The Traitor

Chapter Nineteen: No Surrender

I was beginning to second guess the plan and the fact that I would be able to get into the Head Quarters without my hands handcuffed behind my back, but when I thought about Jasper, I realized I had to do it. I took a deep breath. Relax, Teya, I comforted myself. You can do this. Though the voice inside my head told me I could, I was still a little unsure. The last time I had tried to sneak into a prison, I had gotten caught and locked up for three days. And trust me, that was not something I wanted to relive.

Jackie opened her car door and scanned the area for anyone who might turn us in or just anyone in general. I knew the coast was clear when she stuck her head back in and nodded, signifying it was time to go. "Let's do this," she smiled and I silently envied her high amount of confidence. Jackie was someone who craved adventure and excitement and needless to say, was almost always getting in trouble at school. 'Can't live without a little rebellion,' she would always tell me, and now I finally understood what she meant. Sure, this was dangerous and we could very easily end up behind bars for it, but Jackie was right; this was an adventure.

I shoved any doubtful thoughts out of my head and pushed open my car door, planting my feet on the rock-hard asphalt. No matter what happened, we would put up a fight. I wasn't going down without one, or preferably at all, but if it came down to fight or flight, I'd choose the first. "This is it," I told Jackie. "No surrender." 

She nodded and smiled, then pulled up the hood of her coal-black leather jacket and started toward the building. We had parked the car a couple blocks away, just far enough that if we needed to make a quick getaway, we would be able to, hopefully without getting caught. Besides, I couldn't risk anyone recognizing Jackie's car, because if one of us was caught, it couldn't be her. No one could know she helped me.

I followed close behind her as she led the way to the tall familiar building where she worked. I noticed the number one difference between the Wen territory and the Daine Territory was that the Wen Side had a lot more buildings and was constructed in a city-like manner, with houses and dorms on the outskirts. Meanwhile, the Daine side reminded me more of a highly professional and esteemed college campus with everything close together, excluding the Daine family houses, which were a little more separate. 

Jackie and I simultaneously glanced up at the towering building ahead of us as we neared it, our task seeming even more daunting the closer we got. Finally, we reached the building next to it and crouched down to devise our plan.

Jackie started, "Okay, so I have my badge that will let me get in, but it will seem suspicious for me to be coming to work at," she glanced down at her watch, "11:30 at night. So I need an excuse. Maybe I forgot something or..." she trailed off, thinking about what we could use as our ticket inside. She was right; it would definitely draw unwanted attention to us if we showed up with no excuse in the middle of the night. We needed a story.

"What if...you say you forgot your USB disk and you need it to work on something from home?" I suggested. It seemed logical, and it hopefully wouldn't draw any unneeded attention towards us. Also, we wouldn't need to worry about actually finding a flash drive since we would be bringing out Jasper and would need to find another way out anyway; preferably one that wasn't flanked by guards.

"That might work...the only problem is that it will come out suspicious if I say I need to work on something at home. All our work is supervised and if I'm taking something home to work on it, they might think something is up." She stared at me guiltily as if this was her fault, then silently began pacing back and forth. That was one thing about Jackie; she always fidgeted when she was nervous. In fact, so did I, but I tried to control it this time so it didn't show.

I racked my brain for something else; a reason she needed to get into her office at midnight. "So, say whoever the head of the Wens is let you do it. They're not really going to ask him, are they?" She clenched her teeth together and grimaced as if to say, 'yes, they might possibly do that,' to which I replied, "Well, we don't really have any other options. I say we try it."

She nodded, and I could tell her nerves were kicking in full blast. I put my hand on her shoulder, as if to silently comfort her, then led the way. I just had one thing left to say. 

I drew in a deep breath. "Jackie, I don't think you should come in with me." She stopped abruptly as if she had just heard that a monkey was elected as the new President of the United States.

"What?" Now she looked like she was expecting a proposal, but got a break-up instead. "Why?" 

Now this was the hard part. I inhaled, then slowly let it out, trying to buy myself some time before I had to explain to her why I was cutting her out of the top-secret mission. "Jackie, you know how dangerous this is, especially for you. I was in your position just a couple days ago and I got caught. I was locked up in an isolated jail cell for the last three days and just barely got out today. I cannot ask you to risk your reputation and your life so I can prove myself loyal to the Daines." And...there it went. I just told her basically everything, in hopes she would understand my point and agree with me not to come along. But knowing Jackie, she might do just the opposite.

I examined her expression as she stood there, dumbfounded. I wasn't sure what I'd expected when I told her, but this was not it. Finally, she snapped out of it. "What? No, Teya. I'm coming, I don't care if I get caught, I just-"

"Well, I do!" I cut her off. "Jackie, I'm not going to risk you getting caught. I would never forgive myself if something went wrong and you got locked up. You will lose everything. Please." I silently pleaded with her to stay, hoping with everything in me that she would come to her senses and realize it would be safer if she didn't come with me. Then again, even if she did know it was too dangerous, I couldn't guarantee she wouldn't come. As I mentioned earlier, Jackie craved adventure.

Finally, she sighed. "Okay, I'll stay. Only if you promise to meet me back here after. I can't have you getting caught either." Her already big eyes grew even bigger as she pleaded with me to do something I knew very well I couldn't promise. But I couldn't let her know that. I also couldn't meet her there. It wasn't safe and if I did end up getting captured, I wanted to know for sure that she was safe.

"No," I replied. "I'll meet you back at your house. Who knows how long I'll be in there. Besides, I don't even know where they're keeping Jasper." I didn't realize I was holding my breath, waiting for her answer, until she finally agreed and I let out a long stream of air. Hopefully, she didn't notice.

"But," she argued. I should've known she wouldn't stay here without some kind of bargain or exception made. "I need to get inside with you. We don't look enough alike to risk you trying to pull off being me. I'll go in, then let you inside through the side door located on the south wall." That was a deal I could live with. She brought me in for a quick hug before saying, "I'll meet you there in five," then running off toward the entrance. 

I watched over-protectively as she made her way quickly toward the door flanked by guards. If this doesn't work- but I stopped myself before finishing that thought. No way was I about to let any shadow of doubt into this already dangerous and doubtful situation. Everything had to go just right in order for it to be successful and I needed to keep my mind clear and alert in order for that to happen.