Moonflower

CHAPTER 1

Picture: Black Beast

"Damn!"

He whispered under his breath as he lost his grip over an iron bar. He managed to balance himself for it isn't always easy to climb to the third floor over pipes and walls. Covered in black from head to toe where his sharp black eyes and every inch of his hair blended in his disguise, the flight of bats announced the arrival of the darkest time of the night.

The midnight, perfect for Black Beast to rampage into an empty apartment on the third floor which he has been observing since days. The apartment has seen no lights from a few days now, nor did Black Beast's binoculars captured any movement from within. Though a little concerned at first about the flickering light bulb in the kitchen, Black Beast needed no further inspection. He simply shrugged off for he needed to collect his daily loot.

Black Beast was no rookie, he has his occasional slip-ups from time to time, but no house he entered was protected from his stealthy hands; be it a house of rich strangers or of his friend, be it an entire locker or a wristwatch lying unguarded on a coffee table.

Black Beast reached the balcony of the apartment on the third floor in a jiffy. He was so used to it, that he didn't even have to wait to catch his breath over all that hurdling. There was a simple windowpane that obstructed the entrance inside the bedroom from the balcony. Now, smart thieves like Black Beast don't just hurl a stone at the window or bring out tools Bollywood style to decode opening of a window. As a first step, he went near the window and tried to pull it open. It slid as smooth as an automatic glass door. It wasn't a slightest of a surprise to Black Beast for his years of experience has made him very judgemental towards humans. He scoffed and entered into the room and no; he did not tiptoe for he also has some class for a proud thief.

Black Beast's eyes were used to darkness; therefore, he was able to scan the small room which he concluded belonged to a female, a young woman to be precise. The room was neither messy nor tidy. Black Beast rolled his eyes and let out a sigh because at the very instant he knew that he is going to go back with nothing more than a few paper notes and probably a laptop. He might have a chosen a broke bachelor's house for the night.

He staggered there for a while as he ruffled his hair when his eyes darted outside of the bedroom door which looked over the living room and then the kitchen.

He stopped dead on his tracks and his body froze.

Not because he saw a person; Black Beast has dealt with quite a few surprising owners and it wasn't even because he saw a young woman who was really beautiful. In fact, as Black Beast eyes could outline under the small light bulb shining from the kitchen, the girl was very much opposite of what is stereotyped as beauty. Sunken eyes, dark circles, unbrushed hair, chapped lips, and those wrinkled and dirty clothes probably didn't smell good either but none of these features caught Black Beast's attention for his dark eyes that had lost color were fixed on the noose that hung down from the fan and the women's head that was reaching out for it. He had never encountered this in his entire life, nor as a thief nor as a human.

Black Beast was not ready for a suicidal attempt in front of his own eyes.