Devil's Knot

<>28<>

"Stop right there!" A gruff voice shouts. Rin, Cier and I all turn towards the voice in shock, to see someone we would least expect. He grins at us devilishly.
"Missed me now did ya?" His grin turns to a maniac laugh, and I reach for my phone, to contact Doe, just in case. A blade flies past my hand, scratching it just enough for me to know that it wasn't missed, it was a warning.
"All we want is two more days." Cier steps forward. Three men rush forward, two grasping each of her arms the other holding a golden knife to her throat. This all happens in the blink of an eye. No way are we getting out of here unless I can think of a plan.
"Easy girly, you don't wanna get anymore hurt than you were before, now do ya?" He snarls at Cier. She breathes lightly, panic hidden away in steady eyes with lips turned down in a slight frown. She looks so much older than fourteen.
I slide an inch closer to Rin, and hold out my hand. I think he understands, because he grabs my hand in his immediately.
I tap out a quick code into his palm, and he taps an answer back.
Kenta: I have a plan.
Rin: what is it?
Kenta: you trust me?
Rin: yeah, fully.
This whole conversation takes maybe ten minutes. Our code, while easy to understand, is quite slow. Cier negotiates with him the whole time.

"Sir," her teeth clench in despise, "We all promise that in two days, this opportunity will come again. I swear that on my life, and I will give myself to you if the promise is not kept." Surprisingly, her soft voice is more persuasive than you might think.
"You, my lady, are up against a wall. I have a whole world of options. And that one is close to the bottom." He staggers closer, and snarls in her face. His yellow teeth glare at me from the side. "But I think I may consider it." I can smell the staleness of his breath from here, and I'm about a foot and a half away.
"That certainly would please me, sir, and my comrades of course." She breathes out. He snarls at her again, chortling softly as he glanced our way.
"That wasn't part of the deal, missy."
Her face pales, but only for an instant. She regains her composure, and her way with words surprises me again and again.
"Sir, if you may think back to what I had said earlier, I said that 'we all promise'. And if I am correct, we all includes all three of us.
Being that you do not wish to uphold your end of the promise, you could make me angry, and force me to hurt you. But I would rather not do that, sir. And if it doesn't bother you too much, then I beg you to reconsider your decision." She finishes her speech with something that would appeal to him.
Begging. He loves it when those under him beg. Be it for mercy or something else, he just loves it.
He leans back, and I can see the gears turning in his head as small drop of blood trickles down Cier's neck. He licks his lips at the sigh of the blood. She hides her expressions so well, it's impressive.
"So, if I am to take this deal I would like to set some conditions." His face crinkles as he grins wickedly.
"And what would those conditions be?" Cier says, ever so falsely polite.
"I get the red head for two days, and bring her back here after those days are up." My vision blurs, but only for a second. I take a few long, deep breaths, attempting to get my fear under control. Rin and I continue conversing in number to letter code, and Cier continues to negotiate a deal that would work out best for all of us. Mostly for me, Rin and herself, but for him a little bit too.
"That would not be possible. You can have her for one day, but I expect her back by this time exactly tomorrow." My heart races at the though of spending twenty four hours with him. It just kills me. His whole self spikes fear and hate into my chest, making breathing a heck of a lot more difficult.
"I will ask your permission to talk it over with Kenta, though. If I may?" Cier smiles devilishly, staring straight into his face that's just an inch too close.
"Fine, you have one minute and I'll get to hear the whole thing. Go, talk." She turns to me and the man with the knife lowers his blade, but keeps himself at the ready. He steps closer, so he can listen in on us.
"Kenta, I know this is not something you want to do, or should ever have to do. But I promise we will have you out of there by tomorrow. No matter how we have to get you back, you will be back." My eyes lower to the ground trying to decide what's the better thing to do.
Keep everyone else safe, while possibly sacrifice myself to a psychopath. Or, save myself a lot of trouble, but cause a lot of trouble for most everyone at Clandestine.
I know the right thing to do is my first option, but the second one would be a lot safer, and less risky than Cier's plan. Rin taps out another quick message to me.
Rin: escape now? Or no.
I spend a second contemplating, and answer as honestly as I can, but doing it as fast as possible.
Kenta: you go when I tell you.
I look at him, asking for confirmation. He nods slowly, tearing up a little. I glare at him, and he blinks, drying his eyes quickly.
"Kenta?" Cier asks me, concern sharp I'm her voice.
"Okay, go." I whisper, and let go of Rin's hand. This time, I see a tear fall down onto his cheek, as he sprint off into the distance. I pray to God that he can get help fast enough.
In the amount of time it takes Rin to get at least five hundred yards away, I also have a knife cutting into my throat. He moves away from Cier, punches his man out of the way, and grabs me by the neck. I choke struggling to get oxygen.
"You had a plan, he would leave, and get help right?" I shake my head as much as I can in this position, black spots dancing before my eyes.
"Kenta-" Cier chokes suddenly, gasping for air. Her hands clutch her stomach, and she wheezes trying to catch her breath. One of the guards sacked her in the stomach. And that fist looks ugly. I'm surprised she didn't fall to the ground.
"Don't try anything." He says and drops me. I crumple to the ground, heaving up what I just ate. My fingers and toes tingle due to the sudden loss of air, but it's my throat I'm worried about. Air scrapes into my lungs as I inhale and exhale. Cier stays hunched over in front me, but she's still standing.
I place my hands one at a time onto the ground and push myself to a sitting position, still hunched over and gasping for breath. But at least I'm halfway up.
I hear him talk again, directing his voice first to Cier and then to me.
"The deal is on, she'll be back here tomorrow by three PM on the dot. Now come one, get up!" His voice alone makes my hands tremble, and I fight to keep them steady. Two men jerk me up so I can stand, but they bind my hands and cover my eyes as we start walking. The dirt kicks up underneath my feet, and the sound of a car engine roars. They shove me into some sort vehicle (a car maybe?) and chain my legs at the ankles too. We bumble along a dirt road for a while, until we come up to a building that hides the sun, and makes my blood run cold.
"Take her there, and make sure she doesn't try anything funny." I hear him order.
"Yes, my lord."
Cold air wraps around me and I shiver as they haul me out of the back and into a street.
I shuffle along, upholding my side of the deal. I know I agreed to do this, but I'm starting to wish we had just left when we had the chance. If we even ever did. His lackeys throw me onto the cold concrete road and I scrape my elbows.
The car door clicks shut, and he takes my blindfold off as it drives away.
"Hello there girly." He smirks at me, looking down from where he stand tall, greasy black hair and lanky figure towering over me. Then I realize that he's not the only one.  The other one I recognize even more the the first. His grey eyes pierce mine with the sharpness of daggers, his charcoal hair making my breath hitch in my thraot.
"Dak," My voice cracks in unchecked fear as I speak.
"And Jay."