Theatrics

Dear reader, It's me again, Louane. I know you have missed me since last time. Now before we get into the next part of my adventure, let's quickly catch up from the beginning… So, I stole a secret document with a silver crest from the head priest of the Südtirol; I revealed that I'm a witch, some foreshadowing… and… What else am I missing? Well, anyway. You are probably wondering how the documents are coming into play in the grand heist of the century? No, you aren't. It's still too early in the story for you, the reader, to feel engaged. However, at this point, I, myself didn't know why we needed the documents. You see, I was but a cog wheel in a team of thieves, although I would proclaim I'm pretty sharp in mind. Daniel was the architect of this heist. I will come back later to Daniel and the hierarchy of the team.

After I had stolen the documents, I managed to get out of the Cathedral unharmed. I remember being escorted out by order men through the great hall as the sun set and evening crept in. The other girls had left long ago, yet I could hear a girl's distant screaming and crying in the backroom. But as I tried to turn my head back to face the sound, I was even more forcefully pushed away from the building. Unfortunate what happened to the girl, I had my own problems and interests put in this company, and nothing could be done.

So I found myself on the streets of Bolzano with the documents tucked under my sweater, heading towards Grandmother Moretti, aka Daniels's granny. Horrible old woman; I could have almost thought her to be a witch if I didn't know better.

However. I remember the streets being more busy than usual. Apparently, our city was hosting a great deal of European politicians, don't ask me why; I don't read the newspapers. With politicians often came many guards that mistook the escorting for a holiday. So shop owners, brothels and restaurants alike were running amok as they prepared for incoming guests and greeted those who had arrived early.

She couldn't decide whether the fuss was pleasant and exciting or just stressful for the sleepy city. Although passing through the town, even during autumn, was a pleasure for her, even as she passed the masses. Through the open spaces that gave glimpses of the distant Alps and hectares of farmland, and back again in the narrow streets, colourful buildings, grey buildings and the occasional little river that ran across the city. Until she finally arrived at Teatro Rainerum.

Or one of the theatres in the city. This is where Moretti could be found, as she was hosting a show tonight. Now I remember this particular night crowded with people, mostly locals that had brought their children to watch the spectacle. One thing you must know about Grandmother Moretti! She is one incredibly narcissistic and ego-driven human. She used to work with acting and screenwriting before the incursion. Now when most people curse the first incursions as the start of all cruelty, the world would and is still suffering. She's only condemning the government for cutting art and culture from their budget. Sending her miserable ass jobless as she would now require actual talent to attract people to her pointless screenplays. So I can't help but hate how she managed to stay afloat. Anyways, of the topic.

Louane entered the theatre room where Moretti's show was about to start. She was hit with the smell of buttery popcorn. The room was pitch-black, except for the stage, which was lit up with a white and dim light that revealed the classic dark red colour surrounding the room, on the chairs, on the curtains and on the dress Moretti was wearing on the stage. Her face was pale from the makeup combined with the blood-red lipstick, and although she was clearly old, she looked fifteen years younger than she actually was, with long white hair tied up in a bun. The crowd mainly consisted of children aged five to thirteen, whilst the older parents who had decided to put up with the show sat far behind in the row. The crowd was still settling in as Louane got a seat at the fourth row from the back counting. The small, audible, yet synchronised mumble could be heard in the dark theatre. As she was dotting with her eyes searching in the crowd, she could see him. At the front row with friends of similar age, her little brother Liam. Unknowing that his sister had entered and watched from above like an eagle patrolling its vast landscapes. The brunette bowl cut wobbling was hard to mistake as he giggled with his friends. As more people settled in, the room suddenly got darker than she initially thought possible.

"Children, children, can a lady get some silence?" Moretti's pompous voice echoed through the theatre as the mumble suddenly died out like a candle being blown out. The stage light focused more on her, shining strong from underneath and dimming out from above, causing an effect that made her look more formidable.

