Air is thick. Breathing is like trying to force down a bowl of jello down my throat as I would water.

“Vern?”

I hear Paige and I give my reply, only it comes out more of a choked gasp from my lips. My eyes fixated on the two men holding everyone's attention.

But worst of all, me, after all, I’m the one they’re looking for. Vern Braxwood, The Kneecapper the entire city has in their minds when they go to sleep. The dreaded criminal of the underworld.

However, T.V and Neil are far worse vagrants than I am. They’ve killed untold numbers of innocents, of men and women working for justice and security. All because they stood in their way.

I guess I’m not much different from these two, everyone I’ve killed, I killed because they got in my way, in the path to my goals. But despite sacrificing everything that used to be me, my innocence, my safety, my morals...I’m right back where I was.

With T.V and Neil towering over me, with Steve’s frightening shadow illuminating their presence. Trapping me.

“Vern.” Paige hisses, pinching me out of my reverie and shock.

“Huh?”

“Let’s go, they haven’t spotted us yet.” She whispers under the whimperings of the newly acquired hostages on deck.

We crawl across the deck, trying our best to remain unseen, moving out in a random pattern through terrified patrons and onto the nearest exit. The door leading down to the cabins.

Glancing back at the two, I find them doing what they do best. Neil is in his element, torturing and oppressing everyone he can get his hands on. Already the psychopath has his entire weight resting on the backs of two unfortunate men in tuxedos.

If I wasn’t so scared I’d be amazed at how fast he finds his way to torment.

T.V would be the trouble it seems. True to his reputation he’s all business, pulling men and women alike by the scruff of their clothes to take a look at the tablet in his hand. A tablet I’m sure has my wanted poster on it.

So far it seems no one has given me up, although I doubt they would have seen me. Many of the passengers now held hostage were far too preoccupied with themselves and the appearance of the other ship to notice a short teen like me skulking beside them.

If T.V wants to get some headway, he’ll need to find a crew member, a worker, a simple waiter even. Or merely spot Paige and I crawling away from this mess each time he picks up a person.

Sighting where we're headed my heart leaps, we’re almost there. While I’m not sure what happens once we escape the deck I find myself ecstatic at the thought.

Paige comes to a halt and so do I. Lying flat on the floor I beckon to her in whispers, “What’s wrong?”

She doesn’t need to answer as the very reason for our stop burst out of the door. Several men wearing light body armour and wielding handguns troop out of the exit, they line themselves up in front of us and aim.

“On the floor, both of you!” One of them screams out to Neil and T.V.

Fuck!, I curse at the foolishness of the man. Why not just shoot the two of them dead right on the spot?

Another one of the calvaries is quick to spot us shuffling away to the door, he squats next to Paige, “Are you alright? Here let me help you up.”

His helping hand gets swatted away like a putrid pest. Only then do I notice Paige’s state.

Her eyes linger on the man’s weapon, a rifle hanging over his shoulder, dangling in her face.

“I’m sorry,” I tell the man, taking firm hold of Paige even as she shivers at my touch, “She’s sensitive to strangers like that.”

The man begins to nod when a cruel laugh echoes through the deck.

“What is this? Is this a joke? What sort of joke is this?!” It’s Neil, he kicks off the men he’d been standing on and lands on the deck, scarcely missing a child, “Look at them, they think they can threaten you.” He says to T.V who is rigid, holding a man in his grip.

“Is that so.” T.V’s cold voice rings out. I’ve never known the man to be much of a talkative and good thing too. His tone and vibe have always been far more terrifying than any other I’ve met, even Steve himself.

He tosses the man to the side and steps over a few people before-

Bang!

“That was a warning shot! Take another step and you and your associate will be full of holes before you can even blink.” At the guard captains word, the rest of them fall in line, straightening in their formation with their pistols and rifles pointed straight at the two.

T.V pauses in his approach, even taking a step back, his shoulders rise and fall with deep breaths and then, “Very well, I take it you want us off your vessel.”

The security nods and a bit of hope dies within me, At least shoot him in the knee and book him!

Despite my internal protests I know the ship's security has no interest in apprehending criminals, all they're concerned with is getting their clients to the other side of Xoxia safely. The authorities can handle anything else.

And although Paige and I are their patrons, I highly doubt they’ll give up the safety of the others for us.

T.V smiles at this, a thin, crooked smile, “That much I can comply with...but you have to do me a favour first.”

“And what is that?”

T.V’s head tilts, scanning across the gap between he and the guards to land on me. Even with his shades on, the shiver that runs through my skin is all I need to tell that I’ve been had.

“Him. The one behind you, the one with the girl.”

Defeated, I set a frozen Paige to rest on the wall. She mutters and murmurs incoherently, her hand squeezing around mine. But not tight enough, she’s still far too weak to protest this.

Standing to my feet I walk past the wall of men in front of me and face my pursuers.

“I can’t say it’s good to see you two again, Neil, T.V.”