He mumbled an apparent sentiment of agreement but didn't say
anything else. “Come on,” I urged working my hands with the knots in rope. I'd
learned how to untie them months ago from Maya. I could do this! It took
several minutes before I felt them loosen. I kept at it, “Joshua, talk to me.”
I needed him to stay awake.
He groaned in protest. At least he was responsive. I
loosened the rope from my hands and leaned forward, freeing my legs from the
rope binding them together. I stood up and stretched, walking over to Joshua as
I worked his hands free first and finally his legs. “Hey, look at me,” I urged,
my hands on his face careful not to hurt him as I stared into his eyes. The
room was dark and barely any light was visible but his eyes flickered open long
enough to meet my gaze. “There you are.” I smiled, trying to keep him awake. I
leaned in, placing a soft kiss to his lips as my own eyes closed. I could feel
the energy pour out of my body and slowly into Joshua's.
“Stop,” he muttered, shaking his head trying to break free.
“Josh, it's me,” I whispered pulling back. I looked him
over, my thumb stroking his cheek. His skin was ashen and he had a few cuts,
but he looked overall better than he had before I'd healed him.
“My head,” he whispered. “It's throbbing.”
“I need to finish.” I didn't care if it exhausted me. Right
now Joshua needed to get better and to do that meant healing him. His hand
gently pushed me further away.
“I'm okay.” He urged me to move away. “Try and find a way
out of here. Save your strength for that.”
I sighed, deciding not to fight him on it. We would need a
way out and soon. I didn't know when Craynor would return. I walked along the
length of the room, trying the sealed door but it didn't budge. I pushed my ear
against it, listening for sounds. I could hear footsteps outside and opted not
to use our abilities to unlock it. Not yet. We would escape, but we needed to
be ready. Coming back towards Joshua, I knelt down glancing him over. “Let me
help you feel better.”
“Olivia,” he sighed heavily. “Turn around.”
“I know. I'll be fine,” I assured him. I hadn't forgotten
about the knife in my back. Clearly someone had pulled it out and I felt an odd
homemade bandage applied against my skin. Craynor hadn't wanted me dead. At
least not yet. Maybe that was good news? I wasn't sure what he wanted with
Joshua or with me.
I paused hearing a faint rattling. “What's that?” Josh
mumbled and I rose walking towards the vent hearing it again.
“Hello?” I saw a small vent at the ceiling. I doubted Rane
could fit and she was the smallest.
“Olivia?” I heard the faintest voice before the vent pushed
open and a tiny body plopped down onto the floor in a heap.
“Adelaide!” I rushed over, making sure she was okay as she'd
fallen onto the cold cement.
“I'm fine,” she whispered, careful to keep from being heard.
“We have to get you out of here.”
“We? What are you doing here?” I stared at her shocked.
Adelaide smiled before throwing her arms around me. I tried
to hide the grimace as my back throbbed. I wasn't entirely thrilled she was
here, but was glad to hug her. “Where's Madeline?”
“She doesn't know I left.” Adelaide let go of me and walked
over to Joshua. “What happened to him?”
“I'm fine.” Joshua gave the best smile he muster, hugging
Adelaide. “How'd you get here?”
Adelaide sighed glancing around the room, taking in her
surroundings. “Aidan said I was a stowaway.” She smiled up at me brightly. “I
snuck into the back with the supplies. I wanted to help.”
I nodded. “And that you did. Who else is with you?”
Adelaide grinned. “Aidan, Cate and Elsa. They're just
outside, trying to find a way in. Craynor is standing guard with a gun. He
threatened to kill you both if they came any closer. So I snuck in through the
vent.” She beamed proudly.
“What about Henry, Gavin and Rane?” I hoped they were still
alive and well.
Adelaide shrugged. “I don't know who they are. Oh! Aidan
said he found a girl alive, but hurt. He was trying to make her feel better.
Maybe it's your friend?” She tried to make sense of the information even though
they'd kept a lot from her.
“You've done well,” I assured her. “Do they know where you
went?” I felt my heart constrict. Adelaide should not have been here. Craynor
would kill her if he found her.
“Cate helped me into the vent,” Adelaide answered. “Can't we
climb out the same way?”
I bent down, wrapping my arms around her. “I wish we could
but we're too big.” Hope disappeared as quickly as it came.
