“What?” Artis finally spoke.
“So whoever did this wasn’t trying to hurt anyone?”
“No, they had no idea what they were doing.” Katrina confirmed.
“That’s wonderful!” Artis exclaimed, reaching over and giving Uri a brief hug.
“Why is that wonderful?
We are no closer to getting to the bottom of this attack.” Gabe growled.
“Don’t you see?
It wasn’t our fault.
There is no reason for Patina and you all to mistrust one another.
If we can work together, we can figure this out, I’m sure of it.”
“Somehow I doubt Patina would be interested in working together no matter what information she had.”
“Yeah, I have to agree with Gabe.” Uri added.
“You guys don’t know her like I do, she is strict but fair.
I know she will want to help once we tell her this.” Artis pleased.
“It’s a girl.” Katrina interjected into the threesome’s conversation.
“What?” Artis asked, just as confused as the boys.
“The person who switched the stones, it’s a girl.” Katrina explained.
“And just how do you know this?” Gabe asked, not masking his skepticism.
“I can see glimpses of that day from the perspective of the person you seek.
I can tell from the way they carry themselves and their hands that it is a girl.” Katrina revealed.
“What good does this do us?
Wow, it’s a girl.
That really narrows things down.
If they were cursed, then even if we figure out who they are, they still won’t be able to tell us who put them up to it.”
Gabe argued.
“Yes they can, Gabe.
If we can figure out who switched the stones, Patina can do a memory regression spell and figure out where they were and what they saw when they were cursed.
That should tell us who is responsible.” Artis explained.
“Well, what are we waiting for then?
Can you look for a mirror or something in one of these visions so you can figure out whose body you are in?” Gabe suggested, almost panicked.
“Shhhh.” Katrina replied, her eyes still closed.
“I am walking down a large corridor, it is dark.
I see someone in the distance.
I think I recognize them.
I am walking in his direction…”
The three sat silent, mouths hanging open as they listened to Katrina relive the moments of that fateful evening.
Gabe was about to have the answers he needed to help his Sophie.
The room was silent, everyone was holding their breath but Katrina just sat there, eyes closed, not speaking a word.
Gabe watched as her mouth opened again, preparing to speak, about to give him all the answers he searched for.
Before the Oracle could reveal what she had to tell though, there was a loud crash behind them.
Through the doorway came filtering one large muscular boy after the next.
“Guards, seize them!” Patina’s voice filled the room.
The guards rushed over to the table and took hold of the arms of the three teens.
“Patina, please, let us explain.” Artis pleaded.
“Save it.” Patina snapped, clearly angry and disappointed in the young girl.
“You can’t!” Gabe cried.
“She was just about to tell us who switched the stones.”
“Take them to their quarters and make sure this time they stay there.” Patina shouted.
“You have to listen to them, Patina.” Artis continued pleading with her beloved leader.
“Take them away.
I have some things to discuss with the Oracle.” Patina commanded, ignoring Artis’ cries.
As the three were drug from the cottage, struggling, they watched the door swing shut, Patina inside.
“Yeah, Artis, Patina was so helpful.
Hell, for all we know she was the one who switched the stones!” Gabe snarled.
“Shut up!
Just walk!” The large guard commanded as he shoved Gabe in the back forcefully.
“Ouch, alright,” Gabe replied, recovering from stumbling a bit.
“No need to push.”
The three teens walked in silence, the guards close behind.
It was clear to Gabe that they were not going to receive the assistance Artis had promised from the administration at Iron Gate.
He had to figure a way out of this hopeless situation so that he could help Sophie and his other friends.
Gabe and Uri were placed in separate rooms this time and he could only assume it was in an effort to keep them from escaping again.
Gabe looked around the small prison cell like room.
There were no windows, the only possible exit being the door he had entered in.
With no clock, Gabe couldn’t be certain how long he had been held in this room but he was sure at least several hours had already passed since Patina had discovered them at the Oracle’s cottage.
Gabe was becoming extremely anxious about lost time.
Just when he decided he could take no more waiting and reached for the door handle, he saw it turn slightly.
Gabe jumped back from the door, watching to see who might be coming to talk to him.
The guard who had led him to his room earlier entered and glanced around, as if expecting to find someone else with Gabe.
Satisfied Gabe was alone, the guard sternly commanded, “Come with me.”
“Where?” Gabe insisted.
“Come with me.” The guard repeated, giving Gabe a shove.
Gabe decided rather than staying in that small and suffocating coffin-like room a moment longer, it was better to comply.
Though he was content with being compliant for the moment, Gabe was determined to escape at the first opportunity available to him.
Gabe walked out the door and turned down the hall, the guard indicating he should walk out to the main courtyard.
Gabe was hopeful this would give him the opportunity for the freedom he yearned for.
Gabe continued to walk and a few moments later Uri exited a nearby door, alongside another guard, surprisingly even larger than the one escorting him.
Eventually the two groups merged and were walking side by side.
Gabe and Uri shrugged at each other as if to communicate without words that they had no idea what was unfolding.
The addition of Uri suddenly changed Gabe’s aspirations for an escape plan.
