Thief in the Midnight Sun

Derek pushed the artifact across the table, weighing his client’s expression with feigned indifference. His client’s surprise was a tangible thing. That was a woman that rarely showed her emotions to the likes of Derek. It made this job all the sweeter.

“I must say, Mr. Cline, that I didn’t believe it was possible for anyone to acquire this for me, especially you. How did you pull it off?”

Derek tried not to smile, “I told you that I was the best thief there is.”

“Indeed.” She slid a case across the table and responded, “Here is what was agreed upon and a bonus...in case I need your services again. Perhaps one day, you will be more willing to divulge the tale of this acquisition.”

Derek boldly kissed her hand, because he felt like being bold, grabbed the case, not even bothering to see if she was being honest with her payment, nodded toward her as he rose, and offered her a simple, “Perhaps…”

---

Derek watched the man push the bottle filled with a liquid blacker than midnight across the table. He was not pleased.

“I said I needed something to truly make me the best thief there is! You bring me what? A bottle of ink? You expect me to pay you for this? I have the score of the century, I ask you to find me something to give me an edge and….this?”

“I do expect you to pay me for this, Mr. Cline. Be grateful I like you enough not to ask you for triple what I’ve asked. You are a great thief. This WILL make you the best one, once you drink it.”

“You better hope so, or I will be getting every penny back from you, one way or another.”

The man smiled, “Of that, I have no doubt, Mr. Cline. So, do we have a deal?”

---

Derek drank the liquid, thicker than ink. Felt it burn like an oak-aged whiskey as it went down. That was ice cold compared to when it filled every pore, every cell.

Don’t drink it in the light, and once you learn to use the gift of it, you need to avoid the light as much as possible.

Derek looked down and saw how his skin turned blacker than midnight. He laughed silently as he slithered from shadow to shadow with his new ability. His body could bend in impossible ways in the dark and the shadows. But the light, it burnt like a midnight sunburn. While shrouded in deepest black, the black absorbed the light, and the light did burn.

Stealing the artifact was easy. Avoiding the flashlights of the guards were the tricky part. Even when the light passed over Derek, all they saw was a shadow on the wall; all the while Derek gritting his teeth from the midnight sunburn the light caused. It was worth it though, for he now was truly the greatest thief in the world.