"How can you possibly tell?" I whispered urgently. I never doubted Scarlett but I needed to know for sure.
Scarlett looked into my eyes. "I don't know, James. But you have to trust me. There is something about their faces, the way they move together. It's like I've seen it before. Those are the killers." Her tone was almost frightened and frantic. But I agreed with her, I had seen their fox-like faces before.
"Alright, what do we do? I can't just tackle them in this crowded space," I said quietly.
"They want a cover. There is no way they could kill these sisters without some kind of chaos," she said. The couple in green had made it down the stairs. The man twirled his cane in his hand as he took the arm of his partner. They never sat down, but instead, hovered around the wall on the edge of the floor.
"They want chaos. They need a cover if they want to pull off this murder."
"So we don't create chaos, got it."
"But once the dancers are finished with the performance, everyone will move."
"We can't keep everyone still forever, Scarlett," I said.
Scarlett bit her red lip. "How good are you at acting, James?"
"I got a C- in high school drama if that tells you anything," I responded.
"Well, good for you I got an A," she said. "Just try to follow my lead." Scarlett started to cough. At first I thought that she just needed her inhaler but once I caught the glimmer in her eyes, I got the hint.
She started to cough harder and harder, and soon started to get concerned glances from the twelve girls on the dance floor. Scarlett took in heaving breaths and stood up in a hurry. She had their attention now. Scarlett clutched her flat stomach, making it seem that her corset was suffocating her. "Someone help her!" I yelled as realistically as I could. Truth be told, it was very convincing because the white thought in the back of my head kept wondering; what if this really happened to her?
Guilt multiplied my a thousand when Scarlett clutched the table-cloth and fell to the floor, pretending to have fainted. I should have attempted to catch her in some way. Just remember, C-. Scarlett lie on the ground with her eyes closed, she was even holding her breath to keep her chest from moving. "Is there a doctor in the room?" I shouted as I knelt beside her. "I don't think she's breathing!"
My heart sank when the man in green called out. "I am a doctor," he called in one of the thickest German accents I have ever heard. He approached smoothly like a snake. He was in his 30s and his face showed it. His dusty blond hair was cut shorter and he was not cleanly shaved. The man's beady eyes were framed with very tiny wrinkles, but somehow he looked respectable. "Please, sir, stand aside," he said. His accent made me shiver. Creepy German man and creepy German fairy-tale murders, I was beginning to see Scarlett's point.
I hesitated moving away from Scarlett. If I moved away, he could strike her and there would be nothing I could do to help. But I trusted her. We are talking about the girl who shot a real arrow at my head the first time I stepped foot in her house. I stood up and took a look to the woman in green. She had taken her partner's cane and moved closer to one of the older dancing-girls. "My, dear, you look awful. Don't worry, he will make her feel better," she said. The woman had a matching German accent and looked the exact same age as the man.
The strange man turned Scarlett's head and took her pulse. How long could she hold her breath like this. Finally, he took a small pocket knife out of his jacket pocket. I tensed and moved near. But he rolled Scarlett on her side and unzipped the zipper on the side of the black dress. He than took the blade and sliced the corset. Scarlett's lungs filled with air and she gasped for breath. The crowd clapped for the man.
Scarlett sat up and re-zipped her dress up. I pulled her to her feet and we stared at the German man tensely. "Thank-you, sir. You just saved my life," said Scarlett slowly.
An evil smile carved his face and wrinkles around his eyes deepened. He still had the knife out. "A penny saved is a penny earned." The crowd watched as with those words, the man drew back his arm and threw the knife at a dancer. It hit her right between the eyes and she fell over dead.
The sisters screamed, the audience screamed, even Scarlett screamed. People started to race around like chickens around the room to the doors. The woman in green had uncapped the cane like a pen, revealing a long blade. She stabbed the dancer next to her in the chest. With all the screaming and dashing, Scarlett and I could not get to the dancers' aid. The German couple did a dance themselves, twirling and slashing, twirling and slashing, the girls dropped like flies. Scarlett took something that was strapped to her thigh under the gown.
"Is that a bloody sling-shot?" I yelled. Scarlett didn't answer. She acted quickly and grabbed two blue pebbles out of the flower vases on the tables. She loaded them both in the leather strap and pulled it back. She released, and the two little rocks went flying at top speed. The first smacked the man in the left ear. I noticed as it started to bleed, but it didn't stop him. The second flew but the woman swung around and deflected it off the long blade. It was like a scene in an action movie.
"I need a gun!" I yelled. I ran to the edge of the room where a security guard lie unconscious after being smacked by a screaming woman. I took the gun off his belt and made sure it was loaded. Scarlett continued to shot pebbles with the best aim I had ever seen. But she hasn't seen mine yet. I held up the gun and took a single shot. The bullet landed right where I wanted to, in the back of the knee of the man. He yelp in pain and fell to the floor. Blood pouring out of his leg and trickling off his face from where the rocks had hit him. The woman sighed with annoyance.
"You are a damn dead weight!" she hissed. She rushed to his side and pulled him.
"Finished the job!" he yelled in her ear. He looked at the four young girls, holding each other and crying.
"I think we made our damn point!"
"James!" Scarlett yelled. "Stop them!" I checked the gun, jammed. I dropped the fire arm and ran for it. I could catch them.
The woman turned and looked Scarlett dead in the eye and smiled. "Until next time, Holmes." She then took three little black balls out of her dress. She threw them on the floor and the exploded with a thick cloud of smoke. I flung myself into the fog, but nothing came my way. My eyes stung and my throat clogged up. The murders had vanished.