The Traitor

Chapter Eight: Prisoner 421

"You're sneaking out? Who else if going?" Despite Lauren's usual insistence on following rules, she seemed excited at the idea.

I couldn't help but smile as I thought about it. "Jasper. He's the cute brunette boy with gorgeous brown eyes and perfect smile," I explained with what I knew were day-dreamy eyes. But I didn't care. I couldn't hold back my excitement.

Lauren gasped. "Sounds like someone's in love," she sang as she playfully tossed a throw pillow at me. I blushed and laughed, tossing it back to her.

"I am not," I denied. "He's just sort of...I don't know, perfect." 

Lauren stared at me and giggled. "Oh my gosh, Teya." She sighed and glanced down at her watch. "Well, it's almost 11:30, so you should start heading down. Don't get caught." She smiled.

I nodded as I stood, looking at down at my watch as well just to be sure. Five more minutes! "Right. Are you sure you don't want to come?" I asked. "It will be fun."

She laughed at the way I sang the last part and responded, "No, you go without me. I'll be here when you get back." She winked and I rolled my eyes playfully at her implying that this was a date.

"Okay, see you!" I yelled as I grabbed my jacket and sprinted out of the room, and down the hall. I hurriedly pressed the elevator button and waited in anticipation for it to arrive. When it did, it was all I could to stand still as I rode the descent to the bottom floor, where I cautiously crept out of the Lobby.

I made it to the pond with one minute to spare and noticed Jasper already waiting for me on the bench. He stood as I approached, and gave me a smile, which I returned. It was a chilly night and I was glad I had brought my jacket.

"Ready to go?" Jasper asked as he walked toward me.

"Yeah, let's do it," I replied casually. I wasn't exactly sure where we were going, but it wasn't long before I found out.

"OK so I was thinking I'd take you to see the prison," Jasper suggested excitedly, "It's not far from here."

I glanced over at him in surprise. "The prison? You mean where Wen hostages are held?" I asked nervously. When he said he wanted to go exploring, I didn't think he meant the prison...

He shrugged like it was just a quick suggestion he came up with off the top of his head. "Yeah, it's right next to the train station. Plus, I just heard the Daines captured a new prisoner." His tone was eager and bribing, and he smiled as he said it.

I moved my eyes to the ground. "I don't know, Jasper. What if we get caught?"

"We won't, I promise," he assured me, though I knew he didn't have the right to promise that. Sneaking into the prison was like robbing a bank without a mask in broad daylight. I bit my lip. "Come on, it'll be fine," he begged.

I gave in. "Fine," I agreed reluctantly, "but we can't get caught."

"Agreed. Let's go." We began sneaking in the darkness toward the prison. If the Wen hostages were held in the prison, then where did the Daine law breakers go? Was there a separate prison for the Daines? I was about to ask Jasper, when he said, "We're here."

I looked up at the daunting building that towered over us. It was taller than I thought it'd be and I wondered how many floors there were; more importantly, which floor we would be trying to get to.

I gulped. "We're sneaking into that?" I asked.

"Yep," Jasper replied excitedly. "Come on." He waved me on and we began creeping closer to it.

"How are we going to get in?" I whispered, half hoping we wouldn't be able to. The last thing I needed was for Mr. Thomas to have another reason to get me in trouble.