Chapter IX

JOEY SAT WITH HER back against the cave wall with David beside her. From the corner of her eye, she noticed him sitting with his knees to his chest, arms wrapped around them, and his head rested on his knee caps. His face held a deep frown he was staring at the ground. The lack of cold billowing her way told her that he had returned to his olive skin.

She opened her mouth, ready to say something to perk him up, when an ear-piercing scraping noise echoed throughout the medium sized cave. She swung her head around until she located the source and watched as Michelle sharpened and thinned pieces of stone before she tied it to a sturdy thick stick with strands of vine.

"Homemade arrows." She heard David's voice but didn't turn her gaze from Michelle. "Bet she'd do anything for an ability like yours." A soft chuckle filtered through his closed lips. "You know, funny thing ... Did you notice how identical the bottom half of yours and Michelle's faces are?" She flung her head towards David feeling an unexpected shock of offense. "What?" he went on with a grin. "Your mouth and noses are like ... identical. But ..." He shrugged. "It could just be the light playing tricks."

She turned her attention back to Michelle as the leader stood and walked away, grabbing a flask and downing some water. Despite how Joey felt, something about what David said spooked her. There was something about Michelle. Not that they were identical, but ... something strange. Something that sent shivers up Joey's spine as she thought on it more. She didn't know anything about the girl, but she could sense that Michelle wasn't just some ordinary, unfortunate girl who got thrown into the Domes. No, there was something else. Something dark and mischievous, but she couldn't place the feeling. And for her and her friends sake, Joey hoped a feeling was all it was.

She pushed the thought aside as someone started crawling out of the hole, and the others instantly crowded around whoever was coming through. One of the twins drew their broadsword, and Joey pushed herself up, a hand flying to her aching ribs, as a familiar blonde tumbled out. She screamed and hurriedly scurried away until her back rammed up again the wall in a corner.

"Jenny?" David asked, pulling up beside Joey. "You didn't tell me she was here," he whispered so only Joey could hear.

Facing him, she said thinly, "They're all here." Without anymore hesitation, the two of them quickly made their way to their friend.

Upon seeing their faces, Jenny calmed but continued to frantically glance between the others as she spat out questions with rapid fire. "What happened? Where are we? What are you two doing here? Who are they? Where's my brother?"

"Whoa! Jenny, just hold on a second!" David knelt down in front of her, and Joey was thankful he was still in his regular form to keep Jenny from being anymore scared. He twisted his neck to look up at Joey. "So, she has an ability too?"

Jenny furrowed her brow as her head swung his way and her eyes finally settled on him. "Too?" she asked, her voice coming out full of confusion. "No! No, I don't have an ability! David, what the heck is going on?!"

"Wait, so ..." David stood, and Joey could see the puzzlement etched along his face. "If Jenny doesn't have an ability then what's she doing here?"

Though she knew he was looking to her for answers, Joey fought the urge to look away. She didn't want to admit that Jenny was only here because of what Joey had done to the official, ability or no. This was part of Joey's punishment. Instead, of responding, she bent down, and helped Jenny to her feet by pulling on her bicep.

Drawing in a shaky breath, indicating she had been crying, Jenny glanced from David to Joey. "What are you guys doing here?"

"What are we doing here?" Joey looked towards the tunnel as someone pushed themselves out feet first. "Why were we just tranqed and taken off the streets?" When the girl turned around, a loud gasp escaped David's lips.

"Ella?" David's jaw dropped and he looked paralyzed by fear. He flung himself around to face Joey, anger creasing his forehead. "You couldn't even tell me my own sister was here?"

Caught off guard by his explosion, Joey found it hard to form words. "David, I-I—"

"I should've gone after her!" he interrupted. "But instead, I left her in the hands of a total strange because you didn't tell me!"

"David, I'm sorry!" Joey fired quickly. "A lot was going on! I didn't think—"

He stormed away towards his sister before she had the chance to finish. He gripped Ella's hands firmly in what looked like a mixture of relief, anger, and fear. "Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?"

