Dark Gifts: A story-based introduction of a new character

Apart from the occasional stray cat, there seemed to be nobody out on the streets right now. Every few minutes some car passed, but that was about it. Maybe there was something on TV, Kuromeru wondered. He didn't care much about such things, so he didn't know. Or people were too afraid to walk around in this neighborhood after nightfall. Only a fool would try to rob a thief, though, and most fools didn't live very long on the streets. He carefully felt for the poisoned dagger hidden in his sleeve. It was good to be prepared, having to actually use it would be another matter. Using pointed weapons wasn't his forte, but with surprise on his side, this should hardly be an issue, he thought. Besides, apart from the sounds of cicadas and a nightingale singing a bit reluctantly somewhere in the shrubbery, and sometimes people shouting behind one of the lit windows, it was silent enough to hear anyone coming. The young man himself was wearing the shoes he usually wore when being out there "on business", with soft soles that hardly made any sound on the tarmac, but most criminals didn't care enough to consider such accessories.
Completely undisturbed, but habitually checking for strange noises or unusual movements in the shadows, Kuromeru walked on. Public transportation wasn't an option for the route he had to take, and calling a taxi would have been a waste of money when he had time to spare. Wasting things had to be avoided whenever possible. He had not expected today's lessons to be so time-consuming, though. Good thing that the guild had no meeting scheduled tonight. He yawned heartily, but noiselessly.
Part of his job was knowing the streets well. Getting caught in a dead end after an otherwise successful heist was a beginner's mistake, and getting lost was not an option either.
He would probably need about half an hour to reach the quarter where the streets were dirtier and noisier, the houses more run-down, and most importantly, the rent cheaper. Part of him just longed for getting home, but at the same time, he had a strange feeling that the day - or rather, night - still had something in store for him.
Unlit factory buildings replaced the houses. The streetlights cast pools of light which barely touched each other. The small passage ahead, with a derelict-looking parking lot behind a wire-mesh fence on the left and an overgrown plot of land to the right was only marginally illuminated by the remaining two of originally at least five mercury-vapor lamps. Nobody had replaced the exhausted bulbs, probably because this was one of the abandoned places that nobody knew whom they belonged to, if they still belonged to anybody alive. Anycity had a couple of them; sometimes those lots were levelled and covered with buildings again, sometimes not. Anyway, it was a welcome shortcut if you knew were you were going.
Even though the air had still retained a bit of the day's warmth, Kuromeru wrapped his lightweight jacket a bit more tightly around his body. Good thing that he was not afraid of the dark.
He couldn't help but wonder, while walking along the narrow, cobbled path, if some of those ancient entities those superstitious people of old times who made up what was taught as the dark arts now had believed in actually existed. He didn't believe much of that nonsense, but had to admit that apparently some rituals had a noticeable effect. Whatever. It was probably just the feeling resulting from being rather alone in a gloomy place in the dead of night. Such feelings should not affect a professional, Kuro reminded himself.
He had nearly reached the second lamp when he began to feel as if he were not alone anymore. Most people, if subjected to darkness long enough, began to imagine that there were things watching them. Usually without any reason. Still, he quickened his pace a bit, as if the light could provide shelter from anything that might be out there.
However, the feeling of an unseen presence grew stronger than he expected. It was not a good idea to attract attention, Kuromeru thought, but he felt that had to know for sure, even if it was just to dismiss this phantasm as silly. "Anyone there?", he asked hesitantly and as if talking to himself. His own voice seemed loud to him in this atmosphere, though it actually wasn't. Already metally chiding himself for acting silly, the thief held his breath for a second to listen to the silence. That was just the wind, wasn't it?
Well, the wind didn't usually say "Yes. And I've been waiting for you." in a low, soft voice, did it? The young man froze in his tracks.