In case you missed the update (still don't know how these things work), I redid chapter 7 sometime last week. What I'd written last year just didn't work. Anyway...enjoy?

There he was, right in front of her. Jake. Alive. Bleeding and unconscious, but alive. It was too good to be true. She wrapped her arms around him tight, as if to prove to herself that he was real.

The trolls grunted towards him, one of them moving for him. Before Haley could do anything about it they'd grabbed him by the wrist to take him away.

No.

NO.

She'd just gotten him back. She'd just discovered he was alive.

NO.

She wouldn't lose him again.

She gripped tighter as his limp body was lifted up, wings flapping her hardest to pull him away. "Let go! He's mine! Let him go!"

Haley felt a pair of arms wrap around her middle and pry her off. "NO!" The troll took Jake away. Down the hallway. Into the maze. Gone.

She turned to the person who pulled her away, a twenty year old boy covered in filth, and began punching him repeatedly. "You let them take him! He's gone! He's gone he's gone he's gone." She hadn't realized she was crying until it became downright sobbing. The boy tightened his grip on her, but it was not threatening. It was comforting. She broke down, sobbing into his shoulder. "He's gone."

The boy rubbed circles on her back. "He's okay, kid." He spoke with an English accent, hoarse from dehydration, but somehow still charming. He helped her to her feet. "How about I introduce you to everyone? I'm Charlie. Been here about a year. The rest of the gang is back in the room. Shall we?"

"I guess." She wiped away her tears and followed.

"So how do you know Jake? Friend of yours?" he asked.

"Brother.

"OH! So you're Haley, then. We've heard loads about you. The kid talks about you quite often."

"Really? He talks about me?"

"All the time."

They arrived at a large black door like the one she first snuck through, propped open with a shoe. "Well, here we are." They went in. Inside were five other kids, all filthy and exhausted and at various levels of starvation. Charlie threw down his bag. "Alright gang. Supper's here!" Grimy hands searched the bag, pulling out half eaten sandwhiches, chicken skins, and mangled meats, chowing down as they stared at the new girl. "Everyone, we've got another poor sucker in our midst. Haley. Jake's sister."

"Alright so what's up here? Someone going to explain?" she asked.

"Well," Charlie started, "this here is Dante." He pointed at a Fillipino boy. "This pretty little lady is Cecilia, her beautiful friend here is Adele." The girls smiled at her and said hello. "Then we've got Hans and Daniel."

"The seven deaths…" she muttered.

"Not so dead after all, huh? We've been stuck here the whole time. Jake was the first. By the time I joined him, he'd already figured out all the tricks. If it weren't for him, things around here would be a lot worse." Charlie ruffled her hair. "Your brother is a tough kid. I thought I had more experience with more years on him, but he's got me beat. And from what I hear, that's something you two share."

"Oh I don't know about that…"

"I think you'll find yourself much needed here-oh…"

The trolls were back. Headed for Haley. One grabbed her round the middle and started for the door. Charlie yelled after her. "It'll be fine! They're just processing you! Don't fight it! It'll only make it worse!"

And with that, they took her away.

XXX

Spud led Rose down the alley to a suspicious looking shop. "I've tracked her here. There's no way in though. It's all magic proof. We'll need to find a back entrance."

"Good work, Spud. Now we find out who this is. Sounds like they're heading back. Surprise attack?"

"Sounds good."

They hid behind the trash can as an old wrinkled goblin hobbled out, a large bag on his back. "Go!" The two jumped out, giving him a fright. He was far too fast for them to catch, quickly disappearing behind the large door. But one bottle fell from his bag in the rush. Rose took a whiff. No…no it couldn't be. Not willing to believe what she was pretty much sure was true, she put the bottle away. "Let's take this to Fu."

XXX

Cold metal beneath her, cuffs restricting each limb.

She was terrified.

What was going on?

Another goblin crawled onto the table, standing on her stomach. He held a syringe filled with a milky white liquid. No…was that? It was. Sphinx milk. Despite Charlie's warnings she fought against her restraints. Dragon scales replaced human skin and her claws went wild. She wasn't safe here. No one was. She had to escape and bring help, or she'd become defenseless. That's why no one could escape. That's why they didn't need that much security. No one could escape. Not after this. She was restrained too well. She couldn't do anything.

The needle entered her soft underbelly. The toxins flowed in. Her body convulsed, toxins pumping through her veins. Painfully, she turned back. Everything still hurt, but it hurt her human body less.

The lights above her burned her retinas. Her limbs felt twenty times heavier, and she could feel her powers hiding deeper and deeper inside of her. Out of reach of the toxins, and out of reach to her.

The room was spinning, and she thought she felt an IV slip in. She saw red…red running through the tube, filling a bag by the table.

Then, she passed out.

XXX

"Yup…dragon's blood." Fu grimaced.

"That's how they're so powerful. They're spiked up on dragon blood" Rose said.

"What's that mean?" Spud asked.

"It means he's practically invincible…fireproof. Super strong. He has the strength of a dragon. But it also means he has a dependence."

"So…?"

"It means, cut off his supply, we can break him."

Xxx

The Longs were quite a sight to see. Jake-bruised, concussed, covered in three layers of dirt-held his little sister in his arms. Haley's body shook, sphinx milk pumping through her system. Three pints of blood missing from her body, the girl was ready to pass out. She couldn't keep herself upright; everything was spinning.

They were a sorry looking bunch, the Longs.

But they both couldn't stop smiling.


Well, I am an awful person, but this is where we end. This is as much closure as I feel like giving because I am a completely awful human being.

At some point, I'll write a sequel to this and finish what I started properly. Thanks for reading this train wreck through to the end! It means a lot.