The Song of the Keepers

Chapter 39 A Stretch for the Memory

I laid in bed, staring at the canopy that hung above me, waiting as the minutes ticked down to eleven. The last thing I wanted to do was to have a confrontation with Quetta Peterson. I had known it was coming, but I hadn't guessed it would be so soon after my arrival in Los Eres.

I thought through various scenarios of what she might say and how I would respond, finding myself getting upset over words that hadn't even been spoken yet. Finally, the blinking red numerals on the clock beside my bed read 10:57.

I hopped up, tied my iron mask on and tucked my hair away under my hood before stepping out into the hall. Cassian slithered out of the shadows, dressed in dark jeans and a black hoodie.

"You don't have anything less conspicuous?"
He whispered.

No actually, my Keeper uniforms and undergarments were literally all I owned.

"Keepers have free rein of the city, if we get caught sneaking around, you are going to be glad I'm dressed in my uniform."
I defended myself.

"Fine, it's your funeral walking into the Coalition dressed as the enemy."

I shrugged, not particularly concerned if I turned a few heads. I'd snuck around the city enough to know that my Keeper garb was legitimately helpful as a disguise.

Cassian led me through the palace and out a back way. I was just relieved he hadn't asked me to walk through walls with him like last time. We zig-zagged across the grounds, barely able to spot our path by the pale light of the crescent moon.

It was significantly chillier when the sun was down, but I told my chattering teeth to quit it. After the Citadel, I had no right to complain about the cold.

We wound ourselves through the streets of Los Eres, some a bit scarier looking than others until we came to a familiar clock tower that stood in the center of the city.

"I ought to blindfold you."
Cassian informed me.

"I'd like to see you try."
I retorted.

"Can I trust you, with the location of our headquarters?"
He asked skeptically.

"I already have a fair idea of where you may be located, seeing as that Arti fellow who escorted me out last time forgot to tie my hands along with the blindfold."

"That doesn't answer my question."
He crossed his arms, a frown marring his features.

"If you're concerned I'm going to go running to the Order with information on the rebels, then you clearly know nothing about me. I may not be who I was once, but I'm not in the habit of tattling with the intention of getting a hundred people killed, or however many of you there are."

This seemed to satisfy him enough to continue on. We came to a large square of cement, with iron fencing around it and barbed wire poking up into the night sky. Inside the fence, there was a set of stairs descending down into darkness. I vaguely recalled the day we had first arrived in Los Eres and met some of the other competitors, namely Glass. She had mentioned something about her mother running a tram on the subway.

"You use the subway tunnels."
I realized aloud.

"Yes, there's a network of them all over the city, built by our ancestors."

"Aren't they in use then?"

"Most are abandoned, leaving us the perfect way to hide under our enemies noses."

"How has this never occurred to the Keepers?"
I wondered.

"The entire system is not mapped out for starters, or if it once was, the maps have been lost. Even we don't know where all the tunnels lead to."