"Nervous?"

Brent's voice boomed from behind, making Selene jump in surprise.

He laughed at her pale, scared face finding humour in a satisfying way.

"No, excited for this once in a lifetime opportunity." Selene remarked with sarcasm.

"Alright, the goods are here. You, I and the goods will go in. I'll assist till the front room and no more. Once we are in, you'll have fifteen, maximum twenty minutes before the security will barge in. Got it?" Brent explained the plan.

Selene gulping down the nervous bile in her throat.

"Twenty fucking minutes? How am I supposed to check in goods, hack Haden's computer, copy his evidence in just twenty minutes?"

Brent stared down at her, his features darkening, "Twenty minutes. No more no less. The treasury security is above my reach."

Selene nodded curtly. She'll have to do with that.

They made their way to the top floor of the mansion, which is solely built for treasury.

Selene could see four buff men standing either side of the large tightly shut metal doors. They looked almost like lifeless statues.

They were different, compared to the rogue soldiers Haden had in his army. They looked more trained, specifically for this purpose.

"Where's Haden?" She asked, hoping the change of topic would distract her from the thought of facing those four bulls in the front.

"Out. Partying with his beloved dealers. Once I'm the king, I'll change them first." Brent muttered to himself but quite audible to Selene beside him.

Selene gave him a bitter look and turned away rolling her eyes.

"A makeover to this empire is a must. He happens to trust the wrong people." Brent leaned sideways and spoke, making sure she understood the hidden meaning under his words.

Selene gave a wry smile and looked from his head to toe, "Clearly."

He exhaled sharply at her remark, "Good to see your sarcastic spirits are high, even at the death hour."

"At Least I'll die with style." She gave a smirk.

The long corridors of the top floor didn't seem to end. The doors of the treasury only seem to grow bigger.

"Brent! Selene! Wait up!" They heard a voice catching up with them.

Selene's eyes were wide as saucers, when she saw Shana running towards them in the corridor in her black vans.

"Wai-" She huffed, trying to catch her breath.

They watched as she exhaled and inhaled deeply with her palms on her knees for a whole minute.

"Shana? What are you doing here?" Brent asked in surprise.

"I'm coming with you guys. Into the treasury."

"No way!" "The hell you are coming!"

Brent and Selene yelled at the same time.

Selene took a step back and tried to communicate her confusion with Shana through her eyes.

She is confused as to why Shana would blow her cover up and decide to jump into this mission at the last minute.

Shana ignored her and looked directly at Brent.

"I hate to agree with Selene but she's right. You can't go with her. It's not a safe place, not for a lovely girl like you." Brent tried to convince her.

Selene gave an incredulous look at Brent. It was the first time she heard him being polite and that too with a woman.

Selene was convinced that she will definitely die before the day ends. That's the only reason she could think of looking at a polite Brent and a rebellious Shana.

"It's not safe. Which is why I want to go, to make sure my friend comes back safe," Shana said.

"Selene can handle on her own. You shouldn't go. I insist." Brent tried to convince her, in an almost alienated tone.

"I will go, Brent. I insist." Shana stood her ground.

Selene for the first time today was out of words. She just looked back and forth between Shana and Brent.

Brent huffed, "Fine." and turned around walking away from the women.

The girls glanced at each other before resuming to walk behind him.

As soon as they reached the doors. The guards looked at Brent with impassive looks.

"I'm here with the Italian goods." He answered.

The four guards then turned their eyes to the girls behind him.

"They are with me." He answered their unasked question.

The guards nodded at the camera on the left upper corner of the door and the door slowly opened.

Once they were in, the door shut back like an airtight box.

"Geez! Did Haden cut their tongues out?" Shana muttered looking back to the closed doors.

Brent looked at her over his shoulders and walked to another door in front.

Selene jabbed Shana with her elbow and glared to which she mouthed 'What?'

Brent placed his hand on the panel in front and it scanned his hand then his eye, of what Selene understood is a retina scan.

She rolled her eyes looking at the fancy security for this treasury. She saw Shana giggle from the corner of her eyes. They both silently laughed at the idiocy behind this whole drama.

Once the machine approved, the doors opened with a pressurised air release from the spaces between the doors. The trio walked in.

Selene and Shana's humour got dead as soon as they saw the scene before them. They stood nonplussed in the centre of the enormous room that was filled with perfectly stacked gold biscuits and green money.

