The boy tenses. His eyes widen slightly as he takes in a sharp breath, but he catches himself looking guilty, and immediately returns to a relaxed position. \u201cWhat?\u201d he asks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The man\u2019s eyebrows raise. \u201cWe both know you know, so you should choose the right option and tell me now. It\u2019ll save us both the\u2026\u201d he tilts his head slightly and grins, as if he\u2019s reached a conclusion, \u201cthe trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The way he says trouble causes the boy to shiver. He looks down at the goosebumps on his arm. The man follows his eyes, and the boy swears he grins again. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSir–\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFineas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The boy’s eyes shoot up to meet the man\u2019s. \u201cHow do you know my name?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The man chuckles, but Fineas can tell that he\u2019s losing patience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s better,\u201d the man says slowly, \u201cthat I know. Don\u2019t you think? I just want to\u2026\u201d he says, pressing his lips together, considering, \u201cprotect her.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He looks directly at Fineas as he says the last two words. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Judging by his soothing tone, Fineas thinks that the man is trying to talk in a non-threatening way to not appear too intimidating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also thinks it\u2019s not working very well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He swallows. \u201cI admit that I know your daughter, sir. But I swear, I don\u2019t know where she is.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He looks at the man anxiously, hoping that he\u2019ll believe him now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh?\u201d says the man. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes,\u201d says Fineas. He suddenly feels very small compared to the man towering over him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHuh,\u201d says the man, spinning his keys around his pointer finger. \u201cYou don\u2019t have any idea? Not a clue?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, sir,\u201d Fineas says, his eyes glued to the mesmerizing keys, watching them twist around and around. He begins to feel a bit dizzy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAre you rolling your eyes at me?\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNo, I was just watching your keys, and-\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sharpness of his tone cuts like glass. \u201cPlease don\u2019t disrespect me like that.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He figures it\u2019s best not to fight back. \u201cSorry, sir.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHm.\u201d The man leans forward. He claps Fineas on the shoulder, and looks him directly in the eye. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIf you change your mind,\u201d he says slowly. \u201cYou know where I am.\u201d He smiles in an off-putting way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This aggravates Fineas more than he thought it would.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t have to change my mind about anything, because I don\u2019t know<\/em>.\u201d His voice is firm, and he emphasizes the last three words. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The man looks surprised that he would talk to him in that tone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Good<\/em>, thinks Fineas. Let him be the one stunned silent for once.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n He knows he\u2019ll regret it later, but right now he wants nothing more than to make the man feel something other than authority. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI think it\u2019s best that you leave now.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah, I don\u2019t want to be here any more than you want me here,\u201d he says under his breath. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The man grabs him by the arm, forcing Fineas to face him. \u201cWhat did you say?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He wants to take the man\u2019s tactics and hurl them back at him. \u201cHm? Oh, nothing. You must have been hearing things.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The grasp on his arm tightens, nails digging into his skin, which begins to hurt him. He winces slightly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The man looks at his face, then looks down. His face is full of emotion, awareness written across it like a diary. He slowly lets go, clutching his hands around each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n He nods, as if recovering. \u201cYou\u2026 you should go.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cYeah,\u201d says Fineas hesitantly. He turns toward the man, confusion in his eyes, maybe even concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n He turns around, walking toward the door. His eyes dart toward the man once more before he walks out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The second he hears the click of the door behind him like the final beat of a drum, he lets out a sigh of relief. He presses his hands to his heart and shakes his head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cNever again,\u201d he murmurs. \u201cNever, ever again am I going to enter that house, even if I\u2019m being taken against my will. I\u2019ll fight against it or something.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n He shakes his head again. \u201cDon\u2019t know what\u2019s wrong with him, don\u2019t even know if he knows, but I\u2019m not gonna be around when he figures it out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n He walks along the cobblestone path to the gate, admiring how it\u2019s built. What a shame, <\/em>he thinks. Such a nice house wasted on such a terrible man.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The boy tenses. His eyes widen slightly as he takes in a sharp breath, but he catches himself looking guilty, and immediately returns…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":36,"featured_media":1151,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/36"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1147"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1147\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1150,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1147\/revisions\/1150"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1151"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blueandread.asbarcelona.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}