The Sunshine Boy and the Weaver King

Chapter Twenty

Everyone scrambled backwards, pressing up against the walls, creating a crater in the center of the hallway that opened up towards the entrance. It was dim enough that it was hard to see, but not impossible.

A girl was laying on the floor, her hair splayed around her head, blood pooling around a slash in her neck. Crouched over her was a man. His fingers wound around her hair, his jacket dragging through the blood.

He was dressed like a normal person. He couldn't have been older than any of them. Looking up, he smiled. "Hi," he said.

The building had gone completely silent. Outside, the sirens grew louder. 

"I'm looking for someone," the man continued. His voice was soft and high in tone, and when he stood Anthony realized he couldn't have been any taller than five seven. But he was lean, muscular. He moved with an easy confidence. "You might know him. His name's An-thon-y," he said, stretching out each syllable. "Last name Li."

At the edge of the crowd, on the opposite side of the man, Anthony spotted Maddox.

His roommate's face was pale, his lips pressed together, and across the room they met eyes. Maddox stiffened. 

"Why do you want him?" some guy at the front of the circle asked, his voice firm. He was built like a tank, although he had to be just a regular person, and his arms were spread to block the people behind him.

Be quiet, Anthony thought desperately. Just be quiet.

The man smiled, thin-lipped. "Friend of mine wants his head. Or finger. Or tooth." He leaned in conspiratorially, "He's not picky."

"You want to kill him?" the guy asked.

"It's him or all of you," the man replied smoothly.

At that, everyone began to push even further away, shooting panicked looks at each other. Anthony could feel sweat on his forehead and the back of his neck. If anyone saw him, they'd give him away, and honestly, they should. His life wasn't worth the lives of everyone here, and he'd known from the beginning this was a short road anyway.

"That's him--" a kid near Anthony said loudly. He felt his stomach drop. "Right there. I swear to God."

Glancing over his shoulder, Anthony saw his finger leveled at his head. It was the only thing in focus. He couldn't even make himself look at their face.

Okay, he thought. This is fine.

Footsteps, and when Anthony turned his head back around, there was a path carved out of the group leading straight to him. The man began to walk down it.

"You gonna make this easy for me?" he asked.

Anthony couldn't move. This was a hostage situation, and no one had called a phone in the building. Maybe the phones were dead, or maybe the guy had a partner outside. Burke had said they didn't like to work together, but the sirens had reached a crescendo, and on that alone Anthony could tell there had to be a line of them outside the building. How was he keeping them shut off?

"Guess so." The man stopped walking. There was a knife in his hand still wet with blood. "Boring."

"What do you want?" Anthony asked. His tongue felt heavy in his mouth, and dry. In his hand, his phone blinked black. Burke must have ended the call.

"Just said," the man replied.

"I'll go with you." Anthony said. "I won't struggle."

The man shrugged. "My friend didn't say dead or alive. Just dead. You can step out of the group, though. Make it less messy."