Out of the Blue

Chapter 4

Ellie followed Tessa out, locking the door behind her. When she walked outside Tessa was already walking a steady pace ahead of her. She had to sprint a bit to catch up to her. She wasn't even sure if the other girl knew exactly where she was going, but the determination was almost palpable. She wasn't sure why the fancy watch thing was so important. Maybe it was a family heirloom or something or a newer version of one of those Apple Watches.

She always felt comfortable walking down the cobble streets of this city. The walk to the gallery wasn't too far away from the café, which was nice. Plus, Mar and Wheels had already went to class by now, so at least they wouldn't notice she was gone till French. Mar would take a while with her calc test anyway, so she would have time. She wasn't sure of all places this dealer would meet at an antique store but at least it was convenient.

The place was Georgetown Gallery; it was a large brick and stone building. The glass door displayed that in gold lettering. There were three display windows, showcasing things like Ming vases and furniture. Near the door were hanging artwork, and statues as well as two wooden benches. The first thing Ellie saw was a closed sign and before she could even turn her head, Tessa had already started heading over there.

"Wait Tessa it's closed... I'm not breaking into a building!" Ellie said as she started following her.

Tessa started fiddling with the broken dials on her wrist, but to no avail. Frustrated, would be a word to describe her that was for sure. The other girl started tapping on the brick wall of the building, she wasn't sure why. Then Tessa pulled out one of the bricks straight from the wall. She didn't know what was going on, and was even more confused when Tessa pulled out a sleek metal device from the hollow space there. She clicked the device and the brick wall disappeared leaving Ellie gawking.

"How..." she couldn't finish, because Tessa dragged her through the hole and it closed behind them.

For a second, darkness shrouded her, then flashing blue lights ignited from the ceiling to the floor. Then she heard an automatic door open, and Tessa walked in with a confidence that she envied. She still didn't know where they were; last she checked antique stores didn't look like a night club. She didn't ask questions though she just followed Tessa through the doors. Inside was a large open room shining bright like metal was the only thing they had on thew walls. It was like a market stand only inside and instead of fruits and veggies there were... weird looking mechanic stuff.

"This place looks like a sci-fi black market... Tessa I said no illegal stuff!" Ellie told her.

"Well I'm not sorry, I need to leave and I need my device fixed to do that" Tessa explained.

"Can't you just go where ever you need to go from here?" Ellie asked.

"Because the Guild has its own force-field preventing...travel from occurring"

"Well then how did we get in?" Ellie questioned.

"There are always kinks in the armor if you know where to find them" Tessa drawled.

Ellie rolled her eyes, though she was still in disbelief of this place, even though it was illegal. Around her were thousands of people, crowding around different stands. Some things were so strange she wasn't sure what they were. Some things looked like weapons or things she couldn't even tell what they were. They probably made things explode, or something like that.

Tessa stopped at a small sort of metal workshop lined with tools and mechanics, as well weapon looking devices. Ellie wasn't sure of all the weapon places why Tessa would stop here. They all sorta looked the same to her, plus the last thing Ellie wanted was for Tessa to bring weapons into her apartment. She knocked on the side of workshop, and then again. When that didn't work, Tessa turned her head and looked over at her.