Chapter Eight Their Fate is in Our Hands

Chapter Eight

Their Fate is in Our Hands

 

 

Chris

 

People at the cottage were starting to worry. Two days with no word from Mark or Aly was far too long. Something was really wrong.” Where are they?” Kat asked, pacing anxiously.

“I have no idea,” Michael answered. “Something’s wrong. It has to be.”

Cassie nodded. “We have to find them.”

“Yes,” Chris agreed. “We do. But we need a plan of action. We need to know where they are and what happened to them.”

“They’ve been captured, that has to be it,” Kat panicked.

“They would have been taken to that creepy old prison on the outskirts of town,” Michael commented.

“Then we’ll check there,” Chris said authoritatively. “But we need to figure out what else we’re going to do. We can’t only check one place. They could be anywhere in town,  or outside of town is a possibility, especially if they are to be executed.”

“We should check around the woods, near where we heard the fighting,” Cassie spoke up.

Chris nodded. “We’ll do that first.”

“Cassie and I will start for the old prison. We can get there faster than you,” Michael volunteered.

“Alright,” Chris agreed. “Kat and I will start our search in the woods. We’ll meet up with ya’ll at the prison later.”

Chris and Kat followed Michael and Cassie out the front door of the cottage. They remained in the open doorway and watched in fascination as Michael spread his magnificent crimson and fire wings and Cassie spread her deep blue wings. They noticed something about Cassie’s wings they hadn’t seen before, when the sunlight hit them, they glittered like a thousand sapphires.

“Beautiful,” Kat gasped.

Cassie smiled as she took off. Her wings were obviously a source of pride for her.

Chris wrapped his arm around Kat’s waist as they watched Cassie and Michael fly away, knowing this might be the last time they would ever see them. They said a quick prayer for all of their friends, and everyone else in the town.

They turned and headed into the woods, afraid of what they might find.

 

 

♠♠♠

 

 

“I found something!” Kat called from about ten feet ahead of Chris.

“So did I,” Chris answered.

“I’ve got some of the tulle from Aly’s skirt and signs of a struggle.”

“I’ve got signs of a struggle and Mark’s scent as well as an un-identified female and three un-identified males.”

“There’s only two strange scents her, Aly and some guy’s scents. I guess Aly didn’t put up much of fight.”

“No, she wouldn’t have.” Chris frowned, thinking back over what Mark had told him. Aly had never shifted before. She didn’t know what she was doing when it came to fighting as a wolf, or fighting wolves. She wouldn’t have stood a chance. There was an even stronger chance that she hadn’t made it than he’d realized before.

Kat gasped. “She’s never shifted!” she realized.

Chris shook his head. “We’ll find them. They’ll be fine. I promise.” He knew as he said the words that it could well prove to be an empty promise, but he also knew that Kat needed to hear it right now. The truth could wait. Right now, Kat’s sanity and focus was all that mattered. She wouldn’t be very useful in the search for her friends if she was too panicked to focus.

 

 

Michael

 

They flew over the town, searching for any signs of their friends. Hoping against hope that somehow they were wrong and Mark and Aly had simply run into a streak of good luck and forgotten to call. No. He decided. That wasn’t it. They would never forget to call. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

“Do you think they’re ok?” Cassie asked anxiously.

Michael hesitated, trying to decide how to answer her question. He really didn’t think they would find Aly and Mark alive, if they found them at all. “I don’t really know,” he said slowly. “I’m sure they will be.”

Cassie frowned but didn’t respond. Michael got the feeling that she had seen through his reassuring words.

They continued on in silence.

Moments later they were circling over the old prison, looking out for anything suspicious. There were several werewolves scattered across the space in back. Some were in human form, others in wolf form, and some had only had time to get halfway through the shift. All were dead. Shot through the head.

They stared in horror at the bloody scene before them.

“Please tell me Mark and Aly aren’t in that group of dead wolves,” Cassie said, panic in her voice. “I can’t look.”

Michael swooped lower, getting a clearer view of the dead. He looked closely at faces, those that weren’t blown to bits anyway.

“No, they don’t seem to be,” he answered, relieved that his friends weren’t lying there with bullet holes through their heads.

Cassie sighed in relief. “Then where are they?”

“Still locked up?” Michael suggested.

“Perhaps,” she agreed reluctantly.

Michael landed just behind the building that housed the prison for the supernatural, desperately wishing he truly believed his friends were merely locked up and not dead. He folded his wings carefully behind his back. “Wait here,” he said softly to Cassie as she landed beside him.

She glared at him. “I always have to wait outside while you do the dangerous stuff. “Why is that?”

