The door slammed closed as soon as Luke jumped to his feet. Kai yelled in shock as he heard Moon laughing outside of the room. Linda was up immediately as well, all the sleepiness gone. She rushed toward the door in fear and worry, turned the handle, and yelled in anger. The door wouldn't open, no matter how hard she tried. Kai was on his feet, too, but hanging back. He was scared for Shintaro, but he didn't know what he could do without hurting Chase.

Suddenly, Luke let out a scream of anger so loud that Kai flinched and felt a headache returning. Gabriel jumped to his feet and grabbed Linda's hand to pull her out of the way when Luke charged toward the door with all his force. Linda yelped in shock and stumbled into Gabriel, who held her up carefully. 

As soon as Luke slammed into the door, everyone heard a splintering sound. The hinges of the door snapped and the door sagged to the side, leaving enough room for Luke to jump out. Kai didn't see much, but three of the guards yelled in shock, then there was silence. Luke turned back toward the door, kicked it open all the way, and ran toward Shintaro and Moon.

Moon was standing over Shintaro with her hands on his chest, and he was lying on the dirt, his eyes closed, his hands clenched and twitching. Luke was charging toward them angrily, with Kai on his heels. 

What are we even going to do? was running through Kai's head, but he was following his friend anyway. He didn't know what they were going to do, hurt Moon, wake Shintaro up, something; but he was going to find something to do. He had to. Shintaro was his friend, and Moon was doing terrible things to him.

Luke collided with Moon, and her eyes wrenched open as she and Luke stumbled sideways. Shintaro awoke with a loud scream, and Kai knew what he would do - get Shintaro out of there. But how? He couldn't teleport everyone, otherwise Chase would get hurt. Would he be able to fight the Dark magic inside him off if Kai teleported him, or would it be too much?

Kai knelt down beside Shintaro, grabbed his shoulders, and shook him. When he didn't respond at all, Kai put his arms under him and tried to pull him up. He realized that Shintaro had passed out and couldn't stand at all. 

Turning his head to the door, Kai shouted: "Chase, help me!" Chase came running out of the room, stumbling only a little, and joined Kai's side. He pushed his father's arm over his shoulders and heaved him up. 

Kai glanced over at Moon, who was up again. She was struggling against Luke, who was holding her back with surprising strength. He was gritting his teeth and trying to grab her neck to pin her down, but she was fighting with brute strength as well.

"Get out of here already!" Luke called to Kai, swinging his leg to meet with Moon's, tripping her. "I'll catch up! There's an exit that way!" He pointed down a long hall that Kai had never ventured down the whole time he had been here. 

Linda was beside them now, helping the two boys carry Shintaro toward the hall. "Abby, Gabriel, come on!" She pulled Shintaro down into the hall, grunting with effort. 

Kai glanced back. Luke was struggling to keep Moon in place now. She was screaming and yelling in protest, and winning too. Luke had lost the hold he'd had on her shoulder, and now was holding her arm with both hands. She was pulling against him so hard that his feet were dragging in the dirt. 

Abby came running out of the room. "Is Dad okay?!" she shouted worriedly. 

"He'll be okay," Linda reassured her between breaths. "Come on, we've got to get out of here." 

Chase faltered a little, making Shintaro lurch forward, which also made Linda and Kai stumble. Linda gritted her teeth and held Shintaro up. She hissed a "be careful" at Chase and kept moving. 

Moon let out another angry yell, and when Kai looked back again, Luke had finally pinned her down. He had his knees on her stomach and was holding her legs down with his shins, while he was pinning her arms with his hands. He turned back to look at Shintaro, then Kai, Linda, Chase, Abby, Gabriel, and Shintaro went around the corner. Luke and Moon disappeared. 

Kai realized that they were climbing up a steep hill.

"Quickly!" Linda said sharply. "Luke will catch up after he knocks Moon out." She looked forward and huffed in impatience. The hallway was very long and steep. 

When would they reach the top? Kai wondered. He grunted as Shintaro lurched forward again. Chase caught his father with a hiss through his teeth. Shintaro was a tall person, and he was heavier than Kai; so it was making him very hard to carry.

"What are we going to do after this?" Abby worried. "We've gotten farther from Gabriel's town, and now it'll take longer to get there. And I don't know if Shintaro, Luke, or Kai is up to it." She glanced over at her father, then Kai. 

