destination, the master bedroom, and ultimately the wall vault, which should not prove difficult to crack for a person of her expertise. Checking her watch once more, Elise decided it was time; and the dim lights she noticed before had been off for just over an hour now. Mr. Smith had informed Elise earlier that there currently would be no more than two or three people in residence, so given a house of this size, she felt sure her mission would be simple.
Donning her night vision glasses, Elise crept carefully around to her previously chosen point of entry, and within less than a couple minutes, Elise had silently and expertly gained access into the darkened house. She, paused for a moment, breathing quietly, her ears straining to hear any sound, wanting to be absolutely certain she had not tripped any hidden alarm during her entrance. After a few minutes of total silence, convinced she was undetected, she continued her mission further into the Manor`s interior .Once inside a property, Elise always relied on her memory, her instincts, and a sense of touch to guide her to her destination.
Creeping soundlessly along a massive hallway, Elise took notice to the huge paintings lining the walls, carved statues, and high ceilings. This place signified wealth in a strange old world sort of way, and not of modern day. She also noticed a strange musky odor that hung in the air, almost as if the house was neglected, although it certainly didn`t appear to be. Cautiously, Elise stepped onto a wide staircase, her lithe agile limbs ensuring she was as fast and silent as a mouse. Reaching the top of the stairs, which would have deposited her in the corridor that housed the bedrooms, Elise mentally retrieved the bedroom layout from the plans previously provided to her, and cautiously began approaching them, one by one. Peering around the first door, she caught site of the shape of two sleeping forms in a large bed centered at the far end of the room. Clothes were neatly placed across an armchair, and an open book lay on the bedside table. Standing silently in the doorway for a moment, Elise listened for the sounds of breathing, finally deciding they were both asleep, and she moved on to the next room.
Across the hall, she squeezed her thin frame through a tiny gap in the open door to another bedroom, and checked it for occupants. Her night-vision goggles highlighted a single form hidden under a quilted cover, which rose and fell with each breath taken. Sweet, Elise thought, the coast is clear so far. Creeping silently further along the hallway to the location of where the master bedroom should be, Elise reached into her pocket and retrieved the small bottle of oil, and tipped a few drops onto the hinges of the bedroom door. She slowly eased the door open soundlessly, and thought to herself, so far so good. Carefully scanning the inside of the bedroom through her night vision goggles, Elise surveyed the scene before her, checking for any signs of it being occupied. In the corner, was a large unoccupied four poster bed, its beautiful heavy drapes fastened with ties.
Elise sighed silently
to herself with relief, comfortable that there were no signs of life in this room. She advanced slowly further into the bedroom, her eyes continuously scanning around her and on alert for any flicker of movement, or hint of sound, however faint it may be. Suddenly, she was stopped in her tracks by the sight of something bright and glinting from in front of her. There on a cloth covered table across the room, laid a silver box, illuminated by a thin shaft of moonlight emanating from a gap in the curtain across the room. Could this be her prize, the much coveted silver box she was commissioned to retrieve? Surely not, Elise thought. How could her mission be this easy. Her whole body began to vibrate anxiously. Something was wrong here. Something was very, very wrong.
Would this Andris Blackstone character be foolhardy enough to keep his prized possessions out in the open like this? What happened to the wall safe that she was told he housed his valuables in? This felt like a set-up at this point, and Elise hesitated near the doorway wondering what action to take next. Should she trust her instincts and leave? Quickly deciding that she was already halfway through her assignment and two million dollars was almost hers, Elise decided the only course of action was to grab the silver box and get the hell out of there. The faster she could make her way out of the estate and back to meet Mr. Smith, the faster she could collect her second check and start packing for a long leisurely vacation.
The decision made, Elise slowly made her way towards the silver box on the table as she continuously looked around for any signs of alarms or traps. Shaking her head in utter disbelief mixed with growing sense of fear when she realized the room appeared to be free of either, Elise reached the edge of the table and stretched out her arm to claim her prize.
At the precise moment her hand made contact with the top of the silver box, she froze, stopped mid-motion by a low growl that sounded directly behind her. Elise whirled around ready to face whatever was coming, but instead felt herself being knocked violently to the ground, hitting her head on the side of the table as she fell. Pain flooded through her skull and lights flashed behind her eyelids, which was swiftly followed by an enveloping, almost comforting blackness.