Lainey and the Magicians (First Draft)

Chapter 26

 Codebreaker walked out of the door to his enclave. "Of all the girls tossing rocks at your window, I'll be the one waiting there even when it's cold," Codebreaker sang. He seemed shocked to see Lainey waiting at the door to his enclave sticking out of the landing on the stairs like a secret room. The door leading to the room was obvious and had blue linings going down it like code. She scampered away.

 She didn't want Codebreaker to think she had been outside his door all night. How much did Codebreaker know about her? Also, he was connected with Emerald. She couldn't let a Magician spy get under her walls and to take her down into a world of temptation. She didn't want to use her Rider powers. Wait! This was her chance to slip past the doorway, grab the memory-erasing device, and be the first step in her journey to Mars. Also, how was Codebreaker connected to Emerald? She had her suspicions on how and why he was connected to Emerald. Where was Codebreaker from? She would find out about Codebreaker's relationship with Emerald and she would read the letter that she had been given.

 Codebreaker, as her 'new friend', might have given her that letter to send her on a red herring about her mission to Mars, David, and everything that she knew. The letter had no name at the end except for 'your new friend.' Who was Lainey's new friend and why were they helping her? Their handwriting read like chicken scratch. Was it to mislead her? She waited for Codebreaker to go down the stairs and she ran back up to Codebreaker's enclave.

 What was the present Grace doing at this hour? What about her son, Zack? What about her brother who was a big wig who sometimes went skateboarding? What was Chard doing at this hour? The house seemed practically deserted except for a few people passing here and there, but nobody was anywhere near the stairs. People lived upstairs and some were still asleep, but some of the people were still on missions. Also, why had Chard been triggered by the government comment the night before? How had David's search for his daughter gone? What about the two detectives? Asir. The name popped into her mind. What did he have to do with David? He sometimes helped the Anti-Magicians and he was created by the Minapo witches. Lainey couldn't believe that she was connected to those witches as a Rider. As a half-Rider, she was technically the master of the Minapo witches since the Minapo witches had made a deal with them. She almost shut her eyes. Why did she have to be a part of such evil? Why did she accept the evil? She thought of the cigarettes the kid gave her on the playground from the anonymous dealer and how the Lady told her that her human nature was the one that hesitated. The Lady wanted her to embrace her culture and her heritage. When she had fought Fire Rider at the Underground Jopiline bridge, she had struggled against him but she had managed to stand against him. She didn't want to use her powers of the night.

 What was the new Shadow Rider doing? She imagined the new Shadow Rider in their personal life going to Balanced Panda or hating swimming. Carla loved going to Balanced Panda since the food was delicate and the prices were dotingly high, while Christopher Tom 'freaking hated swimming.' She wondered about their whereabouts and how the new Shadow Rider was doing. Fredrick and Casey came to her mind. Her heart fluttered. She had many friends back in the day and riches. She smiled. She shouldn't have smiled, but it came naturally to her. The wealth. She didn't want to think that what Emerald did wasn't for the greater good. What if he didn't think that? His chaotic ways showed her that he was interested in breaking things, like a little boy would have his dinosaur crush into cars and level cities. Was it different in real life? Of course, it was different. She couldn't be so blinded about morality. She wouldn't be anymore.

 The Rider powers still flowed inside her. Why had she had a dreamless sleep last night? If the Rider powers were inside her, then how would she be able to have a dreamless sleep? Sometimes, when she had been in her Rider form, she had dreamless sleep. She saw the door to Codebreaker's enclave on the stairs and she almost turned the knob all the way. Wait! Her mind flicked back to the instructions on the computer. Was she supposed to get to Codebreaker's room the way she had gotten there last night? There must have been a security system to Codebreaker's room. What if she was meant to get the memory-erasing device? It must have been Emerald trying to get to her through Codebreaker, his spy. Why was she going to get the memory-erasing device? David must have known that Codebreaker had that device.