Chapter XI - Part I

The clouds seemed to be dancing in the sky. They swirled and rolled leading one on top and then the other. An endless game. The wind only seemed to encourage their dance, blowing hard and directing them to Sencor. The close houses and narrow streets were now directly under the clouds and massive raindrops started hitting the roofs. The rhythmic beat was perfect to accompany the dance of the clouds. No stars were visible at that hour, no animal nor bird made a sound. It was a beautiful, mesmerizing sight.

Andy stood behind her new home staring at the sky. The rain was refreshing despite its harsh coldness. She closed her eyes and let it cover her face. The storm made the guards stay hidden and for a moment she felt free. It rained so tight that her hair was soon dripping from excess water.

Something cold and hard hit her right between the eyes. She opened them in a haste, rubbing the spot. For a moment she thought it was hail, but the green reflection from the small sphere on the ground disagreed. Sencurium, she thought with awe. She barely managed to kneel to look at the metal closer, when another piece hit her back. She picked the little ball up and raised to her eyes. It was smaller than the piece she had found in the lake. It did have some sort of beauty in it, but its true value was still unclear to her.

It was dangerous to stay outside during a sencurium shower but prisoners had no choice. A shower gave them the chance to gather more metal than they would normally in a year. Not that the prisoners cared, but the Emperor did. Soon enough the crowds were filling the streets ignoring the pain of metal hitting their bare skin.

"It's better if you come inside," Hodge said startling Andy a bit. She nodded. The thought of running around getting hit by pieces of metal wasn't exactly appealing.

There was something off about Hodge. His usual calmness and a light smile were replaced with anxious eyes and a shaky presence. He was also wearing different clothes, black and shimmering.

"Is everything okay?" she asked, but he ignored her question.

"No matter what you hear or what happens," Hodge urged, "stay inside!"

"What are you going to do?" Andy asked, still standing in the rain. Obviously, something was wrong.

"It's better if you don't know," he answered. Andy could sense his nervousness. Whatever they were planning, it was something big.

"Are you sure there's nothing I can do to help?" She didn't like the feeling of being left out. She had set her eyes on being a team member, not just their servant.

"I'm sorry, Andy. We have been planning this for a long time now and we don't want to put you in any danger. If anything should happen to us, make sure you get out of here." His words started resembling a goodbye, something Andy was not prepared for.

"Promise me!" he asked.

"I promise!"

Hodge turned around and stepped inside. Andy followed him, wiping her forehead to stop the rain from getting into her eyes.

Aggie, Morgan, Paine, and Steele were waiting by the door. They were also wearing the strange black costumes and there were also masks. They didn't look like slaves or prisoners anymore. It was more like they had stepped out of one of Grandpa's stories. Everyone was quiet. The air seemed so thick, it could've been cut with a knife.

Without saying a word they stepped outside. Hodge looked back for a second waving goodbye. Andy tried to wave back but couldn't move before the door had already closed. She wasn't sure how she felt about being left behind. She was angry for being treated like a child. But there was also sadness they couldn't trust her enough to let her know their plans. But most of all, she felt scared they would never come back. Despite her little time with them, she had started to care for them. And because of that, she couldn't obey them. She took her Grandpa's box from the cupboard and put the sencurium, she had picked up, in there. She stroked the box one more time and put it back. It was the time she earned her place in their team.

* * *

The sencurium shower had given Samuel the perfect chance to go out unnoticed. The streets were filled with brown-clothed people gathering as many green balls as they could. Even new mothers were kneeling on the ground trying to catch every little piece.

He was having trouble finding the right house. Everything looked different after the sun went down. If she's outside, I will find her, he thought, but she probably isn't. He tried to make his way through the crowd but it seemed impossible. They were packed together too tight.

But then he saw her. A pale face staring outside looking worried. Samuel quickened his pace as the girl stepped outside. She wasn't picking up metal like everybody else, instead, she was looking around as if searching for something or someone. Her eyes locked somewhere and she smiled. Samuel turned around to see what she was looking at. Five figures dressed in black were across the street near the safe house yelling at people to move. Some guards had noticed the fuss and were nearing. One moment they were right in front of the safe house and the next there was a rising ball of blackened orange-red flame baking the startled air. The windows shook so violently some of them broke. Terrified screams filled the streets. Smoke and fire rushed out of the safe house. Thousands of pieces of glass and steel, a deadly rainfall, showered down. It was hard to see anything. Samuel's eyes started looking for any sign of the blue-haired girl. He pushed others aside, stepping over someone who had tripped and fell down. Where is she? was his only thought. A thousand different scenarios passed through his mind without really concentrating on any of them.

She was still standing there. Looking at the remains of the safe house, frozen in shock. Samuel grabbed her hand. She didn't react. He led her away. They had to get somewhere safe but there didn't seem to be a place in town where there would have been a quiet spot. People were crying, some were just standing in shock. and not only the prisoners, the guards also. Samuel didn't worry about his mother. Their house was far enough from the explosion.