Selene always imagined the treasury must have something priceless but the image never sinked in until they saw this room.

More than a country could be fed with this money and gold. They could start their own mint with the money. It was almost as if it was some treasury of a kingdom. But it was! The Reyes kingdom under a beloved king.

"If you girls are done gawking, let's get to the business." Brent interrupted their airy calculations about the money in front of them.

"But where's the evidence?" Selene asked.

"Hell with that. This gold can well serve our motive."

Brent tsked, "This only accounts for some part of his crimes. What NIA wants is his murder history."

"Where is it?" Selene asked again.

"The file room. Haden loves to draft his crimes. It's all in there."

"Sel, I think we need Google maps. I don't see any file room here." Shana pursed her lips and looked around her.

"Keep going right and then you see a way towards your left. Fourth right room in the corridor is the file room." Brent explained.

"Thanks!" Shana gave a fake smile and pulled Selene with her, to start walking.

"You are not coming?" Selene asked.

"I told you, I will only help till the front room. Don't worry, there are no cameras nor any men hiding in the shadows to scare you little girls." He smirked.

"You call us little girls when you are scared to come to the room yourself." Shana quipped.

"I am doing you guys a favour, Shana. I'm taking care of the goods, so one less work for you."

Shana grunted and they turned around making their way to the room.

"Oh! I almost forgot." He yelled behind them, making them turn.

"You need a code to enter the room," He said.

"Are there any more surprises that we should know?" Shana gritted.

"Only that the code changes every fifteen minutes." He took out his phone, "And that code is 2589 now."

"What the fuck, Brent! You tell this now?"

"Fourteen minutes if you wanna come out of that room again. Might wanna hurry. Clock's ticking." He chuckled.

"Dick!" Shana snapped.

They both picked up their pace, almost running down the shiny hallway.

In no time they found the left corridor. It was dim lit as expected but enough to read the file room board on the right fourth room.

Selene frantically tapped the code '2589' and the door unlocked. Once they were in Shana ran to the computer and started working on it.

Selene tried to make sure not to shut the door behind just in case but it seemed like the doors didn't work that way. It got shut tight as soon as they were in. She pulled it once hoping it would open but as expected it was locked.

A panel for code blinked at her. So the same code works to get out but only for less than ten minutes.

"Shana? How's that working for you." Selene asked, rubbing the sweat off her forehead.

"It's just a stupid old computer, Selene. Relax it'll take two minutes." Shana spoke, frantically tapping on the keyboard.

"Yeah, well. Every minute counts. Which we don't have many." Selene said, looking at the time in her phone.

They got exactly Eleven minutes, forty seven seconds before they were permanently trapped in this room. Unless, Brent will help them out which her guess is that won't be happening.

She is lucky that Shana came with her. Selene is rather ill skilled with computers, it would have taken hours for her to crack into one compared to the two minutes that Shana said.

"Got in!" Shana yelled.

Selene came and stood behind her chair, silently watched as she did her thing.

"We are lucky, there's nothing else on this computer except his old files."

Selene took out the pendrive from her pocket and placed it on the desk.
"Copy it. Copy everything!"

"I'm on it!" Shana nodded.

Selene breathed in and out feeling the place constrict her lungs. She looked at the time again.

Seven minutes, Twenty one seconds were left.

Time does run fast. She never understood the importance of time until this day. A worried Keir's face flashed in front of her face.

She shut her eyes and shook her head, muttering, "It's okay. We got this."

"Shana?" Selene asked in concern.

"It's copying. I can't make it faster! It says four minutes and thirty seven seconds more."

Just as she said those words, the screen time turned into five minutes twenty seconds.

"Shana!" Selene yelled, her anxiety inching closer.

"I-I don't control it. It usually happens OK? I'm sure it's faster than that." Shana intertwined her palms together waiting for the copying time to change.

"C'mon you old little shit! Work faster." Shana yelled, hitting the CPU with her palm.

When the time didn't change, "Please god! Please. If you are there. Make this thing run faster." Shana started praying, tapping her foot in nervousness.

Selene turned around, rubbing her forehead. Shana's praying and constant tapping of her foot isn't helping her.

The time is ticking. The minutes are closing by.

Suddenly Shana gasped, "Thank god! Thank heavens! It's working."

