Bound (The Guardians) (21 page)

When the train pulls into at the Absotras Link Station, I almost knock people out of the way to make it to the departing Poridos train. Once the doors open again, I bolt through the shopping district, around several corners. I stop to catch my breath by leaning on an alley wall and pick up into a jog once more. I climb the paved hill, passing trees and high-rise apartments. Finally I reach the Tower. I cautiously walk along the cobblestone path to the gates. 

They’re shut! I can’t believe this. The minute I actually want to get in, I can’t.

Hiding behind the thick fence, I creep up to the slim crystal bars. I can see the guards on the other side facing in towards the Tower. Surely if I go up and say who I am, they should let me in. Easy.

I begin to move in, but stop and duck back down. One of the guards picks up his radio. The voice on the other end asks, ‘Gate Checkpoint: Update on current missing bride Mellea, over.’

The guard lifts it to his mouth. ‘This is Gate Checkpoint: Currently no sightings, over.’

The voice says, ‘If she returns, place her in handcuffs and bring her immediately to conference room A, over.’

‘Roger that,’ he replies.

Handcuffs? Again? What do they think I’m going to do?

I can hear footsteps coming up the path not too far from me. Three raggedy looking boys run into sight. They scramble and duck behind the solid crystal fence. The trio laugh and quietly speak amongst themselves. I know who they are. Not personally, but I know they’re type. They’re young kids who get a thrill out of seeing how close they can get to the Guardians Tower before getting caught. It’s a well-known sport amongst the kids in this area.

‘Boys,’ I whisper, sliding with my back to the fence over to them. They gaze at me with fear in their eyes. ‘Don’t worry; I’m not here to bust you. I need a favour.’

‘What kind of favour?’ asks the one with a bandage on his face.

I glance around and back to them. ‘I need you to distract the guards so I can get into the Tower.’

The smallest one questions, ‘How’re you gonna do that?’

I survey the area. I quickly notice a strong looking tree with branches stretching out. If I can climb up it, I should be able to jump onto the fence and slide down the other side.

‘There,’ I say pointing at it.

The bandaged boy scoffs. ‘You’d never make it. You’re crazy lady.’

‘And besides, our services aren’t free,’ comments the final, oldest boy.

I reach into my bra and tug around. The boys gawk at me with wide eyes. I quickly pull out every last note of the money my mother gave me. They look at me strangely. ‘What? This dress doesn’t have pockets. This is all I’ve got, have we got a deal?’

‘Whoa, that’s our allowances for a month!’ says the bandage boy. ‘You’ve got it.’

The three boys run towards the gates, the oldest snapping the money from my hand on the way through. I begin climbing the tree… which is more difficult that I had first thought. The pretty little shoes they gave me to wear aren’t exactly designed for climbing. I throw my leg over the branch. I’m so thankful for the tights I’m wearing underneath my dress.

I shimmy my way along the branch, stomach first. I can see down to the fence. The kid who told me I was crazy was right. It’s a lot further than expected. But what’s worse is the burning irony. I’ve spent all this time trying to get out of the Tower. Now I’ve paid to get back in!

I wait, as close to the edge of the branch as I dare, looking down at the boys. They dance around near the gates pulling faces, slapping their butts and so forth. But the guards are used to shenanigans and simply ignore them.

The oldest boy glances at me and shrugs. I push my hands up in the air as if to say, ‘You need to try harder!’

The bandage boy reaches into his pocket and pulls out a sparkler. He lights the end and tosses it over the fence. It pops and one of the guards turns to give the boy a verbal serve. When he notices parts of the grass are on fire, he and the other guard rush to put out the embers. The boys bolt.

This is it. I line up and take a deep breath. Bracing myself, I leap through the air, fly over the fence and crash land into some squared bushes. They break my fall, to an extent. I don’t snap any bones or joints. But the spiny little branches stick into my skin and scratch me. Rolling in one stiff position, I topple sideways and crouch down behind them. I poke my head out. The guards are still distracted, radioing in the disturbance. One guard opens up the gate double checking the boys are gone.

I make a break for it, following the backs of the garden hedges on hands and knees.