“That's not what Cate told me,” Adelaide smirked. “She said
to tell you what's big can be little and what's little can be big.”
“What does that mean?” I shot a glance at Joshua.
He paused momentarily, thinking the puzzle over. “The vent.
I think we can make it bigger or somehow make ourselves smaller to fit through
it.”
“You want me to shrink us?” I laughed. “You're crazy!”
“Just consider it for a second, Olive,” he reasoned. “Children
grow into adults. Why can't we make ourselves a few years younger,
smaller
,”
he emphasized.
“I'm not turning us into five-year-olds.” I reiterated, “It's
not going to happen. Besides who's to say I can even do that!” This was more
than a long shot. It was impossible.
“You have to try.” Adelaide's voice perked up. “Please,
Olivia.”
I sighed. I couldn't say no to her. Besides, we needed a way
out. “You go first,” I insisted. In case I ended up destroying the vent or
Joshua and myself, I didn't want her to witness it.
I kissed her cheek as she walked over towards Joshua. “We'll
see you soon.” He offered a smile though he struggled with the pain he felt. “Help
her back in the vent,” Josh insisted. I hugged her one last time and dropped
another kiss to her dirty cheek.
“Be careful,” I told Adelaide as I eased her back into the
vent. I spent a few minutes trying to catch my breath, listening for the door,
nervous as hell. Walking back towards Joshua I examined his wounds and rested a
hand on his, depleting some of my energy, giving it to him.
“What are you doing?” He tried to pull his hand back, but I
gripped it tighter.
“You need enough energy to climb through the vent with me.
I'm not leaving you behind.”
“Just a little.” The color slowly returned to his cheeks and
he took his other hand, prying my death grip from him. “That's enough.” He knew
we both needed enough strength to escape.
“Okay.” My voice betrayed me as I offered a weak smile. I was
beyond nervous. I felt my body jolt awake at the sound of the latch on the
basement door. We were out of time. The grate lay at my feet as I gripped his
hand and focused on making us younger. It wasn't working.
Smaller
! Joshua silently insisted.
Do it now!
“I'm trying!” I screamed watching with wide terror-filled
eyes as Craynor descended the stairs with a tray of food.
“You two shouldn't be up and around.” Craynor's voice echoed
as he dropped the tray of food, prepared for a fight. Clearly he hadn't anticipated
us on our feet.
Joshua was the first to act, jumping at Craynor, wrestling
him down onto the ground. Craynor was fast and strong, flipping them over,
pinning Josh down and pulling a switchblade from his pocket.
I had to do something. I rushed towards Craynor, knocking
the knife from his hand as I kicked him hard. He fell back, off Joshua as he
rolled away. I darted for the knife along with Craynor, feeling the cold cement
against me as Craynor climbed above me, reaching just slightly farther grazing
the metal blade. “Get off!” I bellowed throwing him from my back hard against
the wall. His body collapsed down the wall but his eyes remained open and he
was breathing. I grabbed Joshua's hand, helping him to his feet as we rushed up
the stairs. I pushed Joshua past me, letting him out first as I turned around to
see Craynor come up the stairs chasing after us.
I had no other choice. I needed to put an end to Craynor and
his reigning madness. My hands glowed briefly and expelled a flame onto him,
sending him stumbling backwards screaming. Joshua grabbed my hand, not bothered
by the searing heat as he dragged me up the stairs. Together we ran through the
building, trying to find our way out. In the darkness we stumbled, unable to
find a door as the building shifted with our footsteps. It wasn't steady or
safe. I didn't know how much longer it would last and I glanced back seeing
smoke coming from the basement where we'd been held. The structure had already
grown weak after Haven's raid. It was only a matter of time until it collapsed.
Stumbling through the darkness my legs tripped over
something warm and I fell onto the form, realizing it was a body. I reached
down, searching out a pulse. It was faint.
“Henry,” I gasped.
Joshua kept a hold, helping me to my feet. “Who's that?” He
hadn't recognized the name. I didn't expect him to.
“He helped me find my way to Haven,” I admitted. “He's still
alive. I need your help, Joshua.” I couldn't leave him to die. It wasn't right.
Not if we could get back to Shadow and use the technology to save him. “We need
to find our way out.” My heart pounded as I gripped Joshua's hand tighter and
he lifted Henry into his arms. “Adelaide! Cate!” I screamed knowing someone had
to be nearby.
