Chapter twelve

The rain pounded, as did my heart. Were all their efforts to save me and Cara all for nothing? My mind was on over drive and I couldn’t think properly, it kept jumping from one thing to another rendering me useless to making a rational decision. We were all frozen where we stood, knowing we were unable to outrun Malum’s Elementals, and I wasn’t sure but it felt as though the atmosphere became heavier. It felt like the dread we were all feeling was physically weighing down on us and we had no way to stopping it.

Behind me, the shadow girls began howling loudly. Their airy howls grew louder and louder that I couldn’t even hear the thunder rumbling overhead anymore. Everyone turned to stare at the shadow to see it had begun to multiply. One shadow, then two, and then more and more until they all surrounded us like a translucent black wall and I felt my heart fall... were they falling back under the control of Malum? Were they trapping us, readying us to be brought back to the castle?

I felt Derrek grab me and pull me swiftly against him as he held me tight. The shadows began to move, swirling around us like a giant wheel until they were nothing but a blur and I tucked my head into Derrek’s chest while the shadow’s swirling drew up a wind so strong my hair and clothes were flapping wildly around me.

Suddenly the feeling of weightlessness grew all around me, while it felt as though I’d been dropped into a lake of liquid fire. My throat burned and behind my eyelids, so did my eyes. The pain was excruciating and yet no matter what I did I couldn’t escape the pain. The liquid fire seeped up into my nose and down my throat burning the inside of my body. Even my bones felt as though they were being melted, and just when I thought I would explode... it all stopped.

I gasped for breath and wrenched my eyes open only to find out that I, and everyone else, were no longer in the forest outside of the broken down Stinger hideout but scattered around in the forest I recognised as the one outside Abled University.

“What. The. Hell!!! What the hell?!” Blake started shouting in confusion. “What the hell just happened?!”

Mixed versions of ‘what the hell’ started emanating around the forest as everyone else realised that we weren’t about to be captured by Malum’s Elementals. Through the mix of confused exclamations a shrill scream pierced the air and I swivelled quickly to see that Helena was completely soaked through with blood!

“Helena! What happened?!” I cried out, running over to her.

“My- my arm!!!” Helena was growing pale and I realised she was going into shock. “Th-the mantis Elemental... c-cut my...-”

Helena couldn’t talk properly anymore but I looked down to her left arm and saw that from the elbow downwards her arm was missing. Instead it lay down in her lap. “Oh God...!” My breathing grew shallow and I spun around to find Derrek. “Derrek! Derrek you have to stop her from bleeding! Quick!”

Both Blake and Derrek came barrelling towards and me, both their expressions full of worry. Blake bent down and began trying to keep Helena conscious while Derrek pumped his hand sharply against the stump of Helena’s arm to seal the wound off.

“What happened to Helena?!” Cameron asked wide eyed.

“She said something about the mantis Elemental cutting her arm... it must’ve happened just when we...” I trailed off and suddenly looked around for the shadow. It took a few seconds but I finally spotted it when it flew out into the sunlight that speared through the branches. “What the hell did you do? How did we get here?!”

The shadows swirled and rippled and instantly split down the middle to the two girls and they raised an eyebrow. “You should be thanking us” Evanesce said before Chimera spoke.

“We transported you all back here. We were able to save you from being captured again”

I stared at them... my head was buzzing. “So you knew you could do that? You could’ve transported anyone back and forth just like that?!”

It seemed like they knew what I was implying but their faces faltered slightly before looking guilty. “Actually no... we had no idea we could do that. We panicked and instead of just teleporting ourselves from one shadow to another like we normally would have, we sort of just... transported everyone. We don’t even know how we did it”

“... maybe it was your fight or flight reaction, or even just a rush of adrenaline.... who knows...” I wondered out loud, not understanding how all of a sudden I could grow calm. They nodded along with me still looking guilty. “What is it?”

Evanesce coughed. “We uh... well what we did was very dangerous. Any one of you could have disappeared or died or something. Moving from one space to another isn’t something simple”

I absorbed that bit of information in before choosing to ignore the possibility that I was just saved and nearly died... again. “We need to get Helena to a Healer immediately!” Blake shouted.