I try desperately not to squeal as insects fly into my face. Finally, I make it to the other side of the Tower. I stand up, dust myself off and shudder from the bug attack. I’m at the rear of the third pillar, the loading dock, it’s the “back door” and the safest bet.

The doors for the training room and flyer hangar are closed. But as I step closer they open automatically. I look around several times before gradually back stepping into the training room.

My movements are stopped by a hand wrapping around my mouth and waist. The person pulls me backwards. I can’t see who it is. I kick as they drag me around the corner and into the flight board storage room. The person pushes me hard against the wall. They keep me pinned with their hand over my mouth. I’m now facing the assailant.

It’s Leo.

It’s pleasing to see he has finally emerged from his bedroom. He’s also changed from his black funeral clothes, finally. He has on dark blue jeans and a pressed off-white buttoned shirt, the top opened to reveal his lightning stone necklace. The sleeves of the shirt were supposed to be long, but they’re folded around his elbows. On the outside, he looks good. But his blue eyes are still tired and full of sadness.

He’s doing what is expected of him, even though he’s not ready to move on.

‘Do you have any idea…?’ Leo says loudly. I cringe. But he then softens his voice and stares at me with those big blue eyes. ‘Do you have any idea how
worried
I was about you?’

It’s an unexpected question, one that throws me off a bit. I lower my gaze at first before flicking my eyes back to him. I try to say, ‘I’m sorry,’ but with his hand over my face all I can manage is the sounds and not the articulation.

Leo speaks. ‘I came downstairs to find you last night. I wanted to thank you for the kindness you showed me, the kindness I do not deserve. But your room was empty. I questioned Anrella and Demmi they had not seen you. I checked with the guards, the staff and anyone else I could think of. Nothing. It was like you had vanished.’

I nod casually. I can see why he would think that.

‘And, by the way,’ Leo says, ‘that was a
very
interesting move, jumping over the fence like that. Clearly I need to tell someone to have that tree trimmed… or removed. But did you think we wouldn’t see you? On a normal day we have cameras filming the fence lines at all times. Our security has tripled since the MECH attack. It turns out someone is a bit…reckless.’

I’ve been called a lot of different things before, but reckless isn’t one of them. But it doesn’t really matter if they saw me. I expected they would. I got back in.

Leo lets go of me gently. He pulls back and his hands slide into the tops of his pockets. ‘You should not have run away. You know how dangerous things are right now. For your own safety, I would think you would stay here where it is safe. Not go running away the moment you have a chance. I thought you were past all that. You should apologise to me.’

‘What?’ I cry out. I’m back five minutes and he’s pulling his old stunts. From his little speech before I thought he might have learnt something. What about all that stuff about him
thanking me
? I guess that moment passed or I missed it, or something.

I shout, ‘Hey, even if I did run away, which I didn’t, it’s totally justifiable. You’ve been such a jerk since the first moment we met!’

Leo tilts his head. ‘Then… what do you really think of me? Because I feel as if I am getting my signals crossed. You were the one who climbed into
my
bed, not the other way around…’

My jaw drops from shock and embarrassment. How dare he turn my good and kind gesture into something vulgar!

I stumble, ‘Y-you want to know what I think of you? I think you’re spoilt, immature and totally childish! I wish you would stop trying to be this Successor character you have built up for yourself and be Leo. I like that guy, I do. He’s nice and sweet and fun. And if you really like me too, at all, then you need to start trusting me. Otherwise…I might as well go away for real and never come back.’

Leo pauses for a moment, thinking. His eyes turn back to me. ‘You… like me then?’

I ask in a monotone, ‘That’s what you got out of
all that
?’ Geez, what about the criticisms? Did he roll right over that? I cross my arms with the left wrist on top.

Leo moves closer and takes that hand. ‘You are still wearing your engagement bracelet.’

I roll my eyes. ‘Duh, I can’t take it off, remember? It’s not like I had time to source out someone with a welding iron or something. Is this thing permanent or what?’

Leo laughs gently, it makes me tingle. He shakes his head. ‘No, there is a key, do not worry. I would never actually lock something onto you… that would be really weird.’