Kai managed to smile at her reassuringly. She tried to smile back, but it didn't work. She twisted her fingers together - a habit she had when she was nervous - and bit her lip. She was scared for her father, and nervous about how they would get to safety. Moon was definitely going to pursue them after what they did to her.

After about ten minutes of walking - without Luke catching up to them - the group found a small door. Linda let go of Shintaro, making Kai and Chase grunt and brace themselves. Linda ran up to the door, stopped, and twisted the handle. Unfortunately, it was locked from the outside, and no one was out there. 

"Scrap," she cursed angrily. She stepped back, moved Gabriel aside, and ran toward the door again. She jumped, pulled her knee up, and slammed it into the door. It splintered much quicker than the other one had, and it broke off the hinges completely. However, it was so small that she had to duck through the door. She disappeared for a moment, but reappeared a second after. Half of her body was through the doorway again, and she reached out to grab Shintaro.

"Come on, let me get him through," she said hurriedly. "Not all three of you will fit through, and Shintaro is freakishly tall." She beckoned with her fingers, and Chase and Kai moved forward, panting. 

The two boys pushed Shintaro into Linda's hands, and she pulled him through. They saw her stand upright again, holding Shintaro close, and lie him down on the grass - there was GRASS! They really were escaping! Now Luke had to catch up - beside her. 

"Come on," she said again, leaning back down to show her face. "We'll meet Luke out here. If he doesn't come up in ten minutes, one of us will go check on him." She disappeared again, and they heard her whisper something to Shintaro. 

Chase ducked under first, and he too disappeared beside his father. Abby followed him quickly, her blond hair swinging behind her. Gabriel ducked through and stood by the doorway for a moment, then moved to let Kai go through. Kai ducked under and straightened back up in the middle of a woods that was just beginning to light up.

There was wildlife everywhere. Kai saw many squirrels dart up trees, and he watched a flock of birds fly over his head. A crow was sitting in a tree, watching them with dark, beady eyes. Kai gaped in shock, even though he'd been in the woods for long enough.

For a whole ten minutes, Linda was trying to get Shintaro to wake up. Unfortunately, she had no success. He only laid there in silence, his hands still clenched. Both Abby and Chase were pacing at the feet of their father. Gabriel was sitting next to a very worried Linda. 

Kai glanced back at the doorway. "It's been a while," he murmured worriedly. "I'll go check on him. If he's coming down the hallway, I'll meet him there. Okay?"

Linda looked like she was about to protest, but she sighed a moment after Kai gave her a pleading look. "Just... be careful, alright?" She gave him a small smile, which he returned before darting into the long hallway.

After only a few minutes of running, Kai reached the open space. Moon was nowhere to be seen, much to Kai's relief. The dirt was covered in blood, however, and that made Kai gag and look away. He walked into the area to look for Luke, keeping his eyes off the redness of the dirt.

"Luke?" he called, but got no reply. He looked around again, but his foot hit something and he stopped. Fearfully, he looked down to see what he had kicked. 

It was Luke. He was sprawled on his back, and there was blood everywhere around him, pooling under his body. His shirt was ripped completely in half, and there was a deep gash sliced along his stomach. Kai covered his mouth and looked up at Luke's face instead, but he regretted doing that as well. Luke's were open, but staring at nothing. They were blank. Empty. Lifeless.

Luke was dead.

~

*TAKES A HUGE GULP OF AIR* AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Y'ALL, I CANNOT BELIEVE I JUST DID THAT! I HAVE BEEN PLANNING IT FOR SO SO SO LONG! SERIOUSLY, Y'ALL HAVE GOTTA TELL ME HOW SAD YOU ARE! I LOVED THE IDEA OF LUKE AND THEN I DECIDED "HEY I'MA KILL HIM"! THIS IS WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT!

AHSDJGAHGSDJASHJFGASHJGHAGAFAHGSHFAGSFHAGSDFJAHSGDJASHDGFJKAHSGFAJHSDGAKSJDGHAJHSDGJHASDGFJAHGSFHJAGSDFHAG!!!!! 

Dudes, I'm so close to the end of this book! Only three or four more chapters! AND I ALREADY HAVE THE WHOLE (well, almost) SECOND BOOK PLANNED OUT!

AKHGKAJLSGHKAJSHGJKSHKGJAHSJKDHJKGHJKASHDGJKAHSJDAAG!

UNTIL THE NEXT CHAPTER!!! WHAT ARE THEY GOING TO DO?!?!?!?!

Peace!!~~~