Audacious

Chapter 13: Mrs. Stalwart

Jace POV
He sat on the ground. Eyes bloodshot and pried open with terror. His body, paralyzed and afraid. Afraid that he was dead. But not yet. It wasn't his time just yet.
"Come...darling come here...," he moaned to Kiera. Knowing that she hadn't caught a single word of that sentence, I grabbed her wrists and slowly moved her towards Jeffrey, not getting within arm's distance so that he doesn't grab her or whatever else he may have planned. "I know...I know that it is time for me to go...but before I do...I want see the look on your face...when I...when I tell you that I have...your mother."
Kiera looks to me, searching for some kind of translation. I glare at Jeffrey in disgust. Knowing thankfully that Kiera can't hear me, I lose it.
"What?! Okay, I understand that some people really messed up your life, but that doesn't give you the right to go fool around with hers! Tell me where her mother is right now or your death won't be quick or painless," I growl. He blankly looks at me, not convinced. "Jeffrey! Now!"
"Okay, okay. If you must know...," I wait for an answer but he just looks at Kiera with an emotionless face, possibly feeling regret. I grab the collar of his shirt and pull him into me.
"You answer me now or I'll shoot you again. Where is her mother?" Drearily and on the verge of death, he manages to slide the words out of his dry, foul mouth.
"The attic...She's in the attic...," I grab Kiera's arm and we swerve between Raven, Jackie, Samien, Arianna and Lacey, as we head to the attic.
As we are sprinting up the now-broken gold steps, Kiera shakes my arm, causing me to come to a halt. I nod, waiting for her to explain and she struggles to choke out her question.
"What...What was he...he saying?" I grimace and pull the notepad and pen out of her satchel.
I write down He has your Mom and reluctantly show her. Seeing the expression on her face as she reads it is like dying. Slow and painful. I pull her in towards me, gently running my fingers through her soft hair. I wonder what would have happened if I didn't follow her.
I wouldn't have found her lying unconscious on the floor of the East room. I wouldn't have been able to heal her tortured leg. I wouldn't have been able to fend off all of the guards and Jeffrey. I wouldn't be here, comforting her in my arms right now. I pull back and look at her cold, dead eyes. When I first saw her, her eyes were milky brown, not a worry to be seen. Now they are full of fear. Coal black iris' staring at me. So many questions. So many unknown answers.
I am broken from the observations when Arianna blurts, "You guys are cute and all, but we kind of have somewhere to be." I ashamedly nod and continue up the stairs with Kiera's wrist firmly clasped in my hand.
When we reach the flaming door that reads "ATTIC: NO GUESTS PERMITTED", everyone looks around, slightly unsure of the danger behind the door.
Who is holding her mother down? Or rather what? Twenty armed guards? A rabid dog? A tightly locked cage? I cringe in discomfort but proceed on with our task.
I swing the door open and beyond it beholds a dark staircase, which I'm guessing consists of one hundred steps considering the long trail of nothingness. I hoist Kiera up onto my back again and begin the trail up the mysterious steps.
On our way up, the stairs creak pretty much every other step and we slip a few times, catching ourselves just before the fall, making sure we don't cause a chain reaction of dominoes all the way back down. About three quarters of our way up the steps, I hear Kiera let out a faint whimper, probably thinking I can't hear her. I gently rub her ankle that she has pressed up against my waist. Not being able to tell her that everything is going to be okay is giving me heart attacks. Reacting to my attempt of comfort, she slowly rubs my shoulder, telling me that she'll be okay. For now.
I see a faint sliver of light up ahead and shout to everyone else, alerting them.
"Guy's! Up ahead, look! We're almost there!" As we get closer to the light, I feel Kiera's head drop down on my shoulder. I look back at her, seeing her face completed fallen. She fell asleep. When we finally reach the top I put her down and gently shake her. "Come on, Kiera," I whisper. "We need your help to save your Mom." Oh how much I wish she could hear me. Trying to regain hope, I think about what it would have been like is she was blind. We would have seriously had a problem then.
Her eyes begin to faintly open, completely pink and crusty with eye boogers. "J-J-Jace. Jace," she attempts to say, unsure of her accomplishment. I nod and pull out the "translation kit" and sloppily write, We're here in big, messy letters. Her face, although slightly relieved, lets out a look of reluctance. Similar to the rest of us. She presses her palms to the hardwood, uneven floor, pushing herself to her feet. I balance her with my hands and we begin to walk toward about six hundred crates. Stamped on each wooden box is the bold word, FRAGILE.
We walk, hesitantly through the towering boxes, intertwining through them as we move along. I hear a deep, unpleasant voice echo from behind a stack of ten crates. I hold my finger up to my lips, gesturing silence. Everyone obeys and I peek out from behind the boxes, holding Kiera's shivering hands behind my back. Six soldiers stand, circling around Kiera's mother who is tied down to a chair and being gagged with a wash cloth. Her innocent gardening clothes are torn and bloody, and her hair, disheveled. Her eyes catch mine and she is unsure of my position. Am I a soldier, or I am I here to rescue? Understanding her confusion, I solemnly nod to her, confirming my hold. Her eyes fill with tears and I decide I better hurry.
I huddle back around to the group and explain to them my plan to save Kiera's mom. They all nod in agreement and I grab my pistol from my holster, jumping out in front of the guards.
Seeing me and my gun (but mostly my gun), they all mirror me, holding up their rifles. Without a pause, I shoot the two front soldiers feet, two center soldiers hands and back two's shoulders. All of them, crying out in defeat, drop to the ground like bugs. I smirk and run to her mother. Wanting her hear her condition more than anything, I first remove the gagging cloth. She sighs and her dry lips crack as blood spills out of her mouth with a cough. I pat her back gently and remove the ropes holding her hands and feet with my pocket knife.
"Thank you so much! Oh my goodness, how could I ever repay you?" She blubbers.
"No need to repay me. Knowing that you and your daughter are safe is payment enough," I reply. Her eyes open wide with realization.
"You have my daughter? My daughters here?! Oh, Kiera! Where are you?" She jumps up, a little too quickly, tumbling back down on her knees.
"She's right around the corner, but you're both quite injured, so I'd approach her slowly." I say, helping hr back up to her feet. "Oh, and you might need this," I add on, handing her the notepad and pencil. She questionably looks at me and I gesture my hand towards the crates, telling her to continue.
She slowly rounds the corner and a shriek of joy releases from her. I run around to watch the reunited family. Her mother, who is anything but shy, has already embraced her daughter in a warm hug.
"Oh, you're still so beautiful and It's only been hardly a day since I've seen you. Oh you're so precious," Kiera looks at her with sad, discouraging eyes. Knowing that no one else has the heart, I break the news to her.
"Mrs. Stalwart...I'm afraid your daughter was impacted by a bomb and she slammed her head harshly on a wall. She can't hear a thing you're saying."
She looks at me, not entirely torn apart, but thankfully. "Thank you, so much for getting her this far. It's reassuring just to see her face, alive and full of flowing blood." Again, not shy, she wraps her small arms around me and knowing that she is probably hiding all of the pain inside her tiny body, I do the same. "What's your name?" She asks, pulling away.
I smile, excited for her reaction and reply, "Jace Valiant."
"No! The famous Jace! It can't be! You're so grown, look at you and your muscles," she says, surprised, squeezing my biceps. "Thank you, Jace. Wow, what a small world." She never was a shy one back in Sector 10.
"Okay, enough of this 'gooey gushy love stuff'. What's the plan now?" Asks Samien.
I answer, with a hopeful sound of force in my voice, "Right. It's time for our escape plan."