"Thank you." She paused for a second and looked around with a big smile; it was hard to decipher if it was malicious or joyful as she silently looked around in the void.

"How is everybody doing?" She asked with the entire audience's attention towards her. The children began in a poorly tuned choir, answering "good", with the occasional clown answering bad to provoke laughter.

"Most of you are good. That's great to hear. I have been told that you like stories, children, is that right?" The children answered in a similar pattern accordingly to the previous one, with mostly positivity.

"Great, now the story I'm going to tell you is one which has not yet been finished. Were the ink has not dried. And were the hand is still moving. " Suddenly, drumming could be heard in the room, a monstrous base that echoed in a slow beat. Each beat could be felt as it vibrated through Louane's organs and heart.

"It's a story in the writing, with heroes as well as villains, but trust me. This is no fairytale."

The drumming increased its pace a little bit as the children looked with glued eyes towards Moretti.

"You all know it 'cause you live in it; you are its future and possible ending."

The drumming increased as more parents looked at each other with uncomfortable eyes.

"Do you wanna hear this story, children? Cause it's very, very scary! Only for the brave!"

The children were silent for a second until one child roared out in excitement about how he was not afraid, almost rallying the other kids. Louane couldn't help but catch Liam's reaction as he went from a scared little bunny to adventurous excitement as the crowd soared in response.

"Well then, I demand silence." As she uttered the words, the drumming stopped, and the children with it. Three seconds passed in utter quietude. A violin could be heard as it began playing a tune with melancholy in its voice.

"Eight long years ago, when humanity was prosperous and many of you had not even seen the light of day. An unexpected miracle happened."

The stage light gave off a warm glow, and a paper cut out of the earth was lifted up behind Moretti, carried by a long stick from a stage actor in the curtains and shadows.

"A green light appeared on earth's surface. The green cometh we called it."

Yet another paper cut out of a green flaming rock was presented on a line above the earth. It looked wanky, but the violinist knew how to tense the audience by increasing the same melancholy sound.

"Scientists called it a weird phenomenon, as the great cometh grazed the atmosphere. We all remember it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience, like a solar eclipse. So we thought nothing of it, cause why would we?"

The stage light between the earth and the Cometh was dimmed in dark blue, like the skies high above, with a neon green tone close to the paper cometh.

"The green cometh lit up the night like a second moon and was determined to be slightly visible during the daytime. So for seven days and seven nights, it shined bright and warm on us." Her enthusiastic, almost creepy warm smile disappeared to an almost worse frown.

"Ignorance is bliss until it isn't."

The violin suddenly changed its ever-so-foreshadowing tune to a more aggressive and tactful beat.

"Suddenly, all around the world, sightings of horrible monsters appeared. At first we thought it was just another trend. Another boogeyman story to scare people. Then the footage started coming, then people couldn't disprove it, and then people began disappearing. And one day, in July, statesmen began admitting that demons had entered our world."

The violin turned the aggressive tune-up with a screamy accord as suddenly a man appeared on the stage with horns on his head, body covered in red paint and fangs in his mouth.

"Demons from hell itself had woken up from the green light. From deep underground, in the kilometres of dirt. As gates of hell began reappearing throughout the world. We found ourselves in terror, panic, and sunken hearts."

The children looked stale as they were in Morretis hypnosis. Not daring to move a muscle as they were hooked to the show, glancing up at the stage and the dressed demon.

The violin suddenly switched tune from melancholy to a strident tempo singing, as the drums tuned in again with a military drumming march.

"But fear not, children, humanity had never been stronger before. This world had since long been claimed by man. Armies in the millions were raised, bullets were forged in the billions, and humanity saw itself on a witch hunt. The demons fell under the magnificent industries. Steel and fire were demons dire."

The violin's heroic lift up of the human spirit began disappearing to a stir mesh.