‘See, there.’ I say pointing at him. Leo blinks. ‘That’s the one… that’s the real Leo I was talking about.’ I move forward and reach up. I carefully place both hands on each side of his face. ‘Just remember what this feels like, what it’s like to be sweet and gentle. Be this Leo for me, all right? Because if you do, if only just for me, I promise I will never run away from you… or at least, not without a good reason.’ I smile at him.

Leo turns a shade of red I’ve never seen before. He’s actually blushing. His blue eyes stand out even more against the colour of his cheeks. They dart uncomfortably around the ground. ‘Y-yes…I will try…’ he mumbles.

I move my hands away and Leo notices my mother’s ring. He takes my fingers gently in his left hand. ‘Where did you get this?’

‘My mother gave it to me… for my birthday.’

‘You saw your mother?’ Leo asks with a shocked face.

My body goes cold.

‘That’s right, the reason I came back… it’s to do with my father and the MECHs.’

Footsteps quickly echo through the storage room. ‘Well, well, well… look who has returned,’ says a shrill voice from the doorway. It’s Elentia standing with two Tower guards. ‘I am very glad you are safe. However, we still have to do this—’ She clicks her fingers and a guard grabs me. He handcuffs my wrists behind my back. It hurts and I cry out.

Leo shouts at Elentia, ‘What is the meaning of this? What are you doing to her?’

‘Orders,’ she replies. ‘Your grandfather wishes to see you both…
now.
’

Chapter Thirty-five

Dorkarn sits at the table with his arms folded. Elentia is beside him with a folder in her hands. Leo and I sit on the opposite side of the desk. I perch with my arms still handcuffed behind my back. We’re in the small, mirror-covered room where I was first reunited with my parents. That seems like years ago now.

Elentia opens the folder and slaps photo after photo out before me. I turn my head away, closing my eyes.

Dorkarn says, ‘These came in this morning. Our first leads on the MECHs. You had best look at this Mellea. You have explaining to do and you need to start now.’

I sluggishly turn back and glance down. The photographs are all Sentry hidden camera shots of MECHs, including my father. They show him normal looking and then transformed, shooting a few officers with his new gun arm. The worst part is he’s smiling. I can’t stand to see him like this.

Leo reaches across the table and slides the photos closer to him. It seems like this is the first time he has seen them as well.

‘Mellea… look at me…’ he says softly. I slowly lift my head, glancing at him. He asks, ‘Did you know about this? That your father is one of our enemies?’

‘I only just found out, I swear. He wasn’t always like this, it’s new. After we visited the town he went off with one of them and was changed. I haven’t seen him since.’

Elentia tips her head and asks, ‘Where exactly
did
you go last night, little security-slipping bride-to-be?’ She holds up her electronic tablet and turns it on its side. There’s footage from outside the Tower playing. ‘This is right before you leave…’ suddenly the camera goes fuzzy for a moment, then it comes back, ‘…and this is after your disappearance.’

I laugh in shock. ‘Are you saying that
I
messed with the cameras? I can’t even set up my own profile on Leo’s game!’

Elentia puts her tablet down. ‘No, I do not think that.
But
someone had access to the security grid, someone who is good with their hands and technology… someone who is now a MECH, perhaps?’

My mouth falls open and my eyes are wide. I shout, ‘You think my Da helped me? If he was here in the Tower you guys would know, right?’

‘That is uncertain,’ she says with a smug face. She loves this new role, playing the lawyer. ‘The MECHs got into the Tower undetected last time. Who is to say they could not find a way to do it again?’

I scream and shove the table with my body. I’m sick of this. They tell me I’m supposed to a bride, a Guardian, and then they treat me like a bothersome outsider! I shout, ‘That’s because they came through the water pipes, the ones under the Tower! By not destroying them twenty-odd years ago, you guys might as well have opened the doors and shouted “come on in MECHs!”’

Elentia grins wickedly. ‘Those pipes and information concerning them are highly classified. But you know because your father is the one that built them. He told the MECHs how to get in and has placed the legacy of the Guardians in grave danger. You’ve tricked us into believing you were a country girl when that’s really not the case. You were simply working us from the inside, helping to plan out the perfect day and time for an attack.’

Elentia stands up and leans over the table. ‘Your father told you when you first arrived to fight against us from within. We it have it on video, so do not bother trying to deny it. Not long after we get viciously attacked and
you
escape. Case closed in my opinion.’