Hanna and Alonzo stood in the dripping dungeon. Alonzo looked into the darkness, shining his flashlight into it. They had been walking for nearly fifteen minutes, and Hanna’s feet were starting to bother her.

The floors were slippery, and moss and algae grew on the walls and in the cracks in the floor. It was just as her mom had described it. Bleak. Dirty. Overall, not a good place to be.

She shivered.

Alonzo started moving ahead again, and she followed quietly, trying not to step into puddles. She stayed close to him as she had promised. Not just because she’d promised, of course, but also because they had decided to use his light only. If for some reason his ran out, they wanted hers to be fully charged still.

Something white flashed on a side tunnel up ahead. She glanced at Alonzo. She had promised not to leave. But whatever she’d seen… It hadn’t been a dragon, certainly. What if it was one of the missing staff members? They might need help.

“Alonzo?”

He turned to her. “What? Can we please keep moving? This place doesn’t feel right.”

“There’s a light up ahead, and I saw someone. I think it might be a person. Maybe one of the missing staff members?”

Alonzo frowned. “Hanna, there isn’t a light up ahead. And no one is here but us.”

A static voice came over the watch. It was Ali’s. “You two okay over there?”

Alonzo pressed the button to reply back. “Yeah. You guys fine over there?”

“Yeah. But I think we found something.”

“Okay, well, you can display it over the watch in a moment. Hanna was trying to ask me something, so hold on a second.” Alonzo flipped the watch off for a moment to give them some privacy. No need to worry Ali over his sister’s delusions.

“Alonzo, I’m not joking. Someone is in that side tunnel, and they might need our help.”

Alonzo resisted the urge to sigh and roll his eyes. “Hanna, there’s no light over there.”

“Yeah, there is! Alonzo, do you need your vision checked? It’s glowing through the tunnel. Just like someone  has a flashlight or some weaker source of light to keep the dark away.”

Alonzo shone the flashlight into the side tunnel. “In there?”

“Yes!”

He gave her a dubious look. “Hanna, there isn’t a light in there.” He gave a gasp suddenly.

She looked at him, concern furrowing her brow. “Alonzo, what’s wrong?” She put a hand on his shoulder.

“I feel sick. Like I do when Ali’s doing some weird magic trick. Something’s wrong. Maybe on the other end? I need to find out what’s going on over there. Look. You just stay here. There’s nothing in that tunnel! Remember, you promised to stay with me.” He winced as another wave of nausea swept him. But he ignored it, flipping the communication watch back on. He turned away from Hanna. “Hey, Ali? You guys okay over there?”

“Yeah, we told you we were. Alonzo, why did you cut out?”

“I… uh… Turned the watch off for a minute.”

“What?” Ali’s voice crackled over the watch. “Why?”

“Umm… I’d rather not say… Look, what did you find?” He could almost see Ali’s shrug.

Then a live feed flickered on as the watch displayed a holographic image of what Ali and Indri were seeing.

Hanna didn’t stay to see. Alonzo couldn’t see the light, but she could. He obviously had some sort of issue if he couldn’t see what was plainly in front of him. She followed the flickering light deeper into the side tunnel. Soon, she could no longer hear Alonzo, and she wondered briefly if it might have been wiser not to come in here without him. She’d promised him not to go off without him, after all. And anyway, what if she ran into trouble.

But if she turned on the device, she would be found, and he wouldn’t let her continue to explore. He probably would cuff her to him if he found her, and then whoever was in here wouldn’t get the help they needed.

So she flicked her watch off, and continued into the tunnel. Suddenly, the light went out. She was left in utter blackness.

She scrambled to find her flashlight, wondering why the light had gone out. But before she could reach it and flip it on, a hand shot out of the darkness. She felt something hit the side of her head. She saw stars for a moment, and then she blacked out, falling into the arms of whoever had hit her.

***

Alonzo turned around to ask Hanna what she thought of the projections Ali and Indri had sent, but she wasn’t there. Panicked, he spun around looking for her. He turned the flashlight around the area, wondering how she could have disappeared so quickly. Where would she go?

For a moment, his mind whirled in confusion. But then it struck him. She had gone into the side tunnel. His heart fell. She had promised. She had promised him not to leave his side, and she had anyway! He listened into the silence a moment, but he heard nothing.

Quickly, he spoke into the watch again, knowing Ali and Indri could hear him. He hoped Hanna could too if she hadn’t turned it off to keep him from finding her with the little tracker on it. He groaned softly. “Ali, Indri?”

His worried tone caught their attention quickly. “What’s wrong, Alonzo?”

“It’s Hanna. Look… The reason I turned off the watch before? It was because Hanna was going on about some light in a side tunnel that I couldn’t see. I was feeling sick while she was with me, and I think someone was using an illusion. Remember, I see straight through illusions. If the light was an illusion, I wouldn’t see it, but she would. Someone was targeting us… Maybe her more specifically. Maybe both of us. I don’t know.”

Indri spoke softly. “Alonzo, where did she go?”

“Down the side-tunnel, I think.” He moaned, silently cursing himself for a fool for turning his back on her. He should’ve known she’d do something like this.

“You can’t go after her.” Indri said.

“What!” Alonzo and Ali both hissed.

“Are you nuts, Indri?” Alonzo whispered.

“He can’t just abandon my sister!” Ali protested.

“You two, think! If it was a trap, and it’s likely it was, she’s already gone. She walked right into it, and who knows if the people who took her are gone or still waiting for Alonzo to walk into the same trap!” Indri shot back.

Alonzo pulled up the holograph, looking at them and projecting his face to them. “No. Indri, I will not abandon her. If it’s a trap, so be it. I’ll fight if I must. But I need to at least try to get to her.”

Indri looked at him through the watch. “Alonzo…” He warned. “We can’t afford to lose you both.”

Alonzo shook his head. “Don’t care. I’m not going to abandon her. If she hasn’t reached the trap yet, I might still be able to help. But not if I don’t move. I’ll keep the watch on so that you’ll know where I am.” He cut the video feed, and moved into the black tunnel, flashlight scanning the walls and floor. He marked the mouth of the tunnel with an x, and continued on.

After he’d walked for five minutes, he found it. Hanna’s pack and all the rest of her equipment, weapons and all, lay on the ground in a puddle. Only one thing was missing. The blanket.

He puzzled over that a moment, but he couldn’t see why she would take that with her, nor could he reason out why an attacker would take it with them if someone had taken her.

The watch was off, but when he tried to turn it on, it was obvious the water had ruined it. A large stone lay on the ground, and when he looked at the area around it, he saw nothing to indicate where Hanna had gone… Or been taken.

“Ali, she’s gone. I found her pack and all of her equipment.” His voice caught in his throat, and tears filled his eyes. “She’s gone.” He whispered again. “And there’s no way to find her.”

“Alonzo, listen to me! Get out of there. Get out, right now!” Indri hissed. “You can’t save her. We need to work out a plan and regroup. The best way you can help her is to get out of there and meet us back at the dungeons’ entrance.”

Alonzo nodded even though the video feed wasn’t on. “Yes, sir.” He responded numbly, still incapable of really thinking. Hanna was gone. Disappeared. Maybe even dead. And it was his fault.