Death At The Opera - 5
A small crowd had gathered outside, suffering the rain and standing at a distance, eager to witness the events that were unfolding.
An increasing battalion of imperial watchers had closed off the street and placed the apartment building on Borden under lockdown. Watch Captain Powell stood under a makeshift shelter next to the carriage he had arrived in while he ordered his men around. Civilians who lived in the building had been instructed to keep inside while the lobby, stairwell and the entirety of the sixth floor was now flooded with watchers standing at the ready.
A carriage arrived, parking itself next to the building. Its hull was armored and it bore no markings. The hatch on the back of the carriage opened up and out stepped a squad of ten heavily armed individuals. They wore officer uniforms similar to those worn by watchers and the imperial guard. However instead of donning the standard national colors of blue and gold they were instead almost entirely white. The citizens of the Duhain Empire knew better than to get in the way of the Crimson Guard. For while their uniforms were white, once they were dispatched on a mission, they would not return until their uniforms were painted carmine with blood.
“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” screamed Rykard as he got back up and stormed into the bedroom. “I knew you people were bad news!”
Once he was out of view, Sofia and Milo heard him beginning to bash the walls in there, in an attempt to make an opening into the crawlspace of the building. Sofia shook her head.
“Well, this is the absolute worst thing that could’ve happened.”
After glancing around, Milo locked eyes with her. “How many times can you use that spell to disguise yourself?”
“Once more.” She said with a sad smile.
Milo looked at the various dead watchers that lay splayed out on the floor. “Could you make yourself look like one of them? Or at least make yourself look like a wounded watcher?”
“Abso-fucking-lutely unbelievable!” they heard Rykard scream in the bedroom as he thrashed around.
Sofia looked at the dead watchers and a wry smile graced her lips.
“I think I just might. But what about you?”
“You could act like you caught me and then you escort me out of sight and we make a run for it.”
Sofia nodded approvingly before her brow furrowed as she considered the logistics of it.
“And what if they stop us and actually take you into custody? What if they realize they don’t know me and decide to ask questions?”
Milo considered it for a moment before looking towards the back window. “Wait.”
He ran across the living room and opened the window looking over the Colton River. While there were some walkways along the river there were no streets that ran along it, at least not here. From their perspective there was nothing but apartment buildings overlooking the river. Milo looked down and saw a series of balconies below them.
“We could scale the exterior, get down to the river and take one of the boats. Fuck Rykard, we leave him to the Crimson Guard.”
Sofia looked down and looked even more afraid of this route than the other. Milo gently gripped her shoulder and locked eyes with her.
“It’s gonna be fine. We’re gonna get out of here, right?”
She nodded and got ready by tightening the straps on her backpack, the one containing all the loot she and Brian got from the nobility at the opera house.
“You ready?” she asked him.
Milo nodded, but as he was about to turn to climb out the window when he heard a frighteningly familiar voice behind them.
“What’s this, then?” asked Rykard as he stepped out of the bedroom holding a bent metal pipe. “You trying to scurry away like rats? Leaving me behind for the guard? Is there no honor among thieves anymore?”
Sofia pulled out her knife again, ready to throw it.
“All of this is your fault, Rykard. It’s only fair that you remain to clean up the mess.”
Rykard grinned a sickeningly twisted smile before readying his metal pipe.
“Oh we can’t have that. I think after I’ve bashed your heads in, I’ll help myself to the loot. One way split sound much better to me, don’t…”
But before he could finish the sentence the front door was kicked in again and a heavily armored figure dressed in white rushed in with an axe in hand. Rykard was the closest so he immediately rushed towards him and swung his axe at him. Another figure remained at the door way, kneeling down with a service rifle, taking aim at the other two.
Sofia instinctively threw her knife and witnessed it get lodged into the guard’s pauldron. The guard, without hesitation, pulled the trigger, unleashing a well aimed bullet that hit Sofia, spraying Milo with blood. Her body going limp and collapsing on top of him, pinning him down under her weight.
Sounds of fighting could be heard from the bedroom while two additional guards carefully entered the apartments. Milo held onto Sophia, moving her partially off of him, droplets of crimson now staining his blue skin, as he looked into her bright yellow eyes. Blood streamed from her mouth and nose and there was so much fear in her eyes. She struggled to breathe and couldn’t speak but she mouthed words regardless.
“Run.”
Milo looked up at the two Crimson Guards who now stood by the kitchen with their firearms trained on him.
“Don’t move!” one of them ordered and Milo froze.
A blood curdling scream broke the silence as an axe flew across the room and lodged itself into chest of one of the guards. The other immediately turned and opened fire into the bedroom, giving Milo the time he needed. He pushed himself out from under Sofia, noticing that her eyes had gone vacant as he did. She was gone.
“I’m sorry.” He whispered as he pushed himself up.
The Crimson Guard emptied his clip firing into the bedroom before turning to look at Milo.
“Fuck this.” He heard the guard mutter underneath his helmet.
The Crimson Guard then pulled out what looked like two cannisters from his person. He then removed pins from both of them and threw one into the bedroom and another into the living room, towards the open window, before retreating out the front door.
Milo pushed himself up onto the railing as he saw the cannister roll and hit the leg of the living room table, coming to a stop. His eyes locked onto the strange device for a moment before he suddenly realized what it was.
An explosion erupted in the bedroom, tearing down the walls separating it from the living room, and merely a instant later the other grenade blew up, tearing apart the living room. Milo felt shrapnel hit his face and body just before a wall of force ejected him out of the window.
There was a moment of weightlessness as Milo soared through the air. A marvelous moment before gravity had begun to pull him down where all his worries seemed to melt away. He was surprised how easy it was to die. How easy it was to let go. And yet, as his tiny body began tumbling down into the darkness he found himself plagued by one singular question:
“Who will take care of River now?”
But he found no answer as the world seemed to fall away and darkness consumed him.
