Author's Note: Hey guys! Again, thanks a lot for all the support you've given me! It makes my days more enjoyable. I'm really sorry for my slow updates, but I'll be able to update more regularly really soon since I'm going to have a two-week vacation from school starting this week, so please, bear with me.
Oh and now here's Chapter 25! Hope you enjoy!
Eight
Me and Nine walk into a 24-hour convenience store, both starving and broke. We have been driving for the past seven hours, and we have no idea where we are.
"How are we supposed to get food when we don't have any money?" I whisper.
Nine smirks and replies. "That, Ocho, is why you have Teleportation, and why I have quick hands."
I nod, getting it.
We move on to an aisle full of snack food and everything unhealthy. My starvation caves in and I grab as many as I can. Beside me, Nine has taken a basket and filled it with everything he has his eyes on: coffee, cereals, more junk food, and even some frozen food in wrappers. I guess we'll be able to cook them later, once we find a place to settle in.
"Ready?" I ask, my eyes drooping. I don't know if I have the energy to make the trip, and plus, I don't even know where to go. My sense of direction has gone away ever since my Marina was taken away.
"One sec." he grins and rushed off to another aisle. He's back in a flash, the basket filled with Gatorade and other cans I can't make out.
He grabs onto my arm and I close my eyes, concentrating. The world around us then becomes a kaleidoscope of colors and shapes, blending all around us in a dizzying motion.
When I open my eyes, we're in an alley of some sort, surrounded by walls tattered with graffiti and dumpsters.
"Where are we?" Nine asks, rubbing his head; a side-effect of teleporting.
"I don't know." I mumble.
Our groceries are scattered in front of us, the contents of the basket emptying in the dirty cement.
I quickly gather them into the basket and sit up, my back against the wall.
"Dude, we need to get into a motel room or something. Quick. My back is killing me. And plus, I'm tired." He complains.
I sigh exasperatedly. "I know. Me too. But how are we going to rent a motel room if we don't have any money?"
Even in his tired state, he still manages to smirk smugly. "Easy."
He jumps up and runs forward, out in the dark alleyway.
I'm too tired to stand up and ask him what he's doing. So I just sit there, sad, alone, hungry, and tired.
I was still thinking about Marina. I know she's not dead, since I don't have any new scars, but I know in my heart that she's in danger.
The Mogs are doing something to her—something absolutely horrible. I keep thinking, what if I lose her? What am I going to do without my precious Marina?
Get a hold of yourself, Eight. She isn't going to die. Marina is strong. She can survive this.
But even as I say this, tears still form in my eyes. I don't bother to wipe them away.
Moments later, Nine comes back, his face smug. I notice he's holding something—money.
I don't bother to ask him how he got it. Knowing Nine, it could have been anything.
With our groceries and newfound cash at hand, Nine and I trudge throughout the dark city, our stomachs growling. The city was eerily quiet, a soft breeze blowing about in the surroundings.
From what I can tell, it was a very big city. Buildings and towers stack high all around us, cars parked in every corner, trees dancing in the wind at every street. Houses with their lights still on are built around us, in different shapes, colors, and sizes.
But no motels.
"Dude, we should just find a nice good spot and sleep there." Nine suggests, yawning. I'm too tired to argue.
We find some decent park benches near a coffee shop, put our items beneath them, and lay down to sleep.
…
Six
"Oh, my God." Sam says, his eyes as wide as saucers.
The hotel towers over us—or at least what it was. It's no more than a pile of rubble. Half of it has been destroyed, glass is shattered everywhere, dust crawling beneath every inch. Pieces of metal and cement are piled around it, shattered and destroyed. Police lines and investigators surround the area, notepads in hand.
Clearly, this was the work of Mogadorians.
The police lines prevent us from taking any closer looks, but with my invisibility, I manage to sneak in.
A few Mogadorian canons lay astray on the pile of rubble, the area around them covered in ash.
All of it makes me so angry.
We're separated again; all of us on different routes and in on different dangers.
Suddenly, I hear a voice inside my head; a young, timid one. Ella!
"Ella!" I tell her.
"Six! I'm so glad I've contacted you! I've been trying for ages!" she sighs.
"Are you guys okay? Where are you?"
"We're okay. I'm with Five and Adam, and we're in Columbia, South Carolina."
"Wait—where are Marina, Eight, and Nine? You mean you're not with them?" I reply, panic coursing through my body.
"No. I don't know where they are, Six! But they were on the news. Well, Nine and Eight were. I don't know about Marina…" she tells me, sullen.
This makes me jerk back in surprise. Where is Marina? Have the Mogs captured her?
"Okay, Ella. We're coming for you. We're still here, in North Carolina. But we're coming for you, okay? Just tell us exactly where you are. Do you have the Chests?"
"Yeah. Adam loaded the car before we got away. We have all the Chests, Six. And please hurry. I'm worried about the Garde."
Our communication wavers, and I am left to stand there, invisible, standing on a pile of rubble and ash, thinking about the Garde.
Where is Marina?
What about Eight and Nine?
And Five, Ella, and Adam?
What's going to happen to the Garde?
…
"Faster, John!" I yell over the billowing winds. We're almost where Ella and the others are. If John just goes a little bit faster, we can make it before nighttime.
"I'm going as fast as the speed limit allows!" he yells back.
I sigh in frustration, sitting back and trying to relax.
But it's no use. I'm so worried, I could burst.
The Mogs planned this. They've separated us, knowing that we're weaker apart than together. They have taken Marina off to some base, I'm guessing. Nine and Eight are hiding somewhere, trying to get off the government's radar.
At least it seems like Ella, Five, and Adam or okay.
Or then again, maybe not.
"Six! Help! The Mogs are here!" Ella yells telepathically.
I think up a "we're coming!" when I see it: a huge black van, with Mogs piling out of it.