Storm

Chapter Twenty-Six

Sneaking out of the bathroom wasn't too difficult. There was definitely a little bit of luck involved, but it seemed fortune was on our side.

The three of us merged back into the crowd, Asten separating from Max and I to avoid dragging attention to us. I no longer could find Mace anywhere in the crowd. That was good - it'd make the next step of our plan a ton easier.

Essentially, we were going to have to do some exploring. Without getting caught, of course.

There was no way to tell exactly where they were probably holding Kyan, January, and Elijah prisoner, but I was ninety percent certain they had to still be somewhere in the building. They would probably give it a day before transferring the three of them back to the Equator, seeing as there was still a ball going on here, and they were likely busy dealing with it.

Max and I wandered aimlessly, still clutching hands. I was glad I wasn't alone. I was so anxious about getting caught I thought I'd throw up.

Being discrete and pretending to fit in was actually really stressful. I preferred simply running the hell away.

Another couple cut in front of us, and I stopped abruptly as they laughed with each other. God, these people were oblivious. The two of us kept walking until my eyes latched on another side hallway. I subtly nodded my head in its direction, and Max and I made our way there.

The hallway was lit up with white fluorescent light, but empty. There was a single frosted glass door at the end of it, looking semi-out of place.

I gripped Max's hand and quickly walked towards the door. Hopefully, nobody would find it too suspicious that the two of us were walking towards it.

The door was locked.

I yanked on the handle a few times for good measure, but it stuck. I let out a frustrated sigh and turned to Max.

He just shrugged as if he also didn't know what to do.

"I guess we keep looking?" Max suggested.

I just frowned. "Sure...maybe. But anything that's even semi-important will be locked. We need keys. Or we need somebody who can let us in."

"So...are we going into ultra-spy mode?"

I raised my eyebrows at him. "What exactly do you mean?"

"Like...should we just go all in? We can try finding somebody who's got a key here and claim to be more prestigious than we are. Then, we order them to let us in."

I sighed. "You make that sound simple."

He shrugged as if to say "Well, it is".

"So...say we find a guard. Somebody who would have access to this door and others. Are we just...supposed to totally BS our way inside? That seems untrustworthy..."

Max just smiled. "I mean...if you think of anything else..."

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I was sobbing on the tiled floor of the hallway, clutching my knees to my chest as I curled up at a guard's feet. Max lie on the floor motionless beside me, eyes closed peacefully as if he were asleep.

How exactly did we get here?

Well, Max had a little bit more in mind than simply BS-ing his way through the guards. Obviously, they wouldn't just let us do whatever the hell we wanted to simply because we worked for the Equator. And we couldn't claim to have more power than our ID's said we had.

So, here we were, Max playing dead (or playing dying), and me crying for my poor husband who really needed medical attention.

It was a bit of a gamble. They could always just decide to grab a couple pills from downstairs and tell Max to get the hell up and swallow them. That wouldn't get us anywhere.

But, I had a good feeling about our plan as the young guard knelt by Max on the ground and put his fingers to his pulse. He nodded slowly, and I continued fake sobbing.

"Please! You have to help him! He needs medicine! He needs food...he needs a doctor...," I cried out. I wondered if Asten was hearing all of this from down the hall where a group of people was suddenly crowded. We were still in the hallway with the frosted glass door at the end.

The guard looked at me again, irritation obvious in his eyes. He didn't have time to deal with a sniveling lady. "I already told you. There's nothing we can do."

"What? You're just going to let him die?!" I shouted back, hysterically. I was genuinely proud of my acting skills. There'd been a few points in middle school when I'd considered being an actress but never thought I'd be good enough. I guess when your friends' lives were on the line, you became amazing at anything.

The guard looked seconds away from rolling his eyes at me and walking away. Fortunately, for us, the crowd seemed to actually care.

"Isn't there a place where he could rest at least? This building is much bigger than just the ballroom," commented a middle-aged woman with a crease in her forehead. She seemed genuinely worried about Max's well-being. She stepped forward. "I could help bring him there. We can't just leave him like this."

The guard was now looking between me and the lady who'd stepped up to help. I was extremely grateful for her existence.

"Fine. I'll take him. Everyone else go back to the party," the guard said, roughly grabbing Max and lifting him in his arms. The guard began to walk towards the frosted glass door, and I scurried after him desperately.

He turned and glared at me as he pulled out a key to unlock the door. "You can stay here."

I shook my head frantically and urged tears to come back. It wasn't hard when there were so many horrid things to think about. "Please, I just want to make sure he's okay! He's always been there for me...I couldn't live with myself if I wasn't there for him..."

For a moment, I thought the guard would say no. Then, he shook his head, turned back to the door, and opened it.

I tried not to smile. That would immediately ruin our plan.

Then, I followed the young guard as he lead us into the depths of the Equator's compound.