The Traitor

Chapter Twenty-One: How To Expect The Unexpected

I quickly slipped through the small doorway and into the dark and unfamiliar building, not exactly sure, in perspective to the entire structure, where I stood at the moment. The room was dimly lit, with hidden lights in the corners of the room, which I guessed stayed on 24/7, giving me a sense of the room's size. I noticed a door on the wall opposite where I was standing, and began making my way toward it, hoping it didn't lead to certain death. And actually, I wouldn't be surprised if every corner in this entire building was guarded, which would definitely make it difficult for me, but when you're guarding something as important as Head Quarters, you can never guard too lightly.

I opened the door till a stream of light filtered through the small crack, illuminating this side of the room, and half-blinding me from its brightness. Great, I thought. It's light out there. How am I ever going to sneak through without getting caught now?  I didn't know why Mr. Thomas had trusted me to do this, and I began to think I should just give up now.

No! I reprimanded myself for, once again, allowing doubt to enter into my mind when I should've been devising a plan. You can do this, you can do this. I took a deep breath and creaked open the door a little more, just enough so I peek through the crack to make sure the coast was clear. It was. Cautiously, I slipped through the half-open door and ducked down, sprinting down the hall, completely blind to where I was going. There was a door at the end of the hall and I decided my best shot was to go through the door and get out of the open hallway, wherever that led to. Though, I guess it didn't really matter; anything was better than walking around in the open without a plan.

I sneaked down the hall toward the opening, and slipped inside; thankfully everything there was unlocked, though it only made me more suspicious. I hoped it was just because the outside of the building was guarded really heavily, so they didn't think they would need any extra barriers on the interior. I was riding on that being the case.

The room led to a long corridor, which was barely lit, with only a stairwell at the end of it. Well that blows, I thought. Where does that staircase even lead to? I decided to find out, since I figured I'd have better luck going upstairs than going back through the door and looking around. The staircase continued up for what seemed like forever, but I only took it up to the second floor. I remembered that was where Brandon was being held when he was imprisoned, and I figured maybe it was the same sort of deal here too.

I opened the door that blocked the stairway off from the rest of the second floor and peeked outside, before opening it enough to squeeze through. The coast was clear, which I, again, thought was odd. Maybe it was everyone's break? It seemed suspicious, but I shrugged it off, blocking any thoughts out of my mind that weren't focused on finding Jasper. I practically sprinted down the hall, completely unsure of where the next door would lead. It was like trying to solve a life-size maze that you had never been in, blindfolded and on a time crunch, while also avoiding just about everything that wasn't an inanimate object. I continued through the labyrinth of a building, testing and successfully getting through every door I came to, until I found a locked one. This must be it, I thought. This has to be where they're keeping Jasper. Why else would they lock only this one? I searched the area for anything I could use to get inside, with no luck. The lock was guarded by a scan pad, similar to the one that kept us from reaching Brandon first. Until...wait, that was it! I thought back to how we had gotten through the door last time, and I remembered Jasper had gotten a key from somewhere. But where would I get a key?

Before I had time to think of a plan, I heard someone from inside approach the door, and I hid behind a large pillar which supported the ceiling until they came out. The person looked like a guard, and he held open the door as another followed on his heels. They were wearing matching uniforms, but I got the impression that they weren't on duty. If they were, they weren't very good at their job, since I was literally standing right behind them, hiding behind a pillar that barely hid me even if someone were standing in the right spot.