"The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them."

-Ernest Hemingway

Marina kept a close eye on the chestnut-haired beauty that her brother couldn't take his eyes off of. She witnessed the allure of her. Hell, even she felt drawn to stay by her side as they weaved through the panicking crowds in the halls of the arena.

But she was a Channel. She was dangerous. All it would take was a second and she could use their powers against them.

Marina stared at the back of the Channel's head. If she glared long enough, maybe she could hear her thoughts and know whose side she was on in all this. But as unfortunate as it was, she was no mind reader.

"Please, remain calm," the same announcer rang through the speaker. "No civilians have been harmed. Authorities are patrolling. Please, remain calm."

There was nothing calm about anything that was happening. Men were shoving past women, knocking them off of their feet to reach the exit first. Women were clawing at each other, pulling hair, screaming as they held their crying children. They shouldn't have brought their children to watch violence anyways, but Marina couldn't stop the ache that crept into her heart for a scared and helpless child.

Authorities were in fact scanning the area, guns out at the ready. There were so many panicked civilians, they seemed to blend in, no one giving them a second glance.

Colson nudged her side, reminding her that he was still there, right next to her if she needed him. She allowed herself to smile at him, a real true smile, because for the first time in two months, her heart didn't feel as heavy.

She had her brother back. Sure, they were still trying to leave the Pits, but she got to wrap her arms around him, she felt his warmth again when she had felt so cold. Everything was going to be okay, she knew it in her heart.

Blocking out the chaos surrounding her, she focused on the warmth that was thawing her frozen veins, letting it spread through her like wildfire. The hole that had been sucking her down, smothering her with its darkness, was gone. She was bathed in sunlight once again, and she was breathing fresh air.

Marina was so caught up in her newfound emotional freedom, that she didn't even realize they had made it outside until she felt a raindrop splatter on her face. It left a cold trail down her cheek, then another took its place.

The panicked crowd began to disperse in different directions throughout the parking lot, some forgetting their cars completely and quickening to a sprint across the pavement. The group of Wielders followed the raven-haired teleporter, who didn't look like she knew where she was going as she glanced frantically side to side.

Colson left Marina's side and ran forward to the teleporter's. She nodded her head and the group resumed their trek towards a specific destination-an alley on the far side of one of the main streets in Acadia.

The crowds muffled as they crept deeper and deeper between the two walls. Marina's gaze kept flicking from the opposite mouths of the alley, waiting for Authorities to corner them and descend upon them like wolves.

The teleporter at the front of the group slowed as she rounded a corner-a dead end with a line of trash cans at the furthest wall. A few rats skittered across the ground beneath them as the group invaded the small space.

Their heavy breaths filled the air, drowning out the noise of the city and the hissing and squeaking of the disturbed rats. Marina's eyes flicked around the group. Ryder was scanning over the Channel, gazing at her with worried eyes as she rested her hands on her knees. The shadow Wielder set Wren delicately on her feet, keeping her arm draped over his shoulders when her feet touched the ground. The teleporter, weather Wielder, and the creepy one who controlled the mist all did the same as Marina, assessing the group.

"We need to go to the Den." Colson was the first to speak amongst the midst of their silence and heavy breathing.

"That place actually exists?" the weather Wielder asked, her eyes widening.

"Yes. Marina and I saw our friend, Aeron, in the crowd. He's the one that formed the tornado in the Pit, saving you guys."

"No," the Channel said, lifting her head to look at Colson while keeping her hands on her knees. "We go to the Wall."

"You can't just go to the Wall, it's kraenite. It would be a literal dead-end for all of us." Colson threw his hands up in the air as if it was obvious. "We need to regroup, get some reinforcements at the Den."

"Yeah, since they're real reliable," Marina murmured, thinking of Ronan. Where had he disappeared to? Why was he even at the Pits to help? He obviously didn't care about anyone but himself.

"Ronan is a bad egg," Colson argued, dismissing her. "Aeron will help. He always helps."

"This is the same Aeron who works for Grimm, Colson. How can you trust him?"

"We go to the Wall," Adira said again, this time lifting her torso to stand straight. "There is someone out there who needs me, who needs us, and I'm not going to let him think that I abandoned him."

"And what do you plan to do, Channel?" Colson asked. Marina was glad she wasn't the only one wary of someone with incredible power.

"Break through the Wall."

And this girl knew she was going to. Marina heard the silky confidence in her voice, she saw the determined gleam in her eye. The Channel was going to the Wall-with or without them.

Colson chuckled as if what she said was funny, but it wasn't. Marina knew that if the Channel went to the Wall, Ryder was going to follow her. She wasn't about to watch her brother leave again. She would be right there with him, following the Channel to their doom.

Noticing that no one else was laughing, Colson snapped his mouth shut and cleared his throat before speaking again. "How are you going to break the Wall?"

"Did you not see what happened to the dome?" the Channel asked, looking up at Colson from under her brow. "I'm the one that cracked through the kraenite."

"That's impossible. Our powers are null against the element."

"She channeled me." Ryder's voice broke through their argument. Marina's eyes flicked towards her brother, curious to what he meant. He cast his eyes around the group. "I'm immune to kraenite. Adira channeled me for the immunity, then used the lightning in the storm."