Ella shook her head. "No, Dav—"

"What about Keith? Did they get him too?" His voice lowered. "Are you here because of me? They assumed you had an ability too?"

His little sisters jaw dropped, but her voice was surprisingly bleak, "You have an ability?"

"I didn't see Keith on the aircraft," Joey spoke up, trying to calm the tension between the siblings.

"Aircraft?" David asked, dropping his sisters hands and narrowing his eyes at Joey. "What else are you not telling me?"

Joey looked down at her shoes feeling unable to dress David directly. "They ... took everyone." Gulping, she looked up and scanned the four friends now surrounding her. "Because of me. Because ..." She looked back down at her hands, and twirled her thumbs before making eye contact with David. "Because I did something terrible years ago and they finally found out."

Heather heaved a disgusted sigh as she took a step closer. "So whatever you did was enough to get us all killed, huh? We got dragged into this why? Just for being your friends?" Joey averted her gaze. "Don't you have anything to say for yourself?" Heather reared back a fist, and Joey flinched, but David quickly grabbed Heather's wrist halting her.

David roughly forced Heather's fist down, and spoke to her directly. "We all have something to be ashamed of, Heather. Let's not forget that."

Heather snickered and shook her head before speaking through gritted teeth. "Look who's talking." Yanking her arm away, she stormed off to one of the corners of the cave where she plopped down and pulled her knees to her chest. Her glare was still fixated on Joey, and Joey eventually broke eye contact.

"What else is there, Joey?" She looked back up at David, who crossed his arms. "I can tell from your look that there's something else." A few seconds of silence went by before David rolled his eyes. "You've already kept this much hidden from us! Do you really want to hide more?"

"Alright," she sighed. "I woke up on the aircraft ..." Shrugging, she continued, "I don't guess my sedative was strong enough to keep me under."

She heard a snort along with Heather's soft voice chime in, "Because you never sleep."

Joey briefly lowered her gaze, realizing that Heather's mockery was the only thing that truly made sense. More than likely, her body was used to fighting sleep and the sedative was just another means of causing nightmares that her brain didn't want to endure. Clearing her throat, she changed the subject, "There was someone else on the airship."

"Who?" Ella spewed before Joey had the chance to continue.

"Mr. Magnus." Ella and David's eyes both popped open in surprise. "It's a long story, too much detail to get into right now, but ..." She pursed her lips, placing a palm over her pocket which held the piece of paper with the poems safely inside. "I think he's given us a way out of here."

"That's nonsense!" Joey's head jerked to the left to find Michelle shoving a dozen arrows into her quiver. "I already told you. There is no way out."

Michelle's gaze traveled past Joey's shoulder, and Joey began to hear the crumbling of dirt as it hit the stone floor. She twirled back around to face the hole to see dirt particles dusting the ground, and a few rocks slipped from the cracks. Unexpectedly, someone else emerged from the hole letting out a yelp as they collided with the floor ... only they didn't bother to get up. Instead, sniffling filled the silent air and Joey's brow furrowed as she bent forward to get a closer look. The shimmer of her red hair in the torch light made her easily recognizable, and Joey's heart dropped as her features came into view.

"Kathleen?" Joey whispered, falling to her knees. She gently placed a hand on Kathleen's shoulder, the young girls body shaking as she heavily sobbed.

"Kathleen?" Jenny swiftly knelt down and wrapped her arms around the redhead. "Are you okay?"

Slowly rolling herself up into a kneeling position, she shook her head, red strands sticking to her tear-stained cheeks. "No," she whimpered. "I-It's m-my parents." She sniffed, sucked in a deep breath, and eyed Jenny. "Th-they ..." She trailed off as she broke into another string of sobs. "They're g-gone." Her voice was barely audible as she wept. "A-and he w-would've killed Kendall t-too if ..." She paused and took a second to collect herself, and everyone waited patiently. "If this hadn't happened." Extending her right arm, her flesh tightening and lengthening into a sharp point, and several of them stepped back to avoid a jab. Seconds later, she lowered her arm and it returned to its normal five fingered hand. "I pushed him down the stairs before he could get to Kendall, but I don't think he was dead. He just ..." She shrugged and eyed Joey. "Disappeared."

