Question. Did anyone enter for the 10 days of Awesomeness?
Third part to the short story.
I’m on a rooftop, lying flat and not moving. I can see Flame and Aine at the door with the mark on it. The last rays of the sun cast wide shadows that obscure me from view. Max and Sparky are on rooftops of neighbouring houses near me. I only know that they are there because of our mikes. They are barely visible and all you can see is a tiny, skin coloured earbud. They pick up from the vibrations in your jaw and allow you to hear as well as speak. “You’re right Aine, it’s the mark alright,” comes the voice of Sparky. Even though she’s not at the door, I saw her whizz to it and back before you could blink. I only knew this because all of my senses can keep up with fast movement. “Let’s see if this place has anything to offer,” said Flame, keeping his voice low. He turned the handle and walked forward.
Just before he entered the house, we all heard, “Whoa!” “What is it?” I asked. “A dart,” said Flame. “It whizzed right past me, clearly this room has been tampered a bit. Alex, Sparky, jump on the roof and see if you can find another way in.” Me and Sparky flew across the street below and landed lightly on the roof. We began searching, very slowly, for any signs of people, entrances or traps. “Hey,” said Sparky, “Check this out.” I walk over to her and lean down as she pushes a chunk of tiles down. They move together and are on hinges. The room below is very big, with double doors and looks like it belonged to someone very rich. “Bingo,” I said, smiling. “Wait,” says Aine. “Check for any more darts or traps.” I dangle down my belt and a dart flies into it. “Ah, crap,” I say. “I like my belt.” “Hey, look at that,” says Sparky, pointing to the floor. Nearly hidden from view is a small, black button. “Make a mace and drop it onto it,” she says. “If this doesn’t work, you’re paying for another one,” I say, growling. I know that she won’t want to pay for another one because a) they are extremely rare and b) they cost more than you will ever earn in your life. I take out one of my precious nunchucks, turn it into a mace, and then I drop it into the room. A dart flies and hits it, but with no effect. It lands on the button and nothing happens. I dangle down my belt once more, but no darts attack it. “You are sooooo lucky young lady,” I say to Sparky. “Flame, try walking in, I think I’ve disabled it.” A few moments later, we hear a door closing and Flame saying, “Nice work you two.” Sparky and I drop through the roof and I pick up my mace, which turns back into a nunchuck, and is slid back into my belt. We start searching around the room, looking for anything with the mark.
“Incoming,” cuts in Max. My heart speeds up. “Three guys in dark cloaks, heading your way. Don’t come out through the roof, they’ll see you,” says Max, in a low voice. Sparky and I look up and see that the roof tiles have slid into place, with no way of getting back out. I curse and then we hurry to either side of the double door. I pull out my nunchucks, and Sparky makes her hands start to glow. “They’ve reached the door, get ready,” says Max. We hear a door opening and closing below us. A male husky voice reaches us, “Did you not turn on the darts when we left?” Sparky and I look at each other in horror as we realise that we didn’t and couldn’t turn the darts back on, otherwise we would have been skewered. “Someone’s here,” comes another male voice, younger this time. We hear hurried footsteps, getting louder. Sparky and I tense as the footsteps become even louder, and the door handle turns. I slam my nunchucks into the first guy’s head as Sparky shocks the second. They both crumple to the ground with a crunch. I grin but Sparky looks worried. “Max, I thought you said that there were three of them,” she says slowly. “I did. Why?” The grin fades from my face as something hard slams into my back and my vision goes black.
