2
Theo
What I’d told Maxwell was only partially a lie.
Adriel and Piercehadwondered about the state of the new clinic, and how Maxwell was doing in his new workplace. In reality, they had been speaking amongst themselves and off-handedly mentioned that it would be a good idea to visit him at some point. I wasn’t involved in the conversation at all. My brothers tended not to take me seriously, and kept matters of business above my head. I was still a young and stupid kid in their centuries-old eyes.
But I’d been eavesdropping, of course. With my increased sense of hearing, I couldn’tnoteavesdrop most of the time. Totally not my fault.
At the time, I was excited to hear them mention Maxwell. The truth was that I missed having him around the mansion. We didn’t just lose an on-call doctor when Maxwell moved out. I lost a close friend.
So when the opportunity presented itself, I wasn’t going to let it slip out of my fingers. By visiting Maxwell at the clinic, I’d be killing two birds with one stone--I was checking on our investment, and also on our sweet little doctor.
But something threw a wrench in my plans. And now that something--or rather, someone--was trailing Maxwell and I down the alley.
A lowly criminal.
When I put my arm around Maxwell, his heart raced like a frightened rabbit, despite me trying my best not to scare him. Humans spooked so easily. But I would never let him get hurt. Didn’t he know that?
I increased the pace. I hoped that picking up speed, as well as safety in numbers, would be enough to throw off the guy trailing us. I didn’t like getting into conflict with humans because it always ended badly for them. Even if the guy had bad intentions, I didn’t want to hurt any humans.
“So, which way’s your place, Max?” I asked loudly.
The guy behind us paused by the dumpster. Still following, but hanging behind a bit now, hesitating. Probably trying to figure out if Maxwell was still worth pursuing.
“Erm. That way,” he said, holding his finger close to his chest and pointing left.
“Great.”That means we’re heading to the right.
“Is there someone behind us?” Maxwell asked in a hushed whisper.
I grunted affirmatively. “Don’t worry, though.”
No matter what, I was gonna lose this guy.
The footsteps suddenly broke out into a run. I groaned. Humans always made things harder than they needed to be.
I quickly turned around in time to face the man. A hood and mask covered his face. His hip bulged unnaturally, indicating some kind of weapon sitting there. He ran at us haphazardly, like he was taking one final shot at this.
I sighed.
“Stand back,” I mumbled to Maxwell, who was shaking like a leaf. More than anything, I wanted to punch this human for scaring Maxwell, who I knew already struggled so much with anxiety. He didn’t need all this unnecessary drama.
“But--”
“Hey,” I called. “I wouldn’t bother trying, if I were you.”
Maybe a normal human wouldn’t have noticed the man’s muscles twitch almost imperceptibly, but I wasn’t a human. I knew he had doubts. He hesitated, even just for a single moment. That told me everything I needed to know. He wasn’t a practiced mugger. Just someone looking for an easy target--which, unfortunately, Maxwell resembled.
Maxwell whimpered behind me and clutched the back of my leather jacket. My senses picked up his quickened breath and sweaty palms. Poor Max.
The man stopped running. He circled around instead, hoping to pressure us backwards against the alley’s brick wall. I clicked my tongue. Only a few more strides and we would’ve been out of the alley and back in the streets, away from this inexperienced mugger. Too bad for him.
I stood my ground, but Maxwell backed up. Not wanting to be too far away from him, I joined him, acting as a barrier between the two humans. The mugger saw this as a display of my weakness and was egged on. He stepped forward and reached for the tool at his belt, a folding knife hidden away in his jeans pocket.
I watched the display, almost bored. It was always the same.
“I know this is a big city and all, but they should really crack down on crime around here,” I commented.
