King of Crime ✔️

A Normal Saturday

Sipping on my tea, I took in the guy sitting in front of me. 

I already had seen his red beard a lot, but when I was studying him from up close, I noticed that his hair was actually more blonde, with a few red strings woven through it. Fascinating. 

His pale blue eyes were sternly focused on the paper he read as he pressed his fingers against his thin lips, his whole heavy body shuddering as he chortled at something he read. 

I let out an aggravated sigh as I stood up, completely done with this. It is madness. This couldn't go on. 

The big man finally looked up from his paper, raising his large brows.

"Little miss, you can't leave. Do you need something? I can get it for you."

"I need freedom," I hissed. "Tell Johann he can shove his 'security' up his arse. What is he thinking, anyway?"

"It's just for twenty-four hours, missy, no more. Mr. Hannig feels you might be in danger today, and usually he's right." The big man folded his paper closed and patted it on his knee. "I understand you're not happy, but it's for the best, really."

"Can I at least have my phone? I need to call a friend, she'll be worried. I'll just tell her I'm at someone else's the whole day. Is that alright... what was your name?" I queried as I rolled up the blinds on the window. 

I had no idea where we were, the man took me away this morning in a car with blacked windows, barely even giving me the chance to throw on something decent. I was walking around in my sweatpants and a bralette, but the guy had given me a small blanket to cover up my shoulders at least.

"You can call me Sigi. And no, I'm afraid you can't have your phone here, little miss, it can be traced by anyone even remotely interested in getting to you," he explained, picking up his cup of coffee and taking a sip. 

I frowned at him, wrapping the blanket tighter around myself as I carefully tried if the window could be opened, just in case I really had to force my way out. It didn't cooperate. 

Jumping out of the window wasn't an option anyway, we were on the top floor of a skyscraper; I could barely see the people walking on the streets below me. I really was trapped. 

I didn't recognize the streets and buildings, but that wasn't rare, the only thing I knew in DC was how to get to my school and back. I pivoted and leaned against the window, letting my chest fall. 

The room consisted of a simple grey settee and two chairs, a lot of ashtrays on the cold concrete floor and a skimpy lamp hanging from the ceiling like it might fall down at any moment. A kitchen, which only contained a coffee-machine and a kettle, was kind of separated from the bare room by a thin wall. 

There was just one door in the entire room, leading to the depressing hallway on the top floor. We took the elevator up, that embodied all claustrophobic people's worst nightmares, squeaking and rattling like it was going through its last days. 

The lights occasionally just completely fell out. And I thought my apartment was bad. 

I felt like Rapunzel trapped in the tower, but without all her books and paint. Man, I would've killed for some entertainment right now.

"Can I have my papers for school?" I finally dared to ask. "I really need to finish my homework."

"Of course. They're in your apartment?"

"Yeah, on my desk in my room. My keys are in the bag at the coat racks by the door. Can you take my pencil case, too? And my calculator, if you don't mind, but I don't know how much you can take with you."