Con MeA Story by BhavanaAll her life, Alana (Ali) Sicasa has been a con artist. She's a sarcastic, intelligent girl who would make a perfect actress if she ever got into Hollywood. She has the ability to fool anyone and everCHAPTER ONE Sweat dripped down my forehead as I picked at the little
wires in the security system. In frustration, I blew my bangs out of the way
and pushed my hair out of my face. I vowed to never leave my hair out again. I
tried to remember what Ash had told me about the wires. The hot weather was
getting to my head and I couldn’t seem to recall whether he had told me to cut
the purple wire or the yellow wire. I groaned in exasperation. It was almost 95 degrees F
outside; way hotter than New York City’s usual chilly days. I was inside the
Museum Of Natural History on West 79th Street, trying to unlock the
security system and get through to the main artifact of this week: The Golden Foot
of Ra. This wasn’t what I normally would go for, but Ash needed money, and he
asked me to help him out with this one thing as he needed to be elsewhere
today. I usually went for something at a higher level of risk. I
liked the adrenaline rush that came through every time I ran away. Usually, I
would finish something as simple as breaking the code on a security system in
less than fifteen minutes at most. Today however, I wasn’t in the right mind to
finish this mission quickly. Maybe it was because of the weather. Maybe it was
because of my mood. But mostly, I think it had to do with the fact that I was
wearing a scarlet red ballroom dress. When Ash asked me to do his work for him, I agreed because
of two reasons. One, he was like the brother I never had. He was always there
for me and in a way; he was like my best friend. Two, I actually owed him due
to how much he aided me in my missions. So, I decided to accept his request.
However, I did not know beforehand that it would result in me wearing a
ballroom dress. You see, I’m not a huge fan of dresses. To put it simply, they
piss me off; especially when it comes to doing things like breaking into a
museum to steal something. Today, there was a grand opening for the new
artifact. Many celebrities, Very Important People, and rich men and women who
didn’t have anything better to do have come to the party. To make sure I didn’t
look out of proportion, I was forced to wear a dress. My original idea was to
wear a pair of flexible leggings and a baggy top so I felt comfortable.
Unfortunately, my opinions didn’t matter in this position. I reminisced my evening as I continued my work on the
security system. After I had entered the room full of people, my goal was to meet
the Statues and Sculptures Curator to get the code for the new room that
contained the object I was planning on stealing. I had swished my way through
the crowd and slowly glanced around, trying to find the young man in charge. I
soon located him and made my way towards the bar, where he was sitting on a bar
stool. I sat down gracefully and said to the bartender, “One Flirtini
please.” Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the Curator glance at me and my odd
choice of drink. I pretended to be looking around the room and when I met his
eyes I smiled gently. He returned the smile and said, “Hello. How are you today,
beautiful madam?” “Quite fine, kind sir and you are?” I replied with a light
smile. “Excuse me for not introducing myself; I am Shen Saunders,
the Statues and Sculptures Curator at this Museum. May I know your name,
madam?” He asked politely. I quickly made up a fake name. “It’s Pauline Winters. I’m
impressed by your occupation, how long have you been working here?” “About three years. What brings you here tonight?” Shen
replied. At that time, the bartender handed me my drink. I reached
out to take it, and I sipped at it before replying. “Well, I’m here for the
same reason everyone else is here for. I wanted to take a look at the new
artifact. Actually, I’m a journalist. I write about old artifacts that have
been found.” I made up a story to go with my name so I didn’t seem suspicious. “Wow, that is a great occupation for a young woman like you.
You seem to look like you are very good at your job.” I could tell he was
flirting with me now. I decided to play along. I needed to do whatever it took
to get to that artifact tonight. “Thank you for your kindness, I’m sure you are even better
at doing your job.” I winked playfully. His smile widened, “I find your choice of drink very… um,
what’s the word? Right. Peculiar. I find your choice of drink very peculiar; do
you mind telling me why you chose that?” I stared at my drink and slowly stirred it, pretending to
think about my answer. In reality, I knew exactly what I was going to say. I
lowered my eyes and looked at him from underneath my eyelashes. “I like the
Flirtini because it expresses that although I look very serious, I can be
alluring and... playful, if you will.” I knew the instant I replied that he had fallen for my
tricks. I had done this so many times before that I had literally lost count
and now it came to me without putting forth the slightest amount of effort.
