The Virtual Timepiece (ch 18)

Purple eyes narrowed as Odd crouched, sneaking down the front stairwell. The policemen outside were shouting, although they had stopped banging on the door for the moment. As he edged closer, making sure that he would be hidden from the front window next to the door, he thought he could hear some of the orders being yelled.
"-told us to knock the door in, take the girl and go!"
"No, the Warden said we were to change targets! We're supposed to look for some bloke who works at the Pauper University, sir." As he reached the bottom step, Odd bristled slightly at the rude nickname for Kadic, but kept silent.
"Shut it, my orders come from above the Warden. We go."
Odd cursed under his breath, and slipped around the corner to the small hallway next to the stairs. His heart pounding in his ears, his gaze darted back and forth. Which door at Aelita said the...this blasted clock thing was behind?
Someone yelled from outside again, and suddenly the pounding on the front door began anew. Dread crept up his neck, but he ignored it. He didn't have time to hesitate. Something moved, flashed grey, out of the corner of his eye. Odd leapt forward, then stared for a moment at the door he found himself in front of. Had it been ajar a second ago?
Another deafening bang brought his attention back to his task, and he slipped inside the room.
It was pitch black, but Odd stepped towards the back of the room, the door sliding closed behind him. The sound of the policemen trying to get in faded to a barely audible series of thuds. After a second, he realized he could see the outlines of shelves, climbing high above his head.
Some closet, he thought wryly, and glanced about. After a second, his eyes lit on a small lump in the back corner, leaning half in shadow against the wall. He inched closer and reached out to grab the thing
A strange shiver went down his spine and for a second he drew his hand back, glancing behind him. It was only a tiny closet, he told himself firmly. What on earth could be watching him? He looked back, and quickly grabbed the bag off the shelf.
It was small, barely bigger than his hand. He raised one eyebrow. This small thing was what all the fuss was about? He rolled his eyes, and quickly snuck back to the front of the room. Pressing his ear to the door, he listened. He could hear talking, but it sounded as if the door had once again been left alone. Take a deep breath, he nudged the door, and it slipped back open again.
"There's no one?!"
A harsh voice snapped through the air, and heavy footsteps echoed from above. Odd froze in horror, and slide halfway back through the door. Glancing to his right, he gasped, then cursed. The front door was open, half off it's hinges. The front window was cracked, a tiny piece of it missing. An eerie whistling sound came from the crack, barely audible over the thuds of the policemen upstairs.
Odd glanced back towards the second floor and put a hand on the small bag he had stuffed into his coat pocket. Another shiver went over his skin, and he snatch his hand away. It was too small to be something so destructive, and yet just carrying thing made him uncomfortable.
You're just being stupid, he told himself firmly, and pushed the feeling of being watched out of his head. He knew he had to get back to Aelita and the others without being seen, but how...
Just then, the sound of the footsteps faded off, as if the men were searching the attic rooms.
Go.
Had it been his own thoughts that told him to move? A voice in his head whispered the order, and before he couldn't think twice, Odd leapt forward, vaulting over the stairs railing and racing as silently as he could up the steps to the second floor.
As he had guessed, no one was in the room, although he could hear someone still barking off orders in the next room. Just as he was able to back up into the kitchen, near to where he had seen the others disappear, footsteps moved back toward him.
His heart in his throat, Odd dove behind a cupboard as three men stepped back out into the main room.
"Sir! We have searched each of the rooms and no signs of the girl or anyone else."
"Have you now?" The sound of a soft steady thudding along with the footsteps was heard, then paused.
A cane? Odd frowned, trying to see the reflection of the men in the window next to him.
Suddenly, a loud slap split the air, and some hissed in pain or surprise. "Fools! If you had moved quicker and done as I told you-"
"But sir-" A new voice spoke up, angrier than the first. "We aren't follow the Warden's orders sir, he told us to move to the new target!"
For a moment, there was silence. Then, softly, Odd heard a gulping sound, as if someone was running out of breath, only to be followed by a heavy thud a few second later. Curiosity took over, and he leaned out slightly-
To come face to face with the dead, staring eyes of a policeman. Even though there was no blood that could be seen, the dead man's face seemed to be expanded somehow. Unable to close his eyes from the horror, it seemed to Odd that even the man's pores in his skin and his tiny pupils had grown in size.
A strangled whine fought it's way through his gritted teeth and Odd bit his lip hard to keep the sound from escaping. Blood weld up in his skin, but he ignored it, keeping stock still.
"It seems that we're missing someone else, am I right?"
The same man spoke from before, and Odd heard the strange three-step walking that he had heard before.
"Am I right?" There was a hint of fury behind the gentle words now. Odd shuddered and tried to move farther back from the corpse only a few feet from him.
"Y-yes S-sir...uh...w-we were supposed to h-have one more, but...he....um...did not show up for the s-search party after the factory r-riot this morning...."
"Interesting."
Someone shifted, and the footsteps of the remaining officer and the man with the cane faded slightly, as if they were about to go down the stairs. Odd's heart lifted in hope.
"B-but....sir...what about...Officer Br-" the policeman cut off quickly, his voice so full of fear it squeaked. Odd heard the sound of the man with the cane walking closer. Terror blazed up his spine and he tried to back up as silently as he could, feeling behind him for the half-hidden back door he knew was there.
"You have a point, Officer. If our lovely little target comes back, she would not like such an...unexpected visitor." Someone snapped their fingers. "Pull it out, now, please. We have lost time already, and I am needed else where."
"Y-ye-es sir."
"Good. It's such obedience that the Warden should prize, instead of harboring the insolence that your comrade enjoyed. Dispose of it and-" The man trailed off and someone started moving towards Odd's corner of the room.
"S-sir?"
"I smell something. It seems we have a rat."
Fear hit Odd in the chest, and for a split second, he couldn't move. Then the body of the police officer started moving back, away from him.
"Hurry up, officer. I have a tight schedule, and the Warden will not be please with your comrades failure at finding the target."
"Bu-but...he said to..."
"What was that?"
"N-nevermind, sir."
The two men's footsteps faded slightly, although the impact still echoed around the empty house. Odd fought back a shivered and carefully began nudging open the door behind him. It was half hidden by the kitchen counters and pans, but he knew that one wrong move could make it all too visible. Halfway through the tiny opening he made, one of the sets of footsteps paused.
"Hm. Do we have a rat after all? Or peeping spy?"
Panic hit Odd in the chest and he slipped through the rest of the way.
Crouched in the darkness of the stairway, he thought he saw a tall man in a dark long coat pause. The sound of sniffing hit his ears, and Odd froze. Could the man smell him, for hell's sake? The three legged stride of the cane user echoed as the shadowy figure turned and moved away.
Odd touched a single shaking hand to the bag stuffed into his pocket, then turned and hurried down into the darkness.