PART TWO

                                                                                                  ***

"I heard the rumors. I said, no, it can't be. The Ellis girl? Giving herself up?" It smirked. "But it's true, isn't it? You can kiss whatever code of honor you brats lived by goodbye, kid, 'cause your girlfriend's one of us now."

I moved the iron sword to the Shadow's throat. "Don't make me ask again." 

"I think we both know you will anyway." It said. "I mean, that's what you've done with every other Shadow before me, right? What's your total now? Am I lucky number 15?"

"Try unlucky 13." I corrected. "And there's a lot more of you where that came from, so it'll just be easier for all of us if you give it up. Where did he take her?"

"Try Desert Region Number 401. I hear it's lovely this time of year." 

I glared at it, taking a step back and turning away slightly.

"What? Can't think straight 'cause you're worried about him finding out about all this? What you've been doing?" 

"That's it." I muttered, and turned back towards it, slicing the sword into it's arm. There was a hissing noise that had become more familiar than I wanted to admit, and the Shadow voiced a loud screech that sounded like thirty cats being stepped on at once. 

Shadow's voices always did creep me out. 

"Where. Did. He. Take. Her?" I asked again, keeping my voice steady with hardly as much effort as I used to need. 

"I don't know, alright? I was left behind in the move!" It yelled at me.

"What move?" I asked.

"He moved just about everyone to a new base after you kids escaped the old one!" 

I yanked the sword back from its arm, and it gasped for breath (Could Shadows breathe? I didn't know.).

"You know what? I believe you." I said, pointing at it with the sword. 

"Happy to be of service." It snarled back. "Get rid of the bottles."

I looked down at the circle I had made with spare experience bottles I had found while exploring the rest of the "old" base, as the  Shadow had called it. Apparently, being surrounded by them completely keeps a Shadow's powers weak. No idea what they were doing in a base full of Shadows, but I assumed either they had no idea they were there, or it was some form of punishment. 

"Don't think so." I said. "If you don't have anything else to tell me, then you're nothing but a stain on the world." 

With that, I threw the sword directly at its chest. It passed through easily, and the Shadow exploded into black sand. 

I walked over to pick up the sword, and hid it back in my backpack where it had stayed the past few weeks. 

Another day, another dud of a Shadow. 

***

I let out a quiet sigh of relief when I returned to camp to find my dad still fast asleep by the dying fire, practically dead to the world. 

It had been harder to keep everything secret from him lately. His nightmares had only gotten worse since the rescue, and it was pretty hard to sneak out and in when he was sitting awake thanks to a nightmare. 

I was lucky this time. 

"Tyler."

Maybe not so much. 

I turned to see Quinn standing behind me, looking at me in the exact same way she had when she had found out about everything a few days ago. 

"Hey. Sorry I'm late, I was out looking for some apples. No luck."

"Don't give me that." She said. "You were interrogating Shadows again, weren't you?" 

"What's it to you, Quinn? It's not like I'm hurting you."

"But you are." She said. "I'm worried about you, Tyler. You wouldn't have done this before."

"What, killed the things that have put us through Nether so far? Yeah, I would have never done that before."

"Killing because they attacked you is one thing. Killing them because you saw them is one thing. But trapping them and forcing information out of them is another. It's changing you."

"Like you would have never considered it." I shot back, being careful to keep my voice down. 

"I'm not saying that. I'm saying that if you're so certain that what you're doing is alright, why are you keeping it a secret from everyone?"

I looked away, not saying anything. 

"That's what I thought. Tyler, your dad would hate knowing that you do this."

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him." I countered. 

"No, but it's hurting you." She said. "I may not have known you for long, Tyler, but I know you've never been this...violent. It's starting to scare everyone."

"You don't get it, Quinn. You just don't."

"But I do. You know, we all miss her. You're not the only one who wants Skylar back."

"Don't." I said, unable to hide the crack in my voice. "You're not the one who-"

"What?" She asked.

You're not the one blaming yourself. I wanted to say. You're not the one who could have done something but didn't.

"Tyler?"

You're not the one who let him get her.

"Tyler."

I jumped when she shook my arm, snapping me out of it. "What?"

"I'm not the one who what?" 

I didn't look her in the eye. "Nothing. Nevermind. It's not important."

"It's going to be okay." She said, as if she was reading my mind. "We'll find another way to find her. You don't have to keep doing this."

"We've got nothing, Quinn." I said. "The compass got smashed when you ran into the Shadows during the escape. We've got no clue where the new base is. We've got nowhere else to start. I'm not going to just sit here and wait for a clue to pop out of nowhere."

She didn't say anything for a while, but then, she broke the silence. 

"Fine. But just so you know, Macey's terrified of what's happening to you."

Her words weren't harsh, but they still felt like a slap to the face every time. 

Macey was starting to be scared of me.

I shook my head. That didn't matter right now. I was going to fix everything, and once I did, everything could go back to the way it was.

But in that moment, things staying like that would have to do.

Quinn turned to go back to one of the two small shelters we had all built. They had enough beds for all of us, but my dad always seemed to end up outside. 

She stopped, not turning back to me. "Oh, if you could, wake up Alyssa. Jenna's back at the tree." 

I looked away, not wanting to think about the tree. "Alright. I will."

She didn't look back once, but walked inside, closing the door behind her. 

I was left alone.

I was becoming way too familiar with that feeling.

I sucked in a breath, and turned towards the other shelter to go find Alyssa.

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WOOO! We are BACK!

I'm so excited for Part 2 of this story, and I hope you guys are too! 

BIG THING: I'm starting a fun sort of way to get you guys more involved in the story! Every week, I'm going to have one piece of art that one of you guys drew up above the story! Just send me a link to the picture (NOTE: Must be a jpg. link), what your name (real life or internet) is, and your art could be at the top of the next chapter! I'm really hoping you guys like this and it's a chance to see all the talent you guys have :D. Today's art is by me, just because it's the first one. :D