Scarlet's Escape

by Katrina Cope

  Contents

  Copyright

  Title Page

  Dedication

  Free Book

  Chapter 1 ~ The Pressure Is On

  Chapter 2 ~ Brendan Turns Schizophrenic

  Chapter 3 ~ Eva Breaks Scarlet

  Chapter 4 ~ Shelly's Diva

  Chapter 5 ~ What Lies Beneath?

  Chapter 6 ~ Scarlet's Freaky Games

  Chapter 7 ~ Operation Ladybeetle

  Chapter 8 ~ The Plan

  Chapter 9 ~ A Long Day in the Rain

  Chapter 10 ~ Scarlet's Secret

  Chapter 11 ~ Exploits in The Night

  Chapter 12 ~ The Big Secret

  Chapter 13 ~ The Painful Lesson

  Chapter 14 ~ Cute & Deadly

  Chapter 15 ~ The Announcement

  Chapter 16 ~ What's Gotten into Shelly?

  Chapter 17 ~ Thanks for Nothing

  Chapter 18 ~ Not-So-Urgent Urgency

  Chapter 19 ~ Room Without A View

  Chapter 20 ~ Not Such A Magnificent View

  Chapter 21 ~ The Puzzling Search

  Acknowledgments

  Newsletter & Updates

  Your Throughts

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Scarlet’s Escape

  Ebook first published in USA in June 2014 by Katrina Cope

  Ebook first published in Great Britain in June 2014 by Katrina Cope

  Ebook first published in USA in January 2019 by Cosy Burrow Books

  Ebook first published in Great Britain in January 2019 by Cosy Burrow Books

  www.katrinacopebooks.com

  Text Copyright © 2014 by Katrina Cope

  Cover Design Copyright © DamonZa.com

  The moral right of Katrina Cope to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted

  All rights reserved

  No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher

  This book is a work of fiction. Any references or suggestions herein to actual historical events, real people or actual locations are fictitious. All names, characterisations, locations, incidents, and fabrications are solely the product of the author’s imagination, and any, and all, resemblance to actual persons alive or dead or locations or events is entirely coincidental.

  Published by Katrina Cope

  All rights reserved

  ASIN: B00EYSKMF2

  ASIN: 1492975273

  THE SANCTUM SERIES

  Book Two

  Scarlet’s Escape

  KATRINA COPE

  To Michael, my partner in life and soulmate

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  - Chapter One -

  The Pressure Is On

  Sweat gathered among the short hairs of his eyebrows before continuing down his pale skin to drip directly on the ground below.

  It wasn’t that the temperature was hot or that the air was humid. Instead, it was the high-pressure job at hand that caused his blood to pump briskly through his fourteen-year-old frame. Jayden glanced over at Aaron to see if he was also showing signs of stress. Darkness enveloped them, and there was barely enough light shining on Aaron to see his face, but Jayden could see that he was showing signs too. Aaron was sweating just as much, if not more, from the intensity of the task at hand.

  They crouched low, studying the activity at their destination from a safe distance and keeping an eye out for anything that might threaten them.

  Before them stood a small village that looked like a little army camp, perhaps containing rebel soldiers. They had been given strict orders to check the place out and destroy any weaponry they came across. The orders were easy to follow, as the place had been marked as an extreme threat, in the form of terrorism against innocent people. Jayden placed his back firmly against the trunk of a large tree, out of sight from the village. Aaron watched him intently and followed suit, trying desperately to blend as much as possible into his surroundings.

  Aaron was a spectacular fighter in Tae Kwon Do, one of the best that Jayden knew of, especially at his age. At the moment, though, Aaron was paying particular attention to Jayden’s actions. It was discovered soon after Jayden joined the group at the Sanctum that he was a natural in camouflage and blending into his environment. It had been discovered by accident when they played a game of skirmish in the trees outside their school building. Jayden had succeeded so well that they couldn’t even see his tracking light on the tracking screen.

  It had been a little over a year since Jayden had taken Avando’s offer and joined the group at the Sanctum, leaving behind a harsh life on the streets. Although he would have been happy with an ordinary, caring home, he was astonished when he was taken to live at the Sanctum, a school that was built within a large mountain. The mountain was amazing, and the Sanctum was decorated with marble and had views easily matching ones seen in a travel catalog, and it was eco-friendly too. It was also equipped with a brilliant computer, an artificial intelligence called Scarlet. She was super-intelligent, even hilarious at times, and not to be crossed. She made sure there were significant consequences to pay for those who did.

  Jayden peeked around the back of the tree. Something moved in the shadows in one of the outside corners of the village. His heart thumped profusely in anticipation of a possible enemy, who might have been moving around in the dark. Aaron’s face grew worried under the crop of his dark-brown hair. He indicated for Jayden’s attention then homed in on the movement he had observed. Jayden nodded in acknowledgment, crouched down, and crept over to the edge of the trees for a closer look. Aaron followed closely behind him. Making use of the magnifying advantage of telescopic vision, Jayden zoomed in on the moving shadow. He observed an outside garbage bin located in that corner, and he saw the movement again on the side. He realized that the movement was from something small and furry and put it down to being a cat or some other foraging animal. He breathed purposefully in a slow, repetitive manner, letting his heartbeat settle with the realization that it was only a creature of the night. He moved his attention to other parts of the village and scouted the area again without seeing any sign of other movement.

