Hidden Allies

Chapter Six

  "Sesame Street? Really." Matthew Glaive asked his friend with a tone of incredulity.

  "You told me to stall her didn't you?" Matthews friend, Josh, said nasally. He waved at the girl lying prone beside a dumpster. "It worked! She was stalled. Crap! Is my nose broken?" Josh moved his hands so Matthew could look at his face.

Matthew shrugged. "I can't tell behind that stupid get up you're wearing."

"Hey! Don't diss the disguise. It's how I work. I'm a genius, alright." Josh said pointedly. Despite what he just said though, he started to remove what he was wearing; mainly the white wig, the fake bifocals, and a mustache and beard that were just as fraudulent. He kept on the trench coat. Underneath the disguise Josh looked very much like his teenage self. He was eighteen and stood at an average five-foot-five. He had jet black that was cut low on the sides and back and the top was left to grow out. His skin was comparable to the color of a vanilla latte and his eyes had a slight tilt that gave his features an ethnic, South-of-the-border look. Also, if he were to remove the long coat he wore, one would see the various designs of tattoos that ran the length of his arm, from fingertips to shoulder. It was something Josh was rather proud of, seeing that he came up with the designs himself, but he kept his handiwork covered for the sake of carrying out what he was doing now; namely assault and kidnapping. He didn't want to stand out.

"What about now?" he asked and stuck his nose forward.

Matthew examined the damage. His friends nose was busted up. A bruise had already started from the injury. Blood dribbled from his nostrils and covered his chin. But nothing looked broken.

  "It's all good. But you're not going to be taking any selfies for a while."

  "Oh ha-ha." Josh mumbled. "That girl only looks average, but she hits like a wrestler."

Matthew had to agree on that one. He hadn't expected her to fight back and get out of Josh's grip. Good thing he had the chloroform ready and had used it when he did. He couldn't afford to let this go sideways.

  "Alright, enough complaining." Matthew said getting back to the task at hand. "Grab her feet and help me take her behind the dumpster before the whole world sees what were doing."

  Josh snapped a salute and an Aye-Aye, sir and took Emma by the ankles. Matthew gripped her arms and together the two of them carried her just beyond the dumpster she had collapsed against. They laid her down on a stack of cardboard. It was the cleanest thing in sight, and Matthew couldn't help but guess that it was also probably someones bed.

  "You go get the car, I'll keep a look out." He ordered. Josh gave a nod and jogged off. If Matthew was being bossy, he didn't notice, or cared for that matter. Matthew was the one who had more experience in the field. Besides he was older too, by three years. But whatever. Josh didn't want the responsibility.

  When josh left, Matthew made sure to throw his gaze in all directions. He watched the street entrance, the access doors in the alleyway and the side paths that the alley cut off into. There had to be no witnesses for his plan to work properly.

His eyes soon fell on the sleeping Emma. Although it wasn't the first time seeing her, it was his first time seeing her this close. He thought back to when she bumped into him at the café. The look she gave him when their eyes met. Something had happened then. He had felt a spark. It could have been, scientific, supernatural of phenomenal, but Matthew could have sworn that he knew her from somewhere before.

Strange.

  There was a sound of a car stopping and the doors being opened. Matthew looked to the street, expecting danger, but it was just Josh. He came around and opened the passenger doors then ran to help with carrying the unconscious girl. They made quick work of bundling Emma into the backseat without anyone in the street noticing, then they jumped in the front.