If he had to guess, Cooper would say it was just a bit past midnight.
And here they all were, sneaking back into town after about an month.
If they were caught, they'd be killed. If they weren't caught, they'd probably be killed anyway because the chances of them staying unseen were very, very low.
So he did his best to stay quiet.
They made their way through the streets with Noah leading the way. They filed into an alley, away from any eyes that could see them. Cooper released the breath he hadn't realized he had been holding. They all looked towards Noah.
Cooper watched him reach above them to the small jut in the building, feeling around. He brought his hand down, revealing a small, copper key. He crossed the alley to a door and slid it into the keyhole, turning the small piece of metal quietly.
The door clicked and swung open quietly. He pushed open the door the rest of the way, beckoning everyone inside, before shutting and locking the door, then turning on a light.
Noah put the key into his pocket. "We should be safe here."
Everyone looked around, noting sparse furniture and the decorations.
No one noticed a young man appear in the doorway, arms crossed.
"Noah? Is that you?"
Noah glanced up, smiling. "Yeah. Sorry we crashed the party."
The man walked over and enveloped Noah in a bear hug. "I have no clue whether to yell or cry."
"How about neither?" Noah was mumbling into the man's arm. "Sorta trying to stay hidden, Jay."
"Fair." The man let him go and nodded to April. "April. Nice to see you again." He looked at the rest of the people in the room. "Other people. Nice to see you in general."
Cooper laughed into his fist in a poor attempt to hide it. The man pointed at him. "You. You, I like already. Excellent sense of humor." He pointed at Noah over his shoulder. "Even better than his."
Noah punched him lightly, smirking. "Ha, ha." He glanced at Cooper. "This is my older brother, Jason." He motioned towards the boy with the sword. "Jason, Cooper." He waved his hand towards everyone else. "Sean, Koko, and - Whitney." Jason noted the quick pause before he said the final name but kept quiet.
Koko looked up. "So is this your house or apartment or something?"
Jason chuckled. "Despite whatever he's has told you, it's my house. I'm the one paying the mortgage."
Noah smirked. "If you want us to go, we can. Where, exactly, I have no clue, but it's your house, so..." He trailed off as Jason started to walk backwards out of the room.
"It's fine. Stay as long as you need. And at least try to take care of yourselves."
Noah saluted his brother. "Gotcha, Jay. Night."
"Yeah, it is. Excellent observation." Jason saluted back, winking. "Night."
YOU ARE READING
Shadowstruck
FantasyA girl wakes up in a forest with her memory wiped. Now they have to figure out who's behind The Uprising and, more importantly, how to stop them. If they can stop them. They're losing time. And the gods aren't on their side.
