Chapter Thirteen:

Hospitals and Tramps

1205

The ride to the Templar camp was hard. Each corner we turned, there seemed to be more terrain to cross over, which slowed our progress. At one point, Malik suggested abandoning the horses, but we realized that we'd need them for the long stretches that weren't covered with fallen rocks.

By the time we reached the camp, it was hours after sunset. Perfect for a night attack. We tied our horses to the trees that the cover of the forest gave us. The Templars believed that hiding their camp in a forest would be smart, but we'd known it was there the day they moved their camp. They were nothing if not obvious.

"Our main concern is to find Ahdara," Altair said as we crept to the edge of their camp. "If you find anything of value while searching for her, be sure to take it. We will split up and cover ground quicker that way. Maria, you go with Suna and search the far side of the camp. Malik and I will search this area."

Maria, Malik and I nodded, and then we quickly went off. Maria had been quiet when she learned that I was still alive. I could only imagine what she was thinking. I remembered that she had chastised Altair for using the Apple on me, and now I was sure that she was far from pleased. I only hoped that she would cheer up later.

We quietly moved through the camp, watching the patrols walk past us as if we did not exist. Everyone in the camp was tired, and the moral was low. I had no doubt that the word of their leader's demise had reached them.

Maria stopped me when a battalion crossed in front of us. We pressed ourselves gently against one of the tents and tried to blend. We did, and so we continued searching.

"When I was with the Templars, they usually put their prisoners at the edge of camp. They tortured them often, and so they did not want to put them in the middle of the camp so as to awaken their soldiers," Maria informed me. "Since their tactics haven't changed much, I am willing to bet that they still do so."

I nodded. "Then we will look at the edges. No point in us having to risk being spotted in the middle of the camp."

We sprinted to the edge, but saw a few guards coming towards us. Without thinking, Maria and I leaped into a tent to hide. We were lucky that no one was inside, waiting for us.

I breathed in relief as the guards passed, clueless. And then I heard something, like wind in tunnels. But there were no tunnels!

Maria heard it too, and so we started to poke around the tent. Maria shoved a desk over and quietly brought me over, pointing to a trapdoor. We opened it and descended, without a second thought. But when we hit the ground, we accidentally alerted some Templar guards.

"Assassins!" one of them managed to scream before I stabbed him through the eye. Maria dispatched the other one just as easily.

"And now we need to hurry," Maria remarked. "If they went through the trouble of making tunnels, I am sure that your cousin will be down here."

"I hope so."

We ran around the tunnels, trying to dodge patrols as they went to investigate the scream that my latest victim had made. We were out of breath, and the warmth of the tunnels did nothing to help us. Eventually, we happened upon a Templar, who was sitting in a chair and glaring at the only prisoner he had.

"Stupid girl…" he muttered. "If you weren't 'ere, I could jus' leave and go eat or somethin'!"

Ahdara made no effort to respond. Her hands were held in shackles above her head. I couldn't imagine how her shoulders felt.

The guard snorted. "Maybe if I jus' said you tried to attack me, and I retalia'ed, then the boss wouldn't min' at all!"

As soon as the guard put his hand on his sword, I struck, driving my hidden blade into his back. He screamed, and I twisted the blade, getting it further into his lungs.

"Bastard…" I growled. "You will not touch her!"

He fell into the bars and slid down. I grabbed the keys on his belt and opened the cage, then rushed to Ahdara to open her shackles. She collapsed into my arms, a breath of relief escaping her.

I adjusted her and put her on my back as best I could, Maria helping me. "Let's go," I said.

Maria nodded. "We will need to find a tunnel that takes us directly to the surface. You cannot climb a ladder with Ahdara."

"Maybe we can find a ledge. You could climb up, take Ahdara, and I would follow."

"We shall see when the time comes."

We quickly made our way through the network of tunnels, following the sound of the winds. With luck, they would lead us out.

Hold on, Ahdara.

2012

"… Multiple lacerations, heart failure, and there's evidence of drowning and third-degree burns. She went through hell." There was a tapping that I didn't recognize. "And she still came out of it."

"Heart failure?" I heard a man snort. "You saw it! It didn't fail! There was a hole the size of my fist through that thing! It shouldn't be beating at all!"

"Then she's damn lucky," the first man replied. "The surgery went well, and she's all stitched up. She should be out for a few days, at the least."

I heard someone suddenly come in. "Doctor Williams! Doctor Hanson! There's another patient needing surgery immediately!"

"We're coming," one of the Doctors assured the woman. "Let's go."

I heard shuffling, and then nothing. Everywhere hurt. I only then realized that I was in a hospital. Late reaction, huh? My fingers twitched absently as I peeled my eyes open. When did I black out?

Last thing I remembered was barely being able to keep my eyes open, let alone focus. Lights above me sped past; women and men in light blue and white running alongside me, but I wasn't running with them because they were pushing me on a stretcher; the smell of chemicals invading my nostrils, making me woozy—all of those things only gave me a quick glimpse, and it was enough.

My fingers twitched again. I hadn't asked Rebecca and Shaun to take me to the hospital. I didn't want them to, but I'd been too weak to argue, and I wasn't healing. But I was still alive. Still alive.

