Claudia sat in her chair numbly, long since having yelled at Lindy. After five minutes of hearing Myka's strangled cries, Claudia's voice had become hoarse, too hoarse to continue yelling at Lindy.

"O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, how lovely are thy branches."

Claudia looked over at Katherine. "Excuse me?"

Katherine stopped singing and looked over at Claudia, wincing as Myka let loose a particularly pain-filled scream. "I was trying to drown out the noise?"

"Is that a question, or a statement?" Claudia asked. She paused. "But that does make sense."

"In the land of Starbuckia, there's a lovely barista," Katherine started singing again, louder and louder, trying to drown out Myka. "For now, we will call her Darsaut."

Claudia sighed sadly, but at least Katherine had put a small smile on her face. "Hey," she said. "You a fan of The Pixies?" She hummed a tune. "Where is My Mind?"

"Uh, no."

"Oh."

Claudia shifted in her chair, the ropes chafing her small wrists. At least it wasn't as bad as the chains she had on her before. "Hey, Katherine?"

"Hmm?"

"Do you believe in magic?"

Katherine paused. ""Sorry, do I what?

Claudia smiled. "Believe in magic." She laughed quietly as Katherine gave an unsure nod. "Alright. So I have this friend, Pete, and he can feel things. He gets what we call 'vibes.'" She bit her lip as Myka whimpered, sounding like she was too weak to scream anymore. "Okay, get me so far?"

"Sure?" Katherine tried to shrug, then growled in frustration when she realized she couldn't. "What am I getting?"

"What we need to do is think really hard about Pete. We need to try to tell him telepathically where we are."

Katherine frowned. "Okay, did Lindy try that camera on you first?"

"No!" Claudia huffed. "It'll work, trust me."

"Alright." Katherine closed her eyes, and began to think of the name, Pete. But then she stopped, cracked one eye open, and cleared her throat. "Um, Claudia?"

"Yeah?"

"Where are we?"

Claudia sighed. "I don't really know, but that doesn't matter too much." Myka whimpered again, and she inhaled sharply. "Just think of him, okay? Just think of him and tell him we're in trouble. Tell him Myka's in danger." Her voice lowered in volume. "Tell him we need him."

Katherine swallowed thickly, hot tears pricking at her eyes as she thought about her family, hundreds kilometers away, probably very worried about her. "Can do," she said, equally as quiet.

"Good, because this might be our only shot."

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Pete paced around the office, wringing his hands. "Anything else, Artie?" he asked impatiently. He had come up from his man cave a few minutes ago, a vibe prickling the hairs on the back of his neck.

"Wait, just wait!" Artie huffed as he typed on his computer. "This does take time, you know!"

Pete nodded. "Yeah, I know, sorry." He cracked his knuckles, gaining a glare from Artie. "Okay, okay, so I may have a bad vibe right now, and I don't think it has anything to do with the fact I'm out of cream soda."

"Cream soda?"

"…never mind."

Artie sighed. "I need more clues! We can't just go gallivanting off and expect to find them!" He slid his glasses off his face and rubbed his eyes. "Border patrol is already on the lookout for a black Sedan from Ontario, and the local police are on it, it's just-"

"Just what?" Pete asked, stopping pacing. "We have magic stored up in here. We can save a whole country from anything!" His eyes darkened. "But yet we can't even find some of our own."

Artie clicked his tongue. "All artifacts have downsides, Pete. You know that."

"I know, I know!" Pete exploded. "But it's Myka, Artie! Myka and Claudia! You saw the blood! Whoever took them isn't friendly, and they're in danger! We need to help them!"

"Pete! This is not up for discussion!" Artie stood up sharply. "This is how McPhearson started! He just wanted to help in the beginning too! But then he became hooked on the artifacts, addicted to them!"

Pete sighed angrily. "That won't be me, Artie! This is Myka! I have to save her!"

"And it's Claudia, too!" Artie hissed back. "I want her to be okay, so badly! But you don't see me running down to the warehouse floor to find what could help me!"

"Why not?! Don't you care?"

"I care!" Artie yelled. "I care about Myka and Claudia! And I want them back here, safe and sound, more than anything! But it doesn't work like that, Pete! You can't just use artifacts whenever you please, just to suit your whims!"

"This isn't a whim!" Pete yelled back. "These are lives we are talking about! Lives we care about!"

Artie glared at Pete, and Pete held the gaze. Seconds ticked by, and neither looked away, both willing each other to back down.

Finally, Artie sat back down at the computer, turning away from Pete. "We are not using artifacts," he said firmly. "And that's final."

Pete inhaled deeply, trying to calm himself. Grabbing his coat, he stalked towards the door, unlocking it as he neared it. "You can sit and screw around on your computer all you like, but I'm going out to find them."

"Pete…" Artie said warningly. But Pete didn't hear. He was already out the door, down the umbilicus, only one goal in his mind.

Find Myka and Claudia, then save them.