Joey lowered her gaze as her shoulders slumped, and her heart ached. It was exactly how Mr. Magnus had said. Heather was attacked, and Kathleen's parents were dead. She balled her fists, feeling hatred for herself rise. She was days away from being seventeen, and she had already killed more people in her life then anyone ever should. She wanted to scream at the sky, releasing all her pain and frustration.

As Kathleen finished speaking, a couple other people had already crawled out of the hole. Another tall blonde girl and a muscular young man. Joey furrowed her brow as she waited for one final person to come through, someone she had seen on the ship, but they never did. Arching a brow, she glanced up at the two strangers. "Where's Alex?"

Michelle suddenly sprang from her crouched position at the back of the cave, and Joey's heart lurched as she turned her way. Michelle held up a hand keeping Joey quiet before she could speak. Michelle's eyes slightly widened and, without saying anything, she took off towards the exit pushing past those that crowded around it.

"Michelle!" the unfamiliar blonde shouted as Michelle lunged inside the hole.

Joey eyed David, her heart now beating wildly against her ribs, before springing into the tunnel. She followed closely behind Michelle doing her best to ignore her claustrophobia and the desire to freeze up as she swiftly crawled her way through.

Seconds later, she emerged into the dying light of the sunset, and squinted to find Michelle skidding down the hill in an attempt to hurry. Moving to her rear, she quickly scurried down the slope after Michelle, and several times she nearly fell, but didn't stop.

As she neared the bottom, her hand slipped on moss and sent her tumbling the rest of the way down the side of the steep hill. Her knee sliced across a jagged rock at the bottom, and she grimaced at the ache that racked her body as her side and palms slapped the rocky terrain.

"Joey, you alright?" Someone gripped her under the arm and helped her to her feet. She could tell it was David from the chilled touch against her skin, and she yelped from the pain in her ribs. Before acknowledging him, she peered down at her knee as red gushed from a large gash.

She cringed but nodded. "I'll be fine." She turned back towards the forest as Michelle leaped over a log and vanished out of sight. "Come on, we can't lose her." She took a couple steps forward, but limped as pain shot through her left side from the pressure. Running wasn't going to be possible, and she growled in anger knowing she wouldn't keep up.

"Here, let me help." David swiftly bent over and hovered his palm a couple inches away from her wound. Blue trailed his veins to his hand and within a matter of seconds, ice crystals flowed from his palm and a thin patch of neon blue froze over the gash. She winced from the slight sting the cold gave her, but it quickly went away replaced by a cooling sensation. Standing up straight, David's ice form melted away. "That should help some."

Joey bent her knee back and forth, no longer feeling the laceration, and she looked at him puzzled. "I thought ice was bad for a cut?"

He grinned. "Well, usually, but my powers will lace a layer of ice with a healing gel." He wink. "I can do many things." She smiled at his quirkiness, and knew the patch was only a temporary means of relief, but it would last long enough.

She quickly took off running in the same direction Michelle had gone only seconds ago. She sprinted through the forest leaping over logs, spinning around boulders, pushing back brush, and ducking under low-hanging branches. Michelle was far ahead and barely visible in the light, but Joey couldn't slow her pace if she wanted to keep Michelle in view.

A sudden fear of danger sprung in the back of Joey's mind causing her to slow her pace. This could be a trap; just a ruse Michelle had put together to eliminate the newcomers. After all, she didn't know anything about Michelle. That whole speech about keeping your friends close could've just been a means to trick Joey. Joey knew Alex was here, she had seen him on the airship, but what if Michelle had already sent someone to do away with him? The thought made her pale. Mr. Magnus had warned her to trust her friends, but he had never mentioned anything about the others in the Domes.

