Behind Locked Doors

By JesusFreak

13.7K 595 417

When the government crumbled in 2014, The Union emerged. Cruel and heinous, The Union took away everything th... More

Chapter One: The Decree
Chapter Two: Unlikely Alliances
Chapter Three: Behind Your Shadow
Chapter Four: Intrusion
Chapter Five: Midnight Stroll
Chapter Six: Swapping Secrets
Chapter Seven: Undercover
Chapter Eight: Look After You
Chapter Nine: In The Way
Chapter Ten: Hidden Talents
Chapter Eleven: Turn Of Events
Chapter Twelve: Files
Chapter Thirteen: Tap Dancing On Thin Ice
Chapter Fifteen: Broken Promises
Chaper Sixteen: Files Part 2
Chapter Seventeen: A Date To Remember
Chapter Eighteen: One Step Closer
Chapter Nineteen: Breaking And Entering
Chapter Twenty: The Warring House
Chapter Twenty-One: Breakable Bonds
Chapter Twenty-two: Betrayal or Loyalty

Chapter Fourteen: Playing The Hero

334 10 5
By JesusFreak

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.

I shook my head in an attempt to clear it. Those things weren’t important right now; the only thing I needed to worry about was getting out alive, but not just me Alice, Justin… James, I needed for them to get out too. Alice was waiting to help me up as Justin did his best, from where he was, to get me as high up as he could without losing his balance. Somehow, I was able to grasp the frame of the vent strongly enough to pull myself up. I found my way into the vent; I definitely had picked the wrong shoes to wear for this occasion.

 “James, you next,” Justin said.

“No, you go ahead,” James responded. Justin nodded, even though Justin was taller and stronger than Alice and I, it still took the both of us to help him into the air vent. He ended up on my side of the vent, and, with our close quarters, I could feel his heavy breathing against my skin.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Fantastic,” he muttered, “James, come on.”

Of course, it couldn’t be that simple. Instead of hearing James’ tired voice, there was the closing of the vent instead.

“What are you doing?” Alice asked alarmed trying to reopen the vent, but it was closed tight by James and her mini screwdriver.

“They know someone’s in here, and if they don’t find anyone then they’ll keep looking until they do,” James said hoarsely, “This way if they find me, they won’t acknowledge the fact that there were others involved.”

“We’re not leaving you,” Justin stated firmly.

“Yeah…you are, so get a move on,” James said turning back to the door that could burst open any minute.

Justin looked stunned but had still gathered his thoughts enough to be able to speak, “You heard him.”

“Justin, we can’t,” I protested, but he said nothing and neither did Alice; they both began crawling through the air vent in the direction that would hopefully lead us to a hallway. How could they expect me to leave him here, like this?

“James?” I said.

“You have to leave now, Dakota,” he said not looking back at me. I knew he was serious about staying, no matter what I said, he was going to play hero. But if this was the last time I was going to see him, I didn’t want to leave like this, because I loved him. There was a possibility he didn’t love me anymore, but I didn't care. I still wanted him to know.

“James?” I repeated.

“I said go, please” he pleaded watching the door begin to inch open.

“I can’t. I…I have to tell you something,” I said hesitantly. He turned around slowly but still faced the door, ready for the guards when they came. I peered at him through the slits in the vent. His expression was pained, yet he didn’t look afraid.

“What?”

I gulped.  here goes nothing, “I still love you.”

His warm brown eyes met mine in an instant, “I love you too. Never stopped.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Miss Harris, are you listening?”  Mr. Marcs asked. I was sitting on the wooden floor of a secret training room that was meant for the Union guards use only. Apparently, there weren’t any cameras, because the Union assumed they wouldn’t need them in their own training room. It had been the fifth time that I had zoned out. I knew the count, because Mr. Marcs had complained about it the third time it happened.

I was trying to pay attention, I really was, but somehow my mind always ended up replaying the scene from two nights ago: the guards, finding a way out, James telling us to leave him, and the look in James’s eye when he told me he loved me. On the bright side, I had successfully convinced Mr. Marcs to help me train to be a Rebel; on the not so bright side, James was still MIA.

“Dakota,” Professor Marcs said waving his heavy boned hand in front of my face, “you’re making it rain.”

“How do you know it’s my fault? It’s not like it doesn’t rain in L.A.”

“Did you take your konrope medication?”

