The Tower

He pushed thoughts of Darby and Thomas out of his head and thought of Allander. That made things easier. He would sacrifice anything to get his hands on Allander. Keep the anger, he thought. Lose the other shit.

The lights went down and the film started. Once the entrance doors closed, Jade didn't have to be so alert. If they opened, a stream of light would flood into the theater.

He barely watched the movie, but he felt it flickering overhead in grays and blacks. He glanced back at the Atlasias from time to time as Orson Welles's booming voice filled the speakers. They were fifteen rows back, the first two seats in from the left aisle. With a slight movement of her eyes, Darby glanced over at him. She winked and Jade couldn't help smiling.

He leaned back and glanced up at the screen, but he couldn't focus on it, even for a moment. Just images and noises flashing overhead. He wondered if the Atlasias could concentrate at all, sitting back there like living targets.

The door opened and Jade leaned forward. His breathing intensified as he waited to see a silhouette. He counted six seconds until the person appeared. The figure had on a dress and a woman's hat, but Jade didn't relax until he saw her face. He wasn't expecting Allander to walk in without a disguise.

He heard occasional gasps and chuckles from the audience behind him, and the kids on the field trip giggled from time to time. He kept his eyes trained on the entrances instead of the screen.

The movie seemed to drag on for an eternity. It was hot and stuffy in the theater, and Jade was sweating profusely. Finally he was convinced that Allander wasn't going to come. When he thought back to his meeting with Alissa Anvers, he felt foolish for being so confident about his plan. He sighed, leaned back in his chair, and waited for the film to end. A fat man thumped down the stairs on his right to go to the bathroom.

Jade heard some rustling behind him and turned around. Two of the girls from the field trip were headed out into the aisle. Probably just going to get a snack, Jade thought, turning back to face the screen. Whispering loudly to each other, they came down the aisle and sat in the front row, to Jade's left.

Jade wasn't concerned. They were just splitting off the group, wanting their own space. He stood up and started walking over to them to tell them to move.

The doors on both sides of the theater opened at once. The artificial yellow light of the lobby fell in triangles on the fronts of the aisles. Jade whipped his head back and forth, feeling concern take hold inside him. Allander might have waited until someone else entered the theater on the other side, knowing it would create a diversion.

Jade froze, not sure which way to move. The film projection ran over his face and torso, and he had to turn from the glare.

The screen above was almost completely dark. "Put out the light, and then put out the light," Orson Welles growled as his hand sneaked into the bottom of the screen and extinguished a candle.

People in the audience started yelling at Jade.

"Down in front!"

"Hey! Do you mind?"

"'Scuse me, sir, we can't exactly see through you!"

Jade could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He had about three more seconds until the figures would make it up the stairs and into the theater.

If Allander was waiting for the ideal moment, it was right now. And Jade was not in control of the situation. He decided to throw secrecy out the window, and he started whispering loudly to the two girls to his left.

"You two! Up! Get out of the way!"

They looked at him nervously and half-stood to leave. Jade pivoted back and forth, checking the two doors while waiting for the girls to move. No one yet.

People behind him kept shouting.

"Hey! Shut up pal!"

"Why don't you sit down instead of yelling at those-"

"-can't fucking see-"

Jade turned to check on the Atlasias and was almost blinded by the stream of light from the projector. He caught a quick glimpse of Darby's face and she looked terrified. Thomas had his arm around her and he was pulling her down the row away from the aisle, just as Jade had instructed. In case of emergency.

Jade couldn't move in one direction or the other until he saw the figures entering the theater. Now he was yelling at the girls. "Get out of the way!"

They stood still, frozen in fear. Behind him, the theater filled with the sounds of angry viewers.

Jade felt as if he was moving in slow motion. The only thing he could hear was the pounding of his heart. It seemed to fill the whole theater, drowning out even the people behind him.

He swung back to his right and saw the person entering the theater. It was the fat man who had left to go to the bathroom. A figure flashed into view to his left and then disappeared behind the two girls. It was a male.

Jade could taste the sourness of his panic along the sides of his tongue. He had to move. Whether he was right or wrong, he had to move now. If that person got past him, it could be too late.