What they failed to mention was the fact the area was in complete sunshine all morning. The hot rays of the sun beat down on me, drenching my uniform and suffocating me from the inside out. If it wasn’t for the helmet and UV material, I would have baked to a crisp within the first hour.
All they would have found would have been the suit.
My gaze was supposed to stay on the fence, guarding it to spot any intruders that might suddenly jump over and attack the president. Guards had permission to shoot to kill. Which would have applied to me if they’d given me a gun.
When I asked for a firearm earlier that morning they said they didn’t issue them for cadets. I had to prove my dedication before they’d hand me one. They were a bit sketchy on the details but I got the gist that they didn’t want me to be armed. Why, was anyone’s guess.
Staring at the fence was akin to watching hair grow on my big toe. My gaze kept wandering back to the house. It was a big building, designed to provide the utmost of luxury and privacy to our esteemed president. It was supposed to be her oasis in the chaotic city where she worked so hard.
It was complete bull.
She couldn’t possibly use all the rooms of her mansion, and the ones she did use, were no doubt for nefarious reasons. If Wren was inside, I was certain she wasn’t being pampered in the executive suites.
I was so close to her, I could almost feel Wren as if she was on the opposite side of the wall. Like if I could just make my arm go through the bricks, I would be able to hold onto her.
Walking around, waiting for a break, it was making me edgy. Davis had come through and thrown this opportunity at me, who knew if I’d ever get another chance at being within Stone’s personal estate.
I couldn’t waste it.
On my next march back to the edge of the wall, I waited a few beats until our group leader joined me. “I need to use the restroom, sir.”
“Over there.” He nodded toward a small outbuilding. “Be quick, I’ll watch your post while you go.”
“Thanks.” I took off for the small building, located nowhere near the main house. It was nothing more than a tiny outhouse, designed neither for comfort or lingering.
I quickly used the restroom and returned to the group leader so we could continue our patrols. The old I-need-to-piss ruse definitely wasn’t going to work here.
There had to be another way to get inside the mansion. We had to eat sometime, would they feed us inside the kitchens? Maybe a small mess hall just for the guards? Surely Stone would have to cater for all her precious guards?
Waiting around for lunchtime was going to seem like forever. Every thought that developed inside my head revolved around various ways I could get inside. There was the sneaking in option, sure to raise suspicions the moment I left my post. Then there was the bribing the group leader to turn a blind eye for ten minutes, which was destined to fail from the onset.
A million and one plans came to mind and were all quickly dismissed as being ludicrous. The security team had done too good a job of making sure the guards were where they were supposed to be at all times. Even the tiniest of missing moments would be noticed and reported.
I was going to have to wait until lunchtime and see what happened then. Even if it was only for a few minutes, at least it might show me how to get inside the building. I could then use that as a base for a plan in the afternoon.
The opportunity was not going to be lost or wasted.
Loud noises caught my attention, pulling me from the chaos erupting in my head from frustration. I saw the guard leader stop and turn his attention to the main building. I did the same.
Someone was yelling.
A woman was screaming.
The noises mingled together in battle, trying to outdo one another for attention. My ears strained to hear any detail as my brain tried to process what I was hearing.
Without warning, the group leader started running for the nearest access door, yelling at us to follow. Something was happening inside Stone’s mansion and we were needed to provide backup.
My feet hit the grass with enthusiasm, my body pumped and ready for action. I followed the group inside, the foyer resembled a beehive with the amount of guards running in all different directions. An alarm had started blaring somewhere, the constant wail making it difficult to hear anything else.
“As asset has escaped!” a guard yelled our way. “Split up and look for her. She must not leave the complex.”
Wren.
It had to be her.
Who else would the president hide in her personal space?
My feet barely hit the floor as I took off through the corridors. I desperately searched every room I came across, needing to see the girl I had been looking for.
The girl I had been missing.
Guards darted everywhere, skidding around corners and gripping their guns with intent. I tried to mimic them with the same determined grit to my teeth and scowl on my face. She was the enemy here and I had to find her.
No.
I had to find her first.
If anyone else got to her, the tiniest chance I had would slip through my fingers and never be regained again. They would hurt her, take her back to wherever Stone was keeping her.
A set of stairs were hidden behind a door, I went up without hesitation. When Wren had been chased before, she had gone upwards. I crossed my fingers and hoped she had done the same thing again.
The rooms were far more luxurious than I could have imagined. Opulent carpets and thick material coated every part of the room, set off by ornate wooden furniture polished to a fine sparkle. At least I now knew where all our tax dollars went.
Good to know.
There were less guards on that level, proving they didn’t know Wren like I did. They would all be assuming she would try to flee. But Wren was a hider. She knew she had a better chance of sneaking out than making a run for it. She was little, she couldn’t outrun trained guards with guns. She would try to beat them using her brain.
