Chapter Nine

"Esa, Esa, wake up," a hushed voice said somewhere in the distance. This time the voice was familiar. My body shook back and forth as she once again whispered frantically into my ear. "Esa, you need to wake up." This time there was definitely a sense of urgency and maybe a little bit of fear in her tone.

I tried to say something in response, but my mouth felt dry, like a dozen cotton balls had been stuffed inside and were sitting there scratching the back of my throat.

A cool liquid suddenly touched my lips. Water! Someone was pouring water into my mouth. The crisp coolness felt good on my tongue. I tried to lick up more.

"Esa, wake up! We have to go," the voice said again, closer to my ear. I tried to silently encourage my heavy eyelids to open. Finally, I felt the first, and then the second, lift slightly, only to be greeted by darkness. I blinked several times. Someone was standing in front of me, but it was hard to make out who it was. Everything was so fuzzy.

After several seconds, her face came into full view. It was Audrina.

I coughed, trying to clear my throat.

Audrina kept staring back at me, saying something. Her lips were definitely moving, but I couldn't hear any sounds. She must have gone ahead and put us on the Jump Line. I could feel its energy and then we were somewhere else. The air was warmer and I could feel the sun on my face.

I began to shake my head again trying to clear away all of the fuziness and then she did it...she slapped me across the face.

"Esa, wake up. Seriously, you've got to open up your eyes." I heard her say again, her voice going up a few octaves. I wanted to let her know that I was trying. Audrina had to know that I wasn't ignoring her pleas. I wanted to be awake as well, but it didn't feel like my brain was talking to the rest of my body.

I tried to lift my hand again. This time, I could feel a slight movement. I tried again and, to my surprise, my right hand rose high enough for me to see it.

"That's good, Esa. Do it again. Next time, I'll help pull you up."

I nodded and willed myself to raise my hand again. She grabbed ahold of my fingers and pulled me upright. I tried to force myself to not fall back.

My muscles ached from the movement. I rolled my wrist several times, trying to start the process of getting my body back to normal. I sat in the upright position for several seconds taking in the view in front of me.

"Audrina, where are we?" I finally managed to get out. My voice sounded more hoarse than normal.

"We're in the year 2005, but we were just inside of OnyxFive," she shook her head. "I tried to wake you up, but it was no use. Finally, I just made the jump. We had to get out of there. I'm surprised I even had enough time to get you water. Paul has been in the room non-stop."

"Where are the others?" I asked, still unsure of the situation. How did I know it was really Audrina this time? "Where is the rest of the team?"

"I don't know."

We sat in silence for several seconds as we both tried to collect our thoughts. The sight in front of us was beautiful, magical. The outside air felt welcoming on my skin. Slowly, my body was beginning to wake. I could easily move my arms and legs again. My mouth still felt dry, but it was better than it had been back at OnyxFive.

I looked over at Audrina. "Is this real?"

A tear rolled down her cheek. "What does that mean? Why are you asking if this is real?"

"I'm sorry. I just need to know."

"Esa, it's me, Audrina." She held up her arm and pinched the skin, as if to prove that it was really her.

My head was spinning. "Thank you. I'm sorry. So much has happened lately, I'm not sure what to think or who to trust."

"I know. Me either. I had some really weird dreams. They were very real and my head still feels a fuzzy. The medicine must be our systems."

"What medicine?"

"Paul drugged us. He somehow managed to capture the two of us and he started doing a series of tests."

"What sort of tests?"

"I'm not sure." She shook her head vigorously.

"Have you seen Samuel, Theo or Gave since the hallway?" I glanced around at the meadow, wondering if the boys were somewhere near us.

"No. I don't know where they are right now. I woke several times while we were under and heard Paul murmuring unhappily about us, saying that we weren't listening to his orders. I remember seeing you hooked up to a weird-looking machine. You had tubes coming out of your mouth, hands and feet. It really freaked me out, but there wasn't anything I could do. The medicine was too strong and it put me back to sleep. At some point, my head cleared and I saw you lying on the table next to me. The tubes were gone."

More tears flowed down Audrina's cheeks. Her sobs became uncontrollable as her body shook. She seemed so different right now. Much more vulnerable than the Audrina I had come to know over the past few weeks. "Esa, Paul grabbed us in the hallway. I don't know what happened to the others. I don't know what's going on, but I would love to find some answers."

"I don't know either," I whispered, trying to mentally put the puzzle pieces together as I gazed down at my hands, wondering what sort of tubes Paul had connected me to, but everything looked normal now. "But I intend to find out too."

"We need some sort of plan," she stared out at the flowers.

I nodded, hoping I looked more confident than I felt. My mind went back to the moment we were walking behind the soldiers in the hallway. The Hunter had been there and had started shooting. One of Paul's guards had been hit and killed. I remembered watching his body fall to the floor. After that, everything had happened so fast.

"Audrina, what do you recall from the hallway?" I tugged at a strand of my hair.

"I remember feeling the same rush of energy inside my body as I felt when whatever that thing was pushed me into the water."

"Did it come on suddenly?" I rubbed my arms, thinking back to when I had first felt the Hunter's presence in the hallway at OnyxFive.

"Yes. I could feel the energy from the team, but then suddenly there was another source—a stronger source—and it was coming toward us at a fast pace and then it stopped near us. It was very close to me."

I nodded in agreement. "That's what I felt too. That thing was back, but this time it managed to grab one of the guard's guns."

She looked over at me, suspicion etched into her features. "Esa, what was it? Was it something Paul created to attack us?"

"It's not a what; it's who," I dropped my head into my hands, thinking back to the conversation I'd had with my mother. Had it even been real? It had felt like it had been. She'd seemed very human.

"Well then, who is it?" Audrina asked. I could tell she was eager to have some sort of answer. This had been as hard for her as it had for me. The look in her eyes told me what I needed to know—we were both real. This moment was real. Audrina was sitting next to me. This time, she wasn't going to disappear into thin air.

At first, I couldn't get the words to leave my mouth. I wanted to tell her, but there was something that seemed to stop me from uttering anything. Finally, I managed to whisper, "It's Luther."

Her eyes burned with anger at the sound of his name. "What does that traitor want now?" She seethed, clenching her fists. "I swear, I'll kill him. He has ruined everything for us. I just want to wrap my hands around his throat and electrocute him. I know my guy in the tunnel would definitely take Luther's body for a trade."

"We can't trade his body. We're not sure exactly what they would be able to pull from it. Aud, I agree about Luther ruining everything, but we don't know where he is or what he's done to make himself invisible. He obviously had some help, and I don't think he got that help from Troy."

"Hmm. Then we need to go on our own hunt," Audrina said, standing and swiping at several random pieces of dirt on the front of her white outfit. "Let's go find the traitor. This time, we will find him and kill him before he is able to come after us."

"Yes!"

Standing next to her, I had a sense of purpose. I was tired of being attacked by Luther, Paul and whoever else decided they wanted to capture our team.

"I agree with the plan, but before we kill him, we need to get Luther to tell us who he's working with right now. Is it just Troy, or is Paul somehow involved? After he talks, then we can decide how we want to dispose of him."