  He spoke into the mouthpiece of the roving communicator strapped to his head. “Seraph?” It was a codename for a messenger or an angel.

  “Copy.” The quick, friendly response from Robert’s distant voice instantly soothed their nerves a little, as they knew that they were not alone.

  “We need you to work some of your magic and give us better eyes,” Jayden said.

  “Not a problem. Clearer vision is coming your way,” Robert said.

  “Copy.”

  Jayden and Aaron waited quietly while continuing to watch the village ahead. It seemed like a pretty sleepy village at the moment. A couple of lights shone dimly, illuminating the main street area in what looked like the only sign of occupation besides the stray creature feasting off the garbage bins.

  It wasn’t long before Jayden felt a fluttering on the coat of his camouflage uniform. He looked down to see an insect crawling out of one of his pockets. It was black, with beady eyes and long, transparent wings with conspicuous veins. He recognized it, as he had seen it in the trees around the Sanctum. It was a cicada. Once it finished crawling out of his pocket, it seemed to be looking straight at Jayden and started to sing as if it was trying to tell him something. It then flew over to Aaron, landed on his chest, and also stared into his eyes. After singing a little cicada song, it flew back to Jayden’s chest and
stared into his eyes again.

  “Seraph? Is that you?” Jayden asked hesitantly through his roving communicator.

  “Affirmative,” Robert’s voice confirmed.

  Thankful that it wasn’t just some weird, staring insect, Jayden breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s amazing. You really are a prodigy. It looks like the real thing.”

  The cicada flew off and headed toward the village. In the corner of his night-vision glasses, Jayden noticed another small screen appear. It seemed to be bouncing all over the place. Trying not to get motion sickness, he looked intently at the screen and realized that it was the vision from the eyes on Robert’s cicada. It flew around the closest buildings first, pausing at the windows and taking a good look inside. The cicada must have had night vision installed, as it could even see clearly inside the windows where there were no lights.

  Robert’s voice came over the headset. “The first area is clear. You’re good to go.”

  “Copy!” Jayden said.

  Proceeding with caution, Jayden started making his way closer to the edge of the trees. He moved slowly and tried to blend in with his surroundings, just in case some impending threat was overlooked. Aaron followed Jayden’s example as well as keeping an eye out for danger.

  A loud hoot sounded in a tree not far from where they had stopped. They both jumped at the noise then looked at each other and smiled, having a silent laugh at their edginess, once they had realized that it was only an owl. The teens progressed forward until they reached the edge of the trees, dropped to their stomachs, and started to crawl commando style toward the first building in the village. With all senses on full alert, they proceeded while continuing to keep an eye on the screen from the cicada’s vision. Limb by limb, they crawled closer to the first building. They were almost there when they noticed that the cicada had come across a room full of people dressed in camouflage uniforms. The officers seemed to be having a party. Several people were standing with drinks in their hands, chatting among themselves.

  To one side, four men were sitting around a table with a pile of money in the middle, playing cards. A cigarette hung out of the side of the officer’s mouth as he glanced at his fistful of cards, which were fanned out so that he could see all of them. He ran a hand through his dark stubble then rearranged a few of the cards. When he finished, he closed up his hand of cards and looked around at the other players with a blank expression on his face.

  Laughter exploded from one of the standing soldiers. He was talking to a woman with a long blond braid hanging down her back, and they seemed pretty cozy. She stood close, focusing her pale-blue eyes on his, smiling and leaning into him, oblivious of their surroundings. Jayden could not hear their conversation. It was left to Robert to listen, as he was at their base and plugged into the audio.

  Seeing that the room was not an immediate threat to them, Jayden turned his attention back to getting them to the first building safely. They continued to crawl toward the village. It wasn’t very far, but doing it on all fours made it seem a greater distance.

  Something moved in his line of sight at the corner of his left eye. His heart skipped a beat as he turned toward the movement. To his horror, he saw a human figure in the dark. He cursed himself. They had been too busy looking at the vision of the activity in the room to take in their immediate surroundings properly.

  He stopped his crawling and indicated the problem to Aaron. His heart beat rapidly in his chest, his ears burned, and his body felt weak with sudden panic. They were in the middle of an open space, clearly visible if a person looked in their direction with a flashlight or night-vision glasses. Muttering a small, silent prayer to anyone who would listen, he continued to watch the person while forcing himself to breathe slowly, deeply and purposefully. They were lucky to be in the dark shadows and not in the lit area. They remained still while keeping a careful eye on the person in the dark. After what seemed to have been hundreds of deep breaths, Jayden could feel himself starting to get a better grip on his body, and he thought he could move without feeling weak or clumsy, even though his heart still thumped loudly in his chest.