“This is too dangerous,” he answered. “I’ll look for them. You stay here. Please, I don’t want to lose a third person. I don’t want to lose you. Ever.”

“Fine,” Cassie pouted. “I’ll wait here and keep watch.”

Michael nodded and walked inside.

 

 

♠♠♠

 

 

He moved silently through the halls, searching for Mark and Aly and trying not to get caught.

Peering into each of the cells he saw nobody he knew. Where are they? He wondered silently. Not here, apparently. He hurried back out the way he had come.

“They’re not here,” he told Cassie. “I’m sure Chris and Kat had better luck than we did.

 

 

Aly

 

It had been days since our capture and we’d had no luck getting out of our prison or trying to contact anyone. I was beginning to despair. We would never get out of here. Mark was too weak. I was beginning to panic and I was sure he knew it. He should have been over the tranquilizer by now, if that really was what it had been. I no longer believed him on that, though. He had been poisoned, of that I was certain.

“Relax,” Mark said, placing his hand lightly on my arm. “We’ll get out of here.”

“Thanks,” I smiled. I wasn’t sure I believed him, but it still helped to hear it. We were sitting in the same place we had been the first day, it was where we sat when we weren’t trying to move the bricks off the trapdoor. “What was that?”  I asked after five minutes or so of silence. I was almost certain I’d heard wings. Huge wings.

“What was what?” Mark asked curiously.

“I’m almost sure I heard wings,” I answered. “Right over our heads.”

“You couldn’t have,” he frowned. “We should be too deep for that. If you did hear it, we’d be able to dig our way through the ceiling.”

I frowned thoughtfully. That would be a perfect way to build this, wouldn’t it? Make it so easy for people to escape they’d never figure it out. The most obvious escape would be the most impossible. Supposedly.

“Maybe…” I trailed off, deciding my idea was probably stupid. Who would really do that? Then again, my ancestor had been known as eccentric. Perhaps his eccentricity had led him that far.

“What?”

“Nothing.” I shook my head.

“Come on, Aly, any idea is a good idea at this point.”

I sighed. He was right. We were desperate at this point. The fate of our families was in our hands, and here we were locked in the cellar of a prison!

“Please,” he asked. If I’d been able to see his face I was sure he would have been using the sad puppy-dog eyes he knew I couldn’t resist.

“Fine,” I conceded. “I’m sure I heard wings, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And you said the only way that could even be possible is if the ceiling wasn’t as thick as it ought to be, right?”

He nodded.

“Wouldn’t that be perfect? Make the ceiling an easy escape, nobody would even think of it because it’s so obvious.”

“Or, they might think of it. That could be another reason. Your ancestor was a werewolf who was forced to build this place. Maybe he left an easy out they wouldn’t suspect.”

I nodded enthusiastically. “Maybe.” I was thoughtfully silent for a minute. “I thought you said yesterday that he hated werewolves?”

“He did, before he himself was charged with being one, then he decided that werewolves might not be so bad after all. He was captured and forced to continue the work he had been doing prior to his change of heart.”

I shuddered. “Wonderful ancestry, huh?” I commented sarcastically.

“We’ll try the ceiling,” Mark smiled. “History can wait.”

I frowned. He must be getting tired, he’d been working almost none-stop since we’d started figuring possible escapes. We’d hardly had anything to eat since we got here. And they’d drugged him to get him here. Was he really as ok as he said he was? Or was he just trying not to worry me at the same time as trying to get us out of here?

“We can work some more tomorrow or something,” I stated firmly.

“No, we’ll work on it some more in a few minutes. After we’ve rested.”

“Are you sure?” I asked worriedly. “Are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” he answered defensively. A sure sign that he was lying to me.

I didn’t believe him, but there wasn’t really anything I could do to stop him. He was going to kill himself this way. He couldn’t keep working with no sleep or nourishment.

“I’m sorry, Aly,” he whispered.

“For what?” I had no idea what he was talking about now. What was he sorry for? This whole mess was my fault.

“I’ve failed so far to get you out of here,” he answered miserably.

“To get us out of here,” I corrected. “And you haven’t failed. They just made it difficult to get out. Duh. They don’t exactly want anyone to escape, do they?”

“No,” he agreed. I didn’t think he would let it go that quickly.

“Well then, we’ll just have to be smarter than them. We’ll get out of here.” Now who was making promises that probably couldn’t be kept? Oh well, he needed it this time.

