As our conversation trailed off, we finally reached the street where Altria lived. Up ahead and across the street lay the grand building where she lived. I knew it hadn’t been long at all since the last time I had come here, but with all the events that had occurred since then it almost seemed like a lifetime ago.

Our group slowed as we approached and began to cross the street.

Suddenly Beth halted and signalled for us to stop. “Wait!”

I stepped closer. “What is it? I can’t see anything.”

“Exactly, isn’t there normally someone on the door?”

She was right, there normally was. I didn’t know how I hadn’t realised sooner. The friendly old and greying man that usually watched the door was nowhere in sight.

I lurched forward. “Alfred!” I was stopped in my tracks.

Beth had grabbed my shoulder. “Hold on.” She pointed to a dark shape slumped to the side of the door just inside the foyer. “Look.”

“We have to help him!”

“We will.” Beth looked back to Rosa.

She had already slung her crossbow into her hands. She nodded to Beth.

The rest of the girls had also begun to draw their weapons.

Seeing this Beth relaxed her grip. “We’ll move slowly.” She glanced back to Rosa. “Hang back with Liz and watch our backs.”

Rosa nodded. “I will, don’t worry.”

“Thanks…” Beth seemed to stop and assess for a moment. “Aetherin, can you come up front with me?”

She stepped forward. “Of course.”

“Good… Ameri keep with Theo in the middle.”

She stepped next to me. “Sure.”

“Lucy keep the rear.”

She strung an arrow to her bow. “I’ve got you covered.”

Beth looked happy with the arrangement. “We’ll check out the foyer and tend to the doorman. Then we’ll think about getting to Altria.” She gave the signal to move.

Beth moved forward and the four of us followed her lead. We stopped just short of the entrance to the building.

Beth glanced back and signalled to Ameri and Lucy.

The pair stepped forward. They were the best suited to checking out the entrance before we crept inside.

As the two girls checked the entrance, my eyes were drawn to Alfred. He was just laying there in a small pool of his own blood. At first, he looked so still that I began to worry that he was already dead. But after some time, I realised that his chest was slowly moving as he laboured to breathe. It was a relief, but it didn’t look like he had long.

Just as I was about to let the urge to rush inside and check on him take over, Ameri and Lucy made their way back to where we were waiting.

Ameri stopped in the doorway. “It’s clear for now. We should quickly attend to him now.”

Beth waved the rest of us in.

Seeing the all clear was given, Rosa and Liz crossed the street and joined up with us.

I rushed inside and knelt down next to Alfred and began to check his injuries. He was heavily bruised across his head and had a deep wound in the side of his chest. It was a miracle he was still breathing.

As Liz joined us, she stood behind me. “Aren’t you going to start healing him?”

I looked back over my shoulder. “Are you joking? I don’t think he would appreciate the end result, and neither would I.”

She didn’t look pleased. “You mean you’d just leave him there to die!”

“No, of course, not! I’m just saying that there is someone else here that can heal him. I’m sure the patient would prefer that over the alternative. Can’t you heal him?”

She glanced over the body. “I can.”

“Please, can you take care of him?”

“I suppose so.”

Liz knelt down next to the unconscious Alfred, held her hands over his body and began the healing process.

I was relieved I didn’t have to do it. Just thinking about it made me feel a little awkward.

Beth walked over. “Is he going to be okay?”

“I hope so.”

“Couldn’t you have helped him too?”

“I could, but you know the side effect of my skill. I didn’t want to put him through that.”

She nodded. “I can see how he might find that embarrassing.”

“Might? He didn’t seem like the type to not… I would’ve helped him if there wasn’t another option.”

“I know.”

“Anyway, what should we do now? Are we going to wait for him to be healed before we head upstairs?”

Beth looked around at our surroundings. “I want to get up there as quickly as possible. I’m worried, if they sent someone after me then they more than likely sent someone after Altria as well.”

“Then we should go now.”

“But for all we know someone else could come back. Liz already has her hands full…”

“We leave Rosa and one of the others while we look for Altria.”

“I thought of that… I’d rather we all went together.”

“We could be running out of time.” I scratched my head whilst I thought. “How about this, we let Celine keep an eye on them while we go upstairs. Leave Ameri or Lucy and Rosa down here to back Liz up, just in case something happens. If someone does come back Celine can let us know right away, they won’t even know she’s here.”

Beth held her chin, seemingly deep in thought. “Okay, we’ll do that.” She glanced across at Ameri and Lucy. “Can one of you two stay down here with Rosa and Liz?”

Lucy stepped forward. “I’ll stay and keep an eye on things. Ameri is better suited for a fight in these circumstances. I’ll be more effective here where there’s some space.”

“Okay, please keep them safe.”

“I will do.”

Beth turned back to me. “You’d better speak to Celine.”

“Right…” I turned to a space. “Celine did you hear any of that? Just stay hidden when you reply.”

“I did master.”

“Great. Can you stay and keep watch, alert us if anything comes up?”

“Yes master. If anything happens down here, you’ll know about it before they even spot the girls.”

“Thanks Celine. I knew I could count on you.”

“Aw thanks master… Does this mean I’ll get a treat later?”

“Yes… As soon as we’re all in the clear, I’ll feed you as much as you want.”

“Yay.”

I looked across to Beth. “Should we go.”

She nodded. “Yes…” She glanced to Ameri. “Can you take the front with Aetherin?”

Ameri looked over to Lucy and then back to Beth. “Sure, I prefer the front row anyway.”

“Thanks. Theo and me, will be right behind you.” She quickly stepped across the foyer to where Liz was still healing Alfred. “We’re going to continue the search for Altria. Are you going to be okay down here?”

Liz looked up for a moment. “We’ll be fine. I expect whoever did this is already upstairs after Altria. It’s you and the others that are going to be in danger… You should go.”

“Right…” Beth drew her sword. “Come on then, we’ll take the stairs.”

Beth led the four of us to the staircase at the corner of the foyer. As she reached the steps she stepped to the side. “Aetherin, Ameri please take the lead. We’ll direct you from behind.”

The two passed Beth.

As Aetherin walked past me she stopped for a moment. “Just stay behind me. Whatever happens, I’ll keep you safe.”