Summer Camp

Chapter Thirty Four

  Now I'm on a roof
Set it on fire
Just to give me proof
I'm living on a wire

~ Befour, Zayn Malik  

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**Jace's POV**

"Can I come, Jace," asked Cayla as I finished buttoning my guard uniform.

"Not today," I said, getting annoyed, Cayla had bothered me about coming to the castle the last couple of days, and it was getting old fast. Sure Cayla was kind and pretty, but she was being annoying.

"Why," she whined, she even stomped her foot.

I rolled my eyes, "You know what, if I find that today is just as bland as last week, then I'll bring you tomorrow."

"Really," asked Cayla.

"Sure," I said, "It's your death wish."

I wasn't being dramatic. 

Cayla stopped bothering me, and I looked at myself in the mirror. I didn't look very much like any of the other guards. They were slinky and relied on weapons, I was buff and was used to physical fighting. I had a scar on my lip from a fist fight from way back when. I took a deep breath and went into the meeting room.

The room had six kids in it. They all told me good luck, and reminded me to be safe. I bowed to them, and left the motel.

I walked through the disgusting streets, until I was in the rich part of town. The castle was the biggest and richest, and it went in the a circle. The farthest from the castle was the poorest people. People who were homeless without food. We lived a safe distance away in a poorer area.

I looked up at the gloomy sky. The sky never changed, unlike the tails of the changing sky in the overworld. Our 'sky' was fake, far, far above the foggy black was a giant ceiling keeping us boxed in. Soon I was at a back door to the castle. I took out my fake I.D. and stuck it in the door opener. The door opened. We had just copied the pattern of the magnets inside a real I.D Badge, with an old code.

I walked inside, and headed towards my guard spot. I had been assigned guarding hours and spots. I would have to stand down in the slave quarters for two hours. I sighed and shuffled downstairs. The slave quarters wasn't very fun, they were cold and damp. It was all concrete. 

Once when I had been down here a girl had been whipped, one of Cayla's friends. I was forced to tie her up. I was still disgusted at myself.

I sighed and took up my usual spots, leaning against the wall. I had a gun tucked into my belt, and a knife that I had in my shoe. 

I zoned out and soon I could hear a guard walking down to where I was, signaling a guard change. Guard changes were confusing at first, there was a guard change every hour, but some shifts were up to three hours in one spot. 

I had an hour where I was supposed to walk along the courtyard. I walked outside thinking about what I was going to do for the day. I had found that Cayla's friend Alexandira had become one of the King's guards. That girl was just a magnet for bad luck. I felt bad for her.

I needed to get her help, and I needed to make sure that she wanted the same thing that we wanted.

After my shift I had a 10 minute break before I was needed at my next shift. I hurried as fast as I could without looking suspicious. I moved to the King's room without running into any guards. I opened the door but Alex wasn't there, only a girl who looked scared of me. I retreated and decided to check her room. I moved down to Alex's room, and knocked on the door.

"Excuse me," boomed a man from behind me. I turned to see another guard, he watched me, not knowing what I was doing.

"Hello," I said, making a fast lie. "The King sent me to check on this girl."

"Really," asked the man, "Are you sure that you are in the right hall?"

"Yes," I said.

"Okay," said the guard, he left the hallway. I turned back to the door, and knocked again more urgent, before just slipping into the room.

The room was Alex's but she wasn't currently in it. I searched the room, when I heard the door open from the bathroom. 

Alex must have been back. I moved back into the bedroom, but two guards were there instead. One guard walked over to me casually, and before I knew what was happening he shoved a smelly washcloth in my face.

Everything went black.