Here is the twelfth installment in the yarn wars. I hope you’re enjoying it. I don’t know what I’m going to blog about when it’s done, though, since I’ve been so busy with the start of school!
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Why would Kira have been in this building, snooping in an office? Maeve wondered. The government guy had said so in front of Kira’s house. Had she uncovered something, like in the dystopian novels they were always reading?
There was only one way to find out. Maeve tucked her hair behind her ears and started for the building. She looked at the directory outside the door, reading quickly so nobody would see her.
1st Floor: Administrative
2nd Floor: Coffee
3rd Floor: Offices
All the way up to…
13th Floor: Holding Cells
That certainly made it easy!
Maeve counted up thirteen windows and set her eyes on the target. She needed to get to the fire escape, where she could climb the rest of the way up.
Then Maeve saw a trellis winding its way up the wall. It looked rather delicate, though. She put two hands on a higher rung and eased her foot up. The trellis let out a complaining groan and it leaned slightly off the wall. Maeve shuddered. She hated heights, and falling from one was not appealing.
Kira was seriously going to owe her after this was all over.
Maeve climbed quickly, avoiding thorns from the various roses scattered along her path. The trellis creaked and groaned, shifting back and forth. Maeve tried not to look down.
At last she reached the fire escape. About three more rungs and she would be able to climb onto it. Of course, the trellis chose that moment to snap under her feet.
Maeve just barely muffled a scream and began to pedal her legs furiously, hanging on tightly with her hands. One of her expensive sandals fell off and plummeted to the parking lot below. If only she’d worn a more suitable outfit!
She searched frantically for another rung, but her hand slipped. Now she was hanging by one sweaty hand, which was sliding rapidly. Maeve hugged the trellis with her other arm, wondering if this was how she was going to die.
Her other hand slipped, and this time Maeve couldn’t hold back her scream. “Help!” she hollered at the top of her lungs. If she couldn’t save Kira, at least she could save herself.
Then Maeve choked as something yanked her around the neck. Miraculously, her fall stopped. Maeve reached up and pulled herself back onto the trellis.
Her knitted scarf had caught on a nail and prevented her from falling. Maeve couldn’t believe how lucky she was. She looked at the pavement below and tried not to think about the fact that she could have been dead right now.
Then she remembered where she was and scrambled back up the trellis, avoiding the broken rung from before. With great relief she flopped onto the fire escape.
Maeve looked at the twelve flights of scary stairs above her and cursed her fear of heights. Gripping the railing tightly, she started climbing.
–
Maeve arrived at the top ten minutes later, panting. She then discovered a large flaw in her plan. The door was locked.
“Really?” she whispered. She had faced death to be stopped by a silly lock?
Who said it was going to stop her?
Maeve pulled a hairpin out of her bun. Her curly brown hair was always in her face, so she’d learned to put it up before leaving the house. She inserted it into the lock and wiggled it back and forth. There were some vague clicking noises, but the door stayed stubbornly locked.
Maeve slumped back onto the fire escape, feeling defeated. If the door wouldn’t unlock, she couldn’t get in, and therefore she couldn’t find and save Kira. Somehow she needed to find a way in, but this way clearly wasn’t going to work.
Then an idea popped into her head. It was somewhat faulty, and more than a bit risky, but it was the only way. Maeve stood up and hollered, “Help! Fire in the prison! FIRE!!!”
This was the risky part of her plan. Would the guards not recognize her voice, and realize she didn’t work there? Or would they notice her hiding outside the emergency exit? Maeve was hoping they would be too concerned about getting out alive to notice her. She crouched next to the emergency exit, where the door would conceal her when it opened.
“Where?!” someone yelled inside. Maeve crossed her fingers, hoping they would believe her.
“It’s gonna spread! We’ve gotta get out!” a voice responded. Maeve heard footsteps making their way to the door, and it flew open. It smashed into Maeve’s nose, which started to bleed.
After the initial “Ow!”, Maeve stayed quiet. She pinched the aforementioned nose, trying to stop the blood. A group of about ten people thundered down the fire escape, three of them struggling with earphones, presumbly to call 911.
Maeve caught the door before it closed, ignoring the shrieking alarm. Hopefully it would evacuate the rest of the building. She had to get in, find Kira, and get her out…all before the fire department came.
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I don’t know what I was thinking when I chose Maeve’s name. Picking names is my favorite part of writing, but I’m not the biggest fan of this one. At least it doesn’t take a long time to type.
Have a lovely day, I will talk to you later. <3
[…] Part Twelve […]