Theo – Part 6

Theo, Skinner, and the nine goons stood huddled below the dimly lit window. Theo, for the first time, felt his stomach give a lurch of nervousness. The target he had been responsible for abducting seemed no longer a simple prerequisite to his mission but somehow became more real. He considered what he was previously willing to do, in order to get admittance into the guild and wavered slightly. He looked up at the pale light that leaked from the window twenty feet above.

Inside was a teenager, a young man, perhaps completely innocent, and he Theo Wood was going to aid in his kidnapping, along with a gang of sewer criminals. It was the only way to prove to the ‘Webbed Children’ he was truly one of them.

“Wood,” Skinner whispered, and when Theo looked down, he was alarmed to see every eye upon him. He tried to hide the obvious concern that crept across his face by glancing up again.

“Are you ready?” Skinner asked. Theo nodded. “Good, why don’t you climb yourself up there and have a look through the window. If he’s alone, signal down and we’ll do the rest”

Theo was somewhat relieved at being given the role of scout and agreed enthusiastically by beginning his climb up the side of the building. Skinner and his nine goons watched him, some keeping an eye out down the streets that flanked them. The city was asleep it seemed, and citizens seldom disturbed them as Theo climbed. The building was old and for the most part in disrepair; Theo had no issue scaling the building in a matter of seconds, his light and agile frame making a mockery on the heavy brutes below that watched enviously.

When Theo gripped the window ledge, he pulled himself up slowly using the strength in his forearms. He peered into the warmly lit room and could just make out a figure inside. It was difficult to see perfectly through the sunken glass panels, but Theo saw the target. A young man in robes stood idly in the centre of the room, facing away from Theo who hung effortlessly from the window ledge. Despite only seeing the boys back, Theo guessed the boy could not have been any older than twenty, given his thick youthful brown hair and slender frame. He was holding something in his hand, but Theo could not see what it was at this angle. He quickly pulled himself up further for a better angle and looked about the room. It was a single room, tightly confined even for a single person, and Theo wondered what a young man with such supposed talents was doing in a run-down complex like this. Theo lowered himself and hung from one arm; looking down at Skinner and his goons, he raised a thumb to give the ‘all clear’. The room was indeed clear, and the boy was alone; an easy kidnapping it seemed. Even if the boy could wield magic or use a blade, against Skinner and the nine muscled goons in that tight confound of a room, Theo placed little hope for the boy.

Skinner made a few silent calls to his men and Theo watched as they entered the building in single file, masked and hooded. The retrieval had begun, and Theo raised himself up once more to peer into the window and observe. What he saw when he looked back in startled him so much, he almost lost his grip and fell.