~~~~~~~~~Jade's POV~~~~~~~~~

...

"You think she's okay..?"

...

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking.."

...

"She seems younger.."

...

"Wait, I think she's waking up..!"

My head was pounding, my body resting on a cold hard floor as my eyes slowly opened. Ugh, what a horrible dream..

"Hey girl..?" I grew a little pale at the new voice, sitting up with a jolt.

Looking around, I saw myself in a room of black bricks, the front and sides in iron bars, like a prison. Two people, one on each of the rooms beside me, staring at me in concern.

On my left side was a girl with long platinum blonde hair, pale skin, and dark blue eyes. Her dress was an orchid purple, but quite dirty.

Then at the right was a boy, his skin was more tanned than mine, with golden blonde hair and brown eyes. Well, one of his eyes had a patch over it, and he wore a yellow sweater, dirty as well.

I backed away, my back soon pressing against the brick wall. "W-What?! Who are- Where- What-?!?"

"Hey hey, calm down..!" The girl spoke, raising her arms in surrender. "We mean no harm to you.."

I stayed quiet, looking at the guy, then back at the girl. She gave me a small yet warm smile. "I'm Cassie, and that's Jake.."

When I turned to Jake, I saw him moving his hands around with a smile, my eyes widening a bit.

I heard Cassie speak. "Sorry if you don't understand him, he speaks in sign language. He's saying 'It's-'"

"It's nice to meet you.." I said, to which he nodded. I've been able to learn a lot of languages since I was a little baby. But now knowing all that's happened, maybe it's a power..?

"Oh, great, I won't have to translate then." She said with a small giggle.

But I wasn't nearly as relaxed as they were. "Uh.. where am I..?"

They both shared a glance, Jake moving his hands to speak. "A dungeon.."

"My dungeon." Lara's voice echoed down the hall, seeing her walking over as I gulped. She had a snake wrapped around her shoulders, Venom I assumed, both smiling at me. "Welcome, Jade."

"What do you want with me?!"

She shrugged. "Don't worry your pretty little head over it, you'll find out soon enough."

"What did you do to my family?! Where are they?!"

"They're fine. For now anyways."

I was about to speak, when Venom hissed at me in anger, making me force my mouth shut. Lara simply laughed. "Just know that you'll be staying here for a while."

That's all she said before walking away, leaving me in a pile of confusion and fear.

"Jade, huh..?" I heard Cassie speak. "That's a nice name.."

"... thanks.."

I wasn't in the mood to speak, not right now..

I turned to my side, hugging my arms as my head rested on the wall, feeling the tears forming in my eyes.

I-I want to go home..

~~~~~~~~~Gabe's POV~~~~~~~~~

We had been walking around the town near the beach for the past hour. None of our devices seemed to work, and we had no money on us for anything.

I felt so stupid! If I had just stopped to think at one point, maybe we could've turned back!

And Jade..

God knows where she is now..

"Hey.." I felt Fiona place a hand on my shoulder. "Don't worry, we're gonna find Jade and go back home.."

"... I hope so.."

She looked around, soon spotting a small store, and leading me over to it. "Uh, Fi, I don't know what you're planning, but we have no money."

Once inside, she turned to face me. "You'd be surprised at how much change lies on store floors, look around."

"What?!"

"Leave no penny I searched." She disappeared in an isle.

I let out a sigh, she could be so strange at times, but we needed money somehow. I began to look around, and surprisingly, Fiona was right. I had already found around five dollars in coins, and that's a lot for coins!

Soon, I met up with Fi, who had also found around five dollars. "Okay, so together we have eleven bucks and thirty two cents. Should be enough to get us some energy bars, right?"

"That's what we're gonna survive out of?"

"For the time being."

I rolled my eyes, both of us walking over to the counter. The guy working their seemed to be around seventeen, his attire kinda emo.

Once he said the price, we placed our coins down, and he raised an eyebrow at us. "Are you serious?"

"We have enough, don't we?"

"Look, kid, it's either paper money or a card, this I can't accept."

"Says who?! Money's money, here's your money!"

"Fi, now is really not the time for you to argue with this guy..!" I muttered under my breath.

"Just accept their cash, Cole." Another voice spoke, making the guy roll his eyes, dragging the coins over.

An older woman, possibly in her early thirties, walked over. Her hair was completely pink, skin a bit tanned, and her eyes a mix of green and blue.

Cole gave us the energy bars, and I noticed the woman eyeing us in suspicion, making us both shrink in place.

"... have I seen you guys somewhere before?"

Fi and I exchanged a glance, and I shook my head. "I don't think so..?"

"Are you, by any changes, related to someone named Sage? Sage Cipher?"

My eyes widened a bit, staying quiet for a few seconds. "That's my mother's name.."

"Ah, no wonder. You have similar features."

"Wait, you knew our mother..?!"

"In a way. Name's Savanna, by the way."

I turned to Fi, seeing her give me a small shrug. "I'm Gabe, and this is my cousin Fiona. We're sort of.. in a bit of a tough spot right now."

"Far from home?"

"We're not even sure." Fiona answered, crossing her arms.

Savanna thought for a moment. "Well, my shift ends in a little bit. Care to wait?"

"We have nothing else to do." I replied, both of us sitting on a nearby bench.

Just what exactly has our family been hiding..?

Thanks for reading!!! 'Till next time!!!

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