Darkness settled quickly on Jacob’s Island. The sun was chased away from the sky by the expectations of the denizens beneath. Despite the cold, nighttime was when the place came alive. All manner of activities that would not usually occur in the light of day were quite commonplace by night. Pimps peddled their whores. Thieves raided the manors and bastions of the wealthy and bruisers left bodies bloody and broken on the fouled ground. It was all part of the fabric that made up the Island.

Jonny thought this and more, and he stepped from the doorstep of Patsy’s place and into the familiar shadows of night. Jonny took a deep breath. The chill spread down Jonny’s throat and into his lungs. The cold air invigorated him. Jonny always felt more alive at night than during the day. During the day, everyone moved about loudly and bumbled through their insignificant lives. Most stumbled through life without purpose. At night, though. The night was different. Everyone who traversed through the evening did so with quiet, lethal purpose. They were the scions of death, greed, and lust moving about their respective businesses.

Jonny could respect purposes, and on this night, he had a purpose as well. Safely ensconced within the shadows and hidden by his unique, mottled cloak, Jonny surreptitiously made his way West towards the inner city. Jonny floated through the streets and the alleyways like the Ghost he was. His ears pricked for any sound out of the ordinary. His hands had a slight tremble. They were ready to equip his life-saver or a dagger as needed to neutralize the various threats of the night.

Jonny was heading to rendezvous with Mouse at a house across the street from his target. They would scope the place out this evening and then steal the item the next. Jonny’s very blood felt energized at the thought. It had been a long time since he had undergone a major heist. He forgot how much he missed this feeling. It was like plunging off the edge of a cliff and being unsure of how deep the water was at the bottom. It was dangerous, but it could also be highly rewarding so long as you didn’t hit any rocks. That was life though. Many times, we don’t get to pick the cliffs we jump off, and we never know just how deep the water is. Your character is decided by what you do when you get to the bottom and how you deal with the inevitable complications. Maybe you hit a rock, crack your skull, and drown in the surf. That’s also life. We don’t get to choose the time we go; we just try to live the best we can until that esoteric clock finally ticks down to nothing.

Of course, some people were too afraid to take the leap in the first place. Jonny pitied those people. They would never be anything but observers. They could only silently watch as other people made the jump. They would then regretfully ask themselves why they never took the chance. They would die as all things die and their finals thought would be “what if?”

It was the mystery of the thing that attracted Jonny. He didn’t consider himself as a thief, a killer, and a symbol of the darkest brutality that the Island had to offer. In truth, he was all of those things, but Jonny considered himself something of a pioneer. He was an explorer, willing and able to delve into the deepest places in the human psyche. Often, he did this alone and at great danger to himself. In the end, he only relied on himself.

In the depths of his character, he was intensely curious about the world. He wanted to find and expose all the secrets that people kept hidden from the light of the day. He was uniquely suited to exposing them, and so he did. It just so happened that those secrets tended to be extremely profitable to someone, somewhere. He had no regrets in the life he had lived thus far. Regrets were for those without a purpose, and this was a night for purposes.

Soon, Jonny had made it into the neighborhood of St. Giles. In composition, it wasn’t much different than the Island. There were more people active around the area. Jonny assumed that was because of the centrality of the location. Jacob’s Island was a bit out of the way, and most rational people avoided it like the plague. Other than that, the feel of the place felt remarkably similar to home. Jonny stamped on that thought quickly. He wasn’t home. He was in enemy territory, and a casual slip could end with his death. Once he neared the block of his target, he faded into a darkened alleyway. He took out his lantern from his rucksack and lit it carefully. He used the lamp to identify a path on the building that would get him to the roof.

Rookeries were warrens of twisting alleyways and streets. More often than not, they only had a single entrance and exit. Because of this, night time travelers had taken to using the rooftops as a second sort of road. It was a convenient mode of travel for thieves because it offered them a means of escape and few people looked above them for suspicious activities. In a place like this, Jonny had to be careful that the rotted wood didn’t give way and send him crashing awkwardly into someone’s domicile.

Jonny quickly memorized the route he would take before extinguishing his lantern and then throwing it back into his rucksack. Jonny carefully ascended the side of the building. His boots made nary a whisper, and the soundproofing within his gear kept him safe and silent. A few moments later and he was crouching on top of the roof and looking over the expanse of roofs and walkways. The moon was bright enough that Jonny could see easily the path he would need to take to get closer to his target.

