The soft crunch of dirt and dry leaves were the only sounds, magnified in the stark silence. At least thirty soldiers clad in black were slowly approaching them from all sides, shakily carrying their automatic rifles. Darkness was descending fast.

  “Finding you were much easier than I had anticipated,” the masked man said with a creepy and satisfied grin. “Though you made it a lot harder for us since our last attempted capture.” The masked man paused for a moment. “Well, captures. Plural. Even took down my lovely Brutus in the process,” he continued as his grin turned more sinister, with a hint of loathing.

  “How did you do that?” he asked the unconscious Anne, almost expecting an answer. “So frail, yet dangerous. I'm glad Brutus failed in killing you. I can make a much better Brutus with some of your insides.” he caressed the side of her face.

  “Don’t touch her!” Kate yelled.

The masked man slowly turned his gaze to her and then to Darius. The green glowing glass spheres he had for eyes pierced them with his gaze.

  “Well now, friends. I forgot you were here. I believe some thanks are in order. Of course, it was you two who made our job much easier. Thank you.” The man laughed as he slowly got up, his hunched back making him a little shorter than the surrounding soldiers, who had now formed a solid perimeter around them.

  “Awww did that hurt?” The man said sarcastically as he looked back at Kate. “Careful now. As much as I love torturing you thirsty lot, I’m not in the mood for explosive mood swings. You should really consider that tasty cure. Much longer life expectancy.” the masked man said sneeringly and let out another manic laugh.

  “Naturally, it won’t help you now,” he said.

As if on instinct, the surrounding men descended on them.

  “You know your orders, and take the other two with us as well. I like new toys.” His grin returned more prominent than ever.

Two soldiers loaded Anne onto a stretcher, while others forced Kate and Darius onto their feet. Darius followed silently, his face strained and his eyes constantly darting around. Kate gave up as much of a fight as she could muster with her spent body, kicking and swearing at the soldiers that tried to capture her. She was silenced with a hard hit with a rifle stock to the head, knocking her out cold.

They were taken just over the ridge back towards the tracks, where a large armored train was waiting for them.

  “Don’t worry. I made sure you will have a more comfortable trip this time.” The masked man said to the still-unconscious Anne.

  “I still don’t know why those idiots burned the entire convoy last time,” he kept mumbling. The train’s metal-plated bulk was all the more intimidating up close. Inside, Anne and Kate were carried down the aisle of the train to the holding car which had two large cells on either side. The cells were brightly lit by lights that ran along the roof. Thick bars spanned the length of the train car and faced the aisle, with the rest of the hold being solid walls. Each cell had a simple bed in the corner.

  “We had to improvise with repurposed holding cages,” the masked man snickered, “But I’m sure this is luxury to you animals.”

Anne was put on the bed of one cell, while Kate was carelessly shoved onto the other cell floor. The doors locked with a loud clang. “Put him in the next one over, and get out of my face!” All the soldiers scurried out of the car as the masked man shooed them away, taking the silent Darius with them.

  “Goodnight sweeties. I will see you tomorrow,” he said as he licked his lips and left, leaving them in their torpid silence.

The train roared into action, slowly setting off.

***

Around an hour passed when Anne began to stir. She fumbled against the coarse mattress, trying to push herself up when the pain from her wounds crashed down onto her like a tidal wave. Anne let out a silent scream as she struggled, trying to shake off the searing pain that rippled from her back and overloaded her senses.

  “Tom! Kate! Kate! Help me,” Anne yelled. She pushed herself up, shaking violently and fumbling with the torn rags she was wearing. Her surroundings slowly came into focus.

  “Anne?” Kate grumbled from across the aisle. Anne jumped in surprise and felt a small twinge of relief.

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  “Kate?” Anne cried softly, tears running down her face. “What happened? There was water. That thing. Where are we?” She asked Kate, almost pleading. “It hurts,” Anne added in a soft whimper. Kate stared at her from her cell. Anne’s tiny nine-year-old figure made her cell look even larger. With her head pounding from the hit, Kate struggled to think clearly. “We… They got us.” She mumbled. “But you are ok. You had us worried. You got beat up pretty bad. Can you… show me your back? I want to make sure your wounds are not bleeding too much.”

Anne’s tear-soaked eyes widened in shock. She nodded and winced as she slowly slid off the bed, letting out a soft yelp from the almost unbearable pain. She sobbed loudly and turned her back to Kate. Color left Kate's face as she mouthed something silently.

  “What? What is it? What's wrong?” Anne cried. “Kate, you are scaring me.” Anne strained her neck to try and to look over her shoulder. “How?” Kate muttered. “Show me your left side, now.”

Anne hurried and pulled up her ragged shirt to show Kate. Except for being dirty and bloodied, Anne’s skin was flawless.

  “How?” Kate said as she got up and shifted to the front of the cage. “They are gone...”