“Yes, you really do seem interesting.” Shen paused and looked around the room.
I wasn’t perfectly sure what he was doing, but I knew I would find out soon. “Ms. Winters, would you like a secret tour of our new
artifact?” Shen whispered quietly, but I heard him anyway. “Really? Would you do that for me? I would be thrilled to
get a tour; this is like an opportunity of a lifetime!” I whisper-yelled,
knowing this was supposed to be kept a secret. “Of course, Ms. Winters. Follow me.” He made a move to get
up. As soon as he did, I threw myself at him and gave him a long hug, knowing
this will make him even more attracted to me. His eyes widened and when I
finally let go, and he stuttered a little before turning around to walk to the room
in which the Golden Foot of Ra was located. When I was sure he wasn’t looking, I grimaced and dusted off
my body, not wanting any of his germs on me. This is all for you Ash, I thought silently. I followed Mr. Saunders as he made his way through the
ballroom, waving at a few people he knew here and there. According to Ash, the
artifact was located three rooms left of the ballroom. I knew what my plan was, so I quietly walked
behind Shen. I glanced around as I walked, trying to see if there were
any security cameras around. Of course, they were bound to be cameras in a very
popular museum, but I found the need to check anyway. I glanced around as
discreetly as I could. Ash had already told me what to do when it came to this
point in the mission, although I was pretty sure I could pull it off. We
arrived at the room in concern which held the famous Golden Foot of Ra. I
looked at Shen as he pulled out his keycard and swiped it through the little
hole on the door. I heard a series of metal clicks and then the door swung
open. I trailed behind him as Mr. Saunders went into the room and then the door
once again swung shut. I looked around the room, and the Foot of Ra instantly
caught my eye. It was a deep color of gold and it shone in the lights of the
room. It was a beautiful sight, and I would have loved to have it for myself.
Unfortunately, Ash was going to get it this time. “Oh my God. That must be one of the prettiest sights I have
seen in a long time. Am I allowed to touch it?” I asked Shen. I would have
gotten rid of him by now, but he needed to answer some of my questions about
the security placed on this artifact before I let him go. “It’s great that you like it. However, it probably wouldn’t
be the best idea to touch it. You see, there’s an electric charge running all
around the edge of the sculpture. The voltage is so high, that if anyone tries
to touch it, they will either be paralyzed for the rest of their life, or they
will experience a stroke and die.” Shen explained to me in full detail. “I have a few more questions, do you mind answering them for
me? They’re a little confidential, but I need to write them in my journal if I
want popularity.” I pouted, twisting a lock of my hair slowly. He glanced at my fingers and my lips before his eyes moved
back to mine. He sighed. “Okay, I guess a few questions won’t do any harm.” He
gave me a small smile and I returned mine with extra happiness, although it was
all unreal. “Okay, my first question is…” I paused, thinking of a good
question to ask. “Let’s suppose someone DOES get past the current and steals
the Foot of Ra. How would they be able to exit this room?” I already knew this information, but I just needed to make
sure I was right. Shen rubbed his neck. I could tell he was processing whether
or not he should reveal this information to me. I blew my bangs out of my face
and frowned slightly, easily conveying the message that I was getting annoyed so
Shen would hurry up with his answer. It wasn’t my fault; I was on a tight schedule. He glanced up
and saw me frowning and he replied almost instantly, “There’s a trapdoor
located exactly 10 steps away from the statue. It’s the only way to get out of
this room without alarming the whole museum if you don’t have a keycard. It
leads directly underneath the front of the museum where there is a small elevator
that takes you to the foyer.” "But, that's the only way out of this building - the
foyer. So, if anyone does try to steal the Foot of Ra, they aren't getting
anywhere! They will be in our hands as soon as they exit the foyer." Shen
completed his speech with a triumphant smile.
I pretended to look sad and upset. "It's alright, Mr.
