The Exiles

Chapter 4) Breaking Curfew

            “Step away from her.”

The guard’s voice was high and clear over the chaos of the crowd. Violet stared from the guard to Moss, unable to move.

            “Come over here, out of the way,” the guard beckoned. The light of the flashlight was burning her eyes. She realized that his gun was pointing not at her, but over her shoulder at Moss. She shook her head.

            “No,” she said, “Let him go first.”

            “Step aside, girl,” the guard said, his voice dropping dangerously.

            “What do you want with him?”

            “I have orders not to shoot you, now step aside.”

            “No,” she said again. Moss was her only hope of finding Daniel. She couldn’t let the guard shoot him. She wrenched herself free from Moss’s grip and ran headlong at the guard. He fired out of confusion and the bullet ricocheted off the wall.

            “Run!” Violet screamed, praying that Moss didn’t need telling twice. She jumped in front of the guard’s face, blocking his view. An arm reached up and knocked her sideways and her head hit the cold concrete of the platform with a sickening thud. She rolled over to see Moss disappear into the darkness before something was shoved over her head.

            A door slammed shut behind her and Violet’s eyes snapped open. She’d been dragged out of the tunnel and back up the steps to the street. The bag over her head was blocking out the light. She tried to move her hands but they were zip-tied behind her. She guessed from the sounds of engine rumble that she was in the back of a car. This couldn’t be good.

            “It’s protocol, sir,” someone said. She guessed it was the guard who had grabbed her. His voice was muffled like it was behind a door. No one answered, but a second later the guard spoke again. “I know, I know, sir.”

            From the sound of it he was on the phone, but she couldn’t hear whom he was talking to.

            “I apologize, sir. You can come pick her up after we’ve had a chance to question her. Like I said, it’s protocol. Until it’s been changed, we have to do it by the book.”

            Question her? The person on the other end of the phone was shouting, and in a split second she realized who it was. Her father. So he knew where she was at least. She wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or worse.

            The car pulled to a stop some minutes later. A door beside her opened and strong hands pulled her out. She could hear the sounds of cars around them and guessed they were back in the City center, though she couldn’t place where. The hands dragged her through a door and down a hallway. She heard the familiar ding of an elevator that took them down and down into a basement. She tried to make out anything she could from her surroundings, but all she could hear was a drip like a leaking faucet hitting concrete.

            The bag was ripped off her head, and she stared into a bright white light. She was sitting in a stiff metal chair in a concrete cell. There was a table in front of her, and she sensed rather than saw that there was someone sitting behind it.

            “State your name,” a gruff voice said.

            “Leto,” she answered, her voice shaking. “Leto Ward.”

She wasn’t sure why, but the name gave her strength. It made her feel like she belonged to Daniel, like she was showing her loyalty to him. More than loyalty, it was declaring her allegiance. Violet belonged to the City, to her family. Leto belonged to Daniel.