Lyra Sullivan :: The Thaumaturge Job

Lyra Sullivan Fri Mar 26, 2010 6:48 pm

Big blue eyes watched from the shadows, darting this way and that as she moved slowly to make sure she wasn't seen. Wasn't heard. To make sure that she didn't draw any unnecessary attention from anyone, but especially the person she was following. She was a pro at this, with her baseball cap pulled down and her light blonde hair pulled up into it. No defining features that could stick out to anyone who may take a second or third glance in her general direction. It was better that way. Meant she could move without being seen. The only thing that could be better than this would be if she were invisible.

She kept enough distance between the two of them that she could follow safely a ways behind and still not lose her. Confident that her tail didn't realize she was being followed, Lyra Sullivan had done this time and time again for the last couple of weeks. It was her way of studying her mark. Of watching how they moved, where they went, timing how long they'd be gone in order to know how to get into their places and take what was needed in the time alotted to her. And it had only failed her once. Then again, there were always extenuating circumstances and Lyra knew one had to be ready for those.

That was what the club in her jacket was for. Lyra didn't like hurting people, but if it came down to her or them, she could at least incapacitate them long enough to make her escape.

As the brunette in front of her turned the corner, Lyra waited for a fifteen seconds, counting them off in her head. She always found ten too soon and twenty too slow, so it was always fifteen. No matter what.

And just as she took a step, she slammed into someone coming from the other end. Damn it. Usually she was careful about that, even as she looked up at the stranger with his platinum blonde hair and cold eyes. Obviously he was not happy that she had managed to bump into him and, even as she mumbled an apology and made her way past him quickly, she could still hear him cursing and ranting about people not watching where the hell they were going.

It cost her precious seconds. Timing was everything in her line of business... if it could be called as such. For a moment, after Lyra had turned the corner, she thought that perhaps she'd lost her mark. But no... wait... there she was. A stroke of luck her her rounding the corner just as she'd stopped to look into a store window. She stopped and slipped into an alcove - an entryway really to another store. How she loved some of these places. They provided such a great hiding spot with plenty of shade when the sun was right. And plenty of people when it wasn't.

That was beneficial in numerous ways to someone like her, having to use her surroundings in order to really get what was needed.

And then she was on the move again. The brunette had been staying in the Four Seasons... which really only made it easier to take what she needed in the time she had come morning. She just needed to be certain. Lyra already had the woman's room number, as well as the times she was out. And she knew her best bet was probably going to be early in the morning when the brunette went out for her jog. It gave her a solid hour and half to rooth around for food and drinks and other things she might need that this woman could buy again if she ran out. And just enough time to escape as well. She had it timed down to the last second on her watch - another spoil of thievery.

And from the looks of things, she was headed in that direction now. Good. That meant that Lyra could head back home. Or... what passed for home. The warehouse wasn't much, but it was enough. And it kept her nice and safe with a roof over her head in the rains and a place to sleep that wasn't under the Santa Monica Pier. For that, the warehouse served it's purposes in just the right capacity.

Sure, maybe it wasn't the Rits, but it was home. Best damn home Lyra figured she was ever going to get. So she was happy with it and she always felt safer once she was behind those doors. Once she was wrapped up in her blanket with one of the new books she'd stolen.

On the way back, it wasn't as if she really had to avoid being seen. She wasn't tailing anyone on the way back... but then again, that didn't mean someone couldn't be tailing her. She never acted like her marks. She tried to remember to do the exact opposite. It was what kept her alive all this time.

Lyra didn't have a routine. She took a new path home every time she could. She was always alert so that she didn't get surprised. She didn't have to worry about being noticed, maybe, but that didn't stop her from worrying about it. So Lyra kept her ballcap in place, her hands in her pockets and her head down, watching where she walked and who she was moving around. Home. All she had to do was concentrate on home. On getting there and wrapping up in her blanket.

Her book was off the board tonight, simply because she needed to get up early in the morning. There were preperations that needed to be made as well. She needed a good night's sleep and in the morning, she had to take her time in making certain everything was perfect. Sure, the brunette being in a hotel made things easier, but at the same time, there were other people around that could pick her out of a crowd or get too close. So she had to be a little more careful about that in the morning as well. Find a way to make herself less noticable. She could do it if she had enough time to downplay everything. She could become just another blurred face in the crowd.