Saunders. I completely understand. No one has ever revealed this information to
me; I thought I could finally get a break in my journalism and get some really
good information. I guess I won't be achieving my dream anytime soon... Thanks
for all your help Mr. Saunders; I hope you have a very nice day." I smiled
sadly and turned around, ready to walk away. I knew there was a security system in this room; Ash told me
where it was located too. I just didn't know that we were able to lower the
electric charge. Although it was to my advantage that he helped me out with
the information, I was infuriated that others would be blamed for one idiot’s
incompetence in the field of work. “You’re here to steal the Foot of Ra?! But, but you seemed
so"” Shen started, but I cut him off. “Innocent? Yeah, of course I seemed innocent, you disgusting
pig! All you wanted was to get with me. Did you ever stop and think of asking
me for my journalist ID? No. You didn’t. So now you’re going to suffer.” I
laughed at him as his eyes widened in excessive fear. One more minute and I swear a new type of phobia would be
invented " fear of me! I laughed to myself. It really looked like Shen was
going to develop a phobia of me seeing the way he was sweating way too much and
had his eyes closed, as if he was too scared to look at me. “What exactly do you mean by suffer? Are you going to kill
me?” It looked like Shen’s eyeballs would pop out of his head soon. That’s how petrified
he looked. “Calm down for a second, will you? I don’t have any reason
to kill you. In fact, you gave me information that I didn’t have before.” I
smiled widely at Shen. He looked away from me and grimaced, looking slightly
guilty for his treachery to the museum. “Well, Shen. I would absolutely love to continue talking to
you, but unfortunately I have something to do, if you know what I mean.” I
winked at him as I walked backwards to the far corner of the room; my gun still
aimed at him. Eh, he didn’t know the gun didn’t do s**t… What he didn’t know
wouldn’t hurt him, I guess. Still aiming the gun, I sat down near the corner. I reached
into my mini pocket and fetched a pair of plastic gloves. After throwing them
on, I punched the wall in the spot I knew the security machine was located. “You know where the security system is located? But-but I
didn’t even tell you that part!” Shen stuttered out like the coward he is. I rolled my eyes and gave him a look. “Oh come on, Shen.
Give me some credit here, will ya? I’m a professional con artist. Of course I
would figure everything out before even stepping foot inside this museum!” I looked back at the machine and then I realized something
Shen had said; the only way to get out of this room was to use the trapdoor,
unless you have a keycard. I almost gave myself whiplash as I turned towards
the spot at which Shen was standing a few seconds ago… Except he wasn’t there
anymore. I saw him scrambling for the doorway and I got up off of my
position on the floor and ran like no tomorrow. I was known to be a good
runner, so I got to the entrance to the room before Shen did. I threw my right hand across the entrance and breathing hard
I said, “Not so fast, Speedy McSpeedster. You aren’t going anywhere until I do
what I need to do here. Give me your card.” I paused with my left hand
extended, waiting for Shen to hand over his keycard. When he just stood there
and didn’t make a move to get his card I yelled, “NOW!” I glared at him and he
whimpered before reaching into his tuxedo to get his keycard. “Listen here, Shen. If you’re a nice, sweet man who obeys my
commands, I’m sure nobody will get hurt.” I said with a nice smile. Then I
turned on my full glare as I said the next sentence, “But, if you’re going to
plan stupid, pointless escapes, I might just have to be an evil, little girl.
