The Midnight Crime - Chapter 42

The room was pitch black, the loud snores of the sleeping man the only sound as Falcon hopped in through the window. He waited a minute for his eyes to adjust to the darkness, then cautiously made his way towards the best, as the dark forms of the various furniture emerged. The man was sleeping soundly, his body engulfed by a mountain of pillows.

Falcon leaned his head close to him, listening to his even breathing to confirm he was in fact asleep. Aurelia hopped in the room just then, hitting her head on the top of the window and cursing loudly. He glared at her before he realized she probably couldn’t see him. Turning back to the man, he felt his breathing stir, as if the commotion had woken him up.

In a second, Falcon’s hand was over his mouth. Leaning in close, he whispered, ‘Don’t move.’

The man sagged into his pillows at once, letting out a tremulous, ‘Whos there?’

Falcon heard Aurelia blundering her way towards them in the dark before she chuckled lightly, ‘Oh, is he awake?’

‘Yes, you woke him up,’ Falcon scowled before grabbing the rope she had handed him.

He pressed the muzzle of his gun in the man’s ribs, relieving in his scared sound and watched as Aurelia grabbed the desk chair and placed it in the middle of the room.

‘Get up.’ Falcon said.

The man did not object, instead, he got up slowly from the bed, holding his hands in the air.

‘Walk over to the chair.’ Falcon moved after him, keeping the gun pressed in his back.

The man approached the chair quietly, without a single stumble. ‘Have a seat,’ Aurelia said pleasantly, gesturing at the chair in a polite invitation.

He sat down in it importantly, like they were going to discuss business, ‘Stop it, why are you both doing this?’ he said.

‘Quiet.’ Falcon said.

He threw the rope at Aurelia and she caught it smiling widely, before she approached the man in the chair. He flinched, like he would get up but Falcon jabbed his gun into the back of his skull and he settled, allowing Aurelia to tie him up.

Aurelia showed no mercy, tying the binds so tight that the man grunted several times, until he couldn’t move an inch. Falcon knew her actions were coming from her feelings, and he didn’t want her to show any mercy too. The sight of Cyan’s bloody finger kept popping up, and all that was keeping him from beating up the douchebag was the information he had.

Aurelia lit a lighter with a click and held the flame close to the man’s scared face, the small flame fighting the darkness in the room.

‘Hello, spy,’ she said.

Canis’s alarmed face shone up. He looked terrified, eyes wide as saucers and lines around his mouth as if he had just aged twenty years. He watched the two of them warily, as Falcon prowled around him while Aurelia smiled dangerously.

‘What do you mean?’ he stuttered. ‘Why are you doing this? I thought you were on our side.’

‘Yes, I thought you were on our side, Canis. ‘ Falcon said. ‘You moron…why are you betraying your fucking best friend?’

‘You misunderstand,’ Canis said, a bit calmly now, ‘I am doing no such thing.’

Falcon grabbed a fistful of his hair in his palm and pulled. The man’s head fell on the back of the chair, emitting a little yelp of pain. Canis stared into his eyes, his eyes wide as he looked up at him, like a child cornered while stealing snacks from the fridge past midnight.

‘You thief, are you trying to pin everything on me?’ he said, regaining his composure and smiling slowly, though his eyes showed his terror. ‘What are you trying to achieve here? Shit, now you have the ring too.’

‘Shit, indeed.’ Falcon nodded in satisfaction. ‘I have the ring now. Your use for 453 is over anyways. You will be dead the minute I hand the ring over.’

‘It was all my plan,’ Aurelia flicked her hair, ‘We decided to gain your trust and make you hand us the ring by putting all the blame on someone else. Poor Pitt, rotting in prison right now.’

Pitt had been terrified when Canis had ordered the guards to arrest him, swearing his loyalty to Cyan over and over. Aurelia had given him an apologetic look, trying to say it was for just a day, but he had given her such a death glare, she had turned away in a hurry.

‘Stop this nonsense,’ Canis shrugged away Falcon’s hand from his shoulder, ‘Let me go.’

Falcon stopped prowling. Standing in front of him, he pulled back his fist and punched Canis on the nose. The man’s head fell backwards, hitting the back rest with a loud thump. He let out a strained moan, and kept his head there, breathing heavily.

‘Ouch,’ Aurelia grimaced, ‘That was….’

‘How else do I get him to speak then?’ he snapped.

‘Like this.’ Aurelia said, then she smashed her foot between Canis’s legs.

Canis let out am “umph” of contorted pain and seemed to roll into himself but the ropes held him. His eyes were wide with pain as his chest rose and fell, barely holding a reverberating scream.

‘You filthy bastard,’ Aurelia spat, ‘My grandpa is in danger because of you. Do you have any idea the damage your actions are causing, you dickhead?’

Canis was breathing heavily, his eyes held alarm and now Falcon saw it, the first signs of admittance.

‘You think I wanted to? ‘ he rasped, ‘You think I don’t feel guilty while reporting back to him. You are only thinking about yourselves here.’

‘Only about ourselves? ONLY ABOUT OURSELVES?’ Aurelia near tore her hair from her scalp. ‘Your actions are threatening the release of dangerous demons into the human realm and Falcon and I are risking our lives to make sure that doesn’t happen and we are only thinking of OURSELVES?’ she roared.

Falcon took the lighter from her hand and held the flame very close to Canis’s face. ‘Listen, I am going to set this rope on fire,’ he said, tugging at the bond near his ankle, ‘And by the time the flame reaches you here,’ he ran a hand on his thigh, ‘I believe you would be ready to speak.’

Canis gave him a look of strong hatred, ‘You wouldn’t.’

‘That was a very foolish thing to say,’ Aurelia shook her head, as Falcon took the lighter by his foot with a flourish and brought the flame near his toes.

‘Alright, alright, stop,’ Canis said hurriedly, as the heat hit his foot, ‘Though, I don’t have much to tell you.’

‘We will see,’ Falcon shrugged.

‘No, really. What do you want to know?’

‘Who is 453?’ he said at the same time as Aurelia. They glanced at each other and in the light of the flickering flame, he saw her eyes sparkling with confusion and barely suppressed rage.

It was an impulsive decision. In a split second, Falcon had reached out his arm and grabbed her hand in his own. He saw her glance at him sideways but refused to look at her, keeping his eyes trained at the man in the chair.

And then Canis opened his mouth to tell them.