Chapter X

JOEY SAT WITH HER back against the cave wall with David beside her. From the corner of her eye, she noticed him sitting with his knees to his chest, arms wrapped around them, and his forehead rested on his knee caps. The edges of his lips were pulled into a deep frown as he stared at the ground. The lack of cold billowing her way told her that he had returned to the brown haired boy she'd known for the past years although she couldn't recall him changing back.

She opened her mouth, ready to say something that would perk him up, when an ear-piercing scrape echoed throughout the confined area. She swung her head side to side, glancing between the few people in the cave until she located the source. She watched closely as Michelle sharpened and thinned pieces of stone before she tied it to a sturdy thick stick—or maybe what had once been a thin branch—with strands of vine.

"Homemade arrows."

She heard David's gentle voice but kept her gaze on Michelle. She could tell his words hadn't been intended for everyone, and thanks to Skipper's arrogance and light show, she didn't think anyone had heard him.

"Bet she'd do anything for an ability like yours," David continued with a soft snicker through closed lips. "You know, funny thing—and I'm just speculating—did you notice how identical the bottom half of yours and Michelle's faces are?" She flung her head towards David feeling an unexpected shock of offense. "What?" he went on as a grin sprouted. "Your mouth and noses are like... identical. But..." He shrugged. "It could just be the light playing tricks because, you know..." He pointed towards Skipper.

She turned her attention back to Michelle as she stood and walked away, grabbing a flask and downing some water. Despite how Joey felt, something about what David said spooked her. There was something about Michelle. Not that they were identical, but... something eerie. Something that sent shivers creeping up Joey's spine. She didn't know anything about the girl, but she could sense that Michelle wasn't just some ordinary, unfortunate girl who got thrown into the Domes for being too good at her job. No, there was something else. Something dark and mischievous, but she couldn't place the feeling. And for her and her friends sake, Joey hoped a feeling was all it was.

She pushed the thought aside as more rustling came from the hole in the caves wall and someone started crawling out. The others instantly crowded around, waiting for whoever was coming through. One of the twins drew their broadsword, and Skipper slapped them on the shoulder with the back of his hand.

Joey pushed herself up, a hand flying to her aching ribs, as a familiar blonde tumbled out. She screamed and hurriedly scurried away until her back rammed against the corner of the wall.

"Jenny?" David asked, pulling up beside Joey. "You didn't tell me she was here," he whispered so only Joey could hear.

Facing him, she said thinly, "They're all here."

His face suddenly paled as his mouth fell open and his eyes widened with a look of fear. "All?"

Without anymore hesitation, Joey quickly shoved her way through the small crowd with David on her heels.

Jenny's face met hers and the younger girl drank in the air with a gasp as she jumped to her feet. "Joey! David!" She smiled briefly before frantically glancing through the sea of bodies, and she spat out questions with rapid fire. "What happened? Where are we? What are you two doing here? Who are they? Where's my brother?"

"Whoa! Jenny, just hold on a second!" David took a step forward, his hand on one of the twins shoulders as he gently pushed him away.

Joey was thankful he was still in his regular form to keep Jenny from panicking further.

David twisted his neck to look at Joey. "So, she has an ability too?"

Jenny's brow furrowed in deep confusion as her head swung his way and her eyes finally settled on him. "Too?" she shrieked. "Uh, no! No, I do not have an ability! David, what the heck is going on?!"

"Wait, so..." David turned so Joey could see him, and she noticed the puzzlement etched in the two lines between his brow. "If Jenny doesn't have an ability then what's she doing here?"

Though she knew he was looking to her for answers, Joey fought the urge to look away. She didn't want to admit that Jenny, ability or no, was only here because of what Joey had done to that soldier. After this fiasco...everyone you know is going to pay. This was her punishment for fighting instead of submitting.

Drawing in a shaky breath, indicating she had been crying, Jenny glanced from David to Joey. "What happened?" Jenny folded her arms across her chest and drew in a shaky breath, indicating she had been crying. Her eyes ventured past Joey's shoulders, and Joey glanced behind to see Heather step past Skipper. Jenny's eyes darted between the three of them. "Come on, guys! What are you not telling me? What are you guys doing here?"

"What are we doing here?"

Joey looked towards the tunnel as someone crawled out into a handstand. She watched as David's face fell and his skin surprisingly paled without the rest of him changing.

"Can someone explain why we were just tranqed and taken off the streets?"

Slowly turning around, a small gasp escaped past David's lips. "Ella?" He looked paralyzed by fear. His expression changed in the snap of a finger. He flung himself around to face Joey, anger creasing his forehead, and his appearance slid smoothly back into his chilly half. "You couldn't tell me that my own sister was here?!"

Caught off guard by his explosion, Joey's tongue couldn't form the words she needed. "David, I-I—"

"I should've gone after her!" he interrupted. "But instead, I left her in the hands of a total strange because you didn't tell me!"

"David, I'm sorry!" Joey fired quickly. "A lot was going on! I didn't think—"

Her attention was drawn towards the hole as the next person shot out, but to Joey's shock, they didn't fall like the rest of them. No. This person soar from the hole to the ceiling of the cave. They shook while suspended in air, raining dirt particles on the others.

"Tara!" one of the twins shouted, displeased.

"Do you have to do that every time?" Skipper fussed, raising a hand to keep himself sheltered from the spray of dirt.

The girl, whom Joey assumed was Tara, landed beside Skipper and playfully elbowed him. "Well, duh! Who else would complain about it?" Tara stood about the same height as Joey—a little over five-feet—and a pair of thin, sheer bee-like wings sprouted from her back.

"Tara!"

The girl flung around, her tight black braid flipping over her shoulder, and Joey looked in between Skipper and Tara at Michelle waving her over from the back corner of the cave.