The copying was almost done to ninety four percent. The time left shrinked to thirty seconds.

Selene looked at the time and breathed out in grasps looking at one minute left more.

"Shana?!" Selene called out her name.

"Geez! Sel. Don't call my name over and over. I'm gonna die of a heart attack at a very young age." Shana placed her sweaty palms over her heated cheeks.

Ninety seven percent completed...

Ninety nine percent...

Nine nine percent...

Hundred percent! Done.

Selene and Shana both gasped in surprise.

Shana quickly erased any trace of hacking and shut the computer off.

Selene took the pendrive and made her way to the door.

"Twenty seconds more! Fucking hell!" Selene gritted making her way to the door.

On cue, Shana started the count down while Selene worked on the door.

2..5..9..8 Selene tapped the numbers.

The panel binged in red.

"Fucking shit! It's changed?" She yelled.

"What? No! The time's not up yet." Shana said, still counting the seconds.

"I don't know! It won't take 2598. Fucking hell, Shana! Stop counting numbers. You are distracting me!" Selene shouted in anxiety.

"That's because it's 2589! Not 98! Fuck!" Shana corrected, frog jumping in her place.

Selene tapped the numbers, her fingers shaking uncontrollably.

Seven, six, five, four!

The panel binged green, opening the door to their freedom.

Selene and Shana rushed out at lightning speed to the door.

"Three, two-!"Shana yelled, as they ran out of that room.

"FUCKIN' HELL!" Selene yelled once the door closed off behind them.

"FUCKIN' FIFTY HELLS!" Shana yelled, gasping for air.

They both crumbled to the ground. Taking deep breaths as the problem surpassed within hair space.

"I would have not survived in that room one more second. And I'm not even claustrophobic!" Shana shrieked, her eyes watering up from the recent scare.

"We did it, Shana. You did it." Selene patted her thigh and hugged her sideways.

Shana glanced at her pale, sweaty face. "I thought you don't fear death," She stated noticing how she freaked out a while ago.

Selene stayed silent for a while before answering, "I didn't. Now I have a reason to stay alive."

She looked distantly, deep in her thoughts. A small smile curved up her lips and Shana was sure it had something to do with Keir.

"Come it's not done yet. We need to get out before the security barges in." Selene got up, extending her hand to her.

They got up, running back to the front room again. They had no energy left but the stock adrenaline in their body helped them run faster.

"I see you guys are sound and alive."

Shana glared at him, making her way to Brent. "You are a fucking dick! You know that?"

He raised his hands in surrender, "What did I do?"

"Don't! Just don't utter any word or I'll carve your face into an otter myself!" She threatened.

Brent smirked and gave a nod.

The next minute was blurry to both Selene and Shana. They just followed Brent blindly as he led them out of that treasury.

Selene's curiosity about the treasury died the next minute she was out of that room. She would never ever go into that after her near death experience.

Brent followed them till the first floor and they parted their ways from there.

Selene and Shana walked down the stairs making their way to the out entrance.

Once they were down and walking across the hall, she looked up to see Brent and a few men staring at them from the first floor corridor.

Their eyes trailed them from the stairs to the centre of the hall. Selene saw their mouths moving, inaudibly while their eyes still focused on them.

"They are leaving, Brent." The man beside him spoke.

"Give the order and I'll cut their throats out and take the pendrive. Jamie will gladly give that evidence to NIA." The man said.

"Yeah. It'll be like two birds with one stone. We can take the two dainty girls. First Selene and then the chirpy girl, Sha-" Jamie, the other man's words were cut off when Brent grabbed his collar roughly.

"You will not hurt her." He gritted darkly, "You will not hurt them." He corrected later.

Then he turned to the man that spoke first, "Who gives the orders here?" He questioned.

The man cast his eyes down, "You give."

"That's right, I will. And I order you to stand back. We will take Selene's head. But not today." He seethed, looking at the girls walking out of the mansion untouched.

"I don't see your lips moving!" He boomed.

"Y-Yes, Boss."   "Yes, Boss."

The men beside him stammered and agreed obediently.

And Selene's God of death, that whispered in agreement as well,

'Not today.'

*****

Ooh! The game of thrones reference. Totally coincidental by the way.
So they found the evidence finally. Also someone's got hots for Shana 😏

Let me know your thoughts about this chapter >>

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~Aurora_thoughts.