Chapter 6: Auction Plans; I'm Sorry, Gilbo!
Vash, Arthur, and Alfred were on their way back to the station when Alfred yelled at Vash to pull over. Vash put on the brake, making the car come to a sharp halt. Poor Arthur hit his face on the windshield!
"Bloody hell!" Arthur said, rubbing his face. "Vash, can you make the stops any less sharp, you dolt?"
"Sorry," said Vash. He saw Alfred open the back door and bolt. "Al! Where are you going?"
"I saw someone going this way," said Alfred. "Looks like he was dragging something…or someone." He continued running, and Vash and Arthur followed.
Alfred turned a corner and carefully hid himself behind a graffiti- covered wall. His hiding place smelled of rotten garbage that was due for a pickup, and he saw a few flies buzzing around the stuff. 'gee, talk about bad hiding places.' He covered his mouth and nose with his shirt and peeked out from behind the wall. Alfred saw something that shocked him: A man who looked like the person Ludwig described. The man who had taken Gilbert from the park two days earlier! 'But why does he seem so familiar?'
The man was forcefully pulling a crying Gilbert along by his arm. Gilbert seemed lethargic, most likely from hunger, illness, or even from being drugged. "Let's go, you little brat!"
Alfred gasped when he heard the man speak with that accent of his. He spoke quietly to himself. "It's…him! The guy who…who took Mattie! Now I know why he's familiar!"
"N-No," Gilbert said. Tears leaked from his eyes like a never-ending waterfall. He weakly tried pulling his arm out of his captor's grip. "Lemme go! I wanna go home. Please."
The man forced Gilbert up against a wall, then grabbed the boy's face in order to make the child look him in the eyes. Then he took a gun out and held it to Gilbert. "You want me to shoot you? Well?"
"No," Gilbert whimpered as the gun touched his forehead.
The man put the gun away and grabbed Gilbert's arm again. "Then do as I say and come on." he held Gilbert like a rag doll as he dialed Sasha's number. "Brother Sasha, I'm here. I brought the kid back."
'He tried escaping?' Alfred thought.
"Oh?" the man asked. "So, when's the bidding gonna take place?"
"Bidding?" Arthur whispered as he and Vash finally caught up with Alfred.
"Shush!" Alfred commanded.
"They're gonna sell him?" Vash asked.
"I said 'shush'!" said Alfred.
"In two days, huh?" the man asked. "I should have the little brats ready by then. So, where, exactly, again?"
"I can't believe this," Alfred whispered angrily. "A child trafficking ring!"
"The old auction house?" the man asked. "That hasn't been used in…I dunno, a hundred years or so. Why there?"
"I don't wanna be sold!" Gilbert cried weakly, as loud as his voice would allow.
"Shut the hell up!" the man shouted. He slapped Gilbert very hard across the face, then took out a needle. He took the cap off and held it to Gilbert. "This should keep you quiet." He injected the needle into Gilbert's neck. The drug used made Gilbert groggy and even more weak, unable to fight back. Then the man got back into his conversation. "Oh, that was nothing, just the boy being a brat. So why the old auction house again? Oh, no one ever goes there. I got it. Okay, I'll be there in two days. I'm going in now."
Alfred stood up. "I'm gonna kill that man!" He started running out from his hiding place, but Vash and Arthur stopped him.
"Al, no! He'll kill Gilbo if he sees the cops coming after him!" said Arthur. Alfred resigned himself to staying put, but he didn't like that one bit.
"Let's go, boy," the man said harshly. He pulled Gilbert along and opened the door to the building.
"N-N-No…No!" Gilbert said. He tried struggling again, but his feet wouldn't move. Then he caught a glimpse of the detectives, and saw Alfred reaching for him. "Help me…please help…" The door slammed shut after the man had Gilbert back inside.
Alfred shuddered as he turned to his colleagues. "Why didn't you let me go after him? We could've had Gilbert back home by the end of the day. Now he's done for."
"Like I said, Gilbert would've been dead right there if we showed up out of nowhere," said Arthur. "It was only to ensure Gilbert's life."
Alfred drew in a few shaky breaths. "We have to go undercover, guys."
Vash and Arthur agreed.
"Remember, guys," Alfred said seriously. "Two days. That's all the time we've got to save Gilbert."
That night, Ludwig was home from the hospital. Claus and Elise had drifted off to sleep after two days of not getting any due to what happened. Not even a minute later, they were woken up by screams coming from Ludwig's room. They jumped out of bed and rushed to the older boy's room.
Claus threw the door open. "Lui!" He became alarmed when he saw his son screaming in his bed.
"N-No…Don't take him!" Ludwig screamed. Beads of sweat made his bangs stick to his forehead, and tears flowed out of his closed eyes. "No, please! Gilbo, I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, little bro!"
"Lui, wake up," Elise said, gently shaking the screaming boy.
"Lui, you've gotta wake up," said Claus, using the same tone as his wife.
Ludwig woke up a few minutes later. He was breathing heavily and looking around frantically. When his eyes finally focused on his worried parents, he started to cry again. "I'm sorry!"
"Oh no, Lui, don't be sorry," said Elise.
"It's not your fault, son," said Claus. He and Elise gave Ludwig gentle hugs and tried comforting him. "Ssh, it'll be okay. Gilbo will come back."