The Story of Blood and Roses

"Must have been the boy from last time. Ethan properly traumatized him that time," I waved it off. His keenness to observe things seemed sillier with the passing minutes. Where he was getting at with all these assumptions was beyond me.

"I'll bring us home food and then we can do our own work, okay?" I told him, ignoring his assumptions. I followed his previous quip and didn't give him the satisfaction of getting a reaction out of me. I saw him nod and went to the kitchen to grab some plates and spoons and forks. I kneeled beside the glass table in front of the couch and placed the dishes filled with food on it. After disposing of the packets I came back and sat down. Anthony had his hands on his cell phone and he was typing furiously at it.

I placed the plate of food on my lap and then connected the headphone to my laptop knowing that things would be getting loud really soon in the room. I took a few bites of the food and then pressed play to watch what was going on. I planned on not missing even a single minute of the whole footage. I looked at every face that entered and exited the room. I saw the cleaning staff slacking in their task. I saw Ron enter to check the room once. I saw little details. In a fleeting moment, I looked at Anthony from the corner of my eyes. I saw that the phone was pressed to his years and his face was scrunched up in concentration. I presumed that the conversation had not heated up yet and everyone was being actively productive in the discussion and being careful to not piss Anthony off.

Clearly, the extremely calm man with mood swings was slipping away. The mood swings were ever present, but the calmness he exuded was muted. With so much going on it was no wonder that he was hyper. It was also a surprise that he hadn't taken any reckless decisions as of yet. He hadn't snapped as such and was still capable of taking rational decisions. I commended him for that.

Turning back to the task at hand I rewound the video and started from the moment I had lost concentration.

The group of men had entered the room and were warily looking around the room. Nolan, for instance, was staring up at the ceilings and pressing his hands under the furniture to make sure that nothing was wired. Little did he know that the cameras were hidden from view because of their camouflaging properties and their eerie similarity to the decor. They looked like those modern lampshades but were in all actually hidden cameras designed to take care of security in high-end hotels and multi-national companies. They were the best and costliest of its kind.

I saw the slight change in his sly movements that I had missed out in my exhausted haze the last time around. He definitely knew what he was doing, and if I recalled correctly, he had acted to be one of the victims and not the one executing the plan. I could feel the ironic smile spreading across my lips as I watched the whole scene play out again. The fidgeting lot had been in need of a pep talk and Nolan had played the part of a nervous novice like a professional.

"It took us so many years to get here. Don't act like brats while I try to save the day!"

"You know what will happen if we fail."

"Nole, we can't help it. We didn't know what we were getting into when you contacted us..."

"Even I didn't know what I was doing when I contacted you."

"We need to get out of this mess, man. We can't handle this. I don't want to die."

"None of us want to die. I'm sorry…"

"We need to stop feeling sorry for ourselves. We can't change anything."

"We're trapped."

"What's going to happen?"

"We need to pull our act together. If any of them finds out, we're dead. Nothing is going to touch the two sitting on the thrones, they'll just swear peace and walk away; we… we will be ambushed. We must remain in his good books. Only he can protect us."

"You think Darcy will help us if we are found out?"

"Shut up, you idiot!"

"They'll hear you. You'll be good as dead, then."

"If we can do what he wants, then we'll be safe."

"What about Anthony?"

"Come here."

"Listen. You guys thought you would earn some quick cash, and I understand that. But this shit is dangerous." He warned them. "What you need to do is shut your trap, hide and do what you are told to do. You do not ask questions and you do not look them in the eye. They'll know if you do. Do NOT look them in the eye."

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