Black Widow's Daughter

Chapter 10

The vent was cold against my skin and not even my knees could stay warm. Cold air was blowing my hair into yet another tangled mess, let alone making it harder for us to make our way around.

We had already stopped by at least ten rooms, trying to avoid being seen. Thankfully we are still on the girls side and have not had any awkward drop ins in the boys rooms. That is one place I don't particularly want to visit.

In the rooms we have been past, there has been no sign of Valeria Richards. I was starting to think that we had passed her when Sienna spun around and stopped me from moving any further forward.

"Let's check this room." Sienna started to play with a small hinge before managing to unlock the vent door. It dropped down, barely missing one girls head.

"Would you like a go?" So far I had not even thought about having a turn checking out who was in the room. With my luck, they would most likely wake up and I would earn a detention. Normally that wouldn't bother me, but now that would mean I would get cut from the team. I can't do that to myself.

"I'm good up here." I answered as I watched Sienna start to climb down the door. She held onto the gridded metal, making sure not to step on the girl. Her boots were heavy and could cause anyone to wake in an instant.

Sienna's skills were magnificent though. She would just her legs and leap down onto the carpet between the two bunk beds in the room. Her landing would be perfect, allowing her to quickly check who's room we were in. It is times like this when the nameplates come in handy.

After reading the nameplates she climbed up the bunk bed ladder, not making a single sound. Sienna took a seat on the edge of the bed and looked up at me. She nodded which meant that I had to be ready to help her up. In about a minute, Sienna would be waiting for me to pull her back up into the vent. It's not a very hard job, but I have to start somewhere.

Sienna reached out for the grid and slipped her fingers through the holes. While the girl underneath her stirred, Sienna swung back around so she her feet were on the door. I held out my hand to her, helping pull herself back up into the vent. The door shut behind her and she slipped her fingers back out.

Sitting down in the vent she sighed. Apparently there was no Valeria Richards in that room. What a disappointment. At this rate we were never going to find her.

"Nice work once again. You don't disappoint do you?" I smiled at my friend who only gave me a small glare. It was hard to tell what she was thinking. So far today, Sienna had barely shown any expressions. If she smiled it was only small and lasted a few seconds.

She turned back around and continued to crawl along the cold, hard metal bottom of the vent. I followed her, wondering how long it would take us to find Valeria. All this trouble and she will probably say no in the end.

"Turn right up here." Sienna disappeared in front of me and it was too late before I realised that she had turned. I hit my head on the wall and fell back against the cold flooring. Ouch! I rubbed my sore head, making sure to be delicate. That was going to bruise tomorrow.

After rubbing my head I took a turn, calling out for Sienna as I crawled. She must have been way ahead of me because I didn't hear a single word back from her. I couldn't have been that far behind her. She must be a very fast crawler. In an effort to catch up to her I started to gain speed, crawling as fast as my little legs could.

The vent was fairly spacey, leaving me just enough room to avoid hitting my head. The rips in my jeans were causing my knees to become cold and that vent was freezing. I stopped and sat up as best I could, rubbing my bare knees with my jackets sleeve. It was starting to warm up when I felt something move underneath me. I looked down and saw the metal shaking. It was about to collapse!