The Ploy

Hawkins turned his back, gently taking his child partner by the hand and leading him to the other side of the room. Matthew kept his eyes set on Hawkins’ back, cracked glasses sliding down his nose.

Esper made a low groan, shuffling in his position under Matthew’s chest. His lip trembled as he weakly lifted his head, twisting around to face Matthew.

“Mr. Matthew, where…” His voice suddenly jumped in pitch as he shook the initial grogginess odd, “Where are we? What happened?”

Matthew leaned closer to Esper, trying to reassure him with touch. “That child must have been working for Hawkins. He knocked us out and carried us to this warehouse.”

“Hawkins?” Esper asked, starting to quiver.

“Yes, the bounty hunter from a few months back. I don't recognize the child, though. It's disgusting that he's forcing that poor thing to assist in this scheme.” Matthew couldn't stop himself from picturing Victor in the child’s place.

“He sealed my magic, Mr. Matthew,” Esper whimpered, his squirming becoming frantic, “Is he gonna kill us?”

“Don’t say that,” Matthew said sternly, “Neither one of us are going to die. It's going to be fine, and I'll make sure of it. Just try to stay calm, okay, baby? Leave this to me.”

Esper kept his head pinned to the collar of his shirt, trying to keep himself from sniffling.

Matthew caught himself breathing heavily. He honestly wasn't sure how he was going to make it out of this. With his cellphone gone, calling for help wasn't an option. He had already told Umbra they were going out for the day, so Umbra had no reason to go out looking for him.

“Hawkins, wasn't he with the...the Circle of Life? With Asher? We never told anyone about what we say there, so why are they targeting us?”

“He said he only wanted me,” Matthew breathed, looking away from Esper.

“You? Why you?”

Matthew swallowed the lump in his throat. “I don’t know,” he rasped, “But we've got to escape ourselves. There's no other choice. Hawkins is a dangerous criminal, and I have no idea if he has reinforcements on the way. I fair a much better chance fighting off Hawkins than a whole gang of thugs.”

“He found the guns in my coat-” Matthew murmured, suddenly sitting up as he wiggled his thighs, “But he forgot the knife I keep in my pants. It probably never crossed his mind to search my lower body.”

Esper frowned. “You keep a knife in your pants?”

“Of course,” Matthew said, his cheeks gaining a red tint as he shrugged, “I always like to be prepared. And I guess it finally did come in handy.”

Matthew stared down at his lap, pursing his lip. His hands sat in his lap, wrists tightly bound by zip ties. His belt and khaki pants seemed like an immovable obstacle, blocking the path to the hunting knife stashed in a sensitive area.

At times like this, he was glad Esper was blind.

Author's Note- insert ""knife""" joke here