White Rabbit

Chapter 32: Savior to the Saint

JACE

"What am I going to do?" I mutter as I put my key into the lock on my front door, pulling my key out once it unlocks and pushing the door open.

I put my keys back into my pocket before taking off my shoes and walking into the house, looking around the corner to find Misa setting dinner plates in the kitchen and my father sitting on the couch, filling out papers on the coffee table.

"Oh, there you are," My dad says upon seeing me enter, "Misa told me you left early again and I was beginning to get a bit concerned as to what you've been doing all the time. You've been leaving early quite a lot lately."

"Um," I rub the back of my neck, "Yeah. I keep going out into the city to find information. I didn't think I was really causing a problem."

"No," He waves it off, "No, you're fine. And I invited Misa to dinner, as you can see. You two haven't been able to spend much time together and I figured it'd be nice to have her over."

"Yeah," I nod and glance over at Misa, who watches me almost as if she knows what I've been up to.

"And I meant to give this to you earlier, but you weren't around," My dad says, bringing my attention back to him, and I notice that he's holding a pile of white envelopes tied together by a worn, tan string, "These are items concerning your newest mission."

I walk over to my father, who hands me the letters, and I glance down at them and see that they're all addressed to Clattonia.

"What are these?" I ask.

"They're letters from your target to her daughter that were intercepted. She's been trying to send her daughter letters for years, but we've collected them all," My father says.

"You what? Why would you do that?" I raise my eyebrows in mortification.

"What's the problem?" My dad raises a brow at me and his green eyes search my blue ones suspiciously, "They could contain secret information or conspiracies constructed by Myfanwy to Clattonia. Is there a problem with doing what you believe keeps your country safe?"

"No," I say carefully, "It's just..."

It's just inhumane. And sure, you want to do what's best for your country, but don't be a tyrant about it. Whenever you start stripping away freedoms and the things that make us who we are and what keeps us grounded, then you become just as bad as the people you're trying to protect us from. But I know that I can't say that, not to him.

"Just what, Jace?" My dad asks expectantly.

"Nothing," I shake my head, "Nevermind."

"You don't have a real backbone..." I clench my fist as Reece's words run through my head and I glance off to the side, scoffing silently to myself.

"If you say so," My dad shrugs and goes back to filling out papers.

"Come on boys, get along," Misa chides from the kitchen as she stirs a pot of mac and cheese, "Sometimes I'm the adult around here, I swear."

"Says the girl who haphazardly runs across streets," I shoot Misa a sharp look as I walk into the kitchen and she rolls her eyes at me.

"Whatever," She says and sticks her tongue out at me.

"Is there anything I can help with?" I ask.

"Yeah," Misa nods in the direction of the fridge, "Could you stir the lemonade I made? I want to make sure that it's properly mixed. I put it on the bottom shelf in the fridge."

"Sure," I nod and head over to the fridge, opening the door and grabbing the pitcher of lemonade before kicking the fridge shut with my foot.

I walk over to beside Misa and set the pitcher down on an empty space beside her and grab a spoon from out of one of the drawers and begin to stir the lemonade, mixing the ingredients together. Beside me, Misa stops stirring the pot of mac and cheese before grabbing a bag of powdered cheese and adding it to the cheese that already came with it that she finished stirring in.