  With his night-vision glasses, he studied the person, and he could make out a large rifle slung over one shoulder. The person seemed to be doing a brief patrol of this side of the village. He wandered closer to Jayden and Aaron, took a brief look at the trees and the surrounding area, then continued around the building to the other side of the village. Jayden breathed a sigh of relief. The soldier didn’t appear to have noticed the two conspicuous figures lying on the ground. Jayden and Aaron watched as the figure progressed around the buildings, scaring away the foraging animal as he walked past the bins. When their area was all clear again, they cautiously continued crawling toward the village until they finally reached the wall of the building. Jayden stood, wiped the sweat off his forehead, then pressed his back against the wall and slowly edged his way around the building. Aaron followed closely as they traced the path of the armed person, sticking their heads around before progressing. The cicada screen no longer showed the room full of people, but it continued to fly around and investigate the other buildings.

  “Seraph?” Jayden spoke softly into the remote communicator.

  “Copy,” Robert’s voice responded instantly.

  “What’s the status of safe progression?” Jayden asked. “We were slightly preoccupied with an unexpected visitor.”

  “All good so far, just be on alert for a rowdy crowd in building three. All else clear for now,” Robert said.

  “Any sign of our visitor?”

  “Negative. Not from here.”

  “Copy. What about our destination?” Jayden asked.

  “Haven’t found it yet. I’m still looking,” Robert responded.

  Jayden and Aaron continued around building one then passed the next. When they reached the rowdy building, they kept a low profile and made sure they squatted, remaining below window height. Jayden’s heartbeat rose again, beating loudly in his ears and pulsing hard through his limbs, making it difficult to move with any finesse. He was thankful that the group in the room was so noisy—it helped to block out any sound that might have come from their temporary clumsiness.

  After they passed the building, Jayden breathed a sigh of relief and moved to press forward with caution.

  Avando’s voice came over the roving communicator. “Contender?”

  “Yes, Alpha,” Jayden responded respectfully.

  “There appears to be something of a suspicious nature in the fourth building on the left. It doesn’t have any occupants at present, so the sooner you can get there, the better,” Avando said.

  “Copy, Alpha,” Jayden said.

  Hastily, they moved around the buildings, searching for the fourth building on the left. They maneuvered in and out of the gaps between the different structures. Jayden grasped a mirror, using it to check around each of the building’s corners and see if there was anyone on the other side before moving around it. He practiced this around every building corner until he caught a movement in the dark. He proceeded to watch the mirror. It was the scout who had almost discovered them earlier. Without meaning to, he held his breath, watching the figure intently and making every attempt not to alert him to their presence there. Jayden silently pulled his mirror back around the side and indicated to Aaron that an enemy was just around the corner and that he was not moving on.

  It was Aaron’s turn to take charge of the situation. Silently, Aaron moved past Jayden and peeked at the mirror himself. Then to Jayden’s surprise, Aaron made a sound, loud enough for the enemy to hear. Jayden pressed himself back against the wall and into the shadows, waiting to see what Aaron was planning.

  With his back also pressed against the wall, Aaron stood still against the corner of the building, close to the edge, watching his enemy in the small mirror. Jayden observed as his friend’s posture changed from a camouflaged position to a ready stance. Jayden watched in awe as Aaron swiftly placed the mirror in his pocket, waited, and
then attacked the person with a strike to the neck, just as he arrived at the corner to investigate the noise. The enemy fell to the ground in silence as he grasped at his throat, a look of shock in his eyes. He was still breathing, but he was rendered temporarily voiceless.

  Moving swiftly, Jayden helped Aaron to gag the man then bind his hands and feet. They left the man in the fetal position in a secluded area and continued stealthily toward their targeted building.

  “Seraph?” Jayden spoke into the communicator.

  “Copy,” Robert’s fourteen-year-old voice sounded official.

  “Has the building been checked to see if it is unoccupied?”

  “I’m currently finalizing the assessment.” There was a brief pause. “Done! All clear for entry.”

  “Copy,” Jayden said.

  They moved down the side of the targeted building toward the front, which faced the center of the small town. As he approached the corner closest to the center of the dimly lit street, Jayden pulled the mirror out again and checked for movement. All seemed clear. His heartbeat thumped in his ears and his hands shook as he skimmed around the corner to approach the door. Aaron stood guard. When Jayden arrived at the door, his heart sank. He was unable to pick the lock in the old-fashioned way because a digital pin pad secured it. He cursed himself for not bringing the digital pin pad decoder.

  “Seraph?” Jayden spoke into his remote communicator.

  “Copy,” Robert answered without hesitation.

  “We need help from our puzzler,” Jayden informed him.

  Eva’s voice came over the communicator. “Right here.”

  Jayden loosed a breath.

  “What do you need?” she asked.

  “We have a code that needs deciphering,” he informed her. “Can you take a look?” He moved his vision closer to the pin pad, knowing that she would take a snapshot to look at it on her computer. If anyone could solve it, Eva could. Puzzles and problems were her specialty.