“Olivia?” I heard Elsa's voice first as she ran towards us,
the structure creaking and swaying on an unsteady foundation. She gripped
Adelaide's hand as Cate and Aidan followed right behind her.
“Make a portal.” Joshua didn't wait for me to answer. “We
know there was one in Genesis and another in Haven. If you can make fire and
heal me, I'm sure you can make a portal. We need to get out of here, now!” It would
only be a matter of moments until the building around us caved in and killed
all of us.
“An actual portal! You have more faith in my abilities than
I do.” I laughed at the absurdity of the suggestion. “Can't we search for an
exit?”
Aidan grimaced. “It's blocked. Both exits have too much
debris. I couldn't move it. I tried while Adelaide was climbing through the
vent.”
“Do it, Olive.” Josh gritted his teeth through the pain as
he held an unconscious Henry in his arms.
Cate frowned, her eyes scouring the room. “You'll need a
mirror, glass, something reflective to use as a portal.”
“You think this can actually work?” I was willing to try
anything right now as we scoured the building for the nearest window. Most were
covered with debris, making it impossible to reach.
“I think there's one this way.” Elsa's voice sounded frantic
as we desperately searched for a way out. We followed her towards the only
remaining window, a hint of light shining from outside, giving off the
slightest glimpse of hope.
“Here goes nothing,” I muttered, touching the window with my
palm. I closed my eyes imagining our home, our life together in Shadow. We
didn’t have a portal back home, but if it was possible to create one on this
end, why wouldn't it be possible to create one over there as well?
I held onto Joshua's arm as the window shimmered. “We don't
have much time. I don't know how long it'll stay open.” I glanced back at the
others as Adelaide gripped Joshua's elbow, since his hands were full. One by
one, holding on to each other, we all stepped through the portal. I hoped I
wasn't sending us to our deaths. It felt as if I were free falling until we
reached complete oblivion.
“Josh?” I breathed. My voice seemed to extend onward forever:
the strangest echo as if my ears were clogged. I couldn't see anything but felt
his arm beneath my hand in darkness. I hoped the others held on. I couldn't see
anyone. I stepped forward if at all possible, pulling him with me as I saw the
slightest ounce of light. A mere reflection as I heard the sound of crunching
at my feet. Glancing down I lifted the broken pieces of window into my palm,
accidentally slicing my skin. “Ouch.” I grimaced, glancing at Joshua now seeing
him from the reflection and light bouncing off the glass. He still held onto
Henry. His lips moved but I couldn't make out what he said. I stared at the
tiniest bit of glass, trying again to focus, to reform the window as to what it
had once been.
Snow began to fall as it mixed with smoke. It wasn't snow at
all but ash. Forming the window back to its rightful place, my eyes searched
through seeing our home, Shadow, destroyed. The town was in ruins. The house
we'd come to love and city we had accepted as home was in shambles. I glanced
back at Joshua through the glass, seeing his expression beside me. This was the
moment to decide. Our moment. What to do. Where to go. I could change the
window I'd fixed. Go home or go someplace else.
It wasn't a decision. Not really. I pulled Joshua and the
others through the window with me, the sound of glass shattering as I felt the
stinging sensation of shards cutting me. Falling hard and fast, I landed on the
ground. Joshua fell through a moment later with Henry falling against us. I
pushed Henry off, needing air to breathe. A moment of eerie silence stretched
before a screech and clank erupted from twenty feet east. Two loud crashing
sounds followed. A haze of smoke blanketed Shadow and burned my eyes. I could
see the broken shards of portal had scattered. How? I had no idea. Pushing
myself up and seeing Joshua was okay, I dug around searching for the others.
Cate and Adian were buried but breathing. They pushed the remains of the
building to the side as I helped them stand up.
“Where are Elsa and Adelaide?” My heart lurched.
Cate, covered in cuts and bruises pushed at the nearby
debris. “I don't know.” She squinted as her eyes adjusted to the light. “Adelaide!
Elsa!” she called.
“They were right behind me,” Joshua frowned. Ash fell from
the sky. The air was hot, the smell repugnant. “What happened?” he asked. I
flipped my palms over, my hands unscathed, though I was certain I'd been
bleeding moments ago.