Frantic. 

I appeared in the rose garden as fast as my magic could carry me. I started calling out for Sage. She wasn't here yet, but she should have gotten here before me. I left my phone on the counter in my hurry to see her, so I couldn't call and check in. I was kicking myself for that as I debated whether to stay and wait for her or get her. The weight of not knowing if she was okay was crushing the air from my chest. I looked around the garden. Then moved on to other sections of the gardens in search of her. I was practically chanting to myself that she was coming and she was fine. I think my heart stopped when I saw a person walk out of the shadows and run towards me. 

"Reed," Sage threw herself at me, "He grabbed me, and I tried to lose him, but I don't know!" She was crying, hysterical as she glanced around for Hollis. 

"We are leaving" I grabbed her hand to pull her close; she was in no condition to shadow step. Then I was thrown several feet back and landed with a groan. Sage screamed tried to run to me. Hollis caught her hair and dragged her back to his side. Sage released a sickening stream of pain at his touch. 

"Didn't I kill you already?" Hollis asked, running his hand down Sage's face as the tears poured from her eyes. "No need to cry, your husband is here," He spoke against the skin of her cheek, causing both Sage and myself to cringe. It was even worse when he licked up the tears. Sages gasped out in disgust and tried to squirm away. I wanted to get her away from him, but I didn't know how he held her so tightly. The only good thing was that he hadn't taken her away. He was enjoying tormenting me and her too much to leave yet. I glanced to the side, unable to look at her like this, when I noticed that the trees, flowers, bushes, and anything else alive was shaking with Sage's magic. She was projecting her magic to them without even knowing it. 

"Sage!" I cried out to her, "don't hold it back!" if she could release all her feelings to the plants, then maybe we could get her free. I forced myself to hold her gaze even as Hollis' hands traveled over her in an attempt to break us. I tried to convey with my eyes that I believed in her that she could do this, but I have no idea if it was getting across. Sage closed her eyes as Hollis leaned his face in closer, she squirmed and pulled back, but he was holding her head so tightly that she couldn't get away. 

"I can't!" she screamed out in a panic. It was one of the first things we learn about the magic you needed to have a clear mind to do it, and her mind was anything but clear. That is when I saw one of the cameras that we left behind when we were going to make that video. I used my magic to turn it towards Hollis and turn on the flash. I closed my eyes to focus on the task at hand; I needed a clear mind. When he pulled his head back and opened his eyes, I struck. 

"Flash," The camera went off, causing him to stumble back in surprise and loosen his grip. I couldn't wait for Sage to catch on, so I called her to me. "Mine," she was dragged to my side, where I grabbed her hand and ran. I ran through the paths of the garden, nothing on my mind except for the desire to get away from Hollis, who was raging and yelling like a madman. Sage was gasping and crying next to me as we ran, and I knew she wouldn't be able to keep this up. "Sage, focus on what you can control. You need to breathe and think, you have a lot of magic, and we need you to be able to use it." 

"I can't," She gasped out. Hollis appeared in front of us, but now I had a plan. 

"Cute trick, now give me back my wife." 

"Nope, flash," Another camera went off, causing Hollis to roar and throw his hands up. I grabbed Sage and pulled her through a hedge next to us as an escape. We came out the other side cut and scraped from the hedge but together and alive. "Sage, focus on something that gives you peace like the flowers and then breath" That flash trick isn't going to work much longer.

"I can't!" She was gasping for air, and I realized this was make or break time. 

"Okay," I pulled her to a stop and held her close. "I am going to try to carry you with me as I shadowstep." She nodded into my chest. I pictured that entrance and hoped that I had enough magic to take us both. It was a feeling of weightlessness that I felt next, but it was wrong. I hadn't taken the step yet, and Sage was ripped from my arms. I slammed into a bench and over the back of it as I moved to stand the metal arm of the bench wrapped around my writs to hold me in place. Kneeling in front of Hollis. He turned and walked to Sage. His hand cracked against her face sending her to the ground. Then he picked her up by the hair again and dragged her closer to me. 

"This is what you chose? You had me, and you wanted this pathetic..." He muttered something, and my leg snapped in pain. But I was focusing on something. "weak..." My other leg broke, and I am not sure if the next scream was from Sage or me. I was focused on the cool magic flowing from my hands. "witch," My one arm snapped, and that was really hard on my escape, but I saw the frost forming on the metal and felt it start to burn my skin as it weakened my bindings. 

"Please, please! Don't hurt him. Stop hurting him!" Sage begged.

"I might have if you both had not proven to be such problems. Now I think you need to be taught who you belong to." Hollis turned towards me, and I started pulling at my binds. It hurt like hell with my broken bones, but it was dulled by the sense of urgency to get the hell out of dodge since this was going to be a killing blow. 