Every room I looked in, the first thing I did was stand in silence as my eyes scanned the room. I was searching for hiding places, areas that could fit a petite woman and would be blind to most other guards.
Wren would have plenty of options with the furniture, curtains, cupboards, and armoires. They were sprawled throughout the rooms as I went about searching them. I closed each door, making sure I didn’t give anyone else the same idea.
As I stepped into a large, open room, voices trailed through from the adjoining area. They were both male, telling me Wren wasn’t one of them.
I stepped in softly, trying to make no noise as I approached so I could hear better. One of the men was angry, yelling his disappointment at the other while his voice remained quiet and controlled.
When I was close enough, I could see through the open archway. It was only two men, one a guard and the other was wearing a white coat. He was older, definitely not part of the security team based on his level of body fat. The man had a potbelly, his gray hair betraying his advanced age. He held a black bag in his right hand.
A scientist, perhaps?
A doctor?
“You did this,” the guard seethed.
“I did no such thing,” the man replied. “You have no proof.”
“I have a missing Def! That’s proof enough!” The guard’s face was glowing red with tightly coiled rage. He was just itching to lash out at the older man. For some reason he was deemed important enough to hold back.
That didn’t happen very often.
Everyone in Aria was fair game for a member of the President’s Personal Guard.
I didn’t have time to stand around eavesdropping on their argument. I pulled back from the room and kept going. Listening to someone be accused of something they probably didn’t do in the first place was not high on my priority list.
Wren was at the top.
Finding her was the single most important thing I would ever do in my life. I continued my methodical search and c
leared the floor. She wasn’t on this level. If she was, she was doing a much better job at hiding than I gave her credit for.
“Guard,” my group leader called out as I found the stairs up to the next level. I froze and turned, hoping he wasn’t talking to me. My hopes sunk as I realized he was. “Get down to ground level and search outside. She has to be here somewhere and they need help reinforcing the perimeter.”
“Yes, sir,” I replied.
He waited for his command to be enacted while I waited for him to leave and forget about it.
He didn’t.
I reluctantly headed for the stairs that took me downwards, hoping to be able to slip away and double back when he was out of range.
“She’s been spotted outside!” someone called out. Every guard in the vicinity stopped what they were doing and ran outside. I followed, my heart stopping with the thought of all these men surrounding her.
They could not get to her first.
My feet moved with the swiftness of a fox as I pushed through others to get to her. There was no time to make a plan, I would have to work it out when I had her in my arms. All I knew was that I would not let them have her.
Not again.
This was my second chance, my opportunity to save Wren and right the wrong I had carried out when I let the guards at the labs take her from me.
The sun’s blazing rays blinded me as I hurried outside. It took frantic seconds of blinking before I could see anything. Even then, a large blob of black swayed in my vision for a while longer.
Men in black guard uniforms were stretched out across the grounds, searching in the shrubs and flowers for the Defective asset they needed. I couldn’t see any place where Wren might choose to hide. Being outside was too risky for her, she would know it would be impossible to get over the fence while so many searched for her.
Someone might have thought they saw her out there, but I couldn’t believe it. Wren was smarter than that, she was too focused on her survival to act impulsively.
I returned inside before anyone could see me.
At the bottom of the stairs I had come down before were another set that led further down again. It had to be for basement access as I was already on the ground floor.
Guards were still running around inside, but largely paying me no attention as they searched for the missing asset. There was nobody to see me as I slipped down into the underground space.
The staircase was tight as it descended into the fluorescent lights of a corridor. On both sides were cells. They were all empty with no signs of being inhabited. All doors were closed and locked except one.
I stood in front of the open cell and I knew it was where Wren had been.
Scratch marks were around the vents, the impression of her head was still in the small pillow on the bed. It felt like she had been there only a moment earlier and had stepped out a second before I arrived.
I could feel her presence.
It wrapped around me.
I breathed it in, knowing it was Wren like I knew the sun would descend over the horizon each night and the moon would pop up in its place.
She was here.
And now she wasn’t.
Chapter 9: Wren
I couldn’t see anything.
Only darkness.
My breath was too loud.
My heartbeat echoed in my ears.
They were going to find me.
The scent of pinewood infiltrated my nostrils, making me think of the forest and the trees. Of wide open spaces and the freedom of the animals. They were the lucky ones, they got away.
People were yelling somewhere nearby. They were threatening me, telling me I was going to be in trouble if I didn’t show myself immediately. It was almost laughable, my fate was going to be the same no matter what happened.
At least hiding gave me a chance.
The cupboard was set underneath a desk. I chose it because it looked far too small to contain a person.
Good thing I wasn’t a person.
I was a thing, an abomination.
And I could fit in very tiny spaces. I was better at it before Doctor Wagstaff attempted to make me healthy. I could fold my body into a tiny ball like I could make my bones dissolve and reappear later on.
