RAIN

Chapter fifteen

They stepped back, mesmerized. Removing their sights from the staircase, they turned to each other.

"Why would they board it up?"

"Maybe they did after the flood. To keep people from going up to the rooms." Rain shrugged to showcase his mirrored confusion.

"We need to go up there."

"But we'd be trapped!"

"We can put the board back into place. Maybe no one else would be stupid enough to lean on it."

Rain twisted his face. He wasn't happy with the idea, but Jet was sure they could hide up there without being found. He didn't see much of a choice if he wanted to survive.

"Trust me, okay. I have ammunition and a gun. If your grandfather finds us, we can try to fight. Besides, it's flooding, and there might be clothes up there and beds." He made his argument.

Rain conceded with a nod just as the clamor of a crash alerted them to the villagers breaching the temple.

"Get the bag and Coco, hurry, move!" Jet said with urgency.

They bolted into action, hiding their tracks. Rain and Coco sprinted up the steps and looked down at Jet like he was their savior. Jet's mind was toiling, scrambling to find a way to protect himself and the person with him. Reality wasn't something that he was sure of any longer. Nothing much made sense to him in this bizarre place of broken dreams and wilted hope, but he wasn't going to die here. At least he wasn't going to give up without a fight.

He set the lantern down on the stone step and pulled the board into place. The water was nipping at his toes, telling him to be quick.

"What are you doing?" Rain asked.

"The best I can do," he said as he found a screwdriver in his emergency kit. "There's a rope in my bag. Hand it to me." 

"You're quite smart."

"Yeah? Tell that to my ex."

He started digging into the plywood with the screwdriver. His arm protested, but he powered through the pain. With the other side painted to match the rest of the dining room, he was hopeful they would miss it the same way he had.

He cut the rope into two pieces and secured the wall back into place by tying it to the hand-railings that flagged the steps. He shoved his body against it to test his contraption. 

Looking back at Rain, he smiled and boasted. "Stronger than before."

Rain smiled, a look of admiration twinkling in his eyes like fireflies.

"Let's get going," Jet ordered like a man controlling his destiny.

He picked up the lantern and gestured for them to get moving. He kept his focus as they walked up the steps. There wasn't anything in his path but dust and cobwebs, but this place had played enough tricks on him to leave him wary.

They reached a half-landing. The second set of stairs veered off in the opposite direction that led them to the second floor. He stepped onto the landing and looked around the open area. All the furniture and things had been left in place when this temple was forsaken. Cobwebs swayed in every corner that spiders could find to make their homes.

He took a few steps forward, and Rain and Coco followed him. His eyes darted about, trying to take in as much as possible. Behind him, Rain opened a door and looked in, the same feeling of curiosity driving him.

            The sound of voices stopped Jet in his tracks. The railing he had seen from below was just ahead.

"Put the lantern in that room so they don't see the light," he whispered to Rain. "Stay in there with Coco and wait for me."