Helena had passed out and Blake hauled her up into his arms, her disconnected arm lying in her lap. Without a pause or another word Blake was sprinting out of the forest towards the university and with one look at one another we followed after him. The grounds and the familiar smells made my heart ache slightly. It had been so long since I had last seen, heard and smelled all this. The cell back at the Stinger hideout had a way of sucking out not only the moisture in the room but any hope, happiness and will to live.

Derrek, Cameron and I sprinted after Blake and Helena with the shadow flying beside us. The night was cold and the rain had spread all way from the Stinger hide out back here to the university and I revelled in the cold, wet rain. Flashes of light illuminated the dark grounds and in the back of my mind I was thankful that it was night... otherwise this would be interesting to explain to the other students we’d be sprinting past if they’d been lounging outside.

The rain instantly cut off once we entered the quiet campus and Blake’s quick foots steps echoed towards the infirmary. I was about to follow after him when Derrek held me back. “No Tadpole, we need to find Mr Obsidian and tell him what’s happened”

My insides did a weird jolt. Tadpole. It’d been a long time since I’d heard him call me that and I, all of a sudden, felt awkward standing here with Derrek holding my shoulder because I was the one who broke up with him.

And yet he still came to save me.

He had no reason to come after me and Cara and risk his life. His life, without a doubt, could have been ended so quickly had he not been so lucky. The same went for the others as well. Suddenly I realised that our group was undeniably smaller than I last remembered it being before Cara and I were kidnapped.

“Where is everyone?” I asked suddenly.

Derrek blinked. “Blake just took Helena to the infirmary and Cameron, Chimera and Evanesce are just back there-“

“No... I meant every else. Sophia, Bree... and- and Cara” My eyes grew and I spun around to stare at Derrek in horror, “You did save Cara too, right? Cameron would’ve made sure he saved her too, wouldn’t he?”

He sighed heavily. “Sophia and Bree were captured by The Control before we even left to look for you. We had to leave them behind, but as far as we’re concerned they’re fine. The Control... The Control just want to keep an eye on them”

“And Cara?”

This time Derrek looked away and I didn’t like the way it hid the emotions that were easy to see in his golden eyes. “We found her”

I gasped, my ands flew to my mouth as I expected the worst. “She-she isn’t...?”

“No! No she’s not dead” He quickly interrupted me. “We found her, or rather she found us, when we were in the dungeon. But she... she uh... Tadpole, Malum got to her”

Dread filled me instantly. A hollow, empty feeling that pumped through every cell in my body. Malum got her. I promised Cara. I promised her that I would get her out, that I would save her but... but I didn’t. I did nothing but sit in my cell and try to ignore Malum’s torture while he took over her completely, probably torturing her endlessly until she had no choice but to give in.

Tears sprung from my eyes and I clenched my teeth tightly to stop the whimper that tried to escape. I could only imagine how scared she was and how much pain she had to endure. “It’s all my fault” I croaked out.

Derrek grasped both my arms with his hands and shook me slightly. His golden eyes probed mine, trying to gain my attention while he ducked down to stand at my height. “Valerie Cascade, you listen here” His voice was soft, almost a whisper, but his tone was hard and sharp. “It was not your fault. Do you understand me? You fought hard to protect her. I know this because I was the one who found all the blood in the hallway where they kidnapped you. You put up one hell of a fight and, knowing you,  I know that that fight wouldn’t have ended there. I know that, even if it wasn’t physically, you fought against Malum with everything you had. You fought for yourself and you fought for Cara. We all know Cara is strong deep inside, Val... but she gave up too easily and this happened because Malum fought against her even stronger. This is not your fault, Valerie... and if I ever hear you saying that again I swear to God I’ll....-“

Derrek cut off and clenched his jaw, breathing heavily through his nostrils. I hiccoughed, “But I promised her-“ I whispered, feeling and sounding defeated, more defeated than when I was locked up in the cell.

“And you kept your promise the best you could” He said with a finality that stated that this conversation was over. “You would’ve only broken your promise if you gave up on her, and that is not the kind of person you are”

I sniffled again, the tidal wave of emotions seemed to have chosen right now as the perfect time to hit me all at once. The agony of being locked up and tortured, the inability to help Cara, seeing Max... who wasn’t really Max, being rescued only to run for my life, being teleported from one place to another with the unknown chance of not being able to survive that particular mode of transport and then Helena losing her arm as well as finding out Cara was never saved along with me. It was all too much and I was finding it hard to harden myself the way I needed to at this moment.

