Followers of the Light

Chapter 14 - One Hundred Hours Past the End (9PM)

 "Redheaaa Maryyyy!"

"Whaaat?!"

"Gee, is that how you treat me after I say your full name like you asked?" Grote stands up. "So, what you think?"

I'm still hesitating to answer. "I don't know... yet. I mean..."

"What were you doing?!" Grote flicks his cigarette butt away.

"I was flashing back on all the things we through."

Grote looks away from me and puts his hands on his waist.

"We've been through some crazy stuff in the last few days. To think how I survived, how I met you, what ended up with Timmy's family, how we met Jorne at the Republi's, Cornelis, the neighborhood riot we fought in, the kidnapping in police HQ, Dan, the Purge soldiers, the school massacre, of course Layla and Ron..."

Grote nods. "Jorne. How's that idiot doing right now?"

"So um..."

"We going?"

My honest uncertainty holds my mouth from saying it. But since there is no other way... "Yeah. We're going."

"Finally!" Grote claps. "Wear this, you know the drill."

"Eugh... This is some stinky hell of a damp cloth!"

"That was Tumblewead's. What do you expect?"

With pure disgust, I am masking my face under that absolute nose-killer cloth. But what makes a better disguise than the fitting look? A familiar smell, of course.

"Ready?" Grote asks.

I give firm nod to him.

"Leave the bag here! We don't need it anymore. Follow me!"

As we walk back down through the staircases, my heart is trembling. There is no going back from the actual 'big night'. We cross the street towards the Goodhope Palace backyard.

"There are iron bars behind these shrubs," Grote says. "Let's climb over."

Grote puts his hands inside the bushes and quickly climbs over the fence like a monkey, but it's killing me here because my hands keep slipping down. So I grab the bars and hug them this time, ungracefully climbing up the tall fences against the plants. Stupid but works anyhow.

"Fucking fat-ass!" says Grote. "Can you be any slower than that?"

"Shut up!"

There is a ray of light coming from a staff exit that is left open just perfect for us to get. Then here we are in a grey corridor filled with doors left and right. At the other end, there is a white door with golden handle. I grab the handle and pull the door in and... here we are, finally and for the first time, we are inside the hundreds-of-years-old Goodhope Palace. Can't help for my eyes to gaze at stunningly decorated ceilings, old paintings all over the wall, and royally red carpeted floor. This is ecstatic to look at. Though, the palace seems empty, nothing like I had imagined earlier. So we take the staircase on our left to get to the second floor, which is also empty. This leads us to another enclosed corridor at the end of the mezzanine. It is strange nobody is even protecting the indoor. Or is Bandemon not here? We finally reach a twin doored room, dubbed 'Office'. This is more worrying than it should.

"The mic is all set, Sir," says someone inside the room.

I ask Grote if he heard the faint sound of someone talking inside there. Then he places his left ear on the white door and he nods at me.

"I'll try to lure them out," says Grote whispering. "Act natural, don't be awkward!"

He then knocks the door. Not long after, someone appears.