The Divide_Legacy

by Mitchel Grace

  “It’s okay. I actually get it. In your position, I wouldn’t be very trusting either, but I have nothing to gain by leading you into a trap. In fact, no one wants the ruler of New Vegas to hurt more than I do. It’s Charles Boyd’s fault that my brother was forced to fight in the first place. He’s the one who ordered the fighting pits to be built,” Alisa said with clear anger in her eyes.

  “You know we’re not going in there to get revenge for anyone, right?” Roger asked with worry. The last thing they needed was someone going on a killing spree that would only lead to them getting caught.

  “I do, but if the opportunity presents itself, won’t we take it?”

  “Absolutely not! Doing that could kill relations between Raines and New Vegas, and it would probably get us caught in the process. Veronica takes priority over anything else.”

  Now Lee was worried. He knew that the plan was simply to get his sister out of the palace, but he could see that this meant more to Alisa. She had just lost her brother, and she wanted that to have meaning. Would she do something stupid when they got in there and cost all of them their lives?

  “This is it,” Alisa announced as they stood beside a shack that barely looked like it was still standing.

  None of the homes on the outside looked nice, but this place looked like it needed to be torn down. Lee couldn’t believe that it was even standing, while Roger, on the other hand, knew all too well that a place like this would last another couple years. After all, he had stayed in even worse places before he met Alex and Will.

  “You two should stay quiet. Like I said before, Greg doesn’t trust most people, and he’s a little off, so just let me talk to him,” she said.

  They nodded in approval, and then Alisa tapped lightly on the door as if she were being careful not to startle Greg. It was a strange thing, but when they saw what Greg looked like everything was clear. He was an older man with a crooked spine that forced him to walk with a permanent hunch, and he was missing his left eye. His right one was glazed over and had a sky-blue tint that made Roger suspect that he might be blind. Then there was the expression on his face. He looked like he was afraid of even answering the door, and his body was visually shaking.

  “It’s okay. It’s me, and I brought friends,” Alisa said and took his hand.

  “Oh, thank God! Did you bring me anything today, child?” he asked as his fearful expression turned to one of joy.

  “Not today. I’ve been busy, but hopefully I can bring you something soon. I actually need your help this time.”

  “What could I possibly do?” Greg asked in confusion.

  “We want to get into the palace, and I only know one man who’s ever gotten into that place.”

  “Don’t be a fool! You see where that got me!” the old man said.

  “Please, sir! They have someone very important to me. I only want to get her back,” Roger said.

  “If they have her, then she’s probably dead already. Look at what they did to me. These men don’t know what mercy is,” he said and shivered at an old memory that Roger imagined contained torture like none of them could imagine.

  “Nonetheless, we have to try. Please, help us. They killed my brother,” Alisa pleaded with him.

  “So it’s revenge that you want, Alisa. I understand. I was once a fool who wanted the same thing for my son. I was going to kill Charles Boyd, and I got close to him, but that was all. You see the results of torture on the old man in front of you. Don’t make the same mistakes I did.”

  “We won’t. I promise you that we’ll get in and get out quietly,” Lee said.

  “You’re all young and foolish. I can hear it in your voices,” Greg said and scoffed.

  “Please, I need your help right now. I swear to you that I’ll come back. I need this, though,” Alisa said with the hint of desperation.

  “Fine. I suppose I do owe you for everything you’ve done for me over the last year. I’m warning you, though, child. If you go through with this, it’ll be the death of you.”

  “I’ll come back. I promise you that. Now, what will you need?”

  “There should be some paper and pens on the desk. I’ll need you to position my hand at the start, but I should be able to draw you a rough map from memory after that,” he said.

  Alisa did as he asked and positioned his hand in the bottom left corner of the page. From there, he drew a surprisingly good map of several winding tunnels and showed them exactly which ones would lead them to the palace. When he was finished, Roger examined it to find that they would have to be very exact, or they would be forever lost in the winding paths. It was a miracle that Greg had ever found his way through them.

  “There will be guards posted a few yards into the tunnels. If you can take care of them, then half your struggle will be over with. I warn you, though. The tunnels are no joke, and if you start to get lost, you should retrace your steps to the entrance and give up. If not, you might spend days down there,” Greg said.

  “Thank you for this,” Lee said as he took the map from Roger.

  “Young man, I have a request for you. I’ve given you this map, and in return, I want you to keep Alisa safe. Since I was nearly killed by those insiders, neighbors have looked out for me, but no one has been as kind as Alisa. If anything should happen to her, it would be one of the great tragedies of my life.”

  “You have my word that she’ll be safe.”

  Greg nodded in approval, even if he looked like he still had some doubts. In truth, so did Lee, but this settled it. There was no way he was going to be left behind on this mission. The tunnels were awaiting, and if they managed to get through them, then a whole new type of trial would await. The fight of their lives was ahead of them, and Lee could only hope that they knew what they were doing.