I found myself suddenly wrapped tightly in Derrek’s embrace again and found the tight hold on me soothing and comforting –exactly what I needed to calm down. My heart rate slowed down, as well as my sobs and tears that fell from my eyes. I wasn’t sure if I was just letting everything out or if the shock was finally wearing off. Whatever it was I was glad it was ending. After what I went through, what we’re still going through, I hated feeling and looking weak.

I inhaled a deep and slow breath and stopped the water works from my eyes and took a second to steady myself, and once I was fairly certain I wouldn’t break down and cry again I stepped out of Derrek’s arms and looked at him. “Thank you” I whispered. “I don’t know what came over me...”

“Forget it. We all need it-“

“Okay, now that Val has pulled herself together I really think the chatting should be held off for later” Cameron’s hushed voice interrupted Derrek. “What are we supposed to do?”

Derrek’s eyes hardened, and look around the deserted foyer. “We need to find Mr Obsidian. Since Blake brought Helena to the infirmary the Healers may or may not send word that he’s back, and since he was with us when we left that means that the rest of you are back too. I’d rather Mr Obsidian be the first to hear, and from us, than any of The Control... if they’re still here”

I frowned slightly and looked between Derrek, Cameron and the shadow girls. Obviously there was a lot I still needed to be filled in with but I supposed that could wait until later. “Let’s go... I guess the best place to look is his office”

“Derrek, it’s the middle of the night?!” I exclaimed. “What would he be doing in his office?”

“Well unless you happen to know where he sleeps at night, his office is our best bet” I rolled my eyes but nodded. He was right anyway. “Evanesce, Chimera, I think it might be best if you turn back to uh... people? The last thing we need right now is for anyone we bump into to be alarmed or for anyone to think you’re a threat”

A second ticked by and the shadow swirled and tore down the middle, revealing the two beautiful women again. “That’s a good idea actually” Evanesce remarked.

“Yeah, and it feels good to just feel the ground beneath my feet” Chimera added.

Cameron turned to face us and nodded down the hall, “Lead the way”

It felt as though we couldn’t never simply walk anywhere, for a long time we had to run everywhere and I could tell it was taking a toll on not just me. Derrek was still limping and even Cameron didn’t seem completely unharmed. The only people that didn’t look injured were Chimera and Evanesce and I put that down to them being somewhat transparent the whole time. We ran up stair wells, rode elevators and ran, then ran some more. Whatever route was the quickest, we took it. As it turned out, Mr Obsidian was not in his office and instead of splitting up we decided to stick together and search for him.

We were running out of ideas, and energy, when I leaned against the wall panting for breath. “We can’t keep doing this. It’s a waste of time! I’m exhausted!”

It looked as though my sudden break was welcomed by everyone and soon we had decided to go to our last resort. “We may just have to wait it out in the infirmary. I’m sure the Healers would eventually send for him”

I felt slightly frustrated. “We should have just done that in the first place! This has been nothing but a wild goose chase!”

“Tadpole, it would have been smarter t have been the ones to find the dean and explain everything to him first. But seeing as that just isn’t in our cards, waiting was our last resort. It may mean that someone else sees us and questions us first and I’d rather not have that happen, but I guess we don’t have a choice”

I sighed heavily. This was turning out to be one of the longest nights of my life. We turned to walk back to the infirmary when we turned a corner. “Well, what do we have here?”

It seemed as though my night was going to be even longer.

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A/N

I’m exhausted! My Facebook followers would know this, I was out alllll day today picnicking with my family and family friends and I’m absolutely pooped! I’ve been up for 23 hours now and thought ‘well... I might as well finish this chapter and upload it’ haha.

Oh Lord, I’m tired. You know those headaches you get when you’re that tired? Yeah, I have that.

Excuse any mistakes guys. I only did a quick browse over it. Jks.. Im too tired.

Dedicated to @Bananasayno ... I hope that dramatic fall to the ground from your comment in the last chapter was worth it hahaha!

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Annndddd *le dead*