A Dreamer Caught In The Crossfire

Chapter 17

Jasmine found herself standing with a crowd of people in the assembly point beside an inappropriately dressed Eluard. Whatever was going on had to be ridiculously important because hardly anyone noticed his state of dress. Coirwen stepped up on the podium and the whole crowd went silent.

"As many of you know," he said his voice booming throughout the assembly, "There's been a security breach prior to a chain of explosions in the research sector of this building. Luckily we have it under control and, as far as we know, no one was seriously injured, the damage of property is minimal and nothing has been stolen from us. All of this took place a good five minutes ago so we assume whoever's responsible couldn't have gotten that far.

We'll have a team of elites sent out to search for any traces and the rest of you will follow safety protocol #36 and return to your living spaces. Make sure to travel in small groups and avoid being alone. Eluard Rhodes, Brooke Jordan, Castiel Walker, Roxanne Crimson, Vivian and Luke Bradford; you'll be leading the search. Cameron Blake; we need you to give a statement on exactly what happened in the labs. The rest of you are dismissed."

The moment Coirwen stepped off the podium, the crowd of people were already following his instructions. Eluard already had a handgun in his hands. Jasmine didn't recall him ever grabbing one on the way out. His pants didn't have pockets either.

"Wait, where exactly did that come from?" she asked.

"I'm a gunslinger. I always have one on me. All day, everyday," replied Eluard as he pulled out a loaded magazine of bullets from the waistband of his pants.

"So you mean to tell me that the whole time I was in your room you were armed?!" questioned Jasmine.

"Yup," Eluard reloaded the gun, "If it wasn't for those pesky sheets I probably would have had this thing loaded and fired right at your head in less than three seconds flat."

Jasmine stood there gaping at him in shock. Eluard laughed shortly and pat her head.

"Relax, sugar!. It wasn't loaded at the time. Now I don't want you in any potential danger so, you're going to head back to the dorms with Aaliyah and you don't leave under any circumstances until the situation is clear. Okay?"

Jasmine nodded her head and watched as he turned and ran to join the other elites. She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned around. It was Aaliyah.

"Come, it's not safe to be wandering around at times like these," she said as she grabbed Jasmine's hand and led her away from the assembly point.

"If you're an elite, why aren't you with the others?" asked Jasmine as she maneuvered through the small crowd of people in the hallway.

"Well," replied Aaliyah, "If I was there with them, who'd be watching you right now. There's not a lot of people that you know in here and with a curious mind like yours who knows how much trouble you could get yourself into!"

"Hey! I do not just-" started Jasmine ready to defend herself.

"Oh hush! Your curiosity is what got you here in the first place! Now off to my room, I think Tabitha really misses you."

"Oh my, how could I forget about Tabitha?!"

"Because you're a terrible person," deadpanned Aaliyah,"Now walk faster! I'd like to get to my room before something paranormal happens and I get trampled by a herd of unicorns all over again!"

"What?" asked Jasmine, hoping Aaliyah was just joking.

"Long story, Winifred was here and she had a bottle of rainbow nectar on her and somebody left the front gate open. Those beasts can sniff that stuff from a country away," shuddered Aaliyah.