  Chapter 10

  The Palace

  Once they were back with Alex and Sarah, Lee motioned for his parents to step aside with him. He needed to talk about going with the others, but he didn’t want to make a scene. He knew they wouldn’t approve, but that didn’t matter anymore. Lee had promised he would keep Alisa safe, and honestly, there was no way he wanted to be left behind on such an important mission. They were going to save his sister. How could he just sit that out?

  “I’m going with them,” Lee said.

  “No, you aren’t,” Sarah immediately said.

  “I know you don’t approve, but I have to. I care about Veronica, too, and I can’t leave this to everyone else. I’ll be careful and follow Roger’s lead, but this is something I need to do. If I don’t, I think it’s the type of thing I’ll always regret,” he said.

  “The odds aren’t in our favor, and you’ve never done anything like this,” Alex said.

  “I know that, but I swear to you that if something goes wrong I’ll run like my life depends on it.”

  “I don’t think you’re r . . .”

  “I know I’m not, Dad, but were you ready for any of the things you had to do when you were my age? This is just something I have to do. Please, let me prove myself. I care about Veronica and every person who’s going in there to save her. Just this once, let me be a normal person doing the same thing as everyone else and not the fragile son of Raines’s rulers.”

  Alex looked into his son’s eyes and knew there were multiple layers to him wanting to do this. He wanted to help his sister, protect Alisa, and for once, be considered capable. That was the thing, though. For as much as he loved his son, how could he think of him that way? Lee had lived in luxury his whole life. What could have possibly prepared him for something like this? Then again, he couldn’t treat him like a kid for much longer. Lee was already seventeen, and soon enough he would be making decisions for himself. Maybe it really was time to let him prove how capable he could be.

  “You’ll hang back behind everyone and let Roger take care of the guards. From there, you’ll do everything he says and run at the first sign of danger. Do we understand each other?” Alex asked hesitantly.

 
; “Of course,” Lee said with the hint of excitement.

  “Then you have our permission to go,” Alex said.

  Sarah still looked uneasy about letting her son risk his life, but she knew Alex was right. They couldn’t protect him forever, and Lee had come for a reason. He wanted to help save his sister, and here they were. This was the most important job they would ever do, and they needed as much help as they could get doing it.

  The parents hugged him and said their goodbyes to everyone while hoping against all they felt that somehow this would actually work, and then they were off. Roger led the way with his gun in hand ready to fire at the first sign of trouble. Travis looked surprisingly ready to shoot, too. Lee, on the other hand, didn’t know what to expect. Would they actually have to use their guns, or would there be a better way? That question was answered a quarter mile in where they saw the guards stationed. There were three of them, and they were all holding guns.

  “Turn around if you want to live,” one of them warned, but Roger paid them no mind.

  With no hesitation, he fired, cutting the guard who had been talking to them down in the process as a bullet ripped through his chest. Travis fired twice right after him, sending two bullets into the second closest guard’s stomach and chest. Before Lee could even blink, he heard a fourth shot and saw the final man standing guard fall to the floor as a bullet pierced his skull. Then he looked over to see that the source of the shot had been Alisa. She looked unfazed, as if she had done this a dozen times before. Maybe she had, but in the heat of everything, Lee had felt overwhelmed. He looked at Roger’s face to see that he still seemed calm and then over at Travis to find that although he looked a bit shaken, he was holding it together better than most would have. Lee felt a bit ashamed that he had frozen up and not even fired, but overall, he tried not to show it. Alisa, however, noticed the short-lived look of insecurity and addressed it quietly as they walked.

  “Have you ever killed anyone?” she whispered.

  “Only once. It happened recently,” he answered.

  “And how did that make you feel?”

  “Not good, but I did what I had to. I don’t have a problem pulling the trigger when I need to, if that’s what you’re worried about.”

  “Then why didn’t you shoot back there?”

  “I . . . I don’t know,” he said and rubbed the back of his neck as his hidden insecurity showed itself.

  “Hey, it’s okay. In the heat of the moment, we all have trouble, and if you’ve never been in a situation like this, then it’s completely understandable that you did. I just wanted to make sure that you were okay.”

  “I’m fine. I should be the one worried about you.”

  “And why is that? I know I just lost my brother, but I’ve been handling guns since I was five. Besides, aren’t you the baby of the group?” she teased.

  “Baby? You can’t be very much older than me,” Lee said with a grin.

  “I’m nineteen, but sometimes it feels like I’m ninety. At this point, I’ve experienced everything possible . . . well, except for breaking into Charles Boyd’s palace.”

  “Have you ever . . .” he said before Roger interrupted them.

  “Hey, I think we’re almost there. We need to cut the chatter and get ready for this. We’ll only get one shot,” he said. Lee nodded, and they turned twice before coming to a ladder that presumably led up to exactly where they needed to be.

  “What’s the plan?” Travis whispered, now looking a bit more shaken than before. It was one thing to have to act in a moment of danger. This was totally different, though. They wouldn’t be able to use their guns, and if even one person spotted them, it would be all over.

  “We have no idea what the layout of the palace is like, and we’ll be spotted easily if we move in a group of four. We need to split up when we get inside. Lee and I will take the east side of the palace, and you and Alisa can take the west side,” Roger said.

