Sparks

Chapter Ten - The Consequences

"Hey, I gotta run home. I'll see you soon, I promise."

I murmur a good-bye. I'm so comfortable right now, in the willow tree. Warmth encloses me like a blanket, and all I see is darkness. I used to be really afraid of the dark when I was small. I thought monsters or ghosts would come out and hurt me. Nothing from the darkness has ever hurt me, but something still could. I hear someone climbing down the tree, and the leaves rustling.

I drift away like a cloud in the sky.

~<-*->~

Birds are singing when my eyes open. The sun is setting, so I slept for maybe 20 minutes? I got drowsy after I finished talking with Jaina, and she went home. Sitting up straight, I notice Jaina's coat laying over the branch. She left it behind, probably focused on getting home. I should get there quick since curfew starts in half an hour.

After draping it over my shoulder, I start to climb down, feeling for a place to put my hands and feet on the rough bark. I have thick callouses on my fingers and palms from climbing trees and shooting arrows. Hitting the ground, I jog to the fence, climb up, jump down, and keep going. The streets I take are never busy, which is good at this time of night. Jaina's house is in a safe neighborhood about five minutes away from my place.

My boots hit the pavement as I jog through dark, empty streets. A homeless person is curled up by a dumpster and he glares at me as I pass him. I feel his eyes on me as I turn into another street. Maybe dropping off my weapons off before Jaina and I went to her house was a bad idea. I jog faster. 

Eventually, I make it to her neighborhood. I reach the entrance, and few people are outside, neighbors talking to each other in front of homes. I walk inside, and once I pass the first house, I notice two Stormtroopers and an Imperial walk past me. The Imperial doesn't look around, but I see her sharp eyes focused on Jaina's house.

Anxiety ripples through me.

When I'm behind the Imperials, I sprint to the alley between the first and second house. After I climb the ladder to the second houses roof, I take a running start and jump onto Jaina's roof. Creeping over to look down and see the front, I knell behind a steel air vent. The Imperial woman knocks on the door, with the two soldiers behind her. Everyone who is outside notices and they go inside their homes. Jaina's father opens the door. He's politer to me than her mother is. Thin brown beard speckled with gray, tired eyes...my dad never looked like that. He asks, "How may I help you?" The Imperial states, "Two hours ago, someone hacked into the Capital City citizen records through an Imperial computer terminal, and your daughter's identification card was scanned. " Jaina's father must have reacted, but I can't see him and my heart is beating so fast right now

"Is your daughter home? We want to narrow down a list of suspects, and the criminal may have used hers to cover up their tracks."

He must answer with a yes or something, but I've gone blank with fear, unable to register anything.

When I come to my senses, Jaina is at the front where I can see her, with her parents behind her, still in the house. "Miss Soleman, where were you two hours ago?"

Jaina is somehow calm and states, "I wanted to get some fresh air, so I went outside and went for a walk through the city." The whole time she's speaking, her face and stance are relaxed. She does better in stressful situations than I do. Right now I'm biting my nails. Chewing away what fingernails I have left, and I know I'm going to regret it later since I've been trying to stop this habit.

The Imperial seems to have believed the lie, and asks, "Do you have your identification card with you? It was scanned two hours ago when someone hacked into a computer terminal in near an old control center." Jaina pats her pockets and says, "No, I think I left it...at the Academy." I reach into Jaina's jacket pocket and pull out her ID card. Thank goodness she forgot her jacket. Maybe the Imperial will think someone stole it and that she wasn't there when I hacked into the system? I can't get caught since I'm technically not a recorded citizen because I don't have an ID card. If Jaina gets caught, she'll take the fall for both of us. I can't let that happen.

The Imperial takes out a datapad. Scrolling for a moment she looks down at Jaina and says, "It must have been nice to take a walk, especially after that long assembly at the Academy, right?"

Uh oh. Jaina swallows hard.

"But you weren't. The report that was sent to us stated that you were..." The Imperial pauses for a moment. "Unwell. You seem perfectly fine to me now. " I can't see the looks on Jaina's parent's faces. I don't think I want to.

"I think we need to take you in for further questioning to see where you really were, just to make sure you aren't a suspect."

Jaina mouth is drawn tight, and I can see the fear in her eyes.

Right now the only thing I can hear is the intense pounding of my heart. If Jaina goes into questioning...she won't come out. We both know that.

I have to do something, a distraction, an attack, something! I can't leave her like this! I can't lose my best friend! She's in this because of me! I can't let her take the fall for something she didn't do!

Jaina's parents start speaking with the Imperial. I brace myself to jump down and create some kind of distraction, yell for Jaina to run, and somehow get out of it. It's a crappy plan, but at least Jaina has the best chance of surviving.

Jaina looks up and makes eye contact with me, seeing me in the position to jump down. Slowly, she shakes her head.

I'll get you out of this. I promise. I mouth to her.

She nods.

One of the Stormtroopers motion for her to go with them. The conversation with her parents is over. There's nothing that they can do to save their daughter. They go inside, and I can see their faces. Her mother is deeply concerned, but her father's face looks like it's about to shatter into pieces. Because of all this, I caused a mother and a father to lose a daughter.

I watch as Jaina walks away with the Imperials, a prisoner of the Empire. The street's quiet now. I realize that I'm still holding Jaina's jacket, and I wrap it around me. It's cold now and she can't use it right now. I slowly climb down the ladder and walk away. Walk through the streets to get to my place. I walk slow, not caring if a Stormtrooper finds me and arrests me for breaking curfew. If one did, I'd let him. After walking for a long time, I get there and push open the door to get inside. I sit down on the blankets, waiting for sleep to come. It doesn't, and the only thing I feel through the whole night is guilt.