Are we clear?” Shen grumbled out a “Yes” and I made my way back to the
security machine. I opened up the box and instantly found the dial that turned
down the current. I remembered that a certain amount of voltage was enough to
make someone unconscious for a while without letting them die or have permanent
damage done to them. Now I had the perfect plan. I turned down the voltage to the
amount needed to shock someone slightly and closed the security panel. I
motioned for Shen to walk over and he did so very reluctantly. “Okay. So, all I need for you to do is to walk over and
touch the edge of the statue. That’s all.” I explained to him. Shen however
looked at me like I was mental. I gave him a look. “What? Do I have something on my face?” I
asked sarcastically. “You want me to commit suicide? Are you crazy?!” Shen asked
in disbelief. “Get a life, will you? Why the hell would I tell you to
commit suicide? There’s no current anymore, I turned it all down.” I told him
as I rolled my eyes at his stupidity. “But still…” He trailed off, avoiding my eyes. I sighed and slapped my knees as I got up from the floor. I
dusted off my dress and grabbed the small pocket gun. “Now Shen, we discussed
this before. You can do this the easy way,” I smiled and then my smile turned
into a frown and I glared at him, “Or we can do this the hard way.” I pulled
the gun so it unlocked the trigger. “You have ten seconds to decide my
friend…Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, fi"” I was cut off while counting. “NO WAIT! I’ll do it. I will. Please don’t shoot me. See,
I’m walking over there right now.” Shen cried as he walked over to the podium
holding the Foot of Ra. He gulped a few times and stretched his hand out
slightly. I was waiting for the impact. He stretched even more, and I got ready
to turn off the electricity as soon as he touched it. He swallowed one more
time, his Adam’s apple bobbing and he finally reached out his forefinger and
touched the edge of the podium. His body started to convulse slightly and his eyes rolled
into his head. I shut off the electricity and watched as his body fell on to
the ground. Perfect. The reason I did that was to have a suspect at the crime
scene so it didn’t look like someone else was the instigator. Because electricity
passed through his body, it would look as if he was about to steal the
sculpture. I made my way back to the security system to try and turn off the
security alarm. I had gone through all of the events of my distasteful
evening, yet my work on the security machine was still not done. It had been
about half an hour since Shen passed out by getting electrocuted. That meant I
only had about an hour to grab the sculpture and get the hell out of here. I
sighed and decided I had to talk to Ash if I wanted to figure out which one of
the wires to cut. Lately, I had been lacking sleep, so nothing stayed in my
brain for more than a day. I grimaced as I thought of the hastiness that had
been the last few days. I dug my cellphone out of my dress and quickly called
Ash. The phone kept ringing over and over again but no one
answered. I tried calling again, but I got to the same result. I huffed in
annoyance and cursed Ash in my head. What the hell was I supposed to do now? At that time, as if God was punishing me for cursing, I
heard a series of locks being opened. My eyes widened in disbelief as I
realized what was happening. Someone was coming in. The door was about to open in thirty seconds. I completely
froze, unsure of what to do exactly. My brain was fuzzing with the amount of
energy running through it right now. I tried to retrace my steps, not knowing
where I had gone wrong. Had someone seen me enter this room with Shen? If they
had, wouldn’t they have come in sooner? I didn’t have any more time. The door had already opened. I
couldn’t even make it to the trapdoor in time. I was officially screwed. This
would be my first time getting caught. A shadow stood there, near the door. I
could tell it was a man. It didn’t seem like anyone else was there, so I wasn’t
completely dead. I could probably tackle him. The man moved into the room slightly. I still couldn’t get a
view of his face because it was dark on that side of the room. He entered the
room completely and the door snapped shut. Well, at least now I had a chance. I
could probably threaten him with my gun. Realizing that that was the best
option, I raised my gun at him and yelled, “Hands up! This is the FBI!”
Honestly, I had no idea what came in to me to declare myself as the FBI, but I
thought it would work. Instead of seeing the man raising his arms up into the air,
I was left with listening to loud, booming laughter that was oddly familiar.
The man strode further into the room, still laughing. I gasped as I recognized
his face. The man pretended to wipe tears off of his face and stared
at me with happy eyes and a wide smile. “You haven’t changed at all, Alana.
You’re still the same, weird, funny girl I knew two years ago,” He said to me. My mouth dropped open in a silent scream. Here I am standing
in front of the one person I hate the most: Zayn Rivers, my ex-partner-in-crime.
At first I was just surprised; then I felt happy that I saw someone who used to
be one of my best friends. Then I realized what a pompous jerk he still was as he
winked at me and said, “Close your mouth before I am forced to put something in
it.” I was extremely thankful that this room is soundproof
because that’s when I screamed so shrilly even bats could hear me and launched
myself at the condescending idiot in front of me. Welcome to my life, everyone. © 2012 BhavanaAuthor's Note
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1 Review Added on December 11, 2012 Last Updated on December 11, 2012 Tags: romance, humor, action, sarcasm, con artists |