He now had to find a way for them both to be free.
The group continued walking until they entered into the main area of the courtyard.
There they saw Artis already standing alone, a small group of elderly gentlemen and a guard gathered nearby her.
The two boys who were leading Uri and Gabe escorted them to Artis’ side, and then took a step back.
“What’s going on?” Uri whispered in Artis’ direction.
“No clue,” Artis whispered back.
“They just told me to come with them.”
“Same here.” Uri muttered.
“Me too.” Gabe added.
“Gabe, Uri, step away from her.” The boys heard Michael’s voice command behind them.
Quickly turning around, they saw their mentor standing next to Patina.
“Huh?
What are you doing here, Michael?
I don’t understand, they told me you were hurt.” The confused words stumbled out of Uri’s mouth.
“Boys, I want you to come over here and stand behind me.
Now!”
Michael said sternly.
The two did as they were told, though both were clearly confused.
They had not been told of Michael’s arrival and last either had heard, he was at Rampart, on the mend.
“Artis, I want you to get on your knees.” Patina called out to her young student that was now standing all alone.
“What?” Artis asked, terrified by what was happening.
“You heard me.
You need to get down onto your knees now.
I don’t want to have to hurt you.” Patina repeated.
“What is going on here?” Uri asked Michael, confused as well as terrified.
“You can’t let her do this, Artis was helping us.”
“Silence, Uri,” Michael hushed, not even looking in his direction.
“Please, Patina, don’t do this.” Artis pleaded.
“Guards!” Patina shouted as if giving the girl a final warning.
With that, Artis’ head slumped towards the ground though her shoulders stayed rigid.
“Artis?” Uri cried out, fearful that she might be hurt.
Artis’ fingers curled into tight balled fists at her side.
Her head rotated from side to side, though her face was still not visible.
The small crowd watched in silence as the veins in her arm began to protrude intensely.
Her knees bent in an inhuman way as she crouched low to the ground and at last looked up at the crowd.
Her face had contorted into an unrecognizable one.
“Artis?” Uri repeated, this time unsure if who he was looking at was the same small, frail girl he had spent so much time with in the recent days.
“Artis can’t come to the phone right now,” the unfamiliar voice called back, stretching her neck out and flicking her tongue wildly between words.
“I don’t want to hurt you, Artis, but I will if I have to.” Patina called out.
“Your student is gone, Patina.
The curse has gone on too long untreated.” Michael insisted.
As the words left Michael’s lips, Gabe realized what was happening.
Artis had been the one who was cursed and switched the stones.
Though his original instinct was to not trust her, he wished he had been wrong.
Gabe felt sympathy for this girl he had just met, though he couldn’t help but think of Sophie and how she would become a monster just the same if left untreated.
He felt an even more intense urgency to break the curse.
“Somnus,” the word was soft and delicate as it left Patina’s lips.
Nothing like the powerfulness in Michael’s voice when he had cast it on Sophie at home in the hall.
Gabe watched as Artis’ body fell to the ground, the muscles no longer contorted and her appearance returning to normal.
“I don’t understand.” Uri replied.
Michael turned to look his young friend and student in the eyes.
“Patina called me after she spoke to the Oracle.
When she figured out it was Artis who had switched the stones, she thought it might be best I come here to be at your side.”
“What about Sophie?” Gabe asked, concerned for the entire reason he had made this trip.
“She is still sleeping with Dina and Raimie.”
Michael replied.
“Haim is looking after them, Gabe.
Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out.”
“Wait,” Uri uttered, though still trying to make sense of everything he had just seen, he was suddenly more confused by Michael’s presence.
“I thought you were injured.”
“Nothing I can’t bounce back from, you know me.” Michael replied.
“Yeah,” Uri replied, shaking his head, the shock of it all overwhelming him.
“What do we do now?” Gabe asked.
He felt bad for Uri who was hurting, but he knew time was running out for Sophie unless they acted fast.
“Patina and I are going to perform a memory regression spell on this poor girl in hopes we will see who she came in contact with when she was cursed.” Michael replied.
“Artis!” Uri shouted.
“What?” Michael asked, stunned by his student’s tone.
“She has a name, it’s Artis.”
Uri paused before he pleaded, “You have to help her.”
“We will,” Michael walked to Uri’s side, a slight limp telling just how injured he in fact still was.
Wrapping his arm around Uri, he repeated, “We will.”
The group followed in silence as two of the guards carried Artis’ lifeless body through the courtyard and to Patina’s nearby chambers.
When they reached the door, she turned to Michael and said, “Your students should wait here.”
“No way!” Uri snapped.
“I’ll take responsibility for them.” Michael replied, raising his hand towards Uri in a silent command for him to be quiet.
“Very well.” Patina said walking into the large room.
Uri followed close behind Patina, careful not to lose sight of Artis.
Michael and Gabe were the last to enter the room; Gabe instinctively closed the door behind them.
As the group gathered around the girl’s lifeless body, Gabe caught site of Uri twisting his fingers around one another, unable to contain the anxiety that was flooding through him.