  “What is gone?” Anne sobbed. “And why does everything hurt so much?”

  “Anne… there was so much blood. And the large gash across your back. I had to…” she stopped mid-sentence, her face pale.

  “Well, it's only half the size now.”

Kate leaned against the bars. Blotches of dried blood were still stuck to her hands and dark red clots lined her fingernails.

  “I don’t feel very good,” Kate said as she leaned even more against the cold cell bars. “I’m going to lie down. We need to stay calm.” Kate whispered and dragged herself to her bed. They both fell silent.

Who are these people? How did they find us again? What is going to happen to us now? Tom… I miss you.

Kate closed her eyes in the struggle to calm herself, while Anne had stopped crying and was worriedly pacing her cell, looking around at every detail hoping for a way to escape.

  “I don’t do well in cages,” Kate said softly. The fear in her voice was palpable. “Can’t you try to burn through these?” Anne asked as she grabbed and pulled on one of the bars. The steel bar was too thick to wrap her hand around it and it did not bend or move even a little.

  “I can’t… I haven’t been able to melt steel yet. Even if I could do it, it would turn these cells into an oven.” Kate let out a shaky sigh.

  “Calm down Kate, relax,” she started to whisper and reached for her crystal.

  “Wait. Don't tell me. No! Those morons!” Kate yelled.

  “What? What’s wrong? “ Anne yelped.

  “They took it!”

  “Took what?”

  “My Kua crystal, it’s gone! Without it I'm defenseless.”

Please no. Not now.

Kate panicked and repeatedly ran her hands around her neck, hoping that she had simply missed the crystal, but it was gone.

  “Kate, look at me!” Anne yelled from across the room.

  “Listen to my voice. Kate!” Anne pleaded, but she did not listen. “Kate!”

Getting more distraught, she slid down onto her knees and looked right at Anne. Tears flooded Kate’s eyes and she grabbed her stomach.

  “Anne, I’m sorry,” Kate said. The bars that cast long shadows across the cells were drained of their metallic shine. The dry air was heavy and depressing. Every shadow seemed to darken and grow until all merged into a shadowy mass.

Kate gurgled as a stream of scarlet spewed out of her mouth and down her face. She began convulsing, spraying more blood across the floor as she fell over onto her back.

  “Kate no! You have to fight it!” Anne yelled at her.

  “Please no. Please!” She cried as she helplessly clung to her cell bars until her knuckles were stark white.

The few moments of seeing Kate’s dying squirms were enough to send an explosion of heat rippling through Anne. That destructive force that would burst out from inside her, tearing her apart, was all too ready and hungry.

  No! We had a plan. Everything was going fine.

  Why now. Why Kate?

  I must save her. I need to.

An otherworldly screech filled the room, and out of Kate’s writhing body, a dark form was seeping out. A mass of shadowy claws and fangs.

  I will not lose her. I need her.

  I don't want to be alone again.

The rhythmic hammering of dread was breaking Anne from the inside. Her tiny body writhed. Her eyes never left Kate.

  She is nothing. Let her die.

  No.

***

Anne's eyes struggled to adapt to the bright light of the cell. Kate’s red hair was strewn across her face as she rested in Anne’s caring embrace. The cold touch of the bedpost pressed against her back. She brushed away a red lock to reveal Kate’s closed eyes. Color had returned to her face and she was breathing softly.

  She looks so calm.

Caressing Kate’s cheek, she looked around, only now coming to her full senses. She was in Kate’s cell, holding her as she lay across the bloodied floor with her head resting on Anne’s chest. Anne could clearly see her bed on the other side of a path that was carved through both cells. Bent and broken steel peeled outwards, like the petals of metal flowers.

  What happened here. I thought it was the end for both of us.

Kate let out a soft moan. “Kate, are you ok?” Anne whispered.

  “Wha- ugh, what happened?” she said as she peered around through her swollen eyes.

  “I don’t kn-”

  Burning. Pain.

A rush of confusion washed over Anne. Then alarm, followed by disarray.

  The screaming. Am I dead? Spinning. Anne? Calm. Captured! So much pain.

Anne gave Kate a shake, snapping her fully awake. She looked around in shock, pushing herself up and away from Anne. She looked wildly around the cell, then locked eyes with Anne. Both of them were shaking and dumbstruck.

  What is going on?

They both shuddered. Shock and anxiety swirled through them, echoing back and forth between them like the ebb and flow of an ocean of emotion. Anne was Anne, but Anne was also strange and unfamiliar. It was incredibly comforting yet intense. Kate grabbed Anne by her shoulders and pulled her hard against her, wrapping her arms around her tightly. Kate trembled violently, yet an eruption of happiness ran through them both that overpowered everything else. Her tears ran down her face as she softly spoke.

  “Eight y-years.”

  “It has been eight years since I last f-felt this.”

  “Eight years since my sister died, and took half of me with her.”