Creeping along, Jonny made sure to test the roof before placing his full weight on any single location. The going was slow, and he stayed flat on the roof in order not to silhouette himself against the light of the moon. As he neared the location from where they would be staking out the Lord’s manse, Jonny started to look for where Mouse could be holed up. Jonny began to coo. The coo sounded remarkably like the sound a common tawny owl makes. Jonny made the sound twice and then waited for an answering call. A short while later an answering coo could be heard originating from near a large chimney. Jonny ghosted to the chimney without even a creak of wood to mark his passing.

Jonny noticed a shadow that seemed to be larger that Mouse’s form. Alarmed, Jonny began to think that this could be a dangle. A dagger quickly found its way into Jonny’s grasp. This dagger had previously been blackened like all of his blades to avoid the tell-tale sheen of moonlight on metal. Jonny took a circuitous route around the chimney to surprise whoever was waiting for him. As Jonny was a few paces away, the shadow split into two forms, and Jonny became more curious than alarmed. It looked as if there were two small children rather than a full-sized adult waiting for him.

Jonny growled, “What the bloody hell are you doing, Mouse?”

Both of the shadows visibly started and turned to face him. They stepped out of the shadow of the chimney and into the moonlight. Mouse could see the silhouette of Jonny and was still surprised at his appearance. Mouse was looking right at him but the way that the light fell upon his frame, the edges of his body looked indistinct and fuzzy. Looking at him dead on it was still difficult to tell where Jonny was facing with the cowl of his cloak pulled down low. The surprise of his appearance only added to the hysteria that Mouse was feeling. Mouse came closer and pulled Elizabeth with him. Elizabeth was a pretty girl. She had blonde hair that shone in the moonlight. Mouse had apparently taken some pains to hide its distinctive shimmer with a dark colored shawl, but Jonny could still see the curls peek out and reflect the silver light.

“What is this, Mouse?”

Mouse quietly but quickly tried to explain. “Jonny, I came to the point as you and I agreed, and I found Liz waiting for me. This is usually the place that we meet, and I was surprised to see her. I’ll let her tell you what she said to me.”

Elizabeth found it difficult to communicate with the Ghost. Even here in St. Giles, he was a legend among men. The Ghost had built his infamy with the most challenging and trickiest jobs. Elizabeth found him intimidating on a primal level. Nevertheless, the gave a shy smile and explained the situation at Mouse’s urging.

“The Lord is only going to be in the manor tonight. I overheard the Lord talking to my mother. Apparently, urgent business came up, and the Lord needs to go to Wales in the morning. There won’t be any opportunity to steal anything after tonight.”

Jonny cursed out loud in a hiss. “Bloody fucking hell! It’s like the entire universe is conspiring against me on this job.” After a few seconds to ponder his dilemma, Jonny decided on an avenue of approach.

“Alright, Elizabeth, did you already unlock the hatch?”

She timidly replied. “Yes, Ghost.”

Jonny nodded, satisfied. “Ok, explain the layout to me. Where are the guards and where does the Lord sleep?”

“It’s a two story house. The first floor has a reception area, kitchen, storage room and dining room. There is a washroom and small room where six guards take shifts sleeping in. The Lord is pretty paranoid and makes sure the house stays full with guards and staff to make it more difficult for an assassination. Two guards are on the first floor, and two are on the second while the other two should be sleeping. The second floor consisted of the master bedroom where the Lord sleeps, two washrooms, and four bedrooms for guests. The Lord doesn’t have a family; she’ll be in there.”

Jonny’s mind tripped over itself at the child’s last sentence. “What do you mean, she’ll be in there?” Jonny placed emphasis on the “she’ll.”

Elizabeth shrugged. “The Lord of Seven Dials is a woman. That’s her biggest secret.” She delivered the earth-shaking revelation as if it was of no consequence. Something strange occurred in Jonny’s mind. He had killed women before. Bodies all bled and died the same. He shouldn’t feel as upset as he was about the fact that the Lord was a woman.

