I wish I knew how to pace fics.


Brine zipped up his hoodie, pulling the hood over his head and fumbling open his sunglasses before looking back at the hall, where Steven and Caden were silently watching from the doorway.

"Oh, don't be so somber." He scolded them. "I'm coming back."

"I know you will," Steve said, but his tone implied otherwise. Caden said nothing, quietly petting the zonked-out kitten in his arms.

The previous night, Herobrine had received a call from a contact of his. Apparently there was an incident on the other side of the city, one that required Brine's specific area of expertise. So, he'd packed up his necessities with a promise to return as soon as the situation was dealt with.

The concern was, of course, the men that had attacked Steve before and tried to kidnap him. Steve felt safer with his competent killer of a bodyguard with him at all times. But Brine leaving also meant he had to take care of Caden alone. The kid was hardly a handful, but he was still a traumatized teen with the potential to lash out. At least, Steven mused, Brine leaving him alone with him meant that he trusted Caden not to shank him in his sleep.

"The freezer and fridge are full, and I should be back in plenty of time for your next donation, Steven." Brine pulled a mask over his face, obscuring his mouth and nose. "So you shouldn't starve, and you shouldn't have to leave the house. If all else fails, Caden knows how to make ramen."

Steven snorted. "I know how to make ramen."

"Yeah, but your ramen sucks." Brine told him. "I should be back no later than Saturday." With that, he opened the door, stepped out with a wave, then he was gone. Caden went up to the door and watched through the peephole as he walked away.

When Steven could no longer hear the retreating footsteps, he shuffled a step back, glancing into the living room.

"I'm going to heat something up for breakfast," he said. Caden just nodded, still looking through the peephole.

As the day went on, Steven tried to tell himself that his apprehension was just due to missing his friend. That he was worried something would happen. The feeling of being stalked, being watched, was just his anxiety acting up. It got harder when he saw Caden fidgeting, looking out the windows, looking distracted while he played with his cat.

Brine had left before. What was different about this time that made them both so uneasy?

Steven and Caden ended up on the couch together hours after dark, watching some mindless TV program to keep their minds off of Brine. Cinderella was a little ball of grey fur in Caden's lap, purring like a little engine as he scratched the top of her head. Neither one spoke, in silent agreement that they really should be in bed by now.

A soft sound came from the front door.

Steven and Caden both looked up, then at each other. Grabbing the remote, Steven muted the TV. "Did you hear that?"

"Mm." Caden nodded. Slowly, Steven stood, stiffening when the sound came again- a scraping noise.

"Hide." He ordered lowly. "Go." Silently, Caden obeyed, scrambling up and vanishing into the bedroom. Steven hurried to the kitchen to collect his biggest carving knife, then positioned himself by the doorway into the front hall, listening as the door was forced open with a small thump. A set of footsteps entered the front hall. Two, maybe three. Steven drew back the knife as they got close.

The first intruder stepped into view, and Steven hesitated only a moment before driving the knife into his arm.

The intruder shouted with pain, jerking back, and Steven lunged at him again to drive him away. The man was wearing a ski mask, obviously not someone he recogni-

Something smashed into his head and he went down.

The knife clattered to the ground beside him as he landed hard on his side, one hand reaching up to feel at the back of his head. His wrist was seized and he was shoved onto his front, his hands pulled behind his back and something cool and hard looped around his wrists.

"He stabbed me!" One of the intruders exclaimed in a borderline-hysterical voice.

"Quiet! Wrap it up, we'll deal with it in the car."

"But-"

"Let me see!"

Steven groaned, tilting his throbbing head to try and get a look at them, but there was nothing to see but dark clothes and ski masks. One of them was clutching at his arm, which had a tear through the sleeve. Steven couldn't have stabbed him that badly.

One of the men glanced down at him, then crouched down beside him. "I wouldn't try anything funny," He said shortly. "I don't want to use this-" he patted the gun on his waist. "But I will if I have to."

Steven huffed, fixed him with a glare. "You don't know who you're messing with," he warned. The man smirked through his mask.

"Actually, I think we do." The next thing Steven knew, a bag was pulled over his head and his world went black. From there, he was hauled up from the floor and dragged, no matter how much he tried to go limp or struggle, down the front hall and stairs to where he was shoved into a car. His hands, he now recognized, were zip-tied behind his back. If they were in front of him he might be able to break it… not that that would do much good with an armed kidnapper on either side of him.

