Perfect with You

Chapter 20 - Phoenix Ignition

There it was. The first bird she had noticed to fly by. It was gray with a green shine to it, its wings spread out, letting the wind carry it. Just behind it came another trying to catch up, this one occasionally flapping its feathery wings, struggling to gain speed. There were only two.
She looked down again, taking it all in at once.

The repetition.

The yells.

The threat of death.

However, nobody dared to step outside of the mall. They only looked from behind the glass doors like caged animals, yelling in synchronization like a choir.

A small group of people had gathered close to the entrance, curious as to why they heard an explosion. Their bones pressing up against their flesh when they saw the destroyed car and the person waving some sort of device around, threatening to blow up the entire mall if any of them called the police. It was most likely an empty threat, but Ethan's brother looked more psychotic than Ethan himself, but in completely different ways. Ethan had an analytical way to carry out his plans. His brother, on the other hand, was more psychical and more insane looking. He was frantic. Maybe he would actually blow something up if they pulled out their phone. It's not like he could prevent someone- anyone- from eventually calling the police, however. It was only a matter of stalling. To give Max as much time as possible to continue with the challenge before it would all go to hell. Chloe was aware of this, but she hadn't gathered all the pieces yet.

"You just fucking ruined it for yourself" Her voice was startled, her body language open.
"When the police arrive, you will get arrested if they don't shoot you and that guy with the fucking bombs first" She looked like a confused storm, wondering where to place her feet.
"We don't have to take your shit anymore. Since you made it clear that you won't kill Max, we can just wait, and if you want to kill me..." her eyes shifted from Ethan, down onto the pavement.
"Max will just kick your ass" It felt awesome saying it. She felt the words tickle her throat, prompting to lift her chin up to show superiority. When she heard Max sigh in her usual way when Chloe said something dumb, she pushed herself away from the wall she was leaning against and gave her a friend a subtle thumbs-up.

"I can see you're catching up Chloe" Ethan finally reacted, curling his fingers and blinked a few times.
"But if Max does decide to just wait, I will just signal Nicholas over there to blow up another car. He has the means, and I'm sure he doesn't care if there are people in the car" He said it so carefree and forthright, making Chloe tighten her face in annoyance.

"So you're basically just becoming some sort of terrorist?" Max quickly broke in, lifting her right hand up to her stomach.
"You're willing to kill innocent people, just to get what you want?" She lowered her head slightly but kept looking in the direction of Ethan, doing her best to disregard his movements.

"I know it sounds like a preachy villain to say this, but hey," Ethan tilted his shoulder to the side, touching the bottom of his jacket with his left hand as Chloe watched Max take a quick breath and blinking hard once.
"It's all for the greater good"

Max wanted to respond, but couldn't come up with much to say hoping Chloe would speak for her once more, but understandably, Chloe stayed silent as well. Only frantic talking could be heard coming from inside the mall, with Ethan's brother– Nicholas, as he just now revealed his name, occasionally yelling around threats.

The first to make a move was Chloe as she took a step closer to Max, trying to catch her attention.
"Max, it's not like you have an obligation to keep saving people," she said somewhat loudly while slowly placing her hand in her right pocket.
"Ethan is just playing on your fear. It's just like that fucking quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald" Chloe swiftly pulled out a closed pocket knife from her pocket, tapped Max on the back of her hand with a finger and then put the knife in the back of Max's pocket before she turned her attention towards Ethan, being careful to only look at his face.