We stood in silence for a few seconds, before Jenna broke it. 

"Am I the only one who's really confused?"

"Yeah, really." Alyssa agreed. "What just happened?"

"Doesn't matter." Shane said. "We're going to have to take the news and use it."

"What do you mean?" Quinn asked. 

"I mean, we're going to go find our parents, now." He said. "You heard him."

"He's right." Skylar agreed, slowly standing up. "We have to get them and get out of here before Darklox finds that amulet."

"I'm unaware if you've noticed, but we have nothing that could so much as bruise Darklox or any of the Shadows that we can't use without alerting them of the amulet's presence." Cameron argued. "We'll be facing certain death."

"I'm unaware if you've noticed, Cameron, but all of us are facing death right about now, whether you like it or not." Shane retorted. "And our parents are a lot closer than we are."

"And I'm getting my dad out of here before Darklox can possess him again." Skylar said. "No questions."

"Well, I just found out my dad's kind of the main target here, so I'm up for a rescue now." I said.

"We'll at least be taking an ax to Darklox's face, right?" Jenna asked, looking around for confirmation.

"Jenna, the plan is to get out of here before he finds out we're still alive. Taking an ax to his face isn't exactly going along with that." Quinn pointed out. 

"Oh, fine." Jenna muttered. 

Cameron sighed. "I guess we're doing this no matter how logical the situation is."

Shane grinned, patting Cameron on the back. "Bingo-bango, Cam."

"Fine. But don't say I didn't warn you." 

"I think we should split up." Skylar said. "Everyone looks for their own dad. We'll cover more ground that way, get out faster."

"I thought you hated splitting up?" Alyssa questioned. 

"Yeah." I agreed. "Didn't you say we'll die easier?"

"It's not the greatest thing, no," She admitted. "But we're working on a time limit. We need to be quick. Tyler, you take Macey. Everyone else, look for your dad and find an exit as fast as you can."

"Do we even know if there's an exit?" Quinn asked. 

"No. But our only option right now is to pray there is one." She said. 

"Did I mention I strongly dislike this plan?" Cameron asked. 

"Let's go. Everyone find your dad and get out. We'll all find each other after that happens. Got it?"

By then, I had learned that when Skylar sets her mind to something, the easiest thing to do is just go along with it. Apparently, everyone else had learned that too, because everyone nodded. 

Skylar ran down the hall, Shane and Jenna at her heels. Cameron, Quinn and Alyssa went the other way, yelling something about how they would see if there was anything back the other way. 

I looked over at Macey. "You ready?"

"No." She said quietly, shaking her head. 

"Me neither." I admitted, taking her hand so she would be able to keep up with me. "Let's go find Dad."

***********

I was starting to get anxious.

We had been walking down the hall since Macey got too tired to run, and we hadn't run into any of the others, any Shadows, or any rooms that had our dad inside. 

"I'm scared." Macey said.

"I'm creeped out." I said, passing by a skull lying on the floor. It looked ancient. 

"Not helping." 

"Sorry. I'm just a little anxious that we haven't ran into any Shadows yet. You'd think they'd be everywhere." 

She nodded. 

"Well, at least we haven't had to fight anything." 

Macey suddenly stopped, pointing ahead. 

"What?" I asked, looking to where she was pointing. 

"Another door." She said.

She was right.

There, at the end of the hall, stood another door that looked just like every other door, except this one had a padlock on it. 

"That's got to be one of them." I said, running toward the door, Macey behind me. "Why else would you need a padlock on a door?"

As I got closer, I saw a small "S" carved into the handle of the lock. 

"Okay, well that either means Shadows, Sky, or...who was the other one that started with S? Cameron's dad?"

Macey shrugged. "I don't remember."

"Well, either we're going to get a really good room, or a really bad one." I said. "Do you still have that dagger?"

She nodded, handing me the small dagger. 

"Hopefully this works." I said, and hit the dagger against the padlock. 

A small crack appeared, and I felt my hope rise. Maybe this would work. 

I continued hitting the lock with the dagger, wincing slightly at the loud noise every time. This wasn't exactly a subtle approach. 

Finally, the padlock smashed into pieces. I handed the dagger back to Macey, grabbed the door handle, and slowly opened the door. 

I almost cried when I saw my dad there, hanging from the ceiling by his wrists.

He looked okay, which was weird to me. There was no blood, not even any bruises. He was just asleep, by the looks of it. 

Macey ran toward him, shaking his side, tears already on her face. "Dad?"

I shut the door behind me, hoping not to alert anyone that something was wrong, though the missing padlock might be an obvious clue. A shut door would hopefully buy us more time. 

I watched as he stirred, lifting his head up and opening his eyes. "Macey? Tyler?"

I almost broke down crying right then. He was okay. We had found him. Everything was going to be alright. 

"Oh my Notch, you're alive!" He said. "I was worried sick!"

"You were worried?" I asked, unable to suppress a grin. "I think we're the ones who worried more. Macey, can I have that dagger again?"

She nodded, handing it to me, and I threw it at the chain that held him there. It broke as soon as the dagger went through it, and Dad luckily landed on his feet. 

"Geez, how much damage does that dagger do?" I asked Macey, and she shrugged, running up and hugging Dad. 

"I'm so glad you're okay." He said, and looked up at me. "Tyler? What happened to your arm?" 

I glanced at my arm, and remembered my blood stained hoodie. "Oh. Right. A little run in with...uh...you, actually. Long story. But I'm alright. But what about you?"

"What about me?" He asked. 

"Well, I kind of expected you to be all beaten up when we found you!"

"Oh. Must be morning." He said. "Seemed like old Darklox didn't want to kill me just yet, so every morning I wake up fine."

"Ouch." 

"Very." He agreed. "But that doesn't matter. I'm just glad you two are safe." He said. "What were you thinking, coming after me alone?"

"Well, that's the thing." I said. "We aren't alone."

I gave him a quick retelling of what had happened, with us meeting all of the others and finding out about what had really happened. 

"You know?" He asked. 

I nodded. "How come you never told us?"

"I wanted to keep you safe, Tyler. It was a stupid mistake."

He gave me a hug. "I'm sorry. I promise you, when we get home, I'll answer any questions you have. Deal?"

"Deal." I smiled, not worried about any questions. I was just happy we had found him. 

"Family hug!" Macey smiled, running over to hug the both of us, and we both hugged her back. 

"Well, isn't that sweet."

I turned at the familiar voice, and my blood ran cold. 

There stood Jin, his eyes blood red, leaning against the door frame casually. He grinned at us. 

"I hate sweet."