I do my best to ignore Griffin's open stares and his cheeky smiles in my direction. He laughs every time he looks at me and I don't like it. It's starting to make me feel self conscious. Nightmare obviously does his best to run the meeting, stuttering here and there. Oh~ he's gotten better.

"Little gurl enjoy last night?" Griffin teases with a toothy grin, resting his head on his hand.

"Uh ... yes?" I say, puzzled. I was out like a rock last night.

"Ha. I give little gurl warning, then. Turtle of Mock? Lonely man. Little gurl? Delicious prey." He deeply chuckles, tugging on my arm.

"What are you talking about?" I growl, smacking his hand as I pull my arm away.

"I say, careful of Turtle of Mock. He spend, allllll time in Building with Books, no woman to pleasure Turtle of Mock." Griffin says, never looking away from my eyes as I uneasily stare at him. Yeah, I get that Cyan is lonely. But I know he would never hurt me.

"Meeting adjourned!" Nightmare suddenly shouts as he bolts up from his chair, practically diving into the next room with his face flushing a deep shade of red. Everyone in the meeting stares after him, startled by his abrupt actions. Wasn't he just in the middle of a sentence? Gray stares after him oddly before heavily sighing, following after him into the room.

"Ha! Coward silk worm." Griffin deeply chuckles, getting up from his tiny chair which looked like it was about to shatter from his weight. I stand up along with him, ignoring the small cavalry of gladiators around us. Maybe I can slip out of here and meet up with Cyan? That could be nice, getting away from the meetings and all. I think there's one more after this one, right? I think it's during the next Time Period so I don't get too long of a break. I glance in either direction before slipping out the door, ditching Griffin as I trot down that halls. Ah ha~ free at last-

"Hey Jackie." Elliot grins lightly patting my back. Darn it I spoke too soon. I whip up a smile, however, and look up to him.

"Hey Elliot. Carrot shop?" I ask, spying that similar sparkle in his eyes he gets when he wants to take me to a carrot dessert shop - and wants a discount to go with it.

"Yes! Would you like to go?" He says, the drool practically piling up in his mouth already. I chuckle and adjust my shirt before nodding. "Yeah, that sounds like fun."

"Awesome! Blood, would you-,"

"I would love to, really, but I have other business to attend to that doesn't involve orange." Blood immediately declines, walking off in the opposite direction with a hurries pace. I chuckle at his reluctance as an evil thought crosses my mind.

"Hey, Elliot, why don't we buy some for Blood so he can have some later?" I ask loud enough for Blood to hear.

"Hey, that sounds like a great idea!" Elliot enthusiastically says, ears twitching with excited anticipation. He holds his arm out for me to take. I stare at it, hesitating before letting him escort me like a proper gentleman. I haven't been able to hang out with him for a while so I can at least give him this much. Oh yeah, and if the shop doesn't think we are a couple they won't give us the discount but they've seen us enough to know I think. Well, to think they know but what they know is wrong. I chuckle at the confusing wording, ignoring Elliot's concerned look my way before he brushes it off.

The streets are crowded with people as they too escape the meeting, although most of them are daily travelers on these streets. Elliot walks along the outside, keeping me closer to the shops to avoid the main bulk of traveling people. I smile at his concern and actions as he pushes me over a step or two to avoid running into people head first himself. He's such a gentleman.

"WHOA-!" A teenager shouts as he barrels into Elliot's stomach. His eyes pop open in shock as he is knocked right off his feet and onto the ground.

"Oh my gosh-!" I cry, more out of being surprised by the unforeseen tackle. The boy immediately becomes flustered as he gets off of Elliot, vanishing into the crowd.

"S-Sorry mister! Please forgive me!" He shouts before melting out of view. Elliot leans forward to get up before someone's foot catches on his leg, tripping the young woman right on top of him.

"O-Oh! My apologies, sir." She says just as another guy trips on her shoes and lands on top of them both.

"I say, why are you laying on the ground?" He asks before I stiffen with a new realization. There's so many people here that they aren't going to see the ones that fell. I take a step forward before a heavy hand slaps over my mouth and waist, ripping me into a nearby building. My eyes grow wide as I try to whip my head around, feeling a soft wet clothe press against my mouth. I whip my head from side to side as I try to shout, almost immediately feeling my body grow heavy. O-Oh wha ... ?