No one replied. Marina thought they didn't know what to say. It was unheard of.

"It makes sense," Marina said, breaking the silence. "I say we go for it. What do we have to lose?"

"Um," the storm Wielder chimed in. "Everything?"

"Let's just go back to the Den," Colson suggested again. "Rally forces, then go to the Wall."

"No," Adira stood her ground. "We go now. I don't know about you guys, but I don't leave friends behind."

"Sorry," the storm Wielder said, stepping back from the group. "I don't want to be a part of this. I just want to be safe. I'm going to the Den."

The group then divided, some moving themselves to stand by the storm Wielder, the others by Adira. Marina locked eyes with Colson, standing across from her in the opposing group. Everyone else was grouped around Adira except for the mist Wielder, the storm Wielder, and him.

"Colson," Marina said, her voice faltering. "It doesn't feel right, going there."

"And it feels right going with a girl you don't even know?" His eyes pleaded with her, begging her to join him at his side, but she couldn't. She couldn't leave Ryder already, not when she just got him back.

"I'm going with my brother."

Colson didn't reply, and she didn't say anything else. They stood, watching each other, the space between them growing vast as an ocean.

"Taliyah," Ryder said, tearing Marina's attention away. "Can you blink us to the section of the Wall in front of the Glass Bridge?"

The teleporter sighed, her brows turning down in thought. "Not all at the same time. I can do three of you at a time, any more than that and I'll tire myself out too quickly. But I'll have to break between the groups."

"That's okay," the shadow Wielder said, rubbing Wren's shoulder. "Wren needs to rest for just a bit anyways."

"Rest?" Wren yawned. "Rest is for the weak. Just wait until you guys see my daddy. He's as strong as strong can be." She turned her head over her shoulder as if she was talking to someone behind her. "Isn't that right, other Wren?"

"Yeah..." he trailed off. "Let's get you seated while we wait, Little Bird."

Marina watched as he stepped away from the group, holding all of Wren's weight with one arm. Picking her up, he sat down against the white bricked wall, and angled her so that she could use him as a pillow.

"I'll take you three first then?" Taliyah asked.

Marina nodded, stepping closer to Ryder and Adira.

"Marina," Colson begged, lunging forward. "Please. It's too dangerous."

"I'm done hiding, Colson."

Taliyah stepped in front of her, blocking her view the boy she loved, and placed her hand on her shoulder. Ryder's hand wrapped around hers and the world tilted.

One second Marina's feet were planted into the ground and then she was gone. The world blurred by in a kaleidoscope of colors as Marina felt like her body was being pulled and smashed through some imaginary tube that would pop her out at their destination. As soon as her feet touched ground again, her stomach roiled, her face instantly clamming with sweat.

Bracing her knees, her stomach emptied itself onto the pavement below her. She stood straight and wiped her mouth with her sleeve, blinking away the tears that pricked the corners of her eyes. Her stomach calmed as the disorientation faded.

Her vision cleared. She almost fell backwards at the site of the Wall directly in front of her. There was a wrongness about it, a dark foreboding that reeked in the air hovering around the stone element. She lifted her hand, pressing her palm against the kraenite.

She knew cold. The frigid wind of winter was a part of her. But this bitterness, this cold that swept through her veins at its touch was unnerving. It slithered through her like poison, tainting the power in her blood.

A hand wrapped around her wrist and the terrible dread was gone in an instant, fading away like it was never there. Marina turned her gaze up to find Ryder watching her.

"See," he said with a smirk on his face, proving his immunity. "Told you so."

With her free hand, Marina shoved him backwards. "I hated it when you said that when we were kids, and I still hate it now."

Marina peered over Ryder's shoulder, spying Adira with her head tilted back, taking in the Wall with wide eyes. Her face went white as she turned away from it.

"You need to be careful," Marina whispered to Ryder, leaning her head close to his. "She doesn't just have power. She is power. That's what Channels are. That's why they fall to darkness so easily."

Ryder glanced over his shoulder before stepping closer to her, shaking his head. "No," he argued. "You don't know her. She isn't like the other Channel. Can't you see it? Can't you see her light?"

She peeked over Ryder's shoulder again, watching as Adira counted something in the distance, her finger bouncing in the air as she murmured numbers.

Marina witnessed her allure again, the way the sun didn't just shine on her, but shone for her, revealing the hidden red hues of her hair, illuminating the emerald of her eyes. She wanted to stand by her side, letting the invisible string that tugged at her pull her closer. It was obvious why her friends all looked at her the way they did, with belief-one so strong that she herself believed it.

Maybe this was it. Maybe this was her light. At least they believed it was. Marina still hadn't made up her mind.

Her aura, the desire to be around it. Couldn't the same be said about the dark? We find solace when sleeping in a dark room, when we turn out the light to stave away the pounding in our heads. The dark isn't just there, swallowing the goodness of the world, but it is also an escape. After all, many would much rather find shade in the shadows than face the searing light of the sun.

A/n: We are edging so close to the end and I'm not ready!

Playlist ~ Eye of the Storm by X Ambassadors

Image - Marina