Knight in Shining Armour

Chapter Eight: The Deadly Escape

         It was a man who looked like he's had better days. His left eye was swollen, his lower lip was busted up, and his right ear was torn, as if he'd been attacked my a wolf. He looked downright terrible.

"Who the hell are you?" Colton asked. I was slightly taken aback by his sudden attitude with this man, but I didn't blame him. I'd had done the same thing. The  man just laughed and took out a knife, twirling it in his hands skillfully.

"The name's Butcher," he said, his smile turning senile. I could hear Colton give an inaudible gulp at the mention of the vulgar name. "And I'll be your escort today. Try anything funny and I won't hesitate to put a scar on you, understand?"

      Neither Colton or I replied. Instead we stood up, ready to follow whatever orders he had to give us. I held my arms up, palms facing away from me. A couple of places in my body cracked and popped from being on the floor for so long. My ankles felt sore and my legs felt like they were about to snap in half. But I held my chin up and slowly walked over to Butcher, Colton following suit.

"That's right. Nice and easy,"  he  said in a menacingly soothing voice. I gritted my teeth in frustration. I hated being captive. Hated feeling so useless.

     I let Colton go up the stairs first just in case Butcher felt like if he wanted to stab someone at least it wouldn't be him. Colton craned his neck to look at me and I nodded my head, telling him it was okay. He turned his head back around and started up the stairs.
 
     I could feel Butcher's breath on my neck and, unlike Craton's, it didn't smell too atrocious. When I got the top of the steps I squinted my eyes as I was being introduced to even brighter light. I could hear the voices before my eyes adjusted.

      We were in a huge room that had portraits lined up across all the walls, barely showing any wallpaper. The light in the room was coming from a single glass ceiling that looked about the size of an average door. There were 8 chairs set around the room in a circle.

     I was assuming that they were for the six men in the room, Craton and his two friends from last night being a few of them, and me and Colton. My eyes noticed a boy who looked about my height and age leaning against a wall in the corner. There was something in his body language that said he wasn't one to mess with. Before I could fully study him his eyes met mine and I quickly looked at the floor.

"Take a seat," Craton grunted when he saw that we had arrived. He gave Colton a sick smile, who looked away. Then gave me a deathly glare, which I returned. We both took a seat in chairs that were closest to the door.  You never know when you'd have to make a quick escape.

"Keep an eye on them while we go and discuss business, will you?" Craton told the boy who was in the corner. His calm features morphed into a sneer instantly.

"I ain't no bird. You'd better get Larry to do it," he demanded, crossing his arms. Craton looked at the boy then to a man who I'm assuming was Larry. He didn't look too bright to be honest.

"You heard 'im, Larry, go," Craton said, pushing him forward. Poor Larry looked like he didn't even understand what the word "go" meant. He scrambled over to the corner where the boy was once standing. As soon as everyone left the room I looked to my right to see that Colton was fighting a smile. A small part of me was glad that he could still find humor in a life and death situation like this.

      Actually, now that we were in actual lighting I could see his face better. This boy was just as beautiful as his mother. Like, he was literally so pretty he could almost pass for a girl if he actually tried. He didn't look as masculine as the artist had made him in the painting I saw at the palace. The only features on his face that were slightly masculine were his thick, immaculate eyebrows, his his long, straight nose, and the structure of his face.