Hiding in the Walls
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Noises. Subtle, but impossible to miss. Disturbing my sleep.
My eyes shot open just moments before Lero's did.
"Myra—"
I was awake. "I hear it. Quiet."
Lero fell silent and I sat up as quietly as I could, straining my ears. I could hear whispering voices. Footsteps. It was late; we couldn't have been asleep for more than a couple of hours, which meant we were deep into the night, morning still an hour or two away.
The Hole was never this loud at night. To anyone else, it might have seemed like your typical nighttime noises—barely there, hardly noticeable. To me, it was a cacophony, and Lero seemed to think the same. Thieves in The Hole didn't talk to each other this much in the bedroom wings; talk was for the hall. And at this hour, too, the perfect hour to be out casing, stealing and spying. No, there was no reason for us to be hearing whispers in the halls.
Dread settled in my heart like a lump of copper.
My instincts had kept me alive all these years as a thief, even if my pride sometimes overwhelmed my good sense. Right now, my veins were on fire. I went from dead-asleep to wide-awake in seconds, because in my heart I knew that we had been betrayed.
It was a trap.
"Lero."
"Yes." He knew, too. Lero got out of bed at the same time I did. We stood together in the perfectly dark room, ears and eyes alert. I could feel the warmth of his body next to mine. I sensed that he was just as crackling with nervous energy as I was.
No choice. We had to run.
"Stay on me," I whispered. "Right on my heels."
"I will."
I pulled in a big breath and reached forward to silently unlock the door. Then I charged forward and slammed into it full-force.
"Agh!"
The door crashed into the man who was waiting behind it, launching him backward into his two friends and breaking his nose into dust. My shoulder throbbed where it had struck the door, but it was barely noticeable. I darted past the three men who were bowled over by our exit and hurried forward. We had to get out of the dormitories and back to the entrance.
Of course, the men waiting outside the door confirmed it. They were there to take us. For what reason, and to where, I didn't know yet. All I knew was that we did not want to fall into their hands.
It was dim, but not pitch black, I was used to this sort of lighting here. I just had to hope Lero would be able to handle it and stay with me. So far, he was right on my tail. Good.
I turned right at the end of the hall and hurried forward.
"More behind us!" Lero said.
I glanced backward. Two men emerged from the darkness in the hall behind us and were giving chase.
"Don't stop!" I called, and pounded forward. Stopping to fight would be the worst thing we could do. It would give more time for others to arrive and pin us in one spot. We had to keep moving.
The ones behind us were closing in fast—I could hear it. But Lero and I were quick. We raced to the end of the hall. We needed to go left, but I saw a flickering shadow there. Someone was waiting. We would have to take a different way around.
So I went right, Lero close behind me. I heard a thud; the sound of Lero knocking someone's hand away who was swiping at him. Another, louder thud and a grunt as one of our two pursuers crashed into the man who had lunged from the opposite hall.
But no clatter of steel, or the sound of a weapon being dropped. No metal screeching of swords and daggers drawn from scabbards. My mind clicked. They weren't going to kill us, just capture us. Just like back at the castle. Somebody wanted us both alive.
It was a scary thought, but it was good for us.
From behind me, Lero said, "I'm changing."
"No!" I said. "They're not going to hurt us. They're trying to capture us."
"And you want to let that happen?" Lero spat.
"No—I—these people are my friends!" This was no time to argue, but I didn't want a scene here like we had at the castle. Blood and death. No, not here.
"Stop!"
The cry came from ahead, and there I saw Vahn, the man who did most of the cooking here at The Hole even if he claimed he didn't like to do it. He was a big guy, with a bald head and strong arms and usually a stained apron, only now he was in the black nightclothes of a working pickpocket. And he was in my way.
I didn't say anything. I knew Vahn well, as well as you could know a fellow thief, anyway, He wasn't much of a talker, and this wasn't much of a time to talk. I surged forward.
Vahn was big, and I wasn't. I dropped low and slid, hanging onto the right side of the hall, ducking just underneath his arm. He turned as I moved past him, and then Lero hit him full-on with his shoulder. Vahn was twice his size, but Lero still sent him sprawling, and he smacked into the wall and went down. I bit my lip to keep myself from crying out at seeing Vahn so savagely tossed aside. But what could I do?
I got to my feet and went onward, Lero closing in on me.
"Some friends," he said, angry at them, or at me, or at this entire situation.
"Just...just be careful with them!" I had no idea what to say. I didn't know exactly what was happening, but I wasn't ready to lash out at the people I had broken bread with for years without fully understanding. Until that time came, it was going to be about escape. Getting out, retreating, and figuring out what the hell was going on.
Finally, we made it to the entrance, where the narrow halls opened up into a wide space to accommodate the door and its hidden foyer. I skidded to a halt at the thick steel, slapping my palms against it. I grabbed at the heavy handle and tugged.
