“Remember,” Anna whispers as we approach the building, “we need to be in and out without leaving a trace.” Her mossy green eyes scan the area, alert for any signs of danger. Her blonde hair, usually so vibrant, seems muted in the pale moonlight.
Blaze towers over both Anna and me, his large frame coiled and ready to pounce if needed.
“Alright,” I say, feeling the familiar thrill of breaking into forbidden places. My eyes lock onto the security cameras.
It would be so much easier if Aksel was here to block them with his darkness but he is too recognizable to be caught in a place like this and we needed a backup team in case anything went wrong.
Anna uses her speed to knock the cameras away from the front door.
She comes back. “Cameras are disabled, let’s move.”
We slip past the main entrance, our movements silent and fluid.
As we reach Kenneth Vandenberg’s office, Blaze picks the lock with expert precision, and the door swings open, revealing a lavish and spacious room. Wood-paneled walls boast expensive paintings, while the luxurious desk gleams in the faint light filtering through the windows.
“Stay on guard,” I remind them, my voice barely above a whisper. “We don’t know what we’ll find here.”
“Let’s just get what we need and get out,” Anna says, her voice tense.
I nod and start searching through the drawers and cabinets, my hands moving quickly, yet carefully. Blaze stands watch by the door, his body tense and ready to react at the slightest hint of danger. Anna moves around the office, her eyes darting over every inch of the space, looking for any hidden compartments or clues.
“Guys,” Blaze murmurs, his voice low and strained. “Someone’s coming.”
“Be ready to bolt,” I tell them, my heart racing in my chest. Our mission has just become a lot more complicated.
“Got it,” Anna whispers back, her expression determined.
My heart is pounding as we all hide throughout the room until a cleaning person passes us and we can breathe again.
As we continue our search, the tension in the air grows thicker with each passing moment.
The office is a mess of disorganized papers and files. My fingers deftly flip through stacks of documents, searching for anything that might be relevant to our mission. There’s so muchinformation here – bank statements, invoices, correspondence – but nothing that seems to connect to what we’re looking for.
“Anything?” Anna asks, her voice barely audible.
“Nothing useful yet,” I reply, frustrated. My heightened senses catch the sound of Blaze shifting uneasily by the door, no doubt sensing the same looming danger that I feel.
“Keep looking,” she urges me, determination etched on her face. “There has to be something here.”
I nod, unwilling to give up just yet. As I move around the office, my eyes are drawn to a painting hanging on one of the walls. It’s an eerie, dark landscape that seems out of place among the other artworks. Stepping closer, I notice that the frame is slightly askew. Curiosity piqued, I gently lift it off the wall and find a hidden safe behind it.
“Got something here,” I announce, my excitement barely contained in my hushed tone.
“Can you open it?” Anna asks, her gaze flicking between me and the safe.
“Of course,” I reply with a smirk, my training coming in handy. My fingers dance over the combination lock, feeling the subtle shifts in the mechanism as I manipulate it. The safe clicks open, revealing its contents.
“Griffyn, hurry,” Blaze warns, his voice tense. “Something doesn’t feel right.”
I rifle through the contents of the safe. The adrenaline rushes through my veins, fueling my determination to uncover the secrets hidden within these walls.
I pull a stack of papers from the safe, my fingers trembling slightly as I grasp the crisp edges. “These don’t look like business documents,” I mutter, my voice barely above a whisper.
“Let me see,” Anna says, stepping closer. Her eyes scan the papers quickly, her intelligence shining through even in the dimlight. “You’re right, they don’t. This looks like a ledger but it’s not in English.”
“Are you sure?” Blaze asks skeptically, his eyes narrowing as he tries to make sense of the cryptic information sprawled across the pages.
“Pretty sure,” Anna replies, her face a mixture of frustration and determination. “Look at this.” She points to a series of numbers and symbols that seem to form a pattern. “This has to be some sort of code.”
