Liberation

Chapter 5

"You know I can't do that. I have a job here, and I have an obligation to do that job," he says. "And you have a girlfriend whom you also have an obligation, an obligation to love and stand by her when she needs you," I protest.

I sigh and get up, offering my hand to him. He takes it and I begun to lead him to the the door. "I'm not telling you how to live your life, Peter. But I am asking you to make a choice: it's either your work here with Adam, or your future with me," I tell him as I open the door for him to leave.

"I'm heading out tomorrow at 5:30 in the morning for the woods in case you change your mind," I say as I begin to close the door.

But instead, Peter puts his hand against the door, stopping me from shutting it on him. "Change my mind? I haven't decided anything," he begins. "You don't have to; I can see your choice already," I tell him.

"Julia, you're doing it again," Peter protests. "And what would that be?" I ask. "Shutting out the world and running away from it towards trouble," he says.

I drop my gaze and give a slight laugh, taking in his words. "Well in case you haven't noticed, I'm good at running away," I tell him with a smirk. "Oh, I've noticed," he says with a smile as he pushes the door back open. "And it's my responsibility to keep up with you while you run," Peter adds.

My face breaks out in a smile as I come to a realization. "So you'll come?" I ask. "We'll see," Peter says mysteriously as he begins to walk away. "You don't have to always be so vague, you know?" I call out. "Oh, but I do," he says as he walks up the driveway, and even from there, I can hear the smile in his voice.

Suddenly, I hear a strange shuffling noise coming from behind a shrub in my flower bed. I carefully approach it, but before I can get close enough, someone falls through the bush and onto my porch. Small figure, blonde hair tied back, bright blue eyes, wearing scrubs.

"Spy much, Cassia?" I tease her as she scrambles to her feet. "I wasn't spying; I heard things breaking and I came to see if you were ok. But I saw that Peter beat me to it, so I decided to wait out here until he left. But then you guys came out here, and I didn't want you to think I was eavesdropping. So I hid behind the bush, and then I fell," she says simply.

"Fair enough. Come on in," I say as I open the door for her. We go back inside, glass crunching under our feet as we walk. "Watch your step," I caution as we head towards the kitchen.

"What happened?" Cassia asks as she sits down at the kitchen table. "It was stupid, really," I say as I start to brew a pot of tea for us. "I went to the war memorial, and I found this," I say as I hand her the letter. "So naturally, I went back to Adam to show it to him. I thought maybe it would change his mind about taking action against Henley. But it didn't change anything, and I got mad. I started yelling, and then he started yelling, we both said stupid things, I wrecked his office, and it just didn't end well," I explain.

Cassia looks up at me after she's done reading the letter. "What are you gonna do?" She asks. I set down a cup for her and pour her some tea, and then some for myself. "What do you think? I'm going after her," I say as I sit down.

"Julia, you-" "I'm going to bring her back to her prison cell, where she belongs. The people in that city could be in danger, and excuse me if I can't sleep well knowing that Henley is out there again," I interrupt her.

"You didn't let me finish. If you choose to go after her, then you're not thinking this through. They'll be expecting you, and you'll be killed before you can do anything. They know you by your name and your eye color, so change it," she says as she slides a small container in my direction.

"What are these?" I ask. "Colored contacts, brown ones. It's the most common eye color, so you won't stick out. They also know your name starts with a J, so undergo an alias. It's the only way to keep you safe," Cassia answers. "What will that matter? Henley knows my face," I protest. "Yes, but her brother doesn't. And if he doesn't, she can't prove that it's you. The letter says he wants power, so I suggest you paint over your tattoo and replace it with one of the other symbols. Other than that, I can't help you. What do you plan to do while you're there anyway?" Cassia asks.