"But eventually, the steel begins to get rusty, and the fire runs out of fuel. The demons just kept streaming in, deteriorating on human efforts. And suddenly, there is not enough food to keep these armies, no fuel, and no unity as our hearts starts to sway."

The man in a costume began laughing, an overly evil laughter that echoed through the room.

"But we are in the eighth year of the war. Our victories outnumber our losses. In time of need, heroes arise."

Suddenly a man dressed in white came out on stage with a bayonet attached riffle. It was a white trench coat with a golden cross, and the man wore a long, black-haired wig.

"This is the story of Gervais Bernadette, the saint of Lyon and the first eques saint…."

Needless to say, I hate to admit it, but she's a great storyteller. I can't even be sure if my retelling of the shows did her abilities any justice. But I wasn't supposed to tell you about that part of the evening. About two hours later, Moretti would finish up her grand show, and people would start leaving.

At this point, the whole room was now lit up as people had long since given applause to the cast. As the crowd dispersed through the exit, Louane got up from her seat, waiting on Liam to arrive. She could see him with his head pointed downwards while he walked with the rest of his friends yawning. Probably tired as the clock was getting late. As he came closer, he recognised Louanes face and lit up, beginning to walk towards her.

"Louane! Have you been here the whole time?" She smiled back and answered.

"Yes, I have, you didn't get scared watching the demons?"

"A little… But Saint Gervais was stronger!"

As they got closer, Liam said goodbye to his friends, who waved goodbye as they walked up to their parents. The siblings embraced each other in a hug. She looked towards the stage where she locked eyes with Moretti; meanwhile, she felt Liam's head locked opposite towards the parents, leaving the theatre for the night. She rubbed her hand on his head and ruffled the hair.

"Louane I'm tired."

"I know. I can feel you drooling on my shoulder." The child gave off a slight chuckle.

"Come, let's go to Grandmother Moretti." The response was a tired yawning as he silently nodded. They began walking down the stairs that levelled down to the stage where she patiently awaited them.

"Great performance today! It was enchanting to wa-"

"Spare me the flattery. Now, do you have it?"

Louane bit her tongue as she reached into her sweater and pulled out the documents. She was about to hand it to Moretti as she came with her hand towards the silver crested folder, but Louane swiftly nicked away the documents from her grasp.

"We need a place to sleep tonight!"

Moretti wrinkled her eyebrows and made the corners of her mouth point down.

"Again!? Can't you sleep at Daniel's place tonight?"

"… He said he was busy tonight and that he needed to run errands."

She sighed and shook her head.

"Fine. But it's not a look to turn one of the city's finest theatres into a hostel." She lowered her voice further while keeping eye contact.

"Be discreet when entering and exiting now that we have visitors in town."

"Fine."

Louane quietly handed the documents to Moretti, who yanked the papers to herself as if it was a meal to be devoured. Louane took Liam closer to her body to keep him warm while looking at the floor. All the while, Moretti was inspecting the document, pointing the folder towards the light in the roof.

"Clever girl. That is the insignia Daniel was talking about." Moretti dropped her gaze from the document and back to Louane.

"Come then, let's get little Liam to a warm bed and you to the rest."

She turned her body towards the stage and began walking towards the curtains. The siblings started following, with Louane at the helm leading the hesitant Liam. Moretti would disappear into the curtains that would, seconds later, envelop the siblings. As they reappeared on the other side, it was dark, with a dim blue light revealing Moretti at the door to the right, fiddling with some keys.

"I don't know how you the documents, girl, but keep that fire going, and you might become something."

Right, forgot to mention. Not everyone, even the ones I'm cooperating this heist with, knows that I'm a witch. Even in the Codex of Thieves, little love is given to witches.

"Well, you can come far on pickpocketing."

I don't know how to pickpocket, let alone open a jar of pickles.

