Zenna didn't go to sleep as promised. She may not have been tired, but that wasn't the only thing keeping her up. There was simply something about the house that seemed to keep her alert, every little detail around her much more prominent. She noticed little spiders crawling under the shag rug, the wallpaper was peeling in certain spots, and she nearly tripped over a loose floorboard. To sum it all up, the place was a dump. There weren't even any windows!

She creeped down the rest of the spiral staircase, trying not to make any noise as she descended into the more somber part of the humongous house. The lower she got, the colder and stiller the air got. She wrapped her arms around her chilled form, trying to stay warm. Stars, she hated basements. Ever since she's little she's always had this strange feel about them, only ever willing to go down if Cale held her hand to protect her.

It didn't really seem like a basement, though. To Zenna it appeared more as an old cellar or dungeon, not that that made it any better.

She stopped at the end of the stairs, squinting through the darkness at a narrow hallway built out of old bricks and the smell of rot immediately filled her senses. She grabbed a torch from its holder and lit it with matches she found on the ground below it. The light was faint, but it helped her see well enough to just make out a path.

She followed it earnestly, trailing her free fingers along the rough bricks. There wasn't much to see, but just the fact that it stretched along so far was enough to make the next person skeptic, and Zenna would stop at nothing to find any hope to escape or even figure out her location.

She trudged on a bit farther before stumbling upon several doors, all wide open to reveal what looked like abandoned bedrooms. Finally, Zenna thought to herself, something interesting.

She was about to go in the first room on the left when she felt something soft grab onto her elbow, making her drop the torch in surprise. She whirled, expecting it to be Weylyn or Grandma. Instead, she found herself face to face with a pair of brilliant emerald green eyes with a mess of golden locks curling just below his ears. "Elion," she hissed, pulling her arm back angrily. "What on earth—"

"Shhh," he quieted her, pressing his hand against her mouth to keep her silent and her eyes widened, suddenly realizing how close their bodies were. She stuck out her tongue and Elion immediately removed his hand, shaking it off in disgust.

"Yuck," he grimaced, wiping the rest of the saliva onto his shirt. Zenna smiled smugly at him and folded her arms together. "That's no way to treat your rescue party."

"Rescue party?" she scoffed, tilting her head in disbelief. "Where is it?" she continued to tease him, trying to peer over his shoulder as if she were searching for someone more fitted for the job.

"Haha, very funny," Elion rolled his eyes playfully, mirroring her stance. His movements were graceful, almost as if he were raised by a feline. It suited him, she thought distractedly. "At least I'm not the one dressed as if they'd spent the night playing dolly dress-up with a five year old," he smirked.

She narrowed her eyes at him, causing him to let out a low chuckle. It was her turn to quiet him. "How did you get here anyway?" she wondered, not wanting to make too much noise and get them both caught, especially if he was her only way out and Grandma didn't know he was there. "Did anyone see you?"

"Oh. Funny story actually..." he trailed off, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. Zenna blinked, waiting for him to continue. He was kind of cute when he was flustered, but Zenna knew she shouldn't think like that. She knew that pointless thinking was a colossal waste of time. He sighed, "I followed you that night. It wasn't easy getting away from my," he hesitated, his eyes clouding over with something Zenna couldn't describe, "my parents. But I saw you fall and then you were being dragged away by these weird folks. I could tell something was going on, so that night I tracked their path all the way here." He paused a second before looking away. "Well, almost. They caught me around the perimeter, the guards. Told me I had to speak with some Grandma lady," he shrugged and she could tell the simple gesture pained him. She couldn't imagine what they must have done to him.

"You idiot," she muttered and he raised an eyebrow at her, the whisper of a smile making its way back to his lips at the sight of her being "improper" or whatever her mother called it. "I told you," she continued to scold him, "I can take care of myself! Now we're both going to get caught and who knows what they'll do to us! I could have gotten myself out of this just fine." She dropped her head into her hands, forcing herself to think of different strategies to get them both out alive.

He threw his arms up in defeat, "Well, I'm here now. Too late to reconsider." He was right, as much as Zenna hated to admit it. They were both caught in the same trap with no way out.

"So then, Rescue Party, how will we get out?"

He opened his mouth to reply when a loud crash sounded from a floor above, followed by stomping so loud you'd think they were elephants. Elion grabbed Zenna's elbow again, against her many protests, and dragged her into the closest room, hiding them beneath the shadows. They ended up crouched behind the dusty bed, both their breathing slow and steady. There were more shouts above and then a door slamming. Someone wasn't happy.

The stomping trailed back to the staircase, getting louder and louder as the person made their way down to the basement. Zenna inched further down, her back accidentally brushing Elion's chest, causing her to tense slightly. She could almost feel his grin through the darkness.

All it took for her to snap out of her slight daze was the sight of a low light shine through the hallway as the footsteps passed right by the room they were occupying. When Zenna was sure they were out of earshot, she turned to Elion. "I'm following. You stay here and try not to make any noise."

Before he could protest, she was already to her feet and making her way towards the door. She was extremely grateful for her several years of hunting with her brother and learning to stay completely silent while they hunted their prey. She wasn't necessarily hunting a prey at that moment, but it still felt like it in a way. She didn't know whether leaving Elion behind again was a good choice.

The hallway was dark without her torch but it was easy enough to trace where to go. The more she curved and turned and the more she went through the blasted basement, the more she grew weary. Something was horribly, horribly wrong.

As if on cue, a bone-chilling yell reverberated from a couple rooms down, cutting through her eardrums as if it were an arrow tinged with poison. Elion. She'd been led on a wild goose chase. It was a trap.

Without thinking much of what she did next, Zenna started sprinting back the way she came, getting lost in the curves of the hallway and empty rooms, the darkness throwing her off. She really had to stop getting herself in situations where she continuously had to run for her life, or someone else's. Running was definitely not her forte; she would definitely have to work on that.

She swung back to the bedroom she left him in, clutching helplessly onto the doorframe as she panted, trying to catch her breath. Her gaze flickered around the room, her vision finally adjusting to the dimness. Elion was gone. She had figured as much, but she still couldn't risk taking any chances.

Another scream had her up again and as she rounded the corner, the first thing she saw was Elion on his side being dragged by his hair by Grandma, blood trickling down his neck. Noiseless as ever, Zenna bolted after him, trying to grab him, to pull him back, to save him from the merciless hands of the freaks that ran this place, that supposedly only wanted to make peace. But she was clawing desperately at emptiness. As she reached them, only to have a steel door shut and locked in her face, Zenna only knew one thing:

She had to get them out of there.

A/N:
Omgggg guys, I know I know boo Author's note, but I just wanted to take the time to thank you all so much for 100 views. like wow. thanks. Also please, feel free to comment! I'd love to hear what you guys think

I hope you're all enjoying the story, there's a lot more to come so brace yourselves..

also s/o to my three biggest fans (you know who you are) love youuu:)):)):

also also sorry the ending is kinda messy, I wrote it while half-asleep oops