Behind Locked Doors

Chapter Fourteen: Playing The Hero

This chapter is dedicated to madkin to thank her for our awesome new cover, isn't it great?

Rescue me

Show me who I am

Cause I can't believe 

This is how the story ends

Dakota’s POV

“The guards are here,” James said coming into the file room that Alice, Justin, and I were in urgently closing the door behind him.”Alice, is there another way out?”

Alice bit her lip in concentration, as it was Alice had memorized the map of the school and therefore knew of every exit, but her frustrated eyes didn’t give me much reassurance. There was a slight muffle of voices that could be heard from the other room and then the sound of file cabinet drawers being slammed closed. There wasn’t much time before the guards discovered our hiding spot, and then we’d all be done for.

“There’s an air vent above the file cabinets over there,” Alice said pointing to her right, “but that’s it.”

“If we barricade the door, it should slow them down and give us enough time to get out,” Justin said turning to me, “Do you think you can get the vent open?”

I responded with an unsure nod and proceeded to the air vent. Using the drawers as stairs, I made my way to the top of the cabinet with difficulty. The file papers bent from the pressure of my feet on top of them making me slip, but eventually I was able to make it to the top. Even standing on top of the file cabinet, I couldn’t reach the vent without standing on my tippy toes. How was I supposed to open this thing anyway? I want to be a Rebel and I can’t even open a stupid vent? Well done, Dakota.

Alice looked up at me in amusement seeing my frustration, “Try this,” she said taking a mini screwdriver out of her pocket. Does everyone come prepared except me?

“Do you always keep helpful tools in your pocket?” I asked reaching down for the small instrument.

“Only on special occasions,” Alice smiled pushing her glasses back in their original position. She left to help Justin and James push a heavy looking cabinet in front of the door. As they slid it across the floor, it made an irritating, screeching noise; I prayed the guards hadn’t heard it.

Meanwhile, the job of opening the vent became much easier with the help of the screwdriver. I loosened the last screw causing the vent to swing open freely. I made a note to make sure I got my shoes so that there would be no evidence of us being here. I had a feeling leaving stilettos in a locked file room would only lead to trouble. Alice jumped nervously away from the door as a loud pounding noise erupted from behind it. I guess the guards finally found us after all.

“How long will it hold them?” I asked getting down from the file cabinet.

“Hopefully, as long as it takes to get out of here,” Justin responded, and, not wasting a moment, he used the ‘stairs’ on the cabinet to get up to the top.

“Ladies first,” Justin said extending his hand to Alice. Her pale-skinned hand desperately grasped his toned one. The banging on the door became fiercer, and I knew we were running out of time. The others knew it too; the way they kept looking to the door every few minutes was making me a paranoid, jittery mess. By the time I had refocused myself on the matter at hand, Alice had made it safely into the air vent, and Justin was beckoning me to come next.

As I climbed up clumsily with the help of Justin, I wondered if we would ever come back to this room again or if Rolin would deem it to be too dangerous. In which case, we would probably come back anyway and just not tell her about it. There was so much information in this room that could be useful against Warring, plus the fact that I had found Evangeline Marcs’ file. Though I hadn’t had enough time to look through it thoroughly, it was enough to go on, and maybe recovering information about his sister would convince Mr. Marcs I was Rebel material.