Moretti finally found the right key as she opened the door, unveiling a steep, narrow staircase up the building. They began walking up to the even darker room. And as they began walking, damp voices could be heard, as well as the smell of tobacco further up. When they finally reached the first floor. Moretti stopped and gave Louane the documents.

"I will take Liam to his room, don't let those buffoons smudge this. Second door to the left!"

Louane took the documents in her hand and said her goodbyes to Liam before Moretti and Liam began their path up. The voices became louder as she closed the distance between her and the door. She opened the door and was met with a room lit up by one light bulb that gave away its sickly white light on the space. Between the clouds of smoke was a round table full of all sorts of rubbish. A card deck, three whiskey glasses filled with some yellow drink, poker chips, bread sticks and an ashtray. The room had a curtain-dressed window to the far left corner, a sofa not so far from the corner and some simple wooden chairs around the poker table. A poster of a naked lady was on top of the walls as she exposed her breast with her blonde hair waving. And around the table was a fat man in his forties with greasy black hair, a white t-shirt and a breadstick in his mouth as he glanced towards Louane while also focusing on the cards in hand.

And that, dear readers, is our first heist member of the Bolzano Liga. That is, Fat Francesco. Former car mechanic that used to repair Ferraris for the rich in Venice. He has a sweet personality, were he can easily persuade you to be a charming uncle. He also used to steal thousands of euros from clients. He figures out the tool part of our missions. Can't honestly say what I think of him, as he can be the sweetest and sometimes the most horrible pig out there.

As fat Francesco built sweat pearls on his forehead, contemplating his next strategy for the game, a woman's voice could be heard.

"Well, well did Louane finally find herself with the adults again?"

Besides, Francesco was a black lady in her early thirties smiling charmingly towards Louane. She had long dreads hanging over her hand of cards as she confidently glanced back at her hand with amber brown eyes, wrinkling her pierced nose.

Oh, and that? That is Beatrice. A former aspiring actor of Grandmother Moretti. Unlike Moretti, she is a natural talent when it comes to acting and improv. Before becoming a thief in Bolzano, she used to be a spirited actor who managed to land roles in Rome and live adventurously in her younger years. Her adventurous nature also meant that she was determined to learn how to ride as many vehicles as she possibly could. I have seen her sailboats as well as riding donkeys in full gallop. Just someone you want on your team.

"I hope you didn't come empty-handed, runt. We don't need a mouth breathing kid being in the way." The voice came from a man opposite Fat Francesco and to the left of Beatrice. He was in his mid-thirties with medium-length scraggly blonde hair, a stringy beard, and a nasty scar on his right eye.

"Now! Match fifty, you fat cunt." The man said while chewing on a cigarette.

Now that charming fella is Aldo. Unlike us, he was an actual criminal before the Incursions. So doomed from the start; he used to be part of a drug gang here in northern Italy but eventually got caught and served time for murder and theft. A package of ADHD, short fuse and experience. Most people have grown their scars over the last decade. He has for most of his life. Although he can be impatient, rash, a douche, illiterate, short-sighted, foul-mouthed, fuck up and anything-phobic. He makes up for it by being able to think quickly in situations; he never freezes in a fight or flight. So the team's crucial ace.

And that was everyone present in the room, gathered around for a night of poker. A chair was empty for her, so she took her chance and sat down with the others. As she sat down, she dropped the documents on the table so that the card deck flew away, causing havoc and ruining the game. In an instant, Aldo reacted, taking a firm grip around Louane's neck.

"You little brat, I was about to ruin the piglet." The grip was painful but non-threatening.

"Oh, were you Aldo?" Francesco said, equally frustrated as he tossed his hand next to the cards on the table, revealing a flush. The sweaty and nervous face had apparently just been another act. Aldo loosened his grip around Louane.

"Well, I'll be damned. Fortune favours me."

To correct that prick, Aldo, I did…

"Well, I'll be damned for sure! Ponytail got the docs!" Beatrice said in shock. The two other thieves lost their focus on the game. Locking their eyes on the documents with wide open eyes and then peeling them back to Louane.

