The room was quiet, the kind of quiet that made it seem like the whole world was standing still,and even the dust was holding its breath. The once vibrant paintings were pale and cold, awash in the moonlight that poured through the slightly ajar window.

The woman in black cut a striking figure in the sharp light, long and lean and dangerous. Her smile was a slash of gleaming white against her shadowy face as she prowled closer to the target.

She made no sound in the earth shattering stillness, the universe stopping silence. Even her heart beat was quiet as she reached for the priceless piece of artwork, her fingers just brushing the gentle painted smile.

It was too ambitious, she knew. But she couldn’t help her self from 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 it. Making it hers. Greed had always ruled her heart, and someday it would be her downfall. Maybe today, maybe not, but she wouldn’t know until she completed her plan, until she gave in to the itch in her fingers and 𝑡𝑜𝑜𝑘. A thrill went through her body and her fingertips trembled, from adrenaline or fear she didn’t know.

Slowly, carefully, she slipped the Mona Lisa from its gilded prison and into her grasping palms.

The silence shattered.

Red warning lights swept away the pale glow of night and sirens blared into the quiet gallery. Guns cocked and men yelled and the painting slipped to the floor with a now mocking smile that matched her own.

Today it is.