Gray Coats

Part 3

I was at a major loss for words. What was I supposed to say to this jerk? ‘Oh I’m not doing anything, I’m just, you know, listening in on your conversation. I’m just being stupid, really, so don’t worry about it.’ Yeah, I don’t think so. Not in front of this freak. I barely even noticed Fria clutching my arm and digging her nails into my flesh. I felt my hands begin to sweat and my mouth became very dry. “I…I, uh…” Yep, that’s what I said; very heroic, right? Sometimes I wonder how I managed to become Fria’s bodyguard.

 

The gray coat laughed once again, but this time it was at me. I felt kind of humiliated, but soon to be filled with even more rage than before. Was I really going to let this jerk try to be better than me? I don’t think so. However, before I could even give him a piece of my mind (oops, I mean fist), he said, “Trust me, boy, you do not want to get involved with this, and you definitely don’t want to get involved with her.” He tilted his head towards Fria behind me. “So, why don’t you just go on home and pretend that this never happened, hm?”

 

I was thinking, ‘Yeah right, like I’m going to believe you!’ Although, for a split second I wondered, what if Fria really wasn’t the person to go off protecting? What if she was the bad guy? Then I remembered everything I had just witnessed about this gray suited monkey. “Why? What do you want with her?” Alright, that was an okay thing to say, I guess. It didn’t sound dumb, at least.

 

“You don’t want to know. It’s none of your concern. Now, as I said before, leave. I have things under control here.” The gray coat’s hypnotizing voice was losing its tone, and he was getting a bit agitated.

 

Now, it was my turn to laugh sarcastically. One thing’s for sure, I was not going to leave Fria. There was something about her…I don’t know what it was but I just felt the need to be there for her. She needed me, and she depended on me to keep her away from danger. So, that was exactly what I was going to do. “Yeah, you really have things under control. I mean, you’re only scaring this poor girl to death! Why don’t you leave? You’re not going to get her back, believe me on that.” I felt like I was gaining power over this gray suited guy.

 

I noticed how Fria was unusually quiet. She was slowly backing away into the darkness. I was a little hurt, to be quite honest, because I thought that she was losing faith in me. But, I wasn’t the reason why she was retreating. Somehow she knew that something bad was coming. When I looked over my shoulder, I could just hardly see the worry on her face and the tiny shake of her head that immediately told me to get out of there.

 

I turned my head to look at the gray coat guy. He stood still as stone, his face cold as the darkness. But slowly, ever so slowly, did an evil smile tug at the corners of his mouth. I opened my mouth in hope to say something, anything, but nothing came out. I didn’t know what to say; I didn’t know what was coming. I was afraid, but tried to stay strong…for Fria.

 

“I’m afraid I can’t leave without her. It’s a shame that you won’t cooperate with us. We could really use a guy like you on our team,” I could not believe that the freak asked me that. I didn’t even have to look behind me to know that Fria lost it for a second there. Just one expression on my face, a snort, and a laugh immediately turned down that idea. “What a loss,” the gray suit continued. “Men, retrieve Fria for me, please, and…dispose of this pest.”