Jonny’s head started to ache. It felt like part of him was rebelling at the idea while another part of him was comfortable with the notion. The cognitive dissonance between two opposing yet equal ideas threatened to tear his mind apart. Taking deep breaths, Jonny tried to suppress the fit that had overtaken him. The silence wore on, and Mouse commented on it.

“Are you alright, Jonny? I’m sorry I didn’t know. This is the first time that I heard the Lord was a woman. Does it matter overmuch?”

Jonny shook his head to dismiss the phantasms crowding his brain. Equilibrium slowly crept back. His gruff voice sounded hoarse with suppressed pain. “No. No, it doesn’t. Get lost kids. I’ll take care of this.” Jonny tried to inject some confidence into his voice but could tell that Mouse didn’t quite believe him. The lad had spent too much time on the streets to be fooled by such a weak performance. At that moment, Mouse decided to get Elizabeth to safety and then circle back so that he could help Jonny. Mouse grabbed Elizabeth’s hand and escorted her out of harm’s way.

Jonny surveyed the target. He was trying to get some last minute impressions before he charged into danger in a way that he had never done before. This was not how Jonny liked to do business. He was a meticulous planner. The house itself was in remarkable condition when compared to the rest of St. Giles. Jonny was surprised the Lord kept her dwelling in such comfort. It was light a flashing sign asking for people to attempt to rob her. Maybe that was why she kept such a heavy guard presence.

Jonny wasn’t sure how he was going to neutralize the guards. He had all the tools to ensure it was silent but Jonny didn’t typically mix thievery and murder. Corpses complicated things and routine robberies were tricky enough. Jonny couldn’t see any sign of the guards patrolling the outside, but if he were the Lord, then he would have some means of getting more bruisers to the property as quickly as possible. Jonny would have to be on guard for such measures.

Deciding that he couldn’t sit there all night, Jonny detached himself from the shadows on the roof. Making his way to the edge of the roof, he dropped down to the ground without a sound. The Lord’s house was across a narrow street from the shelter he occupied, and it would be safer to cross it on the ground rather than trying to leap across. Jonny wasn’t sure he could make the jump in the first place, and any misstep could send him crashing through the roof or alerting someone to his presence.

Jonny crossed the street without incident. He didn’t notice anyone watching him, and so he confidently made his way into the alleyway next to the Lord’s house. There was enough moonlight for Jonny to navigate his way on to the top of the roof. His vision had long since acclimated to the darkness. He quietly pulled himself over the edge of the roof and lay flat along the top. He waited for a few breaths. He strained his ears to detect any unusual the sounds. A scrape of leather or whisper of cloth would be all Jonny needed to know that he had been detected.

Thankfully, Jonny heard nothing that would indicate that his presence had been discovered. Jonny slithered across the roof on his belly. There was no need to go quickly. In this case, moving quickly would only be asking for detection and a slow death. He kept his eyes peeled for any raised surface that would reveal the escape hatch that the Lord had built into her house. After a few minutes of quietly searching, he found a series of shingles that were raised higher than the rest. Jonny neared it and took off his gloves. He tucked the gloves into his belt as he used his sensitive fingers to feel the edges of the trap door.

Confident that he had found it, Jonny replaced his gloves and lifted the hatch only far enough to get a look in. Moonlight streamed into the crack into an empty room. It looked to be another storage room. Barrels were stacked intentionally to create a path to the hatch. Jonny was gratified to find nothing in the room other than the barrels. Slowly and carefully, Jonny lifted the hatch only far enough to fit his frame. He turned his body and slipped quietly into the hatch. The only sound that came from his movement was the whisper of his cloak on the ground.

Jonny perched on the top of a barrel and slowly closed the hatch. The interior of the room was dark. Now that the hatch had been closed. Jonny felt his way in the darkness until he was on the ground. At this point, he carefully pulled the lantern out of his rucksack and lit it. He closed the shutter until only a sliver of light could be seen from the lantern. Jonny made sure to position the lantern in such a way that the light wouldn’t fall towards the only door into the room. It would be extremely unfortunate if the light from his lantern gave him away at such a pivotal moment.

Now that Jonny could see, he took off his rucksack and lay it on the ground. Next, he took off his cloak. The cloak was great for deception but it wouldn’t do anything but restrict his movement during close combat. This was the time for solid knife work and not trying to blend in.