CYAN'S POV

I watch the small calamity in the street with interest as faceless after faceless pile up on one another, all on top of the March hare. During the distraction I hop through the window and swing up onto the shingled roof of the building Jackie was pulled into. I cannot let myself be seen even if it is a small glimpse. Role Holders must not know of my existence.

It is the rule.

Very silently I plod along the edge of the roof top, never taking my eyes off of the men carrying the burlap sack nonchalantly down the alley. My eyes narrow over them as I leap onto another roof, following them the whole way through the alley and into less crowded streets. Yes, that's right. Get yourselves all alone with no witnesses. I reach back and flip out a kunai, darting to another rooftop as they enter one of Griffin's prized and most favorite wine shops. I watch through the large windows as they take her down the stairs, vanishing out of sight.

I will end you before you know what happened.

JACKIE'S POV

My limbs ache as they weight me down, feeling my knees press against my shoulders as my feet tap against something solid. Oh gosh ow ... where am I? My head stiffly cranes back but feels a solid resistance pressing against the back of my head and the top. Pure darkness fills the area as I open my eyes, unable to see even a little bit of light in the enclosed area. Ugh ... where am I? I shift my legs, feeling the weight of my own body pressing hard against my shoulders. Ow that hurts. Am I upside down?

"Hey, Jerry, she's wakin' up." An uncaring voice grunts as something creaks. Oh my gosh where the hell am I?! I bulk as something heavy slams against the top of the enclosed space I'm in, hearing the unmistakable clapping of wood. This container is roundish but taller. I shift around a bit, kicking the edges and feeling the rounded rim. Am I in a barrel? I lightly sniff the air and gag, smelling the undeniable stench of alcohol. Bleh ...

"Hey, foreigner. Just keep nice and quiet in there and we will consider letting you go after the job is through." A man says as something else taps the barrel.

"What makes you think Hatter's will even come here for her? I thought the foreigners are just their little pawns and toys."

"Yes, they are. However, those Hatter's care for their toys and don't dispose of them so easily. They will come." The man reassures as what sounds like fingers thrum against the lid of the barrel.

"Oh gosh dang it! Can you at least let me out? It's cramped in here." I openly complain. In complete honesty this isn't the first time this has happened and it pisses me off that they are holding me for the Hatters of all people. They're going to get mowed down don't they get that?

"Fine." I growl, trying to get more comfortable. "Gosh this is uncomfortable." I complain, struggling to sit upright at least.

"Oh, you're uncomfortable? Here, let me take your mind off of that." A faceless heartlessly says as I hear something click. He wouldn't-!

BANG BANG BANG

My heart races as I stare at the six holes filtering light into the barrel, two in the front and two in the back. Oh my gosh ... he just actually tried to kill me.

"Hey, hey. Hatters aren't going to come after a corpse." A faceless heavily sighs.

"All they know is that we have her. Why do we need her alive?" The faceless asks with a grunt. Everything falls silent with the exception of my frantically beating heart. N-No way ... am I really going to die here, in a barrel?

"You know, you're right, Joe." The man says as I hear another click. My heart nearly jumps out of my chest as I bring my legs over before slamming them into the side, tipping the barrel over.

"D*** it, who's the numbskull that put her and the other barrels of wine by the stairs?!" The man shouts as I feel my body weight shift.

"STAIRS?!" I scream from within the barrel, bracing myself for harsh impact. I covering my head with my arms as best I can, feeling my weight wildly thrash around from side to side in jerking stops and aching smacks. A thunderous cascade bangs into the barrel, smacking my arms against the sides as I make too many hard stops to count. What is this a spiral stair case?! I clench my teeth and squeeze my eyes tightly shut, waiting for the painful descent to stop.

My stomach churns and aches as I make on last loop around the barrel, feeling it roll back and forth to a weary stop. I brace my hands above my head and weakly stomp my foot with all my concentrated might, making the lid budge slightly. I rear back and kick again, popping the lid off. It dances off in the distance before rolling to a stop and flopping over with a loud smack. Red and violet wine cover the ground from broken and cracked barrels, some still leaking the last of their alcoholic beverages onto the cement ground.

I achingly groan as I crawl backwards out of the barrel, collapsing onto my back as I watch the ceiling twist in a dizzying circle. My eyes squint, spying something large move about the large, thick wooden support beams on the ceiling. Oh~ gosh this hurts I groan and curl my back in, bending my knees up towards the ceiling in an attempt to get up. Ow ... everything is hurting ...

