Ascension by Sophia Sharp Read Free Book Online Page A

majority of the population stayed inside.  It was a dangerous neighborhood.
    Somewhere close by, the cries of a baby broke out.  After a few moments, she heard a man yell in a language she did not understand, and the baby went quiet.  This was definitely a rough part of town.
    In her left hand, she held a bundle of Chinese firecrackers.  She had spotted a vendor on one of her earlier expeditions, in fact, she had quizzed him about what he knew of the repository back then, and he was happy to see the “girl with hair like the sun” return for another visit.  He was even happier when she offered to buy his loudest, most expensive firecrackers, and offered to pay with American dollars.  She had gotten those thanks to Alexander.
    So, supplies in hand, Laura stood on the roof, waiting for Logan and Alexander to return.
    She could see them in the distance, jumping from building to building, checking the surroundings to make sure everything was safe.  They were circling around the tower, checking every single rooftop for a threat.  The watchers were gone, or at least, weren’t visible.  Laura wasn’t even sure if they ever existed, but judging by how relieved Logan had been to find them missing, he shared none of her doubt.
    “Ready?” Logan said behind her, and Laura jumped.  She had been so entrenched in her thoughts that she hadn’t noticed him approach.  She looked back, and right beside him was Alexander.
    “Ready,” Laura confirmed. 
    “Let’s do it then,” Alexander said.
    Laura nodded, and in a second had a lighter in her hand.  She lit the fuse to the firecrackers, and threw them high into the air.  They flew over a row of buildings and fell onto a nearby street. 
    “GO!” Logan screamed behind her.
    Laura ran.  A blast sounded from where the firecrackers had fallen, and then they started going off in turn, like dozens of gunshots being fired at once.  Laura was impressed at how loud they were.  The sound would be heard from hundreds of yards away.  Perfect.
    She gathered speed, racing toward the tower.  They only had a few seconds in which to jump.  She was the first, as she had insisted.  Logan had showed her which window it was, and it actually lined up perfectly to the buildings surrounding it.  With enough speed, it would be easy to clear the distance to get inside.
    As she got closer, Laura realized that the outer wall of the tower may have been white mortar once, but had accumulated so much dirt over the years that it had become an unpleasant grey.  That was the last thought that ran through her mind before she leapt off the side of the building, and flew toward the tower.
    The window was nailed shut, but it was by a flimsy board.  Laura went feet-first into it.  The panel shattered, and she was through.
    The landing was trickier.  She had been expecting a solid floor, but instead was greeted by a stone staircase.  She tried to right herself in time, to land accordingly, but it was too late.  Before she knew it, she was crashing down the stairs.  Instinctively, she made her body go limp so she wouldn’t break anything.
    She landed with a heavy thud at the bottom of the stairs.  It felt like she had been beaten with a hundred clubs.   Groggily, she picked herself up.  The pain itself was not unexpected; rather, it was the severity of it that surprised her.  She remembered being thrown into stone walls and picking herself up without any pain.  Perhaps the effects of her feeding were finally wearing off.
    She looked up, and saw a shape against the light now streaming through the window.  It was Alexander.  Unlike her, he managed to catch himself before falling down the stairs.  He stepped aside quickly to leave room for Logan.  The light was shielded again, and Logan came through.  Alexander caught him by the shoulders before he had a chance to repeat Laura’s mistake.
    “Laura,” Alexander called down, “are you alright?”
    “I think so,” she answered,