  Lee wanted to object. After all, he had told Greg that he would protect Alisa if it came down to it, but Roger didn’t give him time to. Before Lee could say a word, Roger was already climbing the ladder. With little other choice, Lee followed close behind him, and they were at the top in no time. Roger lifted the sewer grate up and slid it to the side. Then he took a look around to see that thankfully no one was there. They were outside the palace on the back side of it. This was perfect, but they needed to work quickly. They would be sitting ducks where they were located if someone did walk up.

  Roger quickly helped the others out of the sewer and put the grate back. Then he silently motioned for Alisa and Travis to go right and nodded for Lee to come with him. They were in a garden courtyard with a special kind of ceiling about thirty feet up that fed the plants with false sunlight. In some ways, Roger had to marvel at their design. In another, however, it sickened him. A garden this large took up entirely too much space. How many more people could be spared a life on the outside without it?

  He shook those feelings off, though, and they inched closer to the palace. Once they were within view of the south side, Roger spied two guards standing at the back door, while three more were roaming the outskirts of the property. This wasn’t going to be easy, and no matter where they went, they were going to be in for a fight. Roger looked over at Lee to see that he seemed more certain of himself than he had back in the tunnels. He didn’t know if that made him courageous or a fool. Roger was more prepared for this than Lee, but he felt afraid. How could they possibly take on five men without using guns?

  “Stay here,” Lee whispered before slipping away.

  “Wait. What are you . . .” Roger managed to ask before Lee was gone.

  He cursed under his breath and hoped that Lee wasn’t going to try anything stupid. That was exactly what Lee was planning to do, however. He snuck several yards away and began to tap on the fencing that held some of the garden’s vines up. It was light, but it was more than enough to get the guards’ attentions in what was supposed to be an empty garden.

  “What was that?” Roger heard one of them ask.

  “Probably nothing, but we should check it out,” another man said.

  “You four do what you want, but I’m staying right where I’m at,” an older and sleepy guard countered with.

  The younger of the five rolled his eyes and motioned for the three willing guards to come with him. Roger didn’t like the idea of Lee distracting these men, but it was too late to go back now. If he did, then Lee’s sacrifice would be useless. Roger inched closer to the door and watched the older man as his eyes grew heavy and began to close. He jerked himself back awake a couple times in his half-conscious state, and then sleep finally took him. Roger didn’t waste any more time. He quietly moved up to the door and grabbed the guard while wrapping one arm around his neck and putting his other hand over his mouth. For a brief moment, the man tried to struggle, but then a deep sleep took him as the oxygen was cut off from his brain for just long enough. That would only buy Roger a few minutes, but that would be more than enough to find Veronica, or so he thought.

  Once Roger stepped inside, he found that the palace was huge with winding hallways and stairwells that he had no way of knowing where they would lead. This was going to be tough, and even more importantly, there was no way he would look like he belonged. That would have to be remedied quickly. Roger ducked into a vacant bedroom and waited for his opportunity. Sure enough, after a couple minutes had passed, he saw his opportunity. A butler in a servant’s outfit walked past. Roger hated to hurt a man who was probably little more than a slave, but what choice did he have?

  Roger stepped into the hallway behind the butler and landed a well-placed blow to the back of his head. The man went down with a thud, and Roger looked around to make sure no one had heard. Thankfully, it appeared that all was well. He reached down and dragged the man into the bedroom. He would only be out for a few minutes, so he had to act quickly. Roger stripped him of his clothes, tore the sheets from the bed, and tied knots a
round the man’s hands and feet, effectively tying him to the bed. Then he gagged him just as the butler awakened. The man looked terrified, and Roger hated that, but he would do anything to get Veronica back.

  He quickly changed and stepped into the hallway just in time to see the guard he had knocked out earlier walking inside with four other men. They were looking for him, but luckily for Roger, none of them had ever seen his face. Still, he would need to act quickly. They might discover the butler soon.

  “You, have you seen anyone around here who doesn’t look like they belong?” the older guard asked as he grabbed Roger by the arm and spun him around.

  “No, sir. Is something wrong?” Roger asked.

  “You probably dreamed it. You said yourself that you fell asleep,” one of the other men interrupted.

  “I didn’t dream anything!”

  The other men clearly didn’t believe him, but that would only buy him so much time. Roger walked away as soon as the guard turned him loose, and from there, he walked to the center of the palace where a maid grabbed him. At first, Roger was a bit startled, but this would end up being the perfect opportunity for him.

  “Great! We’re short on people for dinner, and Ms. Morgan still hasn’t been served her food. I know it isn’t your problem since you’re with housekeeping, but can you take her the meal?” she asked.

  “Of course, but where was Ms. Morgan’s room again?” Roger asked, playing the fool.

  “Are you new or something?” she asked suspiciously.

  “They pulled me from outside duty a couple days ago, and this place is huge. I still haven’t gotten the hang of getting around.”

  “All right, I understand. Come with me,” she said and led him to the kitchen before continuing. “She’s on the third floor on the west side. You can’t miss her room because there are always two guards outside it.”