Tara jogged away, and Joey's gaze was drawn back to David when he swung away from her and gripped Ella's hands firmly in what looked like a mixture of relief, anger, and fear. "Are you hurt? Did they hurt you?"

Ella shook her head. "No, Dav—"

"What about Josh? Did they get him too?" His voice lowered. "Are you here because of me? They assumed you had an ability too?"

His little sisters jaw dropped, but her voice was surprisingly bleak, "You have an ability?"

"I didn't see Josh on the airship," Joey stepped in, trying to calm the tension rising.

"Airship?" David asked, dropping his sisters hands. He turned towards Joey with an arched brow. "What else are you not telling me?"

She lowered her gaze towards her shoes feeling unable to address David directly. "They...took everyone." She swallowed and returned the glances, noticing the four of her friends now staring at her with confused looks. "Because of me. Because..." She looked back down at her hands, and twirled her thumbs before making eye contact with David. "Because I did something years ago and Claire found out." She lowered her hands to her side, just now realizing how badly they were shaking, and the next words to escape her lips were barely a whisper. "Now, she wants me dead."

That appeared to have gotten David's attention because his hardened expressions melted into something a little more sympathetic.

Heather heaved a disgusted sigh as she took a step closer. "So, whatever you did was enough to get us all killed, huh? We got dragged into this, why? Because we were stupid enough to call you friend."

Joey narrowed her gaze at Heather. Even though she now knew Heather's true feelings for her, the sting in her words still hurt.

Shaking her head, Heather traced Joey's body before she snorted and stormed off to one of the far corners of the cave. There, she plopped down and pulled her knees to her chest, but her glare remained fixated on Joey until Joey eventually broke eye contact.

"What else is there, Joey?" David crossed his arms against his chest. "You forget that I know you. I can tell when you're not telling the whole truth."

A few seconds of silence went by before Joey caved. "Alright," she sighed. "I woke up on the aircraft..." Shrugging, she continued, "I don't guess my sedative was strong enough to keep me under."

She heard a snort along with Heather's whispered voice that carried through the echoing cave, "Because you never sleep."

Joey briefly lowered her gaze, realizing that Heather's mockery was the only thing that actually made sense. Her body was used to fighting sleep. It must have seen the sedative as just another means of bringing unwanted nightmares. Clearing her throat, she changed the subject, "There was someone else on the airship."

"Who?" Ella spewed.

Exchanging glances with Ella, David, and Jenny, Joey muttered, "Mr. Magnus." All three of their eyes popped open in surprise. "It's a long story, too much detail to get into right now, but..." She pursed her lips, placing a palm over one of the many pockets in her cargo pants which held the piece of paper with the poems safely inside. "I think he's given us a way out of here."

"What are you going on about?" Joey's head swiveled to the left where she watched Michelle shove a dozen or more homemade arrows into her quiver. "I already told you. There is no way out."

Michelle's gaze traveled past Joey's shoulder, and Joey began to hear the crumbling of dirt as it hit the stone floor along with a hard thud a few seconds later. She was starting to get used to the sound of bodies hitting the floor. She twirled to face the wall with their one way entrance and exit, but whoever fell on the floor stayed put. She squinted and bent forward until the shimmer of her red hair was finally visible in the torch light.

"Kathleen!" Jenny exclaimed, falling to her knees beside her cousin who sat on her knees in a ball with her head in her hands resting on the stone floor. Kathleen's entire body was shaking, and Joey knew it wasn't just from the hard climb up here. Heavy sobs bounced off the stalagmites and stalactites, filling every ear as everyone but Kathleen went silent.

"Kathleen, what happened?" Jenny wrapped her arms around the redhead. "You're okay. Everything's going to be fine!"

Slowly rolling herself up into a hunched position, she shook her head, red strands sticking to her tear-stained cheeks. "No," she whimpered. "I-It's my p-parents." She sniffed, sucked in a deep breath, and eyed Jenny. "Th-they..." She trailed off as she broke into another string of sobs. "They're g-gone!" Her voice was barely audible as she wept, but Joey was able to make out a few words. "A-and he w-would have k-killed Kendall t-too if..." She paused and took a second to collect herself, and everyone waited patiently. "If this hadn't happened." Extending her right arm, her flesh tightening and lengthening into a sharp point. Several of them stepped back to avoid a jab, Skipper amongst those few shouting something about watching where Kathleen aimed. Seconds later, she lowered her arm and it returned to its normal five fingered hand. "I pushed him down the stairs before he could get to Kendall, but I don't think he was dead. He just..." She shrugged and eyed Joey. "Disappeared."

Joey lowered her gaze as her shoulders slumped, and her heart ached. She balled her fists as an overwhelming hatred towards herself boiled through her veins. She was only seventeen, and already she had killed more people in her life then anyone ever should. She wanted to scream at the sky. Release all her pain and frustration. Her friends shouldn't have to suffer because of her.

As Kathleen finished speaking, a couple other people had already crawled out of the hole. Another five-foot brunette with hair chopped to her cheekbones, and a muscular young man who's shirt looked all too constricting.

Joey furrowed her brow, her eyes staying sharp as she waited for one final person to come through. Someone she had seen on the ship, but after several minutes passed...they never came.

Michelle sprang from her crouched position at the back of the cave, leaving Tara to follow her movement with her eyes, and Joey's heart lurched as she turned her way. Michelle held up a hand and, unexpectedly, everyone in the cave knew exactly what she meant and stayed quiet. Her eyes slightly widened and, without saying anything, she dashed towards the exit, pushing past those that crowded around it.

"Michelle!" the unfamiliar brunette shouted as Michelle lunged inside the hole.

"That can't be good," Skipper muttered, and Joey's heart stopped.