Now, my legs were cramping and my arms longed to be stretched. I didn’t fit as well as I once would have but I was determined to pretend I was invisible until it was time to move again.
The tablet the doctor had given me made me fall asleep. I went into a deep coma where I didn’t even dream anymore. I thought I was dying, that death was taking me slowly and drawing it out for as long as possible just to taunt me.
But then I woke up.
I was in Doctor Wagstaff’s examination room on a stainless steel bench. It had a gutter around it with drains for blood. It was where he cut people open and took their organs.
My clothes had been exchanged for a sheet that covered by body, including my face. When I pulled it back and sat up, I saw the outfit I had been wearing neatly folded at the end of the table.
Doctor Wagstaff had left them for me.
He had given me a chance to escape.
I took it.
I had never moved faster than I did when I jumped off the table and changed into the clothes. From there, I had tried to find a way out until the alarm was raised. Guards quickly scurried around like rats, all desperate to find the prized piece of cheese.
That’s when I had hidden. It wasn’t the best hiding place but it was adequate. I would wait until they widened their search area, maybe for as long as it took to call off the search entirely, and then I would make my next move.
The pill the doctor had given me was still causing havoc in my system, making me sleepy and not as alert as I needed to be. I had to fight the urges to yawn and rest my head on the side of the cupboard.
But I could not sleep.
That would be the worst thing I could do because I would never wake up again. They would find me and swiftly end my life before I could see the sun rise again.
To keep my brain active I tried to remember everything I had seen between waking up and finding my hiding spot. Stone’s house had a lot of windows, that could work to my advantage. I could use one to jump through and run like hell to the fences. If I made it, I might be able to climb over and continue to run until my feet wore down to stubs.
My gimp foot might make it.
Maybe.
Probably not.
Stone had to have cars in her garage. If I could find one, and the keys, I could attempt to drive off the estate. If anyone got in my way I could go around them so nobody else had to get hurt.
Except I’d never driven a car in my life.
I’d only ever been inside one when Stone transported me.
My mind continued to run its way through a maze, only finding dead ends around every corner. I needed to find the way out, every maze had one.
“She has to be here somewhere.” The male voice made me freeze, every muscle in my body tensing and waiting. “We know she hasn’t breached the fence so she has to be on the grounds. We just need to find the filthy thing.”
His voice was so loud it was like he was standing on the other side of the cupboard door.
“Group Alfa is bringing in the dogs,” another voice replied. “One sniff of her cell and they’ll track her down in no time. We’ll all be eating dinner soon and Stone will be giving us all promotions.”
“The dogs haven’t failed yet.”
“Nope. She can run but she can’t hide. Not from the dogs.”
“And not with a gimp foot.”
They laughed together at their combined brilliance while my panic hitched up several notches. Sniffer dogs didn’t give up, they always tracked down what they were looking for. I would be easy for them, just a sitting duck waiting to be trapped in the cupboard.
I was going to have to make a run for it.
Hiding was no longer an option if they were getting the dog squad in.
If I could somehow get off the grounds, maybe I could hide my scent. I could find a stream or river and use it to disguise myself until they gave up.
I counted to twenty after the voices disappeared and their footsteps went away. Creaking open the door, I peeked out. The room appeared to be empty now. Climbing out of the tiny cupboard, my muscles and bones protested at the movement.
Everything within me screamed to lie down and go back to sleep. Slumber would be so peaceful, a beautiful relief from all the panic and pain.
I had to fight the urge to sleep.
Sleep was my enemy too.
I would have liked to tiptoe around the room but that was impossible with my limp foot. Instead, I shuffled over to the door and pressed my ear against the cool wood. All I could hear was the sound of my own blood pumping through my body.
It was now or never. There was no luxury of waiting for me. I opened the door a crack and looked through the crevice. What little of the corridor I could see was devoid of guards. I doubted they would be far away but I couldn’t think of that now.
It was time to run.
I was on the third level of the mansion. If I jumped from a window up that high I would hit the ground too hard and probably break my neck. I needed to go down a level or two before I could entertain that idea.
There had to be stairs around somewhere. I pulled open the door carefully and took a glance around. Nobody. I had a shot and took it, I ran as fast as my poor body could take me.
My feet were way too loud as I dashed for the end of the corridor. If I could just make it to the end, I might have been able to make it down to the ground level. Hiding would not thwart the sniffer dogs. They would find me easily if I was a sitting target.
I lost track of the amount of times my defective foot tangled with my good foot. It was like they were a magnet and kept getting drawn together to slow me down. I would have done anything for two good feet at that point.
“Stop!”
The voice registered only moments before the sound of gunfire. The bullets whizzed by me, so close I could feel the shockwaves pouring from them.
For once, the inability to run straight worked to my advantage.
Hundred Stolen Breaths Page 9