Foxheart

Chapter Four

The Fox dropped lightly from the wall, landing softly amongst the well kept vibrant flowers and its recently watered earth. He quickly shuffled into the bush and gazed with sharp green eyes at the back of the massive house bathed in moonlight and the night's heat.

It was four stories high with a small tower built onto its side. Thirty-nine rooms were inside, all filled with expensive possessions and equally expensive protective measures. He knew what he had to do. He'd gone over the file given to him by the Doe and he'd observed from trees and distance that afternoon. Normally he'd take a couple of days to scout everything out and prepare but he wanted to impress the Doe. He wanted her to trust him and deem him worthy of the title Fox. But he wasn't going to rush this night. Patience was going to ensure he'd succeed when he went in blind.

His focus was on the lower floors. If the blue-prints were correct, there should be a large two story room filled with antiques that were on display. Two guards would patrol that particular room and one was at the door. Either he could go in from above and drop into the shadows and work his magic in convincing the guards to sleep or go in from below. Above meant he'd need to climb up to the balcony, make his way through the central level of the house which was patrolled heavily. Or he'd go in from the basement which would have bare minimum in guards and one dog. While he hated dogs, the basement seemed the most logical option. The basement door would spit him out not far from where he needed to be.

Fox made sure his face-mask was secure. It was made of tough leather and hooked about his ears, covering his face, and adorned with a fox symbol. The mask he used to wear was just smeared with the grey number 501, his old code, but now a beautiful curve of a red fox adorned him. It made him proud to wear the mask of his father.

He checked his other pockets of his black suit, the uniform of the Fingers filled with pockets to carry information and tools and made of knife-proof fabric. This thing had saved his life a couple of times in close calls.

Happy he was prepared, Fox pulled down the goggles over his eyes. Instantly everything grew a little brighter. He didn't know how these things worked, he'd never heard anything like it before, but the Fingers had their way of obtaining strange tech from overseas or making their own. He had a feeling Wizards were behind this new creation, much like the strange gloves he wore. They were sturdy leather of black and brown with a single glass dial on the back with three coloured settings; white, blue and black. White could send people to sleep, blue creates an electric current and the black makes it harder to be seen in darkness. He'd only been given the weird device since he gained his codename and he'd already found his job easier. It made sense how the top-dog Obtainers could vanish without a trace. He still preferred his blow-dart to knock-out unwanted eyes though. The gloves were easy to wear out or break and he had to get a little too close for comfort for the glove to be used.

Fox flinched as a tall burly man sauntered by his hiding spot, hunkering down and keeping incredibly still. The guard swung his torch about, whistling happily. As something snuffled and moved behind the guard, Fox stiffened and paled. A dog. A huge thing with big teeth and a mean face. He sunk lower, praying the spray he'd cover himself in would keep the dog from sniffing him out. He didn't breathe again until the guard and his dog had moved some distance away and vanished behind the side of the house.

It was now or never.

Double checking the guard watching the large back doors was still smoking beneath the balcony and not paying attention, Fox made his move. Activating the glove on the black setting, Fox moved swiftly in the dark night through the shaved damp grass. Fox made the narrow gap between the wall's border and the house in a few heartbeats and settled into the shadows, making sure the smoker was still unaware. By how his bored statue hadn't changed, he wasn't. Fox breathed in relief, thankful the back garden, while impressive, was far smaller than the huge front lawn of the mansion and filled with trees, fountains, small stone walls and topiaries to hide behind. Traversing it was easy and made easier with the glove's odd invisibility ability.