The Glade and Its Glitch: Book 4 Escape

Chapter 11

A/N Sorry for the wait, I got really busy with school and working on future chapters. But I will resume my usual posting schedule and there are some big things coming up so stay tuned ; )

-Ruthless

Nya climbed up onto the roof of the monastery. "Jay? You up here?" She called out.

"I'm over here," He yelled, as he sat on the edge of the roof, dangling his legs over the edge.

She joined him and swung her legs. "How are you doing?"

"Meh, I've been thinking. Those kids that we fought, we know Skye grew up outside of the Glade before joining. But Skylight, he grew up in the Glade. What was their childhood like in the Glade? Was it good or bad?"

"I hadn't thought about that yet." Nya rested her hand on Jay's back. She knew his mind was wandering and that could be good, or it could be bad. "How do you think it was?"

"I don't know. Maybe better than our childhood. Maybe worse. We know pretty much nothing."

"We'll have to ask them. What was your childhood like, Jay?" She tried to get his mind off the subject of the Glade.

"It was good. I mean, I grew up in a junkyard, but it was enjoyable. I ran around, learned to build things, used my imagination, played hide and seek..." Jay kept rambling and trailed off.

"Who'd you play hide and seek with?"

"Hmm? I mean my parents... There weren't many kids around. Kinda the downside to living in the middle of nowhere." Jay chucked before staring down at the ground. He seemed almost sad, but Nya didn't want to push further.

"What are you planning on doing once this mess is all over?" She asked.

"Probably visit my parents. I know they only just left but still. Who knows how long this will take."

"Yeah... What else?" Nya laid her head on Jay's shoulder.

Jay smirked. "I dunno, I've got some ideas."

"Oh?" Nya grinned and looked up at her boyfriend. "What sort of ideas?"

"It's a secret." Jay chuckled, kissing her forehead.

"Alright fine, but after this is over, no more secrets. Promise?"

"I promise. I'm sorry for keeping things from you. And the rest of the team."

"There better not be any more secret revelations you're hiding."

Jay just smiled and said nothing.

~~~

A few hours later Jay caught Kai in the monastery meeting room. "Hey, Kai? Can I talk to you?"

"Yeah man, what's up?"

Jay shut the door behind him, "I uh... have something to ask you."

"Ok? You seem nervous, everything alright? Or do you have a new secret to reveal to us?" Kai laughed and patted Jay on the back jokingly.

"No, no it's not that. I wanted to talk to you about my relationship with Nya. I want to ask her to be my Yang." Jay puffed his chest out and tried to seem confident. He was confident about wanting to marry Nya, but he was worried about how Kai would react. Kai originally didn't want Jay to date her, but eventually gave in and seemed supportive. But that didn't make Jay's anxiety any better.

"Dude really?! That's awesome!" Kai pulled his brother into a tight hug. "You'd literally be my brother."

Jay laughed. "I'm glad you approve. After Nadakhan I didn't want to do a traditional wedding so-"

"My parents are Yin and Yang. But, you really need to talk to them, not me."

"Yeah, I meant to do it while they were here, but I thought it would be better to wait till this whole mess is all over."

"I'll talk to them with you. You know, convince them."

"Do you think they'll say no?"

"Nah, I think they'll say yes. I think they'll both day yes," Kai winked, "And I don't just mean my parents."

Jay chucked, "I sure hope so."

"Don't even worry about it. But I think it would be a good idea to wait. We have enough to worry about. You have enough to worry about."

"Yeah..."

"So anything else? More secrets?" Kai slung his arm around Jay's neck.

"No, nope, no more secrets." Jay laughed as he and Kai headed out of the room.

Kai eyes his brother. "Promise?"

Jay rolled his eyes and laughed. "Oh, my master."

~~~

Carrie sat in the woods enjoying the little bit of nature she could find, and she brainstormed escape plan ideas and remembered what she and Lloyd had come up with.

"How are you doing?" Lloyd walked up behind Carrie to check on her.

"I'm good," She looked up. "How's your back?"

Lloyd grimaced and sat down next to her "It hurts. But it doesn't burn anymore. So there's that."

"Are you sore? Stiff? Are you dizzy at all? Does your head hurt?"

"Carrie," Lloyd laughed and rested his hand on hers as she searched him for any obvious ailments. "I'm fine. Much better than I was a few days ago thanks to you."

Her face flushed in embarrassment. "Sorry, I'm a nervous person."

"Really? You have a tough exterior so I wouldn't assume."

"I try and look confident, but deep down I'm terrified."

Lloyd lowered his voice, "Because they're torturing us or because we're going to try and escape?"

"Both... I've been rehearsing the plan in my head." She whispered back.

"Ahh, remind me what the plan is again?"

"You know the plan, Lloyd," Carrie laughed.

"I know but I like to hear you talk."

She glanced at Lloyd with a skeptical stare but gave in. "We find something to pick the lock in the cell. Once we get that we'll need Devin and Cassandra to put us in the cage, once they leave us alone I'll pick the lock. You said that they took you left and you passed the cell, so we'll continue to go left."

Lloyd laid down on the ground and stared up at the ceiling that was their fake sky. "Then I'll take the lead. We'll find a way out and run to the monastery."

"What about the Glade?"

"We'll get to them too. Don't worry, I'll return you to them safe and sound." Lloyd laughed and put his arm behind her.

Carrie leaned to the side and rested her head on his shoulder. "Then we'll stop Glitch."

"And then we'll stop Glitch."

"How?"

"Teamwork."

"What is this a little kid TV show?" Carrie chuckled, "We need an army, weapons, whatever we can get our hands on. We're not going to be able to beat Glitch with the power of friendship."

"Well yeah, but we'll work together. The Glade and the ninja. No matter what happens."

"Slow your roll. We still gotta escape first."

"Yeah. But once we do we'll be home free."

"After we defeat Glitch."

Lloyd chuckled and kissed Carrie on the cheek. "Have a little faith, Carrie."