The Guardian

Chapter 4

*

"Rose are you serious!" Raven exploded.

"Shh" I grabbed her arm and pulled her back onto my bed.

"Rose-"

"Just listen" She relaxed slightly but still shook her head at me.

"You're ridiculous. And absolutely insane" she hissed quietly.

"I know. But I just wanted you to know. You said I could talk to you about anything" I pleaded.

"I want you to be honest, yes. But I don't want you going out getting yourself killed!"

"I won't"

"You almost have!" she reminded me harshly. I flinched and glanced down at my lap.

"I'm sorry"

"If you're sorry, you'll stop doing this. You'll stop putting us all through this. I mean what do you think Fane will do when he finds you gone. Again" she snapped.

"The sooner I bring Elizabeth down, the sooner we can all be free from this"

"You don't even know where she is"

"You're right. But I know that Stone found a warehouse where her recruits are hiding out. All I want to do is go there and look for a clue as to where she is. Or maybe where another one of her warehouses is."

"That's it?"

"Yes"

"No burning down buildings or fighting like thirty assassins at once?"

"Not yet" I joked.

"Rose" she warned.

"Kidding! I'm just gonna sneak in and see what I can find. I'll only be about two hours and I'll come right back"

"Promise?"

"Promise" I nodded with a smile.

"Okay. And I know nothing about this"

"Exactly. It's all me when I get back"

"Okay well be careful" Raven pulled me into a hug and sighed into my shoulder. "I just worry about you"

"I know. But I'll be fine" I smiled.

"I know. Okay, I'll be in my room pretending to sleep" she nodded and stood up.I laughed at her false innocence and followed her out into the hall. No matter what I got myself into, Raven was always there. She'd become more of a sister to me than a friend.

"See you when you get back" she smiled and headed down the hall.

"Goodnight" I called after her and headed in the opposite direction.

*

"Okay, back entrance has less security. But the roof isn't in view of the guard towers" I whispered to myself as I made my way through the sleeping building. It was 2AM, meaning everybody was sleeping and the night patrol had just switched rotation. Tonight they had some of the younger recruits doing patrol to see what it was like. Less experience meant a quicker escape.
"Screw it lets take the roof. Why am I talking to myself" I rolled my eyes and headed up the stairwell. The rooms on the highest floor were the cafeteria and the younger recruits rooms. They were safest one the highest floor, away from exits and accompanied by the older caretakers.

I made my way as quickly up the stairs as I could without being too loud.

"I'm just saying, nothing ever happens around here anyways" a voice drifted down to me. I froze mid step to listen. The sound of distant footsteps told me I only had about five minutes before they reached me. There's only three of them. How do I know that? Who cares Rose! Move! I shook my head and quickened my pace.