The Palace Crumbles

Bus

"Shit." You bolt out of the bed faster than I can even react, opening the blinds to look out at the flashing lights that penetrate into the room. You continue cursing to yourself, crouching down on the ground and shoving everything into your backpack.

"Hannibal, get up," you say. "We have to go. Now."

Calmly, I sit up, rubbing my eyes. "Everything's in my backpack. Check the front pocket; there should be a train schedule. I took one earlier." I get out of bed, examining our surroundings and looking for the best way to exit. I walk to the window and observe the officers exit their cars- there are only two cars, and both of them empty out. There are no officers waiting in their cars, which means they'll be unattended.

"Oh, Canada," I mutter to myself, already fumbling with the window locks. The cool night air seeps into the room, and the sky is still dark. I wonder how the police were able to find us. It must have been my murder that tipped them off. I will admit that I wasn't thinking at all- it's the second biggest regret I have about this entire thing. I think the first is rather obvious.

"Watch, Will," I say, beckoning you. "Outside, there's a railing. We'll have to drop from there." I point at the balcony that juts out from the window, surrounded by the black cage. "We're going to scale it."

"The cars are right there. And we're facing the street." You frown. "Also, we're fucking naked."

"If you're that worried about decency, then get the clothes out. But quick. The boxers can pass as shorts; that's fine. Just get the shirts."

You toss me a wad of black fabric, and I put it on without any care as to whether it's forwards or backwards, inside out or not. "Follow what I do," I say, "and be careful. Quiet."

I walk out onto the balcony and grip the top rail. I swing one leg over, straddling the rail, and then I follow with the other. Hanging onto the top rail, I slowly work my hands down the bars and slide downwards. Once I'm out of reach, I catch a glimpse of you doing the same.

I'm now at the bottom, hanging onto the very last inch of the railing. The ground still seems so far away, but I see no other option besides dropping straight down- so I do.

I land on the concrete, bending my knees to soften the blow. It's not too far of a drop, less than ten feet, and you seem confident in your ability to do it.

"Hey!" A sudden shrill voice crying out from nearby throws you off your balance right as you let go of the rail. You fall much less gracefully than I do, landing with a stumble and falling. You hiss in pain, and as you stand I see that your knee is scraped. You always get back up, though, and we both turn to the source of the noise. It's a woman, standing on the balcony of her own room, staring at us in bewilderment. She must have heard the sirens, and I'm willing to bet others have, too.

"We have to go." I grab your hand and we take off, darting into the dark street.

"Jesus Christ," I hear you mutter as we run. "We're still in our fucking underwear, it's three o'clock in the morning..."

"I think you've been through worse." I stop for a moment, gazing around at where we are, and I pull you across the street to a large pillar that contains a screen with a map. "There." I point to the closest station. "We need to get on a bus and get as far away as possible."

"And you've got the money for that?"

"I always have. I was just hiding it."

"Okay." We start running again once I've taken in the direction that we are supposed to be going. "And were you ever going to tell me about it?"

"Quite frankly, I didn't think a lot of things through." I avoid your gaze. "I let my emotions get the better of me. Do you have my fake glasses?"

"They're in the bag. And yeah. Things don't tend to go well when your emotions take over. That's why I stopped letting that happen."