Using what strength I had, I pushed myself into a sitting position. The beeping on the monitor beside me started to hurry as I did so. A breathing mask was over my mouth, helping me breathe.

I decided I didn't really need it anymore.

I took it off and put it next to the monitor. My robes had been swapped for those horrible hospital clothes, and so I had to find them. I started to panic as I realized my weapons were gone as well, but I calmed myself down. Most likely, everyone would think they were simply models, as the metal they were forged with never set off any metal detectors, even in airports. They'd probably be with the rest of my things.

I hopped off the bed and regretted it. I fell flat on my face, hurting the tiny areas on my body that weren't already. I grabbed onto the ledge of a window in my room and pulled myself up, and then I spotted scissors. I grabbed them and cut off the stitches on my body, knowing that they would only slow down my healing. I was right.

I snuck out of my hospital room, holding the backside of my hospital robe to preserve some of my dignity. It didn't stop my face from turning a deep crimson every time someone looked at me, though. This is the stupidest robe anyone's ever created! I fumed in my head.

My things were in a cubical in the laundry room. I let out a breath I'd been holding in, knowing that my worrying was for nothing. As quickly as I could, I donned my robes and put my weapons in their respective places before I pulled my hood up over my face. Now I just had to sneak out and find where Rebecca, Shaun and Mason were.

Besides the fact that I searched all ten waiting rooms before I found Mason, it was a relatively short trip.

As soon as he saw me, I could tell he was going to say something, so I pressed a finger to my lips and inclined my head to the side, quietly telling him to come. He obeyed and joined me. As soon as we walked out of the hospital, I let Mason talk.

"What the hell? The doctors said you should be totally out of it for days! You shouldn't even be walking!" Mason exclaimed.

"I'm not walking," I corrected him. "I'm limping. Can't you see?"

"I can! But you're missing the point—!"

"Where's Rebecca and Shaun?" I asked, cutting him off.

Mason frowned, but allowed me to change the topic. "They went back to the hideout for that glowing ball. Didn't you call it the Apple…? Anyway, they said they'd be back soon. They just wanted to make sure that it was unharmed and that a certain old man hadn't run away with it."

"… So, both of them left?"

"Yep."

"Neither of them stayed?"

"Nope."

"Even though you're a potential Templar who could've killed me in my sleep?"

"Hey! I haven't attacked anyone once! Well, except for those idiots in the park…" Mason smiled. "Heh, what can I say? What would the world be like without Knights who save women from random idiots?"

"What would the world be without Knights who save women running from guards?"

I immediately blocked out the memory and pushed it into a teeny, tiny corner of my brain. Mason seemed to notice something was a bit wrong, and was about to ask when a high-pitched sound caught our ears.

"Jeremy! Jeremy, thank God I found you!"

We ignored the screeching from the girl and continued walking, and then she jumped onto Mason's back. Mason fell forwards unexpectedly and slammed his face into the concrete, though I was sure that much damage had not been done.

"I've been looking everywhere, you idiot!" the girl screeched. She was my age (or my "aged appearance", at least), maybe a bit older, with blonde hair that reached to the middle of her back, and it was curly. She was wearing all black, which startled me for some reason. I guess it must have been because of how hot it was outside, despite the winter months.

"Please, lady…" Mason groaned. "Get off of me."

She realized the position they were in and scrambled off of him. "S-Sorry!" Once Mason got to his feet, she embraced him again. This time with a little less aggression. "I'm so happy! I thought something awful happened to you!"

Mason rubbed the back of his head and looked at me, pleading. That's when the girl noticed me frowning at her.

"Who's this?" she asked Mason.

I was the one who answered. "Samantha Warner. Who're you?"

"Olivia Hobbs." She smiled, but it seemed about as appealing as a bed of thorns. "Jeremy's my boyfriend."

"Boyfriend?" Mason and I exclaimed.

She nodded. "Some guys broke into our apartment and dragged you away. I called the cops, but they didn't do anything!" Olivia started to drag Mason away. "C'mon, we need you back!"

I was going to argue, but instead I just grabbed onto one of Mason's arms. Olivia glared at my motion, but put that damn smile on her face.

"What is it?" Olivia asked. "Do you want to say good-bye?"

The words caught in my mouth. Our potential Templar was about to be dragged away by some strange, trampy girl, and what could I say about it?

"Have a nice life."

1934

Our enemies gone, Mason tossed his bowler hat into a corner and picked up a bloody hat, which was dark brown like his eyes, and definitely something from the nineteenth-century.

"Better," he remarked with a sombre satisfaction. "I really hated that bowler hat…"

I picked a piece of paper off of one of my attacker's bodies. It would give me the information I needed for my next target. Then, one by one, I went to each body and closed their eyes, muttering, "Rest in peace."

"Why'd you go and do something like that?" Mason asked, but he was smirking. "The dead are dead. Sending their souls off with a few words ain't gonna change it."

"You might think differently, the day you die."

Mason's smirk turned into a smile, one that seemed familiar to me. "Nice night," he remarked as he slid his new Colt revolvers into some waiting holsters. "Let's take a walk. I'm sure that paper you got the will tell us our next destination."

I shook the paper in front of him. "Right you are, Rider."