Hidden Temples

(23) Friends and foes

(Rue)
I stare blankly at Jack, as he rips the life from this man. He didn't deserve this, but maybe he did.
Maybe their all just to scared to speak up.
I would.

Jack turns to me, as the mans body goes limp.
I watch as his chest rises, then falls for the last time.
A shaky breath, his last breath, and his head lulls back.

A tear escapes, and I let it fall.
"When d'you learn to do that?" I ask quietly.

He walks over to me, and places his hand on my cheek.
"Not to long ago, but I prefer not to talk about it."
I nod, then turn around, not wanting to see him drag the man away.

What's gotten into me? I have to be stronger than this.
I take a deep breath, and wipe my tear away, turning back to Jack.

He looks at me sadly, then he comes closer, and closer to me.
He lifts my chin with his finger, and gazes into my eyes.
He looks at my lips, and I'm now aware of what he wants to do.

He gently leans in, and brushes his lips against mine, but I turn away before he can go any further.
He looks at me, like he's somehow hurt, and I mentally punish myself for his regrets, but I'm not sure if this is the time.

"We...we should get going, we can't stay here much longer," I say  to the floor.
He nods, and turns away.
"Wait," I say grabbing his arm.

"I get it, it's okay, seriously."
I stare at him uncertainty.

He grabs my hand, and says nothing more, but he doesn't need to.
We head off.
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"So what's the plan?" Jack says quietly.
I shrug.
"I honestly have no clue. I was just thinking, get in, get information, and leave, but now I'm determined to get to him, their boss."
"You understand that you can't get him now, right, we need to collect information, discover his weakness and whatnot."
I nod.
"Let's just do this fast."

He grabs my hand, and we run through the hallways, sliding, slipping, and turning long corners.

Jack, still holding my hand, pulls me into a doorway, and hugs me to his chest, facing the door.
"What are you..."
He covers my mouth with his hands, and hugs me tighter to him.
He's hand starts trembling, When suddenly I hear footsteps coming close.
I stand still as a statue.

"Nope, still nothing, I still can't find Bernard......
No! I'm telling you I heard something," the man says into his walkie talkie, pacing the hallway.

"Whose Bernard?" Jack asks in my ear, nothing more than a whisper.

"He's the guy I was in."
As the words leave my mouth, I realize how weird it sounds.

Jack doesn't respond.

"Ya, I get it okay? I understand......no no I know......aha...now?...got it, I'll see you soon."

The mans footsteps come closer, and I can hear Jacks heartbeat beating out of control.

Step
Step
Step.

Suddenly the mans footsteps stop.
I tense.
Then the man steps beside us.
I close my eyes shut, but when I peek, he's looking down at a piece of paper.
He doesn't see us.

The man reaches out for us, not even looking at us, and that's when I realize, were leaning on the door he wants to go through.
Closer, and closer, the mans hand slowly reaches out towards me.

I have to do something, fast!
I break free form Jacks grip, and swing the mans hand, knocking him to the floor.
He try's to call for help, but I swiftly place my hand on his mouth, and twist his arm behind his back, making his back crack.

The man struggles again, but I dig my knee into his chest, and my elbow on his neck, just enough to hold him down, but not enough to make him choke.

"Now, you listen to me," I say quietly, but sternly.
"You will answer my questions, do you understand? Cause if you don't."
I pause.
"You won't like what's going to happen."

I call the wind, and make it carry him into an empty room, I lock the door.

"Ready to talk?" I ask, slamming him onto a desk.
He groans.
"I'll never tell you anything," he says.
"Please?" Jack says kindly, and understandingly.
I glare at him, but then I realize we're playing good cop, bad cop.
I get back into character.

"You tell me what you hiding now!" I hiss.
Jack winks at me, then pulls me back with his arm.

"Calm down Rue."
He turns back to the man.
"Please tell us what you'd hiding, why are you here? What are you looking for?"
The man laughs coldly.
"You think you can fool me? I won't spill anything."

Jack stands back, and looks at me gesturing to the man.
I walk up to the man, slowly, calling the wind to my side mentally.
He gasps.
"Your one of us! Wait...your......"
"I'm what?" I ask coldly.
He goes silent.

I send the wind straight to the man, strangling him.
He chokes, and scratches at his throat.
"Ready to spill."
Still nothing.
I walk closer to him, and open his mouth with my fingers, and send a gust of wind down his throat."

He goes still, before he starts thrashing, and clawing at his chest.
The wind is eating his insides,

"Please please! Stop! MAKE IT STOP!" He shouts in pain.

Something inside me burns, but a good kind, like fire, making me hungry.
I push the wind harder, shredding his insides.

He shouts, an ear piercing screech.
"OKAY! I'll TELL YOU!" He screams.
I release the wind.

He curls up into a ball, hugging his knee's to his chest.
"How...how, how d'you do that?" He asks in pain.

"I don't know," I admit, backing up into Jacks arms.

Jack, brushes his hand on my arm, making the fire in me slowly slip away.
I straiten up.

"Tell me then."
"What do you want to know, Rue?" He says shakily.
"I...wait how d'you know my name?"
He wheezes.
"Your the niece of Malcolm, my boss. That's why we're here, to get you, his family tree. You can call the wind mentally."

"No, this can't be, I have no other family.
All my uncles are gone, or out of the country," I whisper.

The man laughs again.
"That's what your parents told you huh?"
"What do you mean?!" I yell.
"Please tell me!"
"That's all I can say, your uncle can tell you the rest. Just leave and save yourself, you can use the wind to get out of here directly, only you can."

He lies on his back.
"Then I'll finish you," I say.
"You'll be doing me a favour, boss will kill me for not handing you in already. He'll find ways to torture me, slowly, more painful."
He rocks back and forth, muttering to himself.
Back and forth, back and forth.

I wrap a gust around his neck.
"You can do the rest," I say.
He looks at me.
"Good luck."
He snaps the wind, him along with it.
The wind burns his remains, flying into the air, turning to dust.
He actually did it.

"Rue we have to get out of here."
"But we have to..."
"Rue, we can't, we actually have to have a plan."
I pause.
"Where are we going to go? Huh? In a criminal now, their all going to know."
"But what if the don't do anything to you?" He says.
"But what if they do?"

"Rue, I can't leave you," Jack says, his voice cracking.
"I'm not leaving you. And I can't go back ether. I'm with you."
I sigh.
"Grab my hand," I say.
"Why?" Jack asks.
"That man said that I can travel directly out of here."

He grabs my hand, and I concentrate hard enough, to wrap wind around us, and get us out of here.
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