“Of course,” I confirmed. How could I forget with him nagging me about it every other hour?

“Do you have the pills with you?” he asked. I nodded and took the white container out of my bag that was on the floor next to me. Marcs took the container from my hands and examined the label on the back thoughtfully. He mumbled under his breath but I couldn’t make out the words. He seemed to be having one of those ‘Aha’ moments.

“You won’t be using these anymore,” Mr. Marcs said. What? Had Mr. Marcs gone loco? If anyone had forgotten to take their medication it was him.

“What do you mean ‘I won’t be using them anymore’?” I asked nervously as he put the container into his bag.

“Those pills weren’t helping you. Once they ran out what would you do? Besides your powers are getting stronger, and even the pills can’t confine them completely anymore. You’ll just have to learn to control it without them.”

“I can-“

“I’ll teach you,” he said, “It’ll make you stronger.”

“Did you teach Evangeline too?” I asked. I tried not to bring her up too much, but I was curious, and you know what they say about that...

“Yes, I did,” he answered quietly clearing his throat, “The medicine should be out of your system by morning, so stop by my office before breakfast. I’ll need to see how much it affects you.”

I took that as an okay to leave. Grabbing the strap of my shoulder bag, I stood up easily, grateful to the fact that I had chosen to wear tennis shoes instead of high heels this time. Mr. Marcs gave me a wave as I turned on my heel to leave; I twiddled my fingers back in a like manner.

It was a good thing Rolin and Alice didn’t know about my training with Professor Marcs. Knowing Rolin, she would be against it, which would only make Alice against it also. The only one who knew was Justin. Obviously, I had to tell someone. Rebel training isn’t something you really keep to yourself. Well, I guess it probably is something you were supposed to keep secret, but I couldn’t help it.

The hallway was dark even with my flashlight (I only used my hand in case of an emergency). I hoped the directions I had gotten from Justin were accurate, otherwise I would be wandering the halls all night searching for my dorm. I tried my best to walk soundlessly, but it was much harder than Alice had made it look, and of course my tennis shoes kept squeaking against the tiled floor, making matters worse. You know if I had been wearing high heels I wouldn’t have this problem, I thought impatiently. Somehow, the more I attempted to be quiet ,the louder I seemed to be, so I decided to run to my dorm rather than walk. It would be quicker and possibly even quieter.

Once I was at the dorm, I made sure to turn my flashlight off before opening the door, so the obnoxiously bright light wouldn’t wake the other girls. I fingered for the doorknob, knowing Rolin had left the door unlocked in case we needed to go to a late night meeting. The doorknob turned with ease like I knew it would, and I walked into my shared dorm, closing the door gently behind me.

“Where have you been?” came the annoyed voice of Rolin from the darkness making me jump back unexpectedly.

“I was hanging out with Justin,” I lied.

She made a disgusted grunt, and I knew she must have been rolling her eyes at me, even though she knew I couldn’t see it. Satisfied with her uninterested notion, I held out my arms trying to feel my way to my bed. I kicked off my shoes, hoping that I wouldn’t accidentally trip over one. I didn’t bother changing into my pajamas, because not only would it be hard to find something that matched in the dark, but also changing in the dark could be disastrous. I could end up with my clothes on backwards or accidentally find some of Rolin’s clothes and end up wearing those instead. I shuddered at the very thought.

My voyage to bed was cut short by a small knock coming from the door. Now what?  I could see light peeking through the bottom of the door which made it easier to find my way back. Grouchily, I opened the door. If it was Justin, then he better have a good reason for disturbing my quest for my bed, but it wasn’t Justin behind the door, nor was it Alice, who would’ve been my second guess.

“Hey,” said the person behind the door.

“James?”

Continue Reading

You'll Also Like

1.2M 18.5K 60
Amara Brady, the schools nerd, her name unknown to any normal persons ears. Straight A's and perfect homework, but what if it's just a coverup? Ou...
402K 9.9K 38
"Eli! Seriously this is ridiculous let me down!" I yell as I pound furiously on his back. "Not a chance. And don't ever wear something like that to a...
Deception By L & L

Mystery / Thriller

98.6K 5.9K 35
Getting through school has never been a particularly difficult task for Cassidy but when a body is found outside her school everything goes downhill...
834 438 22
"My back is stiff because of the hard ground and my feet are ice cold. A little breeze touches my bare skin. The smell of rotten meat invades my nose...