One Week.

Chapter Twenty-Seven.

"B-Blit?" I gasped, staring in disbelief at him. We, or rather I, had been caught.

"Where is Canarie?" He snarled, all previous remmants of the serious yet friendly, to me at least, man gone. "Tell me!" He screeched with crazed eyes, marching over to me to grab the scruff of my black shirt. "She has my papers! I need them for the bomb to detonate tommorow!"

"Knowledge!" I moaned as I realised the horrid truth. Canarie wanted knowledge all right. Just not the knowledge I thought she wanted, she wanted the bombs. That sly girl! She had stolen the papers so she had 'knowledge' of the bombs. She was going to run away with the papers.

Blit was going to kill her.

And me.

"Tell me!" Blit screeched, shaking me roughly, his eyes growing glazed with rage. "Tell me where she went! Now! I'm going to kill her! She took my papers!"

"I don't know!" I shouted, holding one hand up in mock surrendor, the other cradling Lissette (the ball of light).

"What do you mean, you don't know?!" Blit screamed, half throttling me as I gagged, trying to prise his fingers from me. "You stupid boy! She has the papers! I need those papers! SHE TOOK MY PAPERS! TELL ME WHERE SHE WENT!"

"I DON'T KNOW!" I bellowed, shoving him away from me. He fell back with a grunt and I took off. I didn't even judge where I ran, I just chose a random direction and ran for my life.

"Get the boy!" I could hear Blit screaming after me. "Light the fires!"

All around me, I could see tiny blots of fires flaring into life, men clutching the sticks they had just lit. They must have followed us into the cave and slowly surrounded us. It was a miracle I hadn't stumbled into someone. The thought made me shudder. "Kill the boy!" I heard someone squeal, then everyone was chanting it.

"Kill the boy; kill the boy; kill the boy; kill the boy; kill the boy."

I don't know quite how I escaped. It was a whirl of bewildering lights and sharp turns. I felt like a tiny rabbit, hounded by hunting dogs. Once, someone stepped in front of me and I was nearly caught, but then I barrelled past him, clipping his shoulder, and I was off, clutching Lissette protectively to my chest.

"Get him!" I could hear Blit yelling in the distance as I tripped over myself to get away. "Don't let him escape! Kill him! Capture him!"

Somehow, I stumbled out into the dark of the night, shaking and shaken.

"Cade!" I looked up to see Canarie leant against a wall opposite me, a cheshire cat styled smile across her face. "You made it, hmm!"

She pushed off and sashayed over to me, smirking widely.

"Y-you left me!" I accused her, eyes narrowing with anger. "I needed to keep a watch out diamond, hmm." She chortled at me, shaking her head and rolling her eyes in an exaggerated manner.

"I need to get these papers away, hmm. Can't let Blit have those bombs, eh?"

"Why did you steal them?" I cried, glancing around nervously to make sure Blit and the rest of the rebels hadn't caught up yet. "You knew it would only make them want to kill us even more!"

"Oh shush diamond!" Canarie growled, the smile never leaving her face. "We were never in any real danger. I like you, I'd have saved you if you were captured."

"Why did you steal them?" I hissed quietly, throwing one exasperated hand in the air. "Blit wants to kill us both now! Well bloody done!"

"Language!" Canarie tutted with a wave of her hips and a cocked head. "I stole them because I don't need this whole town blowing up on us! Say Blit did have these papers that explain how to build and detonate the bombs, he would explode a good portion of the town that the soul takers rest in, taking out quite a few thousand people. I don't want that. I don't care who wins, be it soul takers or the revolution. They're as bad as each other. What do you think is going to happen when the revolution wins, huh? Blit is not a democrat! He is a dictator, what he says goes! He is going to be a tyrant! Do you want that? I don't! That's why!"

"Fine!" I snapped hurriedly as I heard footsteps near us, voices urgently chanting. "Take them! Get away from here, fast!"

"I plan to. Oh, and diamond?"

"Yes?" I asked, ready to dart away.

"Scutter away, like a little mouse. Run to a drain and never return!" Canarie cackled strangely and scuttered away herself, running away into the night with the bulge of papers clutched to herself.

I stared after her for a moment, shaking my head in disbelief before I heard someone run up behind me and I decided to escape. They had caught up, I realised with a weary impatience.

I was too tired to feel actual fear. It had kept me awake all night, but now it was beginning to fade away as exhaustion set in. It was the early hours of the night, I had been up all night and constant fear was a big drainer on your energy.

As I plodded as fast as I could down the streets, a mob of angry rebels were gathering at my heels. "Kill the boy; kill the boy; kill the boy!"

I sped up, their words echoing in my ears.

Run! I thought to myself, urging my feet to go faster. I need to get away!

I need to get back to the rebel headquarters to get Lissette's body, I thought frantically, speeding away. I'll never make it. They'll catch me.

They'll kill us both, Lissette and I.

I spotted something out of the corner of my eye, and in that instant, made a split decision that could change my life. I jumped down into the drains, dipping out of view as the rebels turned around the corner, swiveling their heads with slitted eyes to search me out from the shadows.

I climbed down into the gloom.