Keeping Silence

Chapter 13

I quickly step back and slide both of the Iridium blades out from my jacket. Archer falls back and barely catches himself before he hits the floor, landing in a push-up position.

“Silence, lock the door.” I say softly, only lowering my blades when I hear the light sound of the bolt sliding into place.

“Emergency lock is in place, it’ll unlock in five minutes. Also, the man happens to have a gun.” She responds and I turn to see Archer pulling his boots on and buttoning his shirt back up. I slide my blades back into my sleeves of my coat.

“Should be more than enough time for us to escape, am I right?” Archer says and grabs his coat off a chair. “The vent above us should get us down the hall and past whoever is at the door. After that I think Silence can guide us from there.”

“Correct Archer, oh and Ed took the liberty to pack another pair of goggles for you. They are in Wren’s backpack.”

I slide off my backpack and search for a few seconds, pulling out the new goggles that Ed had made. They have a dial on the side and are made of mainly metal with a leather strap on the back to hold it to the persons head. I smile knowing the dial controls the night vision, heat detector, and a couple of extra things Ed decided that were needed. The memory card on the side seems to be smaller, but glows a soft blue.

“I managed to sync the goggles with the comm device on Wren’s wrist. Anywhere you go I should be able to download information and communicate with you. The same goes for Wren too. Now we have three minutes to escape before the door opens.” Archer looks them over once, them shrugs and puts them on his head.

I sling my backpack back up and gesture to the vent. Archer steps below it and intertwines his fingers to form a platform for my foot. I step up and rip the vent cover from the ceiling, grabbing the edges I hoist myself up and offer a hand for Archer to grab. He lifts himself up and grabs the vent edge, turning around in the little space we have, I begin to head away from the room.

“Take a right, then skip two intersections, then a left on the third intersection. It should take you to a supply closet, close to the dance floor.” Silence chimes in and I take the right with Archer following. We slowly make our way down into the vents and I kick out the vent cover over the supply closet. I hop down and toss a mop out of my face that got in the way. Archer contains a laugh and hops down after me, only to land in an empty bucket.

“Next time, beware of karma.” I say and pull him out of the bucket.

“Maybe, but it doesn’t matter. You’ve got my back and I’ve got yours, who needs karma?”

“Life does, now let get out of here before Jerry shows up in need of a mop and finds us instead.” I turn the handle and peer down the hall for anyone, and the gesture for Archer to follow.

Once we head toward the end of the hall, we open the door to the upper dance floor. I see Jerry on the other side of the room, so I begin to weave through the crowd only to discover once I’m past it that Archer wasn’t following me. I stand on my toes and look around, to see him talking to Jerry, with an angry expression on Jerry’s face. He nods his head after a few seconds and then gestures for a guard to come close. The guard then walks away, and then comes back a few minutes later with a briefcase. Archer takes it gratefully and then begins to walk toward me. Jerry waits a few seconds, and then points at Archer’s back.

“Archer!” I shout and then quickly slide my blades out. I chuck one past Archer’s face and he leans a few centimeters out of the pathway. Only to have it land in Jerry’s shoulder six meters away from me. I point toward the door and Archer takes the hint as I walk up to Jerry, who has a crowd of guards around him.

“Move. Get out of my way.” I say as I shove some of the guards out of the way. I rip my blade out of his shoulder and a hand clamps on my shoulder. “Remove your hand or I’ll set off the explosives I’ve hidden in the ceiling.” I lie smoothly; I check Jerry’s shoulder and smile. “Only a flesh wound, don’t worry you’ll live if you get to the hospital within twenty-four hours.” I stand up and hold up my hands. “You let me walkout freely and I won’t blow up the place.”

I back up slowly and then head down the spiral staircase. The girl that offers to take my jacket walks up to me with her hands full and I hold out a hand to stop her. I grab her hand, reach into my pocket and pull out a wad of cash.

“Get out while you’re still a free girl.” I place it in her hand and walk toward the door. I smile and hear her drop the coats and hear taping of shoes chasing me.

“Thank you.” She hugs me quickly and runs out of the club before me.

I walk out of the club like I own the place, I even give a flirty wink at the guard outside. Once I reach the corner, I begin running down the streets back to the car. I catch up to Archer who just is closing the back of the car.

“Got the cash, and a bit extra as a bonus. Guessing Jerry didn’t like the blade in the shoulder?”

I nod my head and jump into the driver’s seat, tossing my backpack in the back seat of the car. Archer climbs into the passenger seat and clicks the seatbelt into place.

“Wouldn’t know, I didn’t stick around.” I turn the car on and shift it into gear. “After all, I did threaten to blow the place up.”

“Should have erased the drives before we left.” Archer shakes his head and Silence chimes in.

“Actually since I’ve been in the ‘favors’ system I’ve been erasing any traces of you and Wren. So technically you guys were never there. Only Ebony and Tony seem to have attended and have mysteriously tipped off the police of Jerry Luge of his illegal activities.”

Archer laughs and shakes his head. “Thinking one step ahead Silence, always one step ahead.”

I smile and pull the car out onto the road, heading for the highway. Since we can’t take the train from the station at Bengal back home to Veil, we gotta waist some time in another town. We’ve gotta wait at least twenty-four hours before we can use any of the money from our private accounts. Jerry will most likely have a tracer on both of us till the police arrive on his door step. Turning a dial in the car, and a hydraulic system folds the wheels up and the hover-drive kicks in. The car floats up and I laugh as I pull up quickly, causing Archer to use the ceiling to support himself.

“Don’t scare me like that.”

“Can’t help it. After all, we basically did just rob a club owner and we are getting away clean. Sort-of excited that for once, I don’t have to worry about the cops chasing us.”

“You’re not the only one, set the car on auto pilot. You look more tired than I do.” Archer says softly. “Pretty sure Silence can guide us to the next town.”

“Of course. It should take three hours to get to Grimhaven. With the little traffic there is, I’m more than capable to fly.”

“Oh alright, I give in to the requests.” I flip the auto pilot switch and let go of the steering wheel. Reclining the seat, it only takes seconds for me to fall asleep.