FINN
The door creaks loudly, like a ghost searching for souls to drag straight to hell. Everything is dark except for the faintest rays of moonlight coming from a small, barred window.
I barely make out three men standing near the window. They’re huddled together, whispering, but when I walk in, they scatter across the room.
The first thing I check is whether anyone is bleeding. I ordered Ren and Hayato not to lay a finger on them. It’s hard to say for sure since the room is dark, but from what I can see, Ren and Hayato didn’t go rogue.
The next thing I notice is the way Ace and his friends are moving. Ace has his hands tied in front of his body, but the other two have their hands tied behind their backs. Why would Ren and Hayato tie their hands in different positions?
“Who’s there?” Ace calls, sensing my presence. “I know someone came in.”
I slip my earbud in and call J.
The line connects.
“I’m here,” J says. “But I’m not finding anything.” Frustration snaps through her tone when she adds, “These guys could have done me a favor and saved a ‘Use in Case of Kidnapping’ thread in their notes app.”
She’ll find it. I’d offer her encouragement, but I’m not ready to reveal myself yet.
I breathe out slowly and let the door shut behind me, sealing me in with Ace and the other two.
My shoes are silent on the dirty floor. The shed is much bigger inside than it seemed on the outside. Unlike the basement in the abandoned glass factory, there are no blood stains on the wall.
This isn’t one of Kurosaki’s usual torture chambers.
“Hello?” Ace calls.
I remain silent, observing them. Ace’s two friends are creeping around the room. At this point, they’re stationary, but it’s clear that they’ve come up with a plan and are carefully following the steps to overpower me.
“Look, you’ve kept us here long enough,” Ace croaks. His voice is scratchy from not drinking water for so many hours.
The man to my left takes a step forward while the other one remains still.
“What do you want, man?”
The second man starts moving in stealth mode.
“If you wanted to kill us, you would have done that already.”
Ace is their designated spokesperson, and these two must be the enforcement. Interesting. I’d appreciate the strategy more if it wasn’t so obvious.
I fall back, and his two friends pause, searching the darkness for me. Ace notices their hesitation, and he juts his chin forward. His friends start moving again, spurred by his encouragement.
“The Grave City Crew won’t leave us here to die. If we don’t show up by sunrise, our leader’s going to make some noise. You don’t want that kind of heat. I promise you.”
He’s bluffing.
“Let us go and we might let you off easy,” Ace croaks.
“I know you, Ace,” I say quietly.
Ace shifts his head toward me. I can tell that he’s trying to make out my face, but it’s impossible. I’m sticking to the shadows near the door.
“How do you know me?” Ace calls. “Who the hell are you?”
“I know you’re not high enough on the food chain to be talking this way. No one from the Grave City Crew will care if you disappear.”
His posture straightens, but the way he’s moving his head back and forth betrays his confusion. “I’m Big Robin’s righthand man.”