She wanted to turn back, warn her friends of what Michelle could be planning, but when Michelle disappeared once again, Joey shook away the thought and continued her chase. Even if this was a trap maybe she would still be lead to Alex, and together the three of them could fight off Michelle.

Quickly, smoke filled the atmosphere, and Joey squinted feeling a burn in her eyes. She frantically looked around trying to find where the leader could've gone in this rapid growing fog, but her eyes teared and beg for relief. She blinked trying to ease the pain, but it didn't help. Taking a second to wipe her eyes, she nearly ran into brush, but swiftly swiped her arm to the side to keep herself from ramming the thorns head-on. She burst through the layers of branches and leaves to find herself in a small clearing. A clearing that had been engulfed in fire and was spreading. Spinning in a circle, her eyes widened and her jaw dropped.

"Look out!" Joey yelped as she was tackled to the ground. A ball of fire soared above her head, and exploded in a loud boom lighting some of the last remaining greenery aflame. Michelle jumped off and shouted, "You're going to burn our food!"

Lifting her head off the ground, Joey was astound to find Alex. His skin glowed and cracked—a variation of bright oranges, reds, and yellows ran along his flesh like lava—and he was screaming into the air, "I know you're there! Show yourself and fight me, you coward!" A ball of fire rapidly formed in his hand and he chucked it through the air. It slammed into a tree and engulfed the leaves in an eruption of orange.

"Whoa!"

Joey looked up as David ran up beside her, and she sprang to her feet. "It's Alex!" she shouted, unsure if David could hear her over the raging fire that rapidly consumed the clearing. "We've gotta calm him down, David!" She turned to face her fiery friend and cupped her hands around her mouth. She shouted, "Alex!" but the crackling from the burning bark was too loud for him to hear her.

"It's no use!" Michelle screamed back. She stepped back as a branch fell in front of her, raising her arm to protect her face as embers erupted from the wood. Now standing beside Joey, she was easier to hear, "He can't hear us, and it'll be too dangerous to get any close." In the blink of an eye, Michelle yanked and arrow from her quiver and knocked it against her bow, pulling back on the string.

Joey gasped and quickly shoved Michelle's arms away. The arrow released and disappeared above the trees through the smoke. "What are you doing?" she shouted. "You can't just kill him!"

Unexpectedly, Michelle shoved back and Joey nearly lost her balance. "He's destroying all our food!" Michelle fired angrily. "He has zero control over his ability right now!" She took a step forward and shouted in Joey's face. "It's too dangerous to get any closer to him. He's got to go unless you want to die of starvation!" She jabbed a finger in Joey's chest.

"Not if I go." Joey swung around and eyed David. "I can freeze my body, use it like a barrier, and maybe get close enough to calm him down."

"Do it," Michelle said hurriedly, without even seeming to contemplate what he was saying. "Before we lose what little source of food we have left."

"What?" Joey twisted her head between the two until she returned to David. "No, that still can't be safe. Fire is more powerful then ice."

David gave a half grin. "It's nothing to worry about. My body will freeze into a crystalized form—"

"And it'll protect you?" Joey interrupted.

His grin wavered. "Well, I'll admit there's just one tiny problem." His eyes shifted down to his torso. "Being in this form drains me. I haven't been able to master it yet." He returned his gaze. "I can't stay in it for more than a minute, and with all this heat, maybe only a few seconds before it completely melts. After that, my powers will wear down and I'll—"

"Be dangerously close to the flames," she interrupted once again. If Alex didn't recognize him in enough time, he could seriously hurt David.

"Then you better talk fast because none of us will have a chance without food, and I won't put my team in harms way for one guy." Michelle flung a hand in Alex's direction as he threw another fire ball. "Hurry!"

Letting out a deep breath, David's ice form returned. He closed his eyes and ice began to consume his body in a thick layer from head to toe until he looked like a replica of an ice sculpture. Opening his now-solid-blue eyes, he sprinted towards Alex hollering his name over and over again.