He nodded in agreement and slipped quickly off to sleep, worrying me more. He shouldn’t fall asleep so quickly, and sleep as deeply as he had been. Especially since he’d told me once that he slept like me, hardly at all. It could just be all the sleepless nights catching up with him, but I was sure that wasn’t it at all. If it was, they should be getting to me the same way, and they weren’t. No. He was lying to me. He was far worse than he would admit.

 

 

Mark

 

Hard as it was to keep going, to keep trying to get out of here, it was worth it if he could help Aly get to their parents. The poison they had used was still affecting him. He was far too tired, far too weak. He was burning with fever, forever feeling nauseated, his head was aching. Something was seriously wrong with him. He couldn’t let Aly know, though, she’d worry too much. She was worried enough already. No need to add to her burdens.

He listened closely when she said she was sure she was hearing wings overhead, but he couldn’t hear anything. Nothing out of the ordinary for a small, closed in space. The toxin must have affected his hearing too. He was sure she was right, but he couldn’t be positive. Better not to tell her he thought she was right. This was worse than he’d originally thought. If he was this affected by the drugs, would he even be able to get out of here if they could figure out an escape? He wasn’t sure but he knew the likelihood was that he would not get out of here. Alive.

“Aly,” he whispered, reaching for her hand. He thought about how odd it seemed that he was comforted by her presence. The simple touch of her cool hand was enough to drive his worries away for a short time. He should hate her; he had before they’d been captured. He’d almost wished she would be killed or captured. He realized now that he had been more hurt than angry by the thought of her betrayal. He knew now that she would never really betray her family that way. His family either. Being alpha didn’t really mean that much to her. She’d give it up in a heartbeat if it would keep the people she cared about safe.

“Yeah?” she asked. He could hear the concern in her voice.

“I’m sorry for the things I said about you before. I realize now that you would never hurt anyone to become alpha. I was an idiot to even think it could be possible that you would do that.”

She smiled. “It doesn’t matter,” she assured him. “You were worried about your family and it did look I was the reason they were captured. It still does. I don’t blame you at all.”

He frowned discontentedly. She shouldn’t be so willing to forgive him. He’d been so wrong and was the reason she’d gone off on her own. It was his fault she’d been captured and he was a fool to even think she could ever care for him at all. He’d liked her since the first time he’d talked to her, she had one heck of a temper, but she was sweet as could be. She was smart, willing to learn anything you would teach her. She honestly tried to do whatever was best for everyone else. She was beautiful with her red-blonde hair and pale blue eyes. She looked so young, sweet, and innocent. Not at all like alpha material. She’d proved him wrong; she had everything it took to be alpha and more. More than he had ever had. He wasn’t happy to admit it, but she might even make a better alpha than he would. Maybe he should just give it to her. She deserved it far more than he did.

“You should be alpha.” The words were out of his mouth before he realized what he’d said.

“No,” she disagreed. “I’m not ready for that yet. You’re better at it than I am. You’ve grown up preparing for this, I never knew what I was, or what I could be until a few weeks ago.”

He frowned. He needed to convince her. He knew it wasn’t likely he’d make it out of here, but she would. She had too. She’d be ok on her own. She could go back and meet up with the others. They could work together and save the wolves of their town.

“Aly, you can do this. I can’t.”

“What do you mean?” The concern was clearer in her voice now than it had been before. She knew something was wrong. He decided to just tell her the truth now. She’d have to know sooner or later.

“Aly, whatever they used on me, it’s still affecting me. It was a poison, not a tranquilizer. I’m not likely to make it out of here. You will. You’ll have to continue our mission without me. Go back to the others and ya’ll can work together to save our families and anyone else you can. You’ll be next in line for alpha. Everything will work out for the best.”

He ran his fingers gently down her cheek, surprised to find tears there. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

She didn’t answer him for a long time.

“Aly, please, you have to tell me,” he pleaded.

She shook her head and leaned against him, laying her head on his chest. He wrapped his arms gently around her and just held her for a while.

 

 

Chris

 

They’d searched the woods surrounding the cottage for hours and found nothing. They didn’t stand a chance at finding them at this rate. Michael and Cassie had to find them. Where else could they be?

“Should we try to call them?” Kat asked.

Chris frowned. “If they could contact us, wouldn’t they have done that already?”

“Maybe, but what if they got captured and didn’t think of calling us, or didn’t realize they still had a phone?”

Chris knew Kat was grabbing at straws now, but it was worth a try. If it was possible that they could get through, it was worth it.

“Maybe,” he agreed. He pulled the cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Aly’s number.

 

 

Michael

 

They had searched the prison and found nothing. No sign that they’d ever been there. Both were sad and wishing they’d had better luck. They spread their wings and took off. Heading back toward the small cottage they now called home.

