The Dark Prison - Chapter 13, Part 2

Instructions

We got about a million questions in that span of thirty seconds. Then Naomi clapped her hands loudly and everyone shut up again. “I’m sure we’d all like to ask Wolf and Chaiyn about their… /impulsive/ decision, but for now, can we focus on trying to get to where they are and how to save them and the other prisoners?” There was a general murmur of consent from the six people who had been talking, and Naomi turned to Tobi. “You’ve been there the longest. What do you know?” “Well, we’re in the shadow realm, which is a little different from the other realms. You can only teleport there without a crystal if you’ve been there before.” “What crystal is used?” Chaiyn asked him. “Black, I think. The prison’s under extreme security but from what I’ve heard from your friends, Jessica will stop at nothing to get her hands on you. You guys should be able to get in just fine.” That was both good news and bad news packed into one sentence. Then I processed the first sentence he’d spoken. “Wait - you said it’s a black crystal?” Tobi nodded. “Yeah. Why?” I locked eyes with Ren. “When I had the monster, I used a black crystal… and ended up in the cave where we’d banished your monster.” His eyes widened. “You think that’s in the shadow realm?” “Why else would the monster send us there? Shadows fuel it. It makes sense that its home would be in the shadow realm.” Ren nodded. “It’s a start,” he said quietly. I think some other plans were made - like when they’d go and how they’d get there - but I wasn’t really paying attention. I had just remembered that Shadow wasn’t there and why. I knew it was only a matter of time before Ren or Harlow, or both of them, noticed. And soon that time was up. Naomi couldn’t think of any other plan-related things to go over, and Harlow was the first to speak. “Where’s Shadow? Wasn’t she taken, too?” I swallowed and exchanged a glance with Chaiyn. “Well… she wasn’t exactly… /taken/,” I said slowly. Harlow stared at me blankly. “What do you mean?” “She’s working with Jessica,” Chaiyn said softly, but everyone heard. Harlow’s eyes widened. “No. No, she wouldn’t…” She trailed off after studying our faces and realizing we weren’t lying. “Why?” She said in a strangled voice. I started to answer, but found I couldn’t form the words without melting into a puddle of guilt. Chaiyn took the cue and said, “She told us that she would join the side that actually paid attention to her feelings and not just Wolf’s.” “It wasn’t your fault, Wolf,” Brazen, Naomi, and Ren said in unison. I had to resist a smile at their in-sync statement, but I refused to believe that what they said was true. In a way, it /was/ my fault, but I knew they would have none of it. “Alright, that’s enough planning for today, talk away,” Naomi said weakly. Dusk made eye contact with Chaiyn, their ice-blue eyes cold but also worried. Harlow walked over to me and I looked away from Dusk and Chaiyn. “Did she… say anything else?” Harlow asked me quietly, her blue eyes darker than normal and full of concern. “She said to tell you that she’s sorry,” I said instantly. I’d been replaying the scene in my head for a while. “For a lot of things. But she… she never loved you the way she loved me.” I said that last part as quietly as I could and still be heard. Harlow nodded. “Okay. Thanks.” She took a deep breath. “And it really wasn’t your fault, Wolf. If it’s anyone’s, it’s ours, but really, Jessica was the turning point. She made Shadow an offer she couldn’t refuse, and that’s not your fault or anyone else’s but Jessisca’s.” I nodded in slight agreement, then excused myself to talk to Naomi. She punched me lightly in the arm, then drew me into a hug. “If you ever pull a stunt like that again, I will hunt you down and make you regret it,” she whispered in my ear. I laughed as she pulled away. “I missed you too.” She smiled, tucking a loose strand of hair from her ponytail behind her ear. She seemed to relax a bit, and I realized how much she’d had to deal with over the past month. “Okay, once you connect Chaiyn and I mentally, could you connect me and Shadow too? Just, like, not let her know you did it?” I asked. Naomi nodded. “Yeah. I’ll do that, hold on.” I felt the connection between Chaiyn and I form, then felt a slightly less intense connection form between Shadow and I. “Anyone else?” Naomi asked. (cont. below)