Fabled

Chapter 10 - Woohoo! We Did It

Sam's POV

I grabbed the end of the rope and pulled, looking around frantically in the low light. I couldn't see where hardly anything was, so I used the next best thing in an attic. Touch. I let my arm go berserk, feeling for something, anything- and then I found it. I grabbed hold.

A pole, I thought, probably a support beam. Perfect. This can hold plenty more weight.

But I had known right from the start I let too much rope down. I didn't have enough extra to tie around it, not even pull all the way behind it. I pulled hopelessly, knowing this was it and we were going to be discovered, and this was all my fault, but not ready to give up yet. No, I wouldn't. Suddenly, I felt the rope go slack. I didn't know what it was, but it was just the opportunity I needed, and I took it with the fastest reactions I've ever had.

Whatever had just done that had just saved us, because I managed to get it around the pole before the weight came back and I pulled with all my weight to get them up, and it was slightly easier now that there was more rope between us.

Okay, last step: pray adrenaline kicks in, if it hasn't already, I thought, gritting my teeth.

I felt a tiny shift in the weight, and I guessed it was just them moving around a little bit, until there was a big force that tugged me forward, during which my mind flashed to the thought that it could pop my shoulder out, but that was overreacting. 

Whatever it was, made the weight lifted.

But only for a moment.

Soon, the weight was back, and harder than ever. It tugged me halfway around the pole, but then it was back to normal. I felt a tug again, and the weight was gone, but this time it stayed gone. I had a few seconds of relief before I wondered what it was. And I didn't know how the people hadn't finished their trek up the stairs yet, but they hadn't.

Once the weight was off, it was off. There was still weight, but half of it was gone.

I had faint worries that one of them had gotten taken off by one of the people, but I pushed that away because I didn't have time to worry about that now. I just had to pull up.

I was able to get around the pole again, and I put my foot against it pushed with them, pulling with the rest of my body weight as I slowly got the rope to continue my way. I heard a scrambling noise, and my breath caught in my throat. This was it. This was over. We were going to get arrested.

But that wasn't it. 

A shadowy figure came up next to me and helped me pull, and by the curls I recognized it was Amerisa. She had made her way into the attic, somehow, and we lifted just fast enough for Kolston to scramble up in the last possible second without risk of discovery. Well, I mean, of course there would always be risk of discovery, even after we left this house, but. Still. We were safer now. 

"You good?" Amerisa asked, as I panted heavily.

"Yeah," I said. Somehow her calm demeanor made me more calm, too. "Just worn out," I confirmed as I straightened. Kolston was panting too, leaning over, hands on his thighs, but his exhaustion was probably from all the panic.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Amerisa said, although her voice didn't sound that mad. Probably just a result from the panic, too.

Me and Kolston denied her any response to the remark and I said, "Ohhh I must've lost five pounds from that though, so it couldn't have been that  bad of an idea.

Kolston snickered, and a smile hit my lips. "Amerisa is skeptic," he decoded. That made me laugh too.

And, despite this being an incredibly important conversation, I turned to Kolston and asked, "How did they not come up sooner?"

Kolston answered. "They got distracted." I might've been imagining it, but there seemed to be a minor triumphant tone in his voice.

"By whom?" I asked.

"Mr. Rock friend," Kolston said, holding up a piece of a broken rock. His face broke into a bigger grin, and I now there was definitely a triumphant tone in his voice.

I could tell the rock was broken because there was sharpie on it that started abruptly in the middle of a word I could not read, but I shoved that question of why he had a pet rock in the back of my mind for later, once being quiet was less important.

Riiight, I thought. Being quiet. Better get to that.

We stood there in silence for a second, grins disappearing as the weight of what was happening settled in. We were looking around into each other's eyes before I finally spoke. 

"I'm gonna go see what they're doing," I whisper-declared, finishing the sentence in my mind with, about us.

Amerisa grabbed my arm. "You can't," she said, concern in her dimmed gaze. "You'll get caught."

Before I could give my grim answer, Kolston said, "Well not if he uses what I found."

"What'd you find?" Amerisa asked.

"Follow me. I can't bring it here."

Kolston led the way, me not far behind, but Amerisa hung back a little bit before finally deciding to join us where we had gathered at where we had entered. We had moved away a bit, to try to make our voices muffled.

Kolston showed me to where the opening thing to the attic was, which thankfully he had closed, and he also had pulled the rope in. He was gonna be good to have on our side, I could already tell he would think through the panic, because I hadn't been able to hear him do either. He was also very observant, apparently, because he showed me there was an almost invisible latch where you could lift up a second door, smaller, and there was glass so you could see what was going on beneath you.

It barely had enough room for both of us to be peeking through, but when Amerisa joined us was when it got real squishy.

I peeked through, but all I could see from my little viewpoint of light was a head with long, blonde, frizzy but not curly hair tucked in a ponytail that reached her waist.