"We got him." Came one of the voices. "Go."

"Wait," another one cut in. "Check the house, make sure there's no one else inside." Steven stiffened at that.

"I'll be right back." The vehicle creaked, then footsteps retreated over the concrete sidewalk. Steven could do nothing but wait and pray that Caden stayed out of sight.


"Just across the street there is the fire station." Brine pointed out the building, well-lit by streetlights. "Tell them who you are and what happened to you. They'll take care of you."

"Y-yes sir." The young lady clutched Brine's hoodie around herself, still trembling a bit from residual fright. "Should I tell them about- about you?"

"If you like. I suppose they'll want answers." Brine shrugged. "Tell them some white-eyed freak burst in and started stabbing people, and that you got out in the chaos."

"Okay." The girl dipped her head. "Thank you again. S-so much."

"Of course. Now go, I'll watch until they let you in." Brine shooed her gently away, and the young lady stepped out of the shadows and hurried across the empty street towards the fire station. True to his word, Brine watched while she made her way up to the door and knocked. Only when a fireman answered and ushered her inside did he step away, vanishing back into the shadows of dusk.

A robbery at a bank on the outskirts of the city the previous day had gone sour for the would-be thieves, and they'd ended up taking a young teller hostage in order to escape. Given that this was a tricky situation for law enforcement to navigate, Brine had taken it upon himself to deal with the thieves and rescue the young lady. Fortunately, she was unhurt, and he was able to simply turn her over to the appropriate officials to be taken home. Now Brine could go home himself.

He stuck his hands in his pockets as he strolled down the dim sidewalk, though he found that he couldn't completely relax. Ever since he had left Steven's apartment he'd felt an odd sensation of dread. He'd hoped that it was just nerves, he hadn't been out on a mission like this in a long time, but the feeling had yet to go away. Brine knew better than to ignore his instincts- something was wrong. And the feeling of wrongness only got stronger the nearer he got to Steven's apartment.

As he turned on to Steven's street, a van shot past him, running the stop sign and banking hard as it merged onto the road. Brine shot it an odd look, but kept walking, wondering idly if Steven would still be awake or if he'd have to break in again.

When the apartment came into view, however, he found that he wouldn't have to as the door was hanging wide open.

Brine broke into a run, drawing his knife from his pocket and flicking it open as he stepped through the threshold.

"Steven?" He called warily. No answer. The light was on in the living room, and he turned the corner to find it empty as well. Listening intently for any sign of either his host or an intruder, Brine scanned the floor for a clue.

His heart stopped when he found blood.

A carving knife lay discarded by the lamp, blade dirtied with blood, but whose? He crouched down beside it, hesitated, then flipped the knife over with the point of his own. It was one of Steven's knives. Had he been the one to wield it?

Caden. Brine's gaze flashed to the bedroom door, which was askew. If someone had come for Steven, maybe the kid had managed to stay hidden - or maybe he was dead. Brine straightened, his footsteps cautious and silent as he stepped over to the bedroom door and nudged it open.

No sign of Caden. Only Steven's cell phone, laying smashed on the floor beside the bed.

"Caden?" He murmured. No answer. "Caden! D#####!" Brine swore, whirling around to return to the living room. He'd left them for a day, and someone had taken them. They had to have been watching, waiting for him to leave, and he'd made it so easy. They must have been the same ones that tried to take Steven before.

The van. Brine's chin jerked up, recalling the black, unmarked van that seemed in an awful hurry for 11 o' clock at night. They'd gone right past him, and he'd had no idea. With a low growl, Brine tried to recall the license plate - though that would do him little good without a way to track it. He didn't even know where to begin with this, but he refused to simply hand it over to law enforcement. Steven could be gone by the time they opened a case file.

Speaking of the police, were those sirens?

Brine jogged back over to the front door, and his jaw tightened as he spied the red and blue flashing lights coming off of the highway. He was sure they weren't here for him, maybe Steven or Caden had been able to call for help, but they would arrest him all the same if they got a good look. Brine clenched his teeth, looking back at the apartment. He needed more time, maybe the kidnappers had left some sort of clue?

Police cars screeched to a stop on the street outside. Time was up.

Stowing his knife in his pocket, Brine slipped out the front door and banked left, intending to vanish behind the building, but a flashlight beam landed on him before he could take two steps.

"Baymont City Police, STOP!"

Brine ran.