what they wouldn't do | DAREDEVIL

chapter fourty four

Sarah and Cecilia both stumbled to a halt as the man in black stepped into their path.

In the dark, he was mostly just a silhouette, but it was uncanny how much he looked like the real thing: broad shoulders that sloped downward to muscular arms, hands halfway curled into fists at his side. The only thing missing was the telltale head tilt as he surveyed them.

But any illusion of the man before them actually being Matt was quickly dispelled when he reached for the batons strapped to his thigh, withdrawing one and taking aim directly at the two women.

Before he could send the baton flying at either of them—and if Sarah had to guess she would assume it was coming her way specifically—several fleeing party guests burst around the corner, darting between the man in black and his targets. They were running towards the same exit sign that Sarah and Cecilia had been, and in their panic they paid no attention to the three figures standing stock still in the hallway facing each other.

"Come on," Sarah said, snapping out of her panicked stupor and grabbing Cecilia's arm to drag her along with the others who were running away.

When she glanced over her shoulder, Fake Daredevil had disappeared into the shadows in much the same way the real one was so good at. Her stomach dropped at the thought of not knowing where he was, but she turned her attention forward again before she could accidentally run into anyone in the dark.

Just as the first few escaping partygoers reached the stairwell, the door burst open; some of the armed men from down in the ballroom had made it up the stairs in an alarmingly short time. The dark shapes of guests and attackers blurred together in the dark, and Sarah heard someone scream.

Instinctively, Sarah grabbed Cecilia's arm again and yanked her back a few feet, both of them stumbling in their heels as they sprinted down a hallway to their right. Sarah pulled them into the first room they reached, eager to get out of the hallway where they were easy targets.

It was a large exhibit hall with paintings covering the walls, leaving only a small strip of windows at the very top to let a tiny bit of light in. The middle of the room was scattered with various large shapes that Sarah assumed were art installations, although in the dark she couldn't make out what they were.

Cecilia immediately dashed towards one of the dark shapes to hide behind it, her heels clacking loudly against the floor.

Sarah was about to do the same, but before she could she heard the sound of running footsteps coming in their direction. Not wanting to make any more noise, she took a few quick steps back as quietly as she could and ducked around the side of a partition displaying several large paintings.

The footsteps grew louder as two men stopped just outside the entrance to the room. The light from their flashlights illuminated the tiled floor as they spoke in hushed tones.

"Think there's any stragglers?" one of them asked the other.

"Dunno. Doesn't matter much, anyway. Boss is only interested in the two he told us about."

"Yeah, but a crowd like this?" the first man responded. "We could at least get some jewelry or cash off some of these people."

The two of them stepped farther into the room and raised their flashlights, illuminating the walls with small circles of light.

"Aw, shit. Seriously?" one of the men complained. "That's creepy."

In the light of their flashlights, it was clear what he was creeped out by: the exhibit Sarah and Cecilia had chosen to hide in appeared to be, unfortunately enough, clown themed. Sarah could see them as the flashlights moved across the wall: big, colorful paintings of clowns, old black and white photos of circus clowns, even statues of them. From every corner of the room, brightly painted eyes watched from the shadows as the flashlights moved across the walls.