Alex swung around to face him, fire dancing in the palm of his hands as he reared them back about to blast the boy running towards him, and David instantly stopped. "Who are you?" Alex asked, his voice grumbling and almost unrecognizable, and he snarled. "You're with Agcorp, aren't you? Just like the other guy!"

David raised his hands calmly, his crystalized body already beginning to crack under the heat waves dancing from Alex's body. "No, I'm not! Alex, it's me! David!"

Joey craned her ears to listen as she took a few steps forward.

Alex balled his hands into fists. "I'm not stupid!" He shook his head. "You look nothing like David." Throwing his hands forward, a stream of fire flowed from his fingertips with brutal force, and David crossed his arms in front of his head as he fought off the flames.

Joey's pulse quickened as her heart jumped to her throat, and she jogged a few more steps forward, but Michelle gripped her bicep holding her back.

"Alex!" David yelled, as the crystal on his arms began to chip and reveal patches of his skin. "Stop! It's really me!"

Alex lowered his hands and the fire died down leaving just the glow of his body. "If you want me to believe you then you have to prove you're really him!"

David lowered his arms to his side and shook his head. "Alex, there's no time for that!" He grimaced, and a hand flew to his arm where some of the ice had melted. "There's too much fire! You need to put it out! Now! Before you get us all killed!"

Alex's fire grew hotter along with his rage, and his rumbling voice returned. "You're not really him!" Pulling his hands in close to his chest, he jabbed them forward with a shout and fire blasted from his palms.

Joey gasped, but it was too late to react. David raised his arms trying to deflect the fire, but he wasn't fast enough. The fire slammed into his chest, and his protective layer of ice shattered and evaporated. Returning to his olive skin, his legs wobbled and he collapsed to the ground on his hands and knees gasping for air as the smoke engulfed his body.

"David, no!" Joey struggled against Michelle's strong grip, but the leader held her in place. Joey glanced back, and yelled in anger, "What are you doing? He could die!"

"Do you want to die too?" Michelle asked, surprisingly calm. Gritting her teeth, Joey quickly looked back at David continuing to try and break free.

"David?" Like blowing out a candle, Alex's fire extinguished, and he returned to his original tan color as he knelt down beside David, placing a hand on his back. He threw out his hands to the side, and the smoke parted giving David clean air to breathe. "I'm sorry!" He cringed. "I really thought you were with Agcorp. The ability threw me off."

David chuckled as he panted and coughed. "Well ... I always knew you were a hot head." He continued hacking for several more seconds before trying to catch his breath. "What about the fire? Can you put it out?"

Alex glanced around, giving a worried glance around. "Uh—"

Michelle finally released Joey's arm, and she took off in a sprint to the boys as Alex gripped David's tricep and helped him to his feet. Joey placed a hand on David's arm, peering at the slight burns on his arms. Heaving a thankful sigh, she said, "You're lucky these weren't more serious." She shot a glare up at Alex, and Alex looked at her quizzically.

Michelle cut him off before he got the chance to say anything, and screamed in his face, "Get this fire out now before we lose all the fruit trees!"

Alex took a step back with a glare. "And who are you to boss me around?"

"A story for another time," David said. He let out a puff of air as he stood up straight, his ice form reappearing. "Can you put this fire out or not?"

Slowly taking his eyes off Michelle, he glanced around at all the trees and his mouth slowly dipped into a frown. "No," he said softly. "I'm sorry. I don't actually know how I caught on fire in the first place."

Michelle roughly shoved him away. "If that fire reaches our fruit trees then you've doomed us all!" Alex narrowed his eyes and his skin tone quickly turned a bright orange.

"Everybody just calm down!" David raised his hands out to his sides. "Let me give it a try." His arms shook as the fire drifted closer, and Joey could tell the heat was making him weak and messing with his ability. Still, he pressed on. Closing his eyes, a soft layer of mist flowed from his palms and filled the atmosphere. It felt cool against Joey's skin, and quickly suffocated the flames leaving only smoke behind.

