Silver Lines (Sky Forever Volume 2)

Chapter 9: Escape

“You amazing ghost!” Storm exclaimed.

Lonely Soul beamed at us, dangling the keys from his finger.

“I stole them from the guard outside.” He explained, “He didn’t even notice.”

“Well, unlock the door then.” I ordered, standing up.

“What’s happening?” Griff said, looking up at us all.

“We’re getting out of here, Griff!” I replied.

Griff stared in disbelief at Lonely Soul.

“What…what are you?” He stammered.

“I’m a ghost.” He said, “Who are you?”

Griff slowly and carefully rose to his feet, as if it had been a long time since he’d done it.

“I’m Griff.” He said.

“Good to meet you.” Lonely Soul replied.

He turned back to us, “Right, you’ve got to be quiet. There’s no guards down here, but there’s a few up there.”

He twisted one of the keys in the door and it swung open. We followed him out into the corridor. Griff wandered across the cell and peered out.

“Am I dreaming?” He asked.

I shook my head, “This is real, Griff. You’re no longer a prisoner.”

“Well, technically he still is.” Lonely Soul said, “He’s just an escaped prisoner.”

“Which makes him no longer a prisoner.” Amber replied, “Come on, let’s get moving.”

“Out of all my escape ideas,” Griff muttered, “I never thought of hiring a ghost.”

He chuckled to himself as we started up the stairs. We made it to the top and Storm, who was at the front of the group, checked the corridor. She gave a signal to indicate it was clear.

Suddenly, a lone guard walked around the corner. He stopped in his tracks when he saw us and was about to run away to alert others, but, in a flash, Storm grabbed his arm, spun him 180 degrees and pinned him to the floor. She then pulled her arm tight around his neck and asphyxiated him.

"Woah..." I muttered.

We carried along the corridors, knocking out a few guards on the way, and eventually made it to a door.

"This door leads out into the streets." Lonely Soul said, "We should be careful."

Storm slowly opened it and looked around.

"I can't see anyone." She said.

We all followed her out onto a dark, wide street. To the right, about two hundred metres away was the North Gate we had tried to enter. Behind us was the prison tower, and in front was a street of shops and houses.

"Where do we go now?" Amber asked.

There was a pause, in which some footsteps could be heard.

"Quick!" Storm hissed, running down a small alley between two shops.

We all followed her and watched as a lone man walked past, whistling to himself and carrying a basket. We waited in silence until his footsteps had faded away before discussing where to go.

"I know a woman in the city who will take us in." Storm said, "She lives in the Redbrick district."

"How far away is that?" I asked.

"It's to the east of the city," Storm answered, "So, it's a quite a few streets away."

Griff cleared his throat, "Sorry, but I think I'm going to just leave the city."

We all looked at him.

"Instead of hiding out." He added," Thank you for saving me."

Before any of us could reply he was running off down the alleyway. That was the last we saw of Griff.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Storm asked.

We nodded and she led us out of the alley and back onto the streets. We briskly crept through the city without any trouble from guards until we reached a group of buildings that looked to be of a red colour. Although, it was hard to tell in the darkness of the night.

"Her house is down here." Storm told us.

We reached a house that looked pretty much the same as all the other houses in the area. Storm knocked on the door.

There was a pause and then a woman opened it and peered out.

"Can I help you?" She croaked.

"Monica," Storm said, "It's me. Storm Sampson."

"Storm?" Monica exclaimed, opening the door furthur, "What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story. Can we come in?"

Monica stepped back and let us all in. She led us through the hallway and into what looked like the kitchen. It had a table in the middle which we all sat around.

"So," Monica said, joining us at the table, "Who are your friends, Storm?"

Monica had black hair, tied back in a bun. I estimated she was middle aged. She was thin, wore glasses, and had veins down her neck, which disappeared into a pink dressing gown.

"This is Jared," Storm said, pointing, "And this is his girlfriend, Amber. Oh, and this is Lonely Soul. He's a ghost."

Lonely Soul waved cheerily.

"A ghost." Monica said, peering at him through her glasses, "Haven't seen one of them in a while."

She stopped staring at him and looked back at Storm.

"So, what's this long story that would explain why you've come into my house in the middle of the night."

"It's probably better if they explain." Storm said, pointing at Amber and I, "They're the leaders of the group."

Monica looked over at us.

"Well," I said, "We're from the North and we wanted to enter the city. But we got stopped at the gate because apparently they don't like North dwellers down here."

"You got that right." Monica said, "I used to be a North dweller. I got my travel pack changed though, so now I'm South all the way."

"We've got North on our travel packs," Amber explained, "So, they put us in a cell in the prison."

"But then," Storm added, "Lonely Soul saved us, being the amazing ghost that he is, and now we need a place to hide from the guards whilst we're here."

"Why did you want to enter the city in the first place?" Monica asked.

"I'm looking for my father." I explained, "I'm almost certain that he lives in the South."

Monica nodded, to acknowledge what I'd said, and then stood up.

"You're all welcome here." She said, "As long as I don't get any guards knocking on my door. Storm can get you sorted out for the night because I need to go to bed. I'm a tired, old lady."

She disappeared out the kitchen and up the stairs.

"Right." Storm said, "Where does everyone want to sleep?"