Steal the Stars [REWRITING]

Nicole - Climbing Things in the Dark is Not Recommended

The tower was slick.

I ran a finger along it, feeling the old stones, each chip and crevice. The light rain we'd had earlier in the day must have made it wet, but I had figured it would have dried by now. With the cooling temperatures as night approached, it seemed it hadn't. I tipped my head back to look upwards, and nausea twisted through my stomach. I wasn't afraid of heights (it would have been ridiculous if I had been), but I hadn't really thought about climbing a four-hundred-foot building, in the dark, that was wet.

But Leo and Annabelle would start their crazy ridiculous plan in a few minutes, and I needed to be high enough on the tower that they could hold the distraction long enough. James would be setting off his second bomb, too, farther away. If I didn't start climbing now, it would be over, and they would have even more incentive to hate me.

I grasped for the stones and started to climb.

I'd climbed a lot of things in the past two years--plenty of trees before I'd come to Itari --usually buildings. Wood, brick, other types of stone...nothing like this. For one, it hurt. In minutes, my hands were being rubbed raw, even with my callouses. Tiny, sharp chips in the rocks grabbed at my hands, catching them and slicing them open.

I wished I'd been wearing gloves.

The only good thing about the tower being wet was that I didn't leave a blood trail, even as my hands continued to bleed. The water diluted it, leaving almost nothing behind. By the time they'd bother to check the outside of the tower, once they realised the gems were missing, it would be gone. We were supposed to get more light showers tonight, which would wash away any hint of a clue.

The sharp edge of a rock caught my knee, ripping the fabric open and slicing a gash into my skin. I bit my lip hard in an attempt not to cry out, and soon the metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, too.

Just a little longer, I told myself, even though it wasn't. The majority of the tower still stretched above me, and I was beginning to doubt that I would ever make it up there.

My hand slipped on a particularly slick, mossy stone, catching on a sharp point as I nearly fell backwards. A long gash ran across my palm now, and I put my hand up to my mouth like a toddler. If I was lucky, it hadn't hit a nerve.

I was never very lucky.

I pulled myself up another few stones, trying to ignore the stinging in my hands and knee. It was fine, I was fine, it was going to be fine, just so long as I got to the top. I glanced down (not recommended); I was about halfway up the tower already. That was good, I told myself, but I didn't know. James was supposed to set off the second bomb when he estimated I was about three-quarters up the tower, but I couldn't make out the numbers on my watch in the dark.

I just had to hope for the best.

My hands were slick with blood and water now, and whatever grime was on this tower after hundreds of years was probably sinking into the cuts. They stung, burning with each tiny movement I made, and I tried to ignore them. My hands were beginning to cramp now, too, and dimly I wondered how much longer I had left.

I hadn't heard the second bomb go off, or the accompanying panic that would go with it, which either meant I still had time or something had happened to James. I could only hope it was the former. If something had happened, there was nothing I could do, hundreds of feet in the air.

A loose stone slipped out from under my foot, and my breath caught, watching as it pinged against the tower before falling into black space. In broad daylight, I would have been able to easily see the ground, but it was long past sunset, now. The front of the palace was lit up like a beacon, but the tower itself remained dark, tucked away near the back corner of the palace.

If I fell, no one would see me, and no one would think to look for me for at least another hour. Not that it would matter much whether anyone found me or not, anyway. I'd be dead.

I could see the top of the tower now, even in the dark. It seemed to be dead silent and empty, which meant that they were all off chasing James, or I just couldn't hear or see anything from this far away. Both were likely, and I would most likely have to head in almost entirely blind.

I grasped for another stone, pulling myself up another step. Half of these stones felt unstable, like they wouldn't support my weight, and were likely to send both of us tumbling. So far, I'd been lucky enough–if you could call it lucky. At any rate, I was alive. For now. And, clearly, good at thinking positive.

James's second bomb went off just then, and I clung to the tower with red, raw, and bleeding fingers as it shook. It may have been farther than the first one, but hanging hundreds of feet in the air, it felt as if the world was shaking. A few loose smaller stones pinged off the tower, one gashing open my forehead.

I kept climbing, blood trickling into my eyes now. I was so close–so close, yet I still felt hundreds of feet away. I jammed my foot into another crevice in the tower, reaching for higher stones. Almost there.

I bent my head against my arm, in an attempt to wipe the blood away. I probably looked insane: blood on my face and hands, my pants torn and blood dripping from the gash.

Something cool and wet hit me in the face, and I gasped audibly, startled. Rain. The light showers that were expected were beginning. And I was stuck outside in it. The rain began to pick up, filling my eyes and mouth, with no shelter from above. I turned my face downwards, climbing blindly now, with the dark and the rain.

The tower was drenched now, each stone dripping. I struggled to hold onto them, even more terrified that a wrong move would send me free-falling. After all, I couldn't even see the stones, and now they were soaked. Just perfect.

Finally, my fingers bumped into the window sill. Gratefully, I pulled myself up onto it, crouched there like a scared cat. My fingers fumbled for the lock–James was better at this kind of stuff than I was, but he wasn't here. I'd have to do it myself.

A moment later, I felt the lock give, and I slipped inside the tower. It was calm inside, and quiet. Almost peaceful. Until someone spoke from the shadows.

"Nice of you to join me, Nicole."

My blood ran cold. 

Word Count: 1,187