I'm not sure what happened next. I might have blacked out from the pain. I heard Hollis speak his spell, I heard Sage cry and beg, I heard my grunts in an attempt to escape, and I heard a final voice yell my name. I opened my eyes after I realized I didn't die. I immediately wished I hadn't opened my eyes; Chrissy was that final voice. My binds broke when she ran at me and shoved me to the side, taking the spell that was meant for me. 

"Chrissy!" I dragged myself over to her as best as I could with one working limb. But she was gone. She stared blankly at the sky, a hole in her chest where his spell hit her. Guilt, despair, and anger crashed into me so hard. What was she doing here, and how could she take that spell for me. He was just going to kill me now anyway. I rested my forehead on hers as I closed her eyes. Waiting for that final blow, but it didn't come. As reality started to sink in, I heard Sage scream out, so hollow of a sound. Then I heard the sound of snapping branches. I looked at Hollis, and he was fighting roots jumping out of the ground, trying to restrain him. It was an equal fight as far as I could tell the more he fought, the fast the roots rose to hold him. Sage crawled over to Chrissy and me. 

"I'm so sorry; this is all my fault. I'm so sorry," She cried, not touching either of us but looking down at us with such guilt in her eyes. 

"ENOUGH!" Hollis's voice boomed out like a shock wave stopping the plant's movement. He looked at our little group with rage in his eyes, and I knew he was done playing games, and we had no more tricks up our sleeves. I tried to rise to look at him, but I couldn't support myself, so I settled for eye contact as I laid next to Chrissy. Sage was behind us, still not touching us but apologizing as if either Chrissy or I would blame her. "This ends now." 

"Please leave them. I'll go. I won't fight, please," Sage begged. She walked towards him willingly, and to no surprise, he backhanded her again. So hard that her nose and mouth started bleeding. Hollis grabbed her neck this time and squeezed. Her eyes growing with the need for air. She gripped onto him, but he batted her around like a ragdoll until she couldn't hold him. 

"This is because of you," He screamed in her face. "Their death is on you, not me. If you had done as you were told and followed the plan, this wouldn't have happened." He forced her to watch as he hit me with volts of electricity. I felt like my teeth were breaking from the force I was convulsing with. Again I'm not sure if I was conscious the whole time, but then it stopped. 

I was convinced that I was dead. The reprive of it comforting me, but then I heard Sage over me trying to wake me up. I heard Hollis grunting in pain and a clear voice throwing spell after spell at him with no fear and these weren't regular spells. They were powerful; I could feel the magic rolling out of the girl's words. I opened my eyes to see Cerridwen going blow for blow with Hollis, except he looked exhausted were as she looked determined. Fire flowed from Cerridwen's hand and formed into a whip-like shape that she snapped at Hollis' body. It cut him up, leaving severe burns and cuts on him. Cornered him close to one of the signs marking what part of the garden we were in. So quick that if you blinked, you would have missed it, she threw knives at him securing his clothes to the sign. I looked and noticed that two knives went through his hands, keeping him still.  

"Move, and you will never use your hands again," Cerridwen said clear and strong. She watched him and didn't spare us a look like a hawk watching her prey. Those hunters that were supposed to catch Hollis with their plan started to appear along with Ricky, paul, and our parents. Damian walked over to Sage and me. We must have looked bad since he approached us how one might have approached a wild animal. He had his hands shown to us that he was not a threat and was crouched to look small. 

"Can I come over and take a look?" He asked on his knees. I realized that Sage and I were cowering almost under the bench, but over Chrissy like we could protect her in death. Sage was hysterical, so I nodded to Damian. 

"Sage, I need to check on Reed and your other friend. Since you can move, could you come over to the carvaluses that we have here?" Damian asked, inching closer. Sage made no move to do as he asked and instead clung tighter to Chrissy and me. 

"Sage," I whispered, "there is nothing you can do for her except let her go." A broken sob rose from her chest "Let go. She needs to go home to her family." My voice kept cracking as I spoke. As I waited for what Sage was going to do Damian and I froze. I could hear our families yelling, trying to get over to us, and I could hear the sound of more people shadowstepping into the area to control the situation. Sage crawled over to Damian, and he pulled her up. She almost collapsed again, so he drug her over to the carvaluses. Cerridwen made her way over to the spot that Sage had vacated. She held eye contact then put her fingers on Chrissy's neck. She and I both knew what that would reveal, but she did it anyway. Cerridwen looked me over to check my injuries next. 

"You will live," she muttered, then looked down at Crissy again, "make it count" She waved a carvalus over to me. She spoke to another carvalus before they pulled out a blanket to cover Chrissy once I was moved. Sobs and screams could be heard from the crowd of humans and witches that started to gather in the area. I didn't want this; I couldn't deal with this, so when the carvalus told me to relax for transport I allowed oblivion to take me. 

********************************************************************

Hello beautiful humans, 

Should I start with sorry? what a time. I think I re-wrote this several times before I committed to that decision. 

Don't be too mad or be mad. Let me know what you think in a comment. 

So mote it be