The Hyenas {Dreamnotfound AU}

18. Glue on our palms

George's POV

I stumble backwards as the knocking startles me, falling right against Clay who was waiting behind me. Luckily, he catches me in time before we can both crash to the ground, and we hurry away from the door, like mice that just noticed the cat came home. Bad jumps up and points down the stairs, which we immediately rush down, together with Karl, who apparently did get the memo that he shouldn't be seen by others unless authorized by Bad. We squeeze ourselves in between a small space between the wall and a closet, and stay as silent as we can, only our breathing audible. Like sardines in a can, we stand there, waiting for sounds from upstairs. When Bad takes the guess we are hidden, he opens the door, and quick footsteps seem to run inside, after which the door is slammed shut. We hear no footsteps for a good minute, but no talking either. Then an unfamiliar voice speaks up.

"Are they here?" a male voice speaks. He sounds afraid, maybe even desperate.

"Sit down and breathe," I hear Bad speaking calmly to the other man, and a chair shoves over the floor. 

"They just left position, but I think they're coming back soon," the unknown voice says, still sounding quite panicky. I look at Clay, who has taken his mask off to breathe better in this cramped place. My sunglasses are on the ground somewhere between our feet, having fallen in the shuffle to get into the place. I find his eyes with mine in the little light coming from the room, and I feel around in the air to find his hand. As if he can read my mind, he does the same and our hands find each other in the dark, holding onto each other like there's glue on our palms. I close my eyes and sigh, listening for what else is being discussed upstairs.

"What? Why did they leave?" Bad questions. Even though I'm not in the room, I can sense the discomfort of their situation as silence falls. The silence doesn't last long, however, as the other man speaks up.

"To get weapons."

In an immediate response, Clay and I squeeze each other's hand tightly, and my eyes snap open as he pulls me close to him and wraps me in a tight hug, holding my head to his chest with both his hands.

"Go upstairs," I hear Bad tell him.

"What? Why?"

"To have deniability. Go." The man starts making haste as he runs up the other stairs in the house, and we carefully but quickly shuffle out of our hiding spot. I find my sunglasses and put them on, Clay repositioning his mask, and we meet Bad halfway the stairs. 

"Go, now, they won't be gone for long," he whispers, and we nod to him, passing him on the stairs as he finds Karl at the bottom of them. 

"Bad?" Clay says as he turns around one last time to face him. He looks up with questioning eyes. "Stay safe." The way he says it resembles the way you say goodbye to a friend you know you'll never see again. Bad only nods, gesturing us to leave as quickly as possible, and we do. Clay pulls the door open swiftly, and we leave the house, immediately speeding away.

We don't take our usual route back. The mysterious man, who I assume to be Bad's scout friend, said everyone left position, but you can never be too sure. We race through more alleyways than ever before, trying not to crash into the walls as we take sharp turns. My lungs start burning from the running, but I don't have long to think about it as I crash into Clay, who came to a sudden stop. I look over his shoulder and spot a black haired boy with a beanie on top of his head, holding a sword in our direction. In an immediate reflex, Clay pulls his sword from his back and I pull a knife from my belt, both weapons immediately pointing directly at him. Be the person you want to be, George. Be brave. I step halfway in front of Clay, but if he's confused he doesn't show it.