CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Trust noone.
I simply stared at the note for what seemed like hours. I could not believe it. It was a trap. The traitor was on Grave and Jasy was their captive. So, she had not been sent out. She had not been chosen above me. I was still the Synod's favorite.
At any other moment I would have been thrilled to discover that I was, indeed, not bested by the Synod, was not stabbed in the back, but my first and only concern was Jasy. She was somewhere on Grave, I was pretty sure. I glanced at the letter. Maybe she had gotten away. Clearly she had warning, writing the letter and all. Even if it was only a moment, she knew, and tried to warn me. That meant that she might have had time to hide. The thought incouraged me, but I was still concerned. Where was she was was she okay? Who was chasing her?
I dashed out of Jasy's house, note in hand and ran. I ran fast and far. I found the person I was looking for walking slowly down the dirt path.
"Lorla!" I yelled, nearly tripping in my excitement.
She turned. "Whoa! Slow down, Brey," she said with a slight nod of her head. She could tell I was anxious about something.
I handed her the note. "Something happened. Jasy is gone."
Her eyes scanned the small page and she glanced up at me. Her mouth opened and closed several times before she made the decision to speak. "Traitor? On Grave? Oh, this isn't good."
She handed back the note. "I know," I said solemly. "I know it is not good. It is worse than anot good though, it is bad. Really bad."
"Well, we have to do something," she said like she thought it was the most obvious thing ever. "We can't just sit back and let Grave be taken over by... By whoever it is that's after us. It's up to us Brey."
"Why?" I asked. "We should tell the Synod." I began to walk away. "They are in charge and they will know what to do. Let's go."
"No!" She grabbed my arm and I spun around. "Trust Noone," she said, pointing to the note. "Listen to Jasy. They could be behind it. Or at least one of them. No, Brey. We have to do this."
We talked for quite some time. Neither of us knew who the traitor was, because everyone seemed trust worthy, but we knew it was someone. It had to be someone noone would suspect. That was how they did it. They were friendly and trusting, but they were also evil and cunning.
"I think Jasy had warning," I said. "That is how she wrote me this note."
Lorla nodded. "Yes. I think so too. But where would she have gone?"
I shrugged. Jasy was my best friend, but she was also difficult to understand. I did not know those little things that most friends knew about eachother. We spared and talked about the humans, that was it. But there was something. It could have been nothing, but it was all we had at the moment. I told Lorla my theory and we were off.
In many ways, Slayers and humans are radically different. But in some, we are alike. One way is that we both need to eat. Like humans, Slayers eat three meals a day: Morning Meal, Noon Meal, and Evening Meal. That is where I got my theory. I knew Jasy would need to eat. There were only two places one could go on Grave to get food: The Great Hall and the gardens. Seeing as though the Great Hall would be filled with people, one of whom could be the traitor, the gardens seemed like a better guess.
Lorla and I crept through the streets, darkening as the night approached, trying not to be seen by anyone. We were not. When we got to the gardens, we began to look. The trees were good hiding places, but she was not behind any of them. We checked by the large watering buckets. She was not there either.
"What if the traitor had the same idea as us?" Lorla asked after some time.
"What do you mean?" I asked, looking behind a tomato plant.
"What if they came here and found her?"
I shook my head. "They did not find her."
"How do you know?" Lorla asked, fear in here eyes.
I shrugged. "Jasy would not be caught. Something tipped her off and she ran. She would not be tracked here, and if she was, she would run again. Trust me, Jasy is safe."
The moon had come out. I felt that all were asleep and got the bravery to call out to her. "Jasy!" I whispered. "Jasy, are you here?"
No response.
Lorla and I both called out.
I heard a faint noise. I turned and glanced behind me. I must have imagined it. So, I went back to looking and calling out. And that was when I felt the throb of pain as something hit my head. I fell to the ground and was surrounded by darkness.
I awoke with a throbbing pain on the back of my head. I reached up. There was a large bump and when I pulled my hand away there was dried bood on my fingers. Quietly, I sat up and looked around. I was in a small room that I had never seen before. The only light was from the crack under the door. I got up and tried it but found it locked. That was when I heard the voices. They were outside the locked door.
"I was careful," said one voice. "He's got no idea who it was. Stop worrying, okay?" I knew who the voice was. It was Lorla's voice; only she talked like that.
"You better have been," said a cold voice. I did not recognise that one.
"I was."
"And I thought you checked her hut," said the cold voice.
"I did."
"Then how did he find this?"
I checked my pocket. The note was gone. Lorla and the cold-voiced man had it.
Lorla sighed. "I missed it, alright? Chill, It happens."
There was a chuckle. "You garanteed we wouldn't be found out," yelled a different voice.
"Quit the racket, Brown," said the man with the cold voice.
"Sorry," said the one called Brown. "But she messed up. He wasn't supposed to find out. He's supposed to be on our side."
"He will be," Lorla said. "Look, he trusts me. You'll have him soon; I'll take care of it."
The voices stopped and I heard footsteps getting closer. I crawled back to where I had been laying before and closed my eyes. I heard the door open, close, and lock. Then I heard heavy breathing.
"Brey!" Lorla whispered. She shook me and I sat up.
"Where are we?" I asked as kindly and I could.
"I don't know," whispered Lorla in the darkness. "I've never been here before."
Part of me wanted to strangle her. She was the traitor after all. It was her, my friend. But I did not strangle her. She might know where Jasy is, I thought as I sat there. I have to let her lead me straight to Jasy. I have to play along.
"Come on," said Lorla, going to the door.
"It is locked," I said without thinking. "I already tried it."
She held out her hand. There was a thin wire that was bent in half lying on her palm. "It's a bobby pin. The humans can pick locks with them. I got some when I was sent out. I'm actually pretty good at it."
Lorla thrust the bobby pin into the lock and the door swung open. "Let's go," she whispered, and I followed her out the door, wanting to know exactly where my best friend was, but waiting for the right time.
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more to come.........
