Inferno Chapter One

The outside of the hotel was filled with laughter and flowers and romance, like the city of love should. Paris, one of the few places Amy could recall without struggling to remember the events. It was where the clue hunt had first taken them overseas, where she and Dan, her younger brother, had teamed up with Uncle Alistair and had been trapped in the Catacombs thanks to the Kabras. But now, those memories, even the bad ones, were something she cherished because now she felt worse than she had in her entire life.

Jake had been right. It was her fault that Pony was dead and that Dan was kidnapped. Taking the serum basically meant slowly killing herself. And that's what she was doing as she lie in her bed looking at the ceiling. Dan was missing. Alistair was dead. She had left Jake. Evan was dead. Natalie was dead. William McIntyre was dead. Grace was dead. Her parents were dead. Next in line for the dead list: Amy Cahill.

But that was if they couldn't find the mysterious antidote. In the next room, Ian Kabra, Hamilton Holt, Jonah Wizard, and Atticus Rosenbloom were looking down at the formula Atticus had memorized, trying to figure out how they would get all of this in four days. Jake had left, screaming about her being the problem and if he never saw this goddamn family again it would be the best blessing he had ever received. He was demanding that Atticus come with him, but the eleven year old had lifted his chin defiantly and told him that he wasn't going to be the one who let Amy die. With that, Jake left, but not exactly on his own terms. Hamilton had punched him, Jonah had opened the door, and Ian threw his suitcase at him with all the force the-Big-Man-Upstairs gave him. It hit him square in the chest and knocked the dazed Rosenbloom out into the hall.

Then, Jonah had closed the door and locked it.

Amy's lip trembled. He was right. This was all her fault. She was the one destined to lead this family in good times and bad, but she had passed the leadership onto her little brother on account of the serum beginning to take over her body. Now, she had put Dan into harms way for the millionth time, but this time wasn't like the last. She didn't have the strength to save him last-minute like every other time. She was going to die, and so was he. The Madrigal-blood-line would begin to fade into the darkness, slowly losing the actual blood until all that was left was recruits from other branches that had decided that Madrigal was best.

She listened to the quiet murmurs of her peers. They were talking hushly so that they didn't worry her, but the silence had unsettled her. Amy shifted in her bed, trying to block them out, but her hearing had been hightened since she took the Serum. Pulling the pillow over her head, Amy let out a sigh and closed her eyes. Ignore them, she told herself. They'll find a way.

They have to.

There was a knock on the door. Jonah stepped in, leaving the door ajar as he came in a few paces. His body language looked tense, as if he was nervous. He has never been the best with his hands and shoulders, but his face shown with assurance. She knew better, but his huge smile made her want to smile and agree.

"How are you feeling?" Jonah asked, his eyebrows raised and face cheery.

"Like crap, to be honest with you," she said. Her voice came out small, like Grace's before her suffering was ending. "How's it going out there? Need any of my help? I can Google stuff and research-"

"No, no, Ames. Hamilton is handling all the computer stuff. Ian's breaking codes like a madman while Att and I are working on the languages." His voice dropped. "To be honest with you, I'm like a coffee boy since Ass Face took the other laptop. There's a cafe down the block. Do you want anything?"

Amy hesitated. Sleeping meant longer lifespan, Atticus had told her. But sleep also meant being unconscious during her next days, which had dwindled down to four - maximum. She pushed herself up painfully and nodded. "Yeah. A cup of the largest coffee you can bring me."

Jonah opened his mouth to interject, but closed it and gave her his famous smile. He turned and left, closing the door softly behind him.

Amy eased her feet onto the floor and walked to the bathroom, where she sat in the bath tub and soaked for half an hour. Then she bathed and changed into jeans and a sweater, even though it was a warm spring evening in France. She walked out with her hair weakly towel-dried and sat next to Atticus. Ian looked up from the table and he frowned.

"Love, you really should be resting your energy for when we leave to go to - where is the bloody map? - Moscow."

"Moscow? In Russia?"

"That's what I said."

"Wow... I can sleep on the plane. When do we leave?"

Hamilton hit enter on the keyboard and looked towards her. "Plane takes off in two hours. We should leave soon." He closed the laptop and everyone began packing. When Amy tried to help, she was told that they had it so she finally sat back and waited. Ian came out with her suitcase, which she hadn't unpacked since they gotten to Paris, and rolled it by the door.

Jonah came back in a few minutes and gave her - as she expected - a small coffee. When she glared, he looked down at his feet and walked off, muttering that he was told not to. She sipped it anyways.

Amy slowly began to resent the way they babied her, as if one more once of caffeine would kill her or helping search on the web. She gave a deep sigh as she followed the boys out of the hotel room. Atticus walked with his nose in a book, but she could see the tear stains on his face.

Down in the lobby, Jake Rosenbloom stood with two uniformed policemen. "Them, Officers," he said as he pointed. "They held me and my brother hostage. They threatened to have us killed. Arrest them."

The police made their way towards them. Atticus jumped in front and shook his hands at the police. "Stop! Please! Jake is lying! He-He-Please! They didn't do anything! Jake! Stop this!"

Ian got between Amy and the cops and began to back up. "Love, take the stairs and go out the back entrance. We'll hold them off here. Go!"

Amy turned and ran, pushing past people checking in and out. One cop began to chase her, but Ian tripped him. She glanced into a wall-mounted mirror and saw they had Jonah in cuffs and Hamilton was hitting his way through one cop to get to Jake, who had Atticus in tow as he ran. The cops tazed the Tomas and he went down. Ian didn't go down quietly. They carried him to the police car first.

The Kabra was kicking and yelling, screaming, "My father is Vikram Kabra! Do you hear me, you French Buffoon?!Kabra!I'll have your bloody badge for this, you twat faced git!"

Jake, thinking he was holding his brother far enough away, dared tl taunt Ian. "I don't believe the father who left you can help you any longer, Ian." The Lucian snarled and jerked back against the cops. Their arms gave enough leverage for him to execute a swift kick in Jake's throat. Jake gurgled and gagged, clawing at his throat. Atticus loved his brother, but did not help.

Amy ran with no knowledge that the cops weren't chasing her. She had the back door in sight when she began to feel dizzy. She slowed and began to stumble when she fell into the door. It swung open and dropped her onto the gravel ground. Amy groaned and pushed herself up. She ran some more until she was in the parking garage. The staff parking was in sight when the worst happened.

She had another black out.

Amy's face connected with a small white car. She fell by the left back tire, unconscious.