They heard a phone ringing below them and looked around as they flew. Who would be out here?

“There!” Cassie said excitedly, pointing to a small, glowing object hundreds of feet below them.

Michael swooped down and snatched the phone off the ground. “Hello?” he asked.

“What are you doing?” Cassie hissed.

“Answering it,” Michael whispered back.

“Michael?” He heard Chris’s voice.

“Chris? Who’s phone are you calling?”

Cassie looked at him in confusion.

“This is the number I have listed for Aly’s phone. Is she there?

“We haven’t found her, or Mark,” Michael answered reluctantly.

“Where are you?”

“About a hundred yards from the old prison, we’re on our way…” he trailed off, realizing how close they were to the old prison. Maybe Aly and Mark were there. They hadn’t checked the cellar… “We’re going back,” he finished.

“Back? We just left!” Cassie said irritably.

“Going back? Why?” Chris asked.

“I neglected to check the cyclone cellar slash prison cell when we were there before. I’d forgotten about it. If Aly’s phone is this close to the prison, they must be there.”

“Go,” Chris agreed.

Michael hung up and shoved the phone in his pocket. He’d return it to Aly first chance he got.

 

 

Aly

 

Mark was sleeping again. I didn’t disturb him, afraid that, if I did, he might be worse off than if I left him alone. But what if leaving him alone was the wrong choice? I didn’t know what to do anymore. He was so weak.

I heard a phone ringing somewhere nearby, in the room we were locked in. I looked around, hoping it would light up. I saw a small light against the far wall. I moved carefully out of Mark’s arms, trying not to jostle him too much, I didn’t want to wake him. Please let him be ok. I thought as I crossed the room. I grabbed the phone as it rang for the last time. I tried to call the last number that had called the phone but the battery was about dead. I couldn’t do anything with the phone now. It wouldn’t work without a charger. Tears started to run down my face. We’d had one more hope of a way out. A chance that could have saved Mark, too, but it was gone now. Everything was gone. It was over. I would lose him. I’d thought I was in love many times before this, but it had never been like this, I’d never cared about anyone this way before. I didn’t think I could survive losing him, especially this way. I loved him. I’d sworn to hate him, but, somehow, I just couldn’t. He was too kind, gentle, and generous. He was everything I wanted to be but never could.

“Please,” I whispered. “Please, someone has to find us.” I looked up in surprise as I heard the same sounds I had earlier, wings. Michael?  I wondered. No. He couldn’t really be here. Could he?

Seconds later I heard digging right above me, right above the bricks. We’d only managed to move a few. That was part of what had worried me so much. Mark had trouble even with the few he’d actually managed to move. I had known something was wrong. He was weaker even than an average human his size.

A small but blinding light appeared suddenly, right where the last brick we’d moved had been.

“Hello?” a voice asked quietly.

“Michael?”

“Aly!” He sounded so relieved. “Is Mark in there, too?”

“Yes, something’s wrong, though. They poisoned him.”

“When?”

“When they grabbed him.”

“Alright. How do we get in?”

We? “Who’s with you?” I demanded.

“Cassie is,” Michael answered. “Chris and Kat were searching the woods where we heard the struggle. They’re on their way.”

“You heard it and didn’t come to help us?” I was furious now. How could they have done that?

“Never mind that now, how do we get in?”

“I don’t know,” I answered in despair. “This entrance is bricked over from in here, we’ve tried to clear it, but Mark’s too weak. We only got a few moved.”

“Is there another way?”

“Not besides the front door, and I don’t think that’d be such a good idea.”

“Alright, we’ll get the bricks out of the way.” Michael seemed confident that it would work.

“Can you?”

“Of course. Don’t worry about it. Go over wherever Mark is, ya’ll stay outta the way.”

I nodded and moved toward Mark. He still slept exactly how I’d left him. I sat down beside him and leaned my head against his chest, enjoying the comforting sound of his steady breathing and heartbeat. As long as I could hear those, I could know he was ok. For now. We’d have to get him to someone who could properly care for him, because I certainly couldn’t, especially in these circumstances. I watched silently as Michael and Cassie steadily made the hole larger, letting in more light and rekindling my hope of escape.

I shook Mark’s shoulder lightly. “Mark, wake up. Michael and Cassie are here, they came to help us.”

He didn’t respond and I started to panic. What was wrong with him now? Was he even still alive? I laid my head back on his chest, listening intently. His breathing seemed fine.

“Mark?” I asked, shaking him again. “Please, wake up.”

He chuckled suddenly.

I sighed in relief. “Are you ok?”

