Masked Thief

It was the perfect plan. He’d go into the corner store, his gun concealed in his pocket, his faced concealed behind a rubber mask. The streets were wet and the stink of the sidewalk cowered in shadows of the alley. The stars and moon were shyly blanketed by the overcast, leftovers of the previous days’ rainfall. Children ran about, almost aimlessly, dressed as witches, ghouls, and goblins exchanging their tricks for treats. The man with the gun took one last look at the streets around the store.

“This is brilliant,” he commented to himself. “It’s the perfect holdup. I walk in, point the gun at the man behind the register and clean the place out. And this mask will hide my face. He won’t suspect me at first. It’s Halloween; why would you be suspicious of a man wearing a mask on Halloween? And when the deed is done, I slip out and throw this mask away. I’ll put on this other mask to keep my identity a secret. Like I said, it’s Halloween. There’s nothing suspicious about a man in a mask on this day.”

There was another man, a smaller man, a possibly younger man who walked into the corner store before its would-be thief could. The smaller man dressed all in black and wore a red mask. He showed no signs of wanting to get out of the store anytime soon.

“Should I wait for that man to pass?” the man with the gun thought to himself. “No, now is not the time to hesitate. I’ve planned for this for so long to just chicken out now. I’ve got my gun, the mask on my face, and the other mask in my back pocket. Nobody has to get hurt here as long as everything goes to plan.”

The thief ran across the street to the corner store, in a hurry without showing any signs of haste. Reaching out, he swung the glass door just slightly open. The bells on the door rattled lifelessly as the man with the gun slithered inside. The man in the red mask asked the man behind the register where the knives were. Without looking up at him, the clerk pointed to the back and the man in the red mask slowly walked away from the register.

The man with the gun took a deep breath. He reached into his pocket and caressed the cold steel of his gun with his calloused fingers. With his thumb, he eased the hammer back and swung the gun out at the cashier who shot his hands up accordingly. The man with the gun demanded that the register and any safe behind the counter be cleaned out and emptied into a bag immediately. There was no reason for the clerk to give any resistance, so he did as he was told. Handing three bags full of cash over to the thief, the cashier recoiled behind the counter in fear.

Everything went according to plan, but the man with the red mask caught the corner of the thief’s eye. “I might as well take whatever cash he’s carrying with him,” the man with the gun marched his way towards the man with the red mask. Pointing the gun at him, the thief yelled at him to hand over whatever money was in his pockets. The man with the red mask took out a thick roll of cash and showed it to the thief.

“Give it here, NOW!” the man with the gun demanded. The man with the red mask tilted his head curiously.

“Just give him what he wants!” the clerk shouted,

“Shut up, old man!” the thief retorted turning towards the register. “I don’t need your help!” As soon as the thief turned his head back towards the grim red mask, the wad of cash was being handed over, peacefully.

The thief snatched the cash from the man with the red mask and sloppily tried to put in one of the three already full bags of money. A sharp burning pain caused the man with the gun to drop his gun at the floor. His gut was wet and hot. He looked to see the source of his pain. A large blade of a large knife was buried into his intestines. The blade was attached to a handle that was being held by the man with the red mask who tilted his head curiously at the thief once again. The would-be burglar fell to his knees and his body fell to the floor seconds later, all life deflated out of it.

“Thank you for the knife,” the man with the red mask said to the cashier cryptically. He nodded to the elderly clerk and took of his mask to reveal nothing behind it. The dark black clothes fell apart as if it were held up by nothing but air. The clerk’s heartbeat fluttered wildly. His brow was frigid with sweat as he picked up the phone to contact the local authorities.