Chapter 5

The impact never came. Instead, I felt someone grab hold of my arm as my body dangled off the side of the roof.

I was amazed by the turn of events. "You saved me! You're not such a bad person after all, Auriel."

He frowned. "Hey, I'm a thief. Not a murderer. Plus, you nearly falling to your death isn't my fault."

"Still, you have no reason to save a stranger."

He shook his head in disbelief. "You're actually saying that to someone who could literally send you falling to your death."

"I believe in you." I smiled.

I honestly believed that he was kind enough to see through the rescue to the end. I didn't know why, but I had a hunch that he actually cared about people.

My words caught him off-guard. "You're a strange girl. One moment you're trying to knock me unconscious to hand me over to the police and now you're telling me that you believe in me."

"I'm just saying whatever I want."

"What's your name?"

"Beatrice."

"Well, Miss Beatrice. Please hold on tight."

"What?"

He jumped down and pulled me close enough to hug me with one arm. Using his other arm, he shot a rope launching gun and aimed for the next building's railings. We moved down towards the ground following the trajectory of a swinging pendulum.

Our landing was almost smooth. It would have been completely smooth if he hadn't landed wrong and sprained his right foot.

"That was amazing!" My eyes sparkled. "Oh, I'm sorry about your foot though."

He looked like he was holding in his pain. "Listen, Miss Beatrice. For the sake of your well-being, let's not see each other ever again."

"I'm still going to hand you over to the police." I smiled.

"You're actually saying that right after someone saves you!?"

"As a law-abiding citizen, I must help bring law-breakers to justice!"

"Yeah. Let this be the last time we'll ever see each other. Good bye, Miss Beatrice!" He let go of me and ran away limping, disappearing before I could even catch up. For a guy who sprained his ankle, he could sure run fast. Did he want to get away from me that badly!?

"Darn it! He got away again," I said it like a defeated side character in a detective novel.

Then, I remembered Gene, who was still missing.

I have to look for Gene! I hope nothing bad happened to him.

After wandering around, I found him outside. He was limping.

"Gene! What happened? Are you ok?" I ran to him.

"I fell down the stairs," he said. His face had an obvious look of pain.

I suddenly felt guilty. "Sorry. It's my fault you ended up getting injured. You didn't even want to come here in the first place."

"It's alright, Beatrice. I'm just glad you're safe."

"I'll help you get home."

As I helped Gene walk out of the library, the police found us and brought us to the station for questioning. After they got enough information out of us, they offered to drive us home.