"D*** it! Hurry up and kill her before she finds the back exit!" A man shouts as I hear heavy boots stomping down the staircase. Crap ... they're going to kill me if I don't move. I struggle to lift my right leg and twist to the side, jolting as I feel something thick wrap around my ankle. My gaze shoots up, spying a thick cord wrapped around my leg.

"What the-?!" I nearly scream as it shoots into the air, nearly ripping my leg out of my socket. A quick, gloved hand smacks against my face and grips my cheeks, silencing my scream as I heavily breathe. My wide eyes search the green turtle mask, spying Cyan's cool and collected bright blue eyes behind the eye holes. He slowly reaches up with his other hand, placing a finger to his beak in a silencing motion. My jaw locks up as I cover my mouth with my hands, trying to slow my loud breathing as I hastily nod. Cyan glances me over before pulling up his mask slightly to reveal the black fabric over his lips, pressing the covered mouth against my stomach before coiling the cord around a nearby post and slipping deeper into the rafters closer to the entrance of the stairs. A short, chubby faceless comes bouncing down the stairs, shooting his gaze around the large empty area.

"She must still be in one of these barrels." One of them says, missing the blaringly obvious empty barrel just a few short yards away from him.

"Shoot them all for what I care." The lanky one says, wheezing after running down the stairs. I jolt as they shoot at the barrels on by one, watching as some practically explode from the force of the bullet entering the tightly seals barrel and others being torn to shreds by their AK-47s. T-That was the barrel I was in. If I had stayed quiet and still like they instructed they still would have killed me.

My eyes drift back up to the rafters, watching Cyan position himself on a few thick boards. He slips out a thin green piece of bamboo and takes out an even smaller what looks like to be a dart filled with pink fluid before stuffing it into one end of the bamboo. My eyes dart to the skinny faceless as he takes aim, coolly raising the mask above his nose and pulls his fabric mask down. His soft yet firm looking lips curl around the end of the tube, deeply inhaling through his nose. With quick precision he shoots the dart out and hits his target.

"YEOW! D*** mosquitoes!" The man spits, wiping his hand across his neck as he crushes the tiny tube in his fingers. As he wipes his hand on his shirt he wobbles slightly. Cyan reaches back and pulls out a kunai from his thigh strap, deafly moving around the obstacles with easy grace. He settles into his perch just above the fallen man, keeping his eyes on the chubby one as he looks over his shoulder.

"Hey, Jerry, what's the matter?" The faceless asks, walking towards him. My eyes widen with horror as I spy pink foam building up in the man's mouth, watching as he struggles to spit out the onslaught of chocking foam. Oh my gosh - poison? I shudder at the sight and keep a firm hand over my mouth. I can't believe I just watched Cyan kill someone. My eyes tightly squeeze shut as Cyan drops from the rafters, not wanting to see what he was planning to do. I shiver as I hear the distinct cutting of a knife through flesh, hearing a faint groan before someone collapsed. Oh, my gosh ... he killed them, just like that. They were going to kill me, yeah, but seeing and hearing Cyan actually kill them ... is almost unthinkable. I never would have imagined Cyan being able to kill someone but it's to be expected. He's a Role Holder, after all.

I flinch as Cyan's arm gently cradles my shoulders and pulls me towards one of the support beams. I twist around and wrap my arms around his shoulders, holding myself over as he unhooks the cord from my knee. My legs swing down, nearly tumbling down onto the concrete ground before his arm securely wraps around my waist. I hang on tight as he hops down from the rafters, his legs bending to absorb the shock of the ground. He smoothly stands up, setting my on my feet.

'The meetings are over, Jackie. Do you wish to return to the Library with me?' He writes, presenting it to me. My eyes shakily scan over the words, hardly making out the letters before nodding my head. He studies me for a few moments before tucking the notebook into his shirt. I turn to leave up the stairs but his arm sweeps behind my knees as the other hooks around my shoulders. I open my mouth to protest but the words get stuck behind a lump in my throat. My head gently thumps against his shoulder as he carries me deeper into the back and through two large wooden trap doors leading to an alley.

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Ohhhhhh what do you guys think is going to happen? 10 REVIEWS for the next chapter~ which is already on it's way and I got the next three chapters outlined for ya :3