"Heavens!" Fransesco muttered.

"Daniel really did see something in you, stealing from the mightiest institution in Europe." He continued. Louane couldn't help but feel humbly embarrassed over the praise. The table looked at the documents that laid there;. However, the paper was freshly printed, and there was still a delicacy regarding documents that were not foliated in plastic or could not simply be retrieved again. Beatrice slowly leaned forward, Aldo coughed up the smoke he had swallowed and forgotten about and fat Francesco emptied his cognac. Suddenly Aldo went for the documents, snatching them from the table. Everyone looked at him as he carefully brought it close to him.

"Did Daniel ever tell you what was so special about the documents, Louane?" Aldo asked as he looked carefully at the folder.

"No, he only mentioned its importance to the heist."

Aldo looked concernedly towards Louane with his one working eye. He then took the cigarette out of his mouth and put it on the ashtray. The table was tranquil as he carefully opened the folder. They observed his pupils as they ran through the text lines, oblivious for him to share the contents of the papers.

The thing is, the only one who knew fully about the heist was Daniel. We only knew puzzle bits to everything, but hell, we didn't even know what we would rob. He proclaimed it was a strategy to prevent double-crossing. So the surprise when Aldo said.

"It's Latin. I can't understand it!" He then shrugged his shoulders and removed his eyes from the papers.

"What!? Give it! You barely know how to read at all." Francesco replied as he rose up from his seat, snatching the documents from Aldo, who irritatedly stared back. Francesco took the papers close to his face, analysing them before squinting his eyes and pulling them further away to help against his myopia. Beatrice rolled her eyes before pulling the documents out of Francesco's hands.

"We don't want finger fat on the documents!" Equally confused, Beatrice looked at the documents, turning the papers upside down as if they would magically turn Italian. Aldo shook his head as he pulled out yet another cigarette from his pocket. Francesco, insulted by yet another fat Joke, persistently grabbed the documents again to his hand.

"This is not some gay screenwriting, Beatrice. Let me look close-OW!" Before Francesco could proceed, a hand pinched his right ear. From the shadows, without anyone noticing, Moretti had approached from behind.

"Unlike you buffoons, I have studied Latin, from those gay screen writings." Francesco immediately let go of the documents as Moretti reached for them. She then let go of his ear and sat down between Francesco and Beatrice.

"Louane, didn't I tell you not to let them fiddle with it?"

"They were going to, sooner or later, anyways."

Moretti looked at Louane with a stern, hawk-like glare before revealing her teeth as the blood-red lipstick revealed a smile.

"Touché."

Moretti would proceed to lift up a cigarette holder while carefully placing the open document's first page on the table. The others around the table would obediently move their stuff away to make room for her.

"Aldo, you wouldn't have to carry a cig and a lighter?" It wasn't a humble request but a demand as Aldo rolled his eyes and reached into his pockets for a cigarette that looked self-made. It had a thin white paper around it but was glaring brown from the tobacco. He handed it carefully to Moretti, who placed it in her holder and then reached with it towards Aldo, who lighted it up. The clouds reached for the roof as she took a puff. The table was quiet, patiently waiting as Moretti read through the first page squinting her eyes and making some facial expressions.

Beatrice adjusted her seating as she asked.

"Well? What does it say?"

Moretti took her eyes off the second page and looked concernedly at Beatrice's eyes.

"It contains information about the items we are going to steal and perhaps an indication of whe-"

The door that led to the outside flew open, startling everyone in the room. And out of the doors stepped a man inside, early to mid-twenties, dressed in a long brown suit jacket with paired trousers, shoulder-length black hair, clean shaved and dark brown eyes.

"It seems I'm late to the party."

And that dear readers was Daniel, the team's leader, genius and orchestrator of the heist. The only one who knew the complete picture.