“Of course,” he answered, amusement coloring his tone.

“Why didn’t you answer me?” The panic was still clear in my voice. He was going to pay for scaring me like that.

He shrugged. “I couldn’t seem to wake up enough to answer.”

I smacked his shoulder lightly. “Then what was so funny?”

“You were so scared, why?”

“You can’t answer my question with a question,” I snapped.

“Okay, you were funny. You were so scared. I’m sorry,” he frowned. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

“It’s fine,” I answered. “Did you hear me? We’re getting out of here!”

“I know,” he smiled.

I threw my arms around him and hugged him tightly. I couldn’t believe it. We were really getting out of here!

 

 

Kat

 

Chris and Kat had gone to meet up with Cassie and Michael as quickly as they could following the discovery of Aly’s phone. They were now moving silently through the old jailhouse, looking for Aly and Mark’s parents. Kat shrieked as she rounded a corner and walked right into an elderly guard.

“Looking for someone, my winged friend?” The guard asked pleasantly.

Winged? Kat wondered. Then she realized he was looking past her, to something, or more accurately someone behind her. She turned quickly to find Michael standing behind her, his wings spread wide.

“Not anymore, thank you,” Michael answered, perfectly polite.

Kat looked more closely at him and realized there were people hidden behind his wings. Who were they? Aly and Mark’s parents?

“Move your wings, please,” the guard instructed.

Michael shook his head.

The guard frowned and moved toward him. “I just wanna know which prisoners escaped,” he said.

Kat’s head whipped around. “What?!” she exclaimed.

He shrugged. “If prisoners escape, I need to know which ones they were.”

He couldn’t be serious! He was going to just let them walk out of here? Who was he? Why was he here?

Michael looked at the guard warily and folded his wings to reveal four people behind him, two men and two women. Kat knew two of them were Mark’s parents, but who were the other two?

The guard nodded. “The Donovan’s and the Night’s, alright. Hurry it up before my shift’s over and you get caught.”

“Thank you,” Kat said fervently. She turned to Michael, “What about Aly and Mark?” she asked. “Are they ok?”

“They’re being rescued as we speak,” he hastened to assure her.

Kat beamed happily and they turned to run for the doors.

“Vaya con Dios, mis jóvenes amigos,” the guard murmured as he watched them go.

 

 

Mark

 

Even as he watched his friends clearing bricks out of the entrance he knew he’d never see them again, he was out of time. The toxin had done its work, had destroyed him slowly and painfully from inside. He was sure he knew what it was they had given him. Solanine, common in the Silverleaf Nightshade. The symptoms matched. Nausea, vomiting, headache, dizziness, burning sensation in the throat. All of it. He was just grateful he hadn’t had any hallucinations, fever, or paralysis.

 His only regrets were that his parents were still locked up and set for death and that he had never told Aly how he truly felt about her or kissed her.

“Aly,” he whispered.

She turned her tear-streaked face toward him.

“Aly, can I ask you a favor?”

“Of course.”

“Will you make sure my parents get out of here alive? Please?”

“We’ll make sure of that together,” she said insistently. “But yes, I will promise that.”

He smiled contentedly. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“You’re welcome,” Aly answered.

Mark closed his eyes and let the heavy darkness take over.

 

 

Aly

 

I watched sadly as Mark closed his emerald eyes and drifted into hopefully peaceful oblivion. Tears streamed silently down my face as I brushed his tousled chocolate hair out of the way to kiss his forehead.

I curled into his side and rested my head on his chest, letting the tears fall onto his shirt. I could still hear his heart and his breathing, but just barely. He was so far gone. I suddenly found myself relieved that I had granted him that final promise. I had to give him as much peace as was possible.

“I love you, Mark,” I whispered sadly. I knew I would never forget him. The hatred that turned to love in such a short time. He would forever hold a place in my aching heart.

It was at that moment the last of the bricks fell away, revealing a large hole where a door had once been. The door had been ripped off its hinges. Framed in that doorway stood Chris and Cassie.

Chris moved toward where Mark and I were. “Aly,” he said. “We have to get out of here, you have to leave him.”

“No!” I cried, clinging to him.

“Michael will get him as soon as he gets back. We’ll take care of Mark. I promise.”

I stared uncomprehendingly at him. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He wanted me to leave Mark behind? Never. I could never do that. I would wait here with him until Michael came for him. I could be sure, then, that Mark would be in good hands.

Chris leaned over me and I felt something sharp in my arm. He’d drugged me? How could he have done that? I struggled to think through the mental fog that was trying to overcome me. Seconds later and the terrifyingly familiar darkness closed over me.