It had been days since I found the key. I just didn’t know what to do with it. What was it for? Why was it here?
Was it an artifact? I wanted to find out but I just couldn’t because I had no idea what it was for until a rope from the very top fell accompanied by a voice saying, “Grab the rope! I’ll pull you up!”
I froze, my eyes jolting up to where the voice had come from. It sounded kind of familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it. My heart was pounding, and every instinct I had told me not to go up. I’d been in sketchy situations before, and this could have easily been another trap.
“Who are you?” I yelled back squinting my eyes to see who was up there. No answer. Just the rope dangling from the top to the bottom and the echo of my own voice bouncing off the walls.
“Do you want to get out or not?” the voice shouted back, excited and impatient. “You’ve got the key, right?”
I stopped, looking at the key again. I’d been stuck in there for days with nothing but questions. If there was even a small chance this could lead me to some real answers, I had to take it. So I ran and jumped for the rope and held on very very tight as the person pulled me up to safety. When I finally got to the top, I crawled onto the ledge, breathing really fast and hard. Then a person stepped out of the shadows, wearing a dark jacket with a hood pulled up.
I couldn’t see their face, but with those eyes, I’d know them anywhere.
“Harper?” I blurted out, feeling a mix of shock, relief, and happiness. It was her. My old partner, my best friend. The one I thought was gone for good after everything had fallen apart.
“You took your sweet time,” Harper said with a half-smile, pulling back her hood. “I knew I’d find you again. I’m so glad that you’re here also.”
I was surprised. “What’s going on? I thought you…”
“Not now,” Harper cut me off, her smile fading. “Listen, the key isn’t just some random old thing. It’s a codebreaker. The kind that can unlock every classified file our enemies have been trying to keep hidden. They’ve been searching for it, and so has the organization.”
I stared at the key, feeling its weight for the first time. This wasn’t just a piece of metal; it was the answer we’d been looking for, the thing that could end this once and for all.
Harper shook her head with shock on her face. “No, we use it for our own good. There’s one last file that holds everything: the information that can take down their entire operation. But we only get one shot before the whole system goes into lockdown.” She pointed to a door across the room, one that looked old and heavy like it was hiding something big.
I glanced at Harper, then at the door. Everything we’d been through had led to this. “Let’s finish this,” I said, gripping the key tighter.
We sprinted toward the door, ready to face whatever was on the other side. It was all or nothing. This was our last mission, and we were going to end it on our terms.
