Assassin's Creed: Winter's Falling

Chapter 35

"I should have been more careful," Sol kicked the bed in frustration. "I should have been more careful."

"What's wrong?" Lazerus asked as he came out of the bathroom.

"You know how the Templars have my dad?" Sol sighed as she sank onto the bed.

"Yeah," Lazerus took a seat next to her.

"The kids Alexander mentioned are my younger siblings," Sol looked ready to scream. "I left them in an orphanage three years ago for their own protection. The Templars weren't supposed to be able to find them."

"I though you where an only child?"

"I have two younger siblings, twins. They mean the world to me."

"We'll get them back," Lazerus placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "This all ends tomorrow. But you'll need a full night's sleep to be able to save them. Try to sleep, Sol."

Lazerus did his best to coax Sol to sleep. It took an hour of holding her and whispering encouragement, but eventually her breathing evened out. Laying in their dark room, holding Sol as if it where the last time they would be together, Lazerus vowed he would kill the ones responsible for causing Sol so much pain.

* * *

As Sol stood in front of the back entrance to Webley Stadium, she couldn't help but analyze all the choices she had made in her life. As she stood there, minutes from the battle of her life, she couldn't help but wonder if she would change anything from her past. There were days when she would have done anything to change her past. But as she looked at Andy, ready to throw the door open; Lazerus, standing by her side; Nerida, glaive at the ready to charge into the building; Ann, nervously playing with a tiny Rubiks cube; and Lightning, standing just behind Andy to support him; she realized this is where she belonged. If we make it out of this alive, Sol promised, I will never judge my past again.

Andy counted to three in their headsets, then threw the door wide open. They all quickly shuffled into the building. They found themselves in a locker room. As they carefully moved past row after row of metal lockers, the team searched every available wall for any sort of trap door, or secret passageway, that might lead down to the lab. Andy and Lazerus turned on their Eagle Vision hoping it would give them an edge in the search. As the world turned sapphire, Andy caught sight of some hidden splatters on the ground near the showers.

"There's something over here," Andy moved towards the splatters. "It looks like blood."

"Wonder what happened," Sol mused.

The team entered the showers one at a time. Andy lead the way, following the trail of blood to the furthest shower to the left. At this point, Andy noticed that the blood had been spread around hastily. Someone had obviously tried to wipe it away. It didn't stop him from noticing the blood trail sat halfway into the wall.

"This is the entrance," Andy muttered. "Fate must be on our side to have found it so quickly."

Sol and Ann stepped forward. Together, they examined the shower head and handle to try and figure out how to open the secret door. As Sol turned the handle, nothing came out of the shower head. The nob felt oddly loose in her hand. She continued to turn it till it come off. Under the nob was a small scanner. Sol reached into her travel tool kit and pulled out a screwdriver. She unscrewed the panel to reveal the wires underneath. Ann hooked her phone into to the system. In seconds, the light over the scanner turned green. The door swung open with a mechanical hiss revealing a set of artificially lit stairs.