While Jonny was in the Lord’s house, Mouse had returned to his previous perch in the shadows of the chimney. Since he could not see Jonny, Mouse assumed that he had entered the building. Secretly, Mouse was impressed with everything about Jonny. He was the Ghost. Mouse had no doubts to his success tonight. Mouse took his duties as a crow seriously and he wanted to impress Jonny with his clever thinking and quick wit.

With this in mind, Mouse started to think about how he could help Jonny succeed. Mouse didn’t know much of the layout of the building. The furthest he had been inside had been the storage room that the hatch opened into. Elizabeth said it was too dangerous for anything else. Additionally, the positioning of the guards was unknown as well. With a flash of inspiration, Mouse knew what he could do to help out Jonny. Jonny was basically going in blind and once he was inside he wouldn’t be able to figure out the positioning of the guards without putting himself in danger. If Mouse could set up some kind of distraction, then he could reveal their positions to Jonny.

Smiling, Mouse made his way to the street level. He observed the front of the building to look for ways he could cause a distraction. There wasn’t anything that stood out to Mouse about the building. Sure, it was nicer. It was painted, didn’t look like it was rotted to the foundations like most of the buildings around. Even the windows were clean and well-maintained. That wasn’t usual. Wait. The windows. Mouse became ecstatic. He began looking around in the garbage and filth in order to find what he was looking for. After a few minutes of rooting in the trash, he found what he was looking for. Pulling his hand from the gross combination of trash and excrement, he had a loose cobblestone clutched in his hand.

Mouse’s idea was simple. If he can throw a cobblestone through the shutters and crack or break a window on the first floor, the first floor guards would naturally come to investigate. The sound would cause the second-floor guards to move to whatever pre assigned position they were trained to take and then Jonny would have an idea of where he needed to strike. Mouse excitedly got into position on the other side of the street from the house. He needed the distance in order to have enough time to make his escape from the Lord’s guards.

Checking his aim, Mouse launched the cobblestone with as much force as his frame could muster. Mouse’s aim was true and the cobblestone crashed into the shutters covering the window. The flimsy screens were there for mere decoration and did not stop the force behind the thrown cobblestone. A great crashing sound was heard as the rock sailed straight through the window and left the shutters hanging loosely like cut marionette handles. The sound immediately brought a bellow from the guards on the first floor. Mouse stayed where he was so that he could barely be spotted in the shadow of the street. Seconds later, two guards come pounding out the front door and began looking for whoever attacked the house.

Seeing their angry faces with large clubs clasped in their meaty paws, Mouse immediately turned and run. One man shouted at the other and pointed to Mouse’s quickly departing form and the two men launched themselves in his direction. Mouse didn’t look back at the men chasing him. Any distraction from the chase could end in his capture and death. Mouse pelted through streets and alleyways that seemed mostly the same. He had been coming to this rookery for some weeks and so he knew exactly where he needed to go in order to escape.

St. Giles only had one entrance and exit and it was towards this exit that Mouse was now sprinting with all of his might. His feet made heavy footfalls in the filth and muck. Between his footfalls and his heavy breathing, it would be simple for his pursuers to know which direction he was going. Mouse didn’t hear anyone chasing him and so he looked back to see if he had gotten away. His goal hadn’t been to tie up the guards in a chase, that would merely be an added benefit. The whole purpose of the distraction was to reveal the guard positions to Jonny. Satisfied that he wasn’t being actively pursued, Mouse slowed down and adjusted his step to appear more casual. He began taking deep and slow breathes in order to calm the fire raging in his lungs and the frenetic beating of his heart. He had successfully lowered his pulse as he caught sight of the exit.

Mouse approached the exit nonchalantly. It was fashioned as a wooden tunnel in between two rickety buildings. The overhangs from the buildings created a deep shadow that plunged the exit in darkness. Mouse knew in the dark lie his safety. He would get back to Smiley and report on his progress and the unforeseen complications of the evening. As Mouse reached the shadows he sighed in relief. He dropped his guard reflexively. It was the wrong thing to do. Mouse heard a man growl “Got you!” and then the last thing he heard was the whistling of a club swinging at his head. As he lost consciousness, two more shadows detached themselves from the greater darkness and grabbed his prone form.