Jerome's POV

I walk out of the house with my hood up and my hidden blades on my wrists. I have to be extra careful, because I'm one of the most famous baccas in L.A, so it's pretty easy for me to be distinguished.

I climb up our house and look out at the streets.

"There are so many of them..." I mutter.

"I know!" says a voice from above me. I look up and see Ty flying above me.

"Where are you headed to?" I ask.

"I'm flying to downtown L.A. I'm guessing traffic and such is pretty bad over there, due to police and security and such," he replies, his tone poisonous. I can understand why, though. We haven't hurt anybody, and now we're the bad guys.

"Alright. I'm staying in this area and watching."

"Okay. Have fun!"

"Yeah, if that's possible."

Ty flys off and I jump from our roof to the tree in our backyard. It's very handy being a bacca when it comes to this stuff. I jump from the tree to the nearest house, and continue to hop from trees to houses until I get to the shops of L.A.

Police are swarmed everywhere and not many civilians roam the streets.

"Jerome, come with me to check the hubs," says a voice from behind me. I jump and turn around, only to see Mitch standing there, cloak billowing in the wind.

"You scared me, Mitch!" I say, grinning. He chuckles and helps me up.

"Apparently so. Now let's go check the hubs!"

We get down from the rooftop and slip into the streets, our heads covered by hoods. We creep behind the buildings and when we get to the hub, we climb to the top of the walls surrounding the minigames. Hubs are huge, after all. Nobody will see two people sneaking along a wall from the ground.

That is, if there was anybody in the hubs.

"Mitch, they're empty..." I mutter as we peek over the wall. I can see the different portals that lead to different minigames, but nobody else is in sight.

"This is bad, biggums. The hubs are never empty," Mitch replies.

We turn around are about to climb down the wall when Mitch yelps in pain. I look over to him and see an arrow sticking out of his side. I catch him before he falls and look in the direction of the shot.

A couple police officers stand on the ground with bows in their hand. I deflect another arrow with my hidden blade and help Mitch off the wall. They continue to shoot at us and shout for other officers.

"Jerome, leave me here. It's okay," Mitch groans. I shake my head.

"Buddy, I'm not leaving you for the world. If they catch us, I'm getting caught with you," I say. "But I'm not letting that happen. Stay here."

I jump down from the roof and kill one officer with my hidden blades. He disappears into thin air instead of crumpling to the ground, which means Josie was right about the enchantments. I deflect another arrow and kill the officer who shot it.

"Jerome!" Mitch calls. I turn around and deflect an arrow that was flying at my face.

"Thanks!" I call as I continue to fight.

Mitch's POV

I watch Jerome fighting below me in a panic. Blood is turning the black on my sweater red and my side is screaming in agony.

I see more police officers coming to where Jerome is fighting and I try to warn him, but my head is already swimming from blood loss.

These are the times I wish I had my cellphone on me so I could call help, but they're too easy to track.

"Jerome!" I call weakly. He doesn't hear me.

The last thing I see before I black out is the sight of my best friend and brother being swarmed by police officers.

A/N: OOOH Cliffy!!