"Whoa!" Alex eyed David's hands as he dropped them to his knees, bent forward, and panted. "Dude, you kinda remind me of a mutant on X-Men right now." David laughed through his uneven breaths, but Joey arched a brow unable to understand the reference.

"Ugh!" Joey jumped as Michelle's outburst. "They're gone!" With a quick push, Alex landed on the ground on his rear.

"Hey!" Joey shot her a glare, but Michelle quickly moved on.

"Chase!" she shouted twirling in slow circles. "Chase! I can hear you! Let me help you!" Joey glanced around wondering who Michelle was speaking to.

"You with that guy?" Alex asked, his brow furrowed in anger as he pushed himself up off the ground. The skin on his arms unexpectedly separated and flowed with lava. "You with Agcorp too?"

Michelle snorted. "I would rather die then be a part of that group."

Joey's skin crawled seeing his flesh fused back together as he calmed. "But ... that guy—"

"That guy was sent by me to protect you," Michelle interrupted, staring daggers at Alex. "I knew you were coming and would need help, but I didn't expect you to have an ability." She gritted her teeth. "So help me if he's hurt ..."

Joey jumped and let out a soft yelp as a young boy with light brown hair appeared out of thin air beside her. He winced and cradled his arm as he slowly lowered himself to the scorched earth on his knees. "I'm alright, Michelle," he said with another cringe, and sniffled.

Michelle knelt beside him and pulled gently on his arm to examine it. After a few seconds, she asked, "He did this to you?" Joey peered past Michelle's shoulder to find a patch of second degree burns just above the boys wrist.

The boy—who she assumed was Chase—nodded. "It wasn't completely his fault." He winced then grinned. "I did scare him pretty good when he woke up."

Smoke rose from Alex's shoulders as he clenched his jaw. "I was not scared!"

"Sure." Chase smirked. "Because the way you attacked made it clear that you've had this ability for more then five minutes."

Alex looked away as his cheeks turned a bright red. "Whatever, but will someone please explain to me what's going on?"

David patted Alex's shoulder, vapor rising from the fire boys shoulder under David's hand with a sizzling sound. "Come on. I'll fill you in."

Joey turned towards Michelle as the boys walked away, and her brow creased. "You knew Chase was in danger." The older girl didn't speak, so Joey pressed, "How?"

Michelle continued examining Chase's burn. "I could sense it."

Joey crouched down and squinted, staring at her deeply. "No, it was more then that. You knew he was in trouble."

Michelle nearly dropped his arm as she turned her eyes up at Joey. "What do you want me to say? I saw him in some vision?" She averted her gaze for a brief moment before speaking more calmly, "No, it was nothing like that. I have impeccable hearing. That's how I knew."

Joey stared at her confused. "But I thought your ability was seeing the future?"

Michelle stood, helping Chase to his feet. "Well, news flash for ya, some people can have more then one ability. It's rare, but ... possible." Joey stood to meet her eye to eye. "I heard Alex's shout and Chase's scream." Michelle shrugged. "It's that simple. I knew he was in trouble because ..." She trailed off as she turned and glared at the back of Alex where the other boys were conversing. "Newly discovered abilities can be dangerous."

Chase placed his good arm over Michelle's shoulders, and she wrapped an arm around his waist pulling him along. "We need to get out of sight. Cameras miles from here could've easily picked up on that smoke."

"But what about the fruit trees?" Joey asked, scanning the forest. She looked with hope that some had survived, but all she could see was crumbling bark.

"None survived," came Chase's cold response, drawing Michelle's gaze. "It was the first thing I went to check on, but the fire had already roasted everything."

"Which means this location is no longer safe,"Michelle continued. "We'll have to move before we starve." Stepping forward, she helped Chase make his way out of the clearing.

Seconds later, Joey felt a cold hand slip into hers and her heart fluttered. She turned to find David smiling at her, and he gestured with his head to follow as he pulled on her hand. Alex trailed behind them as they followed Michelle through the woods back to the waterfall.