"It's not moving!" I grunted.
Lero stepped up beside me and wrapped his hands around the handle with me. Together, we pulled. And pulled. Nothing. It was like trying to move aside a mountain.
"Shit! Shit, shit, shit!" I was too panicked; had acted too quickly to think logically. Of course the front door would be sealed. Of course they would try to funnel us both in here to capture them. Stupid!
I spun and saw that we were up against five men who completely blocked our way back. All of whom I knew and recognized. It hurt me and scared me to see these faces look at me like I was the enemy.
Was I?
"Myra..." Lero was standing perfectly still, looking at the men.
"Don't fight," one of them said. Seamus, not a great thief but a grand fighter. "This'll be easier for everyone if'n ya don't struggle. C'mon, Myra. Skinny boy. Let's go."
"We don't have a choice," Lero said. But he was saying it to me, and I knew what he meant.
"No!" I hissed, but he had already started. There was no moonlight here—and the sun had probably risen outside by now—but he was still changing, faster than I thought he would be able to.
But in a flash, once my mind had cleared, I knew there was another way. To our right, set into the wall next to the door, was another panel. A smaller one that I knew about only because I was one of the smallest thieves at The Hole. I quickly reached out, tucked my fingers into the well-hidden slot, and slid the panel open. Once we got inside this wall, they'd have a hell of a time getting us. We could find our way out!
Before he could make a move, I grabbed Lero by the collar of his shirt and pulled him with me over to the slot in the wall. I slipped inside, fighting the small panic of claustrophobia in such a narrow space, and pulled Lero in after me.
Or, at least, I thought I did.
"Come on!" I urged, but I saw the problem. Lero had already started to change, and his enhanced bulk was now too big for this space in the wall. I was already three feet inside, and he wasn't going to fit in after me.
"No," I whispered. I turned my head and caught his eye. The men were already on him, grabbing at him.
"Don't do it, Lero," I pleaded. "I will find you, I swear. I have a plan." It was a lie, but there was nothing else to say. I couldn't let him kill everyone I knew. I also couldn't let him die, or be captured for good. "Trust me."
His green eyes searched mine for a way out, but there was none to find. He gave a slight nod before he was yanked away.
"Got him!"
"Yeah!"
"Where's Myra? ...Fuck."
The cries followed me into the walls of The Hole as I lost myself where they couldn't find or follow me. Into the complete and tight darkness of the secret passages. Only the children could chase me in here, the messenger boys and kitchen scrubs, and they wouldn't send them in. I could breathe. Barely. The walls pressed in on me, and I had to remind myself to keep my cool, that I knew where I was and how to get to where I needed to be. Easy to say, harder to think, especially when all around, above and below me were men looking for me high and low, who had already captured my...partner? Friend? Lero. They had already captured Lero, and they needed us both.
I felt my way through the darkness, touching rough wood and familiar grooves, stepping light and quiet so listening ears couldn't deduce my position. I came across a set of inlaid rungs and climbed them up a few feet, continuing onward, my mind racing.
Why had the Guild betrayed me? My ill-fated return to Baron Eaves' estate? No, that didn't make sense. I'd have heard it from Jed if they were going to punish me for that. And in my experience, the Guild didn't execute their troublemakers, not unless they threatened the sanctity of the gang. A ruling violation like mine was no grounds for this level of manhunt.
I heard voices through the wall and tried to make my way toward them. The people talking would be the ones who had Lero. I made soft, silent steps in perfect darkness, sliding my hands along the walls and not minding the splinters.
I accidentally kicked against a misaligned plank in the wall and let out a pained gasp, then hushed myself. I couldn't afford to give away my position. I stood stock-still and listened carefully to see if anyone had heard me. Waiting, hoping I hadn't just compromised everything.
Nothing. No lull in whispered conversation; no sudden, excited movements. So I kept going, following the noise that I heard. I didn't hear Lero, and I thanked him for that. It meant that he wasn't struggling or fighting, and it certainly meant that he hadn't changed. I'd be hearing at least a few more screams if he had.
I had to wait patiently sometimes for them to keep moving, or to figure out which way they were headed, but I didn't get lost. I knew this passage. This was the one that had been practically just for me; a safe and secure space, even if right now it felt a little more confining than it had in the past due to my state of mind. I just focused on breathing and listening, closing my eyes even though it made no difference.
Then, after some minutes, the voices stopped moving. I couldn't make out what they were saying, still, but I sensed that they had reached their destination. My best guess at where they had taken Lero was near the vault—probably the small entryway that led to the main door there. It would be a perfect spot to hold someone; small, confined, and only one way in or out. All six of them in there, including Lero, would be enough to stuff the room full. There would be no way for Lero to escape.
No way that he would resort to, I hoped.