13 Floors in Every Direction

Chapter 16

Location: World War 2 base, Germany, 1941
"So you're telling me that you were ambushed, all of your men are dead and the enemies are torn to prices and splattered on the trees?"

"Yes sir."

"Schultheiß you expect me to believe that?" He says standing up and motioning for the other guard to leave.

"Yes sir." Jade heard the door of his commander's office shut.

"Now Jade I know you can come up with a better story than that." The commander stands up from behind his desk and approaches Jade. "What happened to you, you used to be so good at keeping our boys safe?" Jade just stared at the floor. "Now son when did you stop being a kid." The commander was standing uncomfortably close to Jade now.

Jade didn't answer the question, bad move on his part. The commander did not like to be kept waiting. With a swift motion of his left hand, Jade was holding onto the desk just to keep himself from going to the ground. The side of his face stung and grew warm.

"Now Jade listen to me," The commander got very close to his face. "I want you to do exactly as I say or I promise you. You would have wished you were dead." Visions flashed before Jade, visions of concrete cells, damp floors, walls covered in blood, screams, and shouts, and gunshots echoed through his head.

Jade startles awake to find Lance sitting on top of him both hands-on Jade's chest and tears running down his face. Jade was out of breath shaking as though had just run a marathon. Quickly looking around the room, reassuring himself he knew where he was.

"Please don't do that again, I thought you were dying," Lance said in a barely audible whisper, he looked down almost ashamed for getting so scared for Jade.
______________________________
"You ok Matyo? You look like you just saw a ghost." Lance asks the next morning as Jade is fixing the window.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he says in a small voice and pulling a fake smile. Before getting up and going back up the stairs toward the bedrooms.

"I'm worried about him Jade, he's not telling us something," Lance says sitting down on one of the couches.

"Well yeah, I'd be more concerned if he did tell us everything- Lance we did just meet him last night," Jade says stepping back from the newly finished window.
______________________________
Walking downtown in a big city is always a bit nerve-racking for some, the sights, smells, noise, and all the people. Jade and Lance have gotten to a point where it seems second nature to them, Matyo on the other hand-not as much. The only way he could keep from falling behind was to walk in between the two. Walking downtown always means stopping for cars, all the time. At one of these times where they three were stopped. Matyo got a shocking surprise.

Falling to the ground both hands pushed firmly up against his ears. Matyo comes to a stop on the ground against Jade's leg. Without a second thought, Jade grabs Matyo by the arm and pushes him into a small building on the corner and up the stairs to an almost empty room before letting go. Jade closed the door on Matyo, locking him in the room as he held the door shut.

Lance looked as if he was about to lose it. "Not a word, not one word, Lance," Jade said as he held the shaking door shut. Matyo was strong that was clear-but he was no match for Jade. Being a vampire does have its quirks. Jade can quite easily stop a moving vehicle with his bare hands and very little effort.

"Move," Lance said commanding entry.

"No."

"Jade move."

"No.," Jade said much calmer.
"Jade-"

"Lance no you cannot go in there, its not safe for you."

"But it is for you?"

"You don't know what he is capable of, you don't know what we're capable of."