When she made it home, she didn't immediately settle in. Lyra wasn't that stupid. No. She checked every trap she'd set up around the place to make sure nothing was out of place, nothing was moved and there was nothing to indicate that someone had come through and looked around... or was possibly still here. She was meticulous. It kept her ass alive and she knew it. After all, she'd had seven years to perfect this. So that was always rule number one. Check over everything before you get comfortable. Her rules were what kept her alive. So she never broke her rules. Not even when she was dog tired and wanting nothing more than to curl up. But it seemed, this time, that her traps were untouched, which made her feel a little better as she made her way to her mattress on the floor, positioned on the opposite end of the door so that she'd be awake if someone came in before they even knew where she was.

Pulling her clothing over her head, she dropped it to the ground and slipped underneath the large blanket she'd lifted from a house on her way into town. Hell, everything in her space was something she'd taken from somewhere. Nothing had started out as hers, but she was okay with that. She was surviving. And tomorrow, she would continue to do so.

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When Lyra's alarm awoke her from sleep, it was a welcome sound. Another night had been spent writhing in nightmarish images that she tried to push back. Reaching up, she wiped the sweat from her face and immediately decided that after she was done in the brunette's room, she was going to find an empty room and get a nice long shower. If it weren't happening to her, she might find it funny. A homeless girl who hated being dirty. She had no problems getting dirty, but staying dirty was a whole other matter.

The next hour and a half was spent gathering what she needed. A bag was first and foremost, with some ziplock bags thrown in for some of the food. The backpack itself could hold plenty of the material stuff. As well as some cereal and whatnot. It had never let her down so far, after all. She twisted her hair up and tucked it underneath the baseball cap after dressing in a couple of clothing pieces that were a size to big. Beggars couldn't be choosers really. And Lyra wasn't going to start now. Besides, it helped to hide herself more. And with one last look around to make sure everything was as it should be, she headed out towards the Four Seasons. She had thirty minutes before the brunette headed out for her jog.

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Slipping in once she saw the brunette head out, Lyra made quick work of getting the master keycard. The poor cleaning lady never really stood a chance as Lyra took a step and blinked, "accidentally" bumping into her. A mumbled sorry was all she got as Lyra made her way further down the hallway and slipped the master key into the slot. It was so easy being able to slip it from that maid's apron. She'd find it later in an empty room or the hallway. But for now, it was in Lyra's possession and would be until she was finished with what she was doing. It was as simple as that. Do what one had to survive.

Closing the door behind her, Lyra took the time to look around. It was a hell of a nice room. A lot better than anything she'd ever been in. People who stayed here had to have money. It was just that simple. The place reeked of it... so Lyra immediately set to work. She only had an hour and a half and she wanted to be out in half that so she'd have enough time to get a shower in. Enough time to feel clean again. God, that would be a great feeling.

But first things first... and Lyra took a look inside the mini fridge first. From there, she found herself travelling to the dresser. She went through it thoroughly, knowing that sometimes people hid things there. Hell, if she had anything of value, she'd hide her stuff too. And she hit paydirt. Grabbing a couple of the more expensive looking pieces, figuring she could fence them for some cash. She was almost hesitant to continue after that find, but it would be a little bit before she could actually get rid of the pieces. Doing it right away was just asking to be caught. And Lyra certainly wasn't doing that.

From the main room, she moved to the bedroom. Things could always be found there, whether it was a couple of pieces of clothing or some cash laying around. Cash was a good thing to have, after all. But she moved through it sparingly since she already had the jewelry. It was the bathroom, with it's shampoo, conditioner and soap that really held her interest. And it was in the bathroom that she found a candle that caught her attention. Reaching out, she picked it up and looked it over, deciding to take it with her.

The pain surprised her as it ripped through her system suddenly. As if every nerve in her body had been supercharged in an extremely negative way. It took her over, overwhelmed her, caused the young blonde to lose focus as well as consciousness. As her vision began to white over, Lyra didn't even feel her head hit the sink as she hit the tile. Lyra didn't know it, but her life had just changed in a very drastic way.