Only one more chapter after this and then the epilogue! I have them both written and will post the next chapter as soon as we reach 100 reviews! We're already at 96. You can do it! :D The epilogue will follow shortly after that.

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Chapter 24

I'd shocked them all. No one spoke the rest of the evening. I sat in one corner, flipping through the pages of the small book. Eventually, one by one, we all went to sleep. Well, everyone except me.

By the time they shut the lights off in the cell, I still hadn't found anything that could help. It was starting to drive me insane. I'd been praying that I'd read Colton right. When he was talking about the book and allowing August and Alfie to find it, he'd seemed, nervous almost. Behind his tough boy act, he was uncertain. There had to be something in that book that had to help to us. I just wasn't seeing it.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I threw the book across the room. The leather cover scraped against the cement floor. The sound seeming to echo around the small room in the dark.

"Taryn?" August's sleep filled voice sounded beside.

"Sorry." I apologized quietly. I breathed a frustrated laugh. "Maybe I should stick to winging it. My 'plan' isn't working out so well."

In the dark, I heard August shifting until I felt his arm wrap around me, pulling me close. "We'll figure it out. I promise. You're not alone in this, Taryn."

I sighed and curved my body into his. "I missed you."

Instead of saying anything, August pulled me closer until I was sitting on his lap. The warmth of his touch made me feel so safe and secure. I closed my eyes and buried my face in his neck. I didn't cry. I had done enough of that lately. It just felt so good to have him near.

"How did you figure it out?" August asked softly.

I looked up at him in confusion. "Figure what out?"

"That you were the source. How'd you figure it out?"

"It was something Colton had said. He mentioned something about me being 'the source to all of this'. I don't think he meant to let that slip, but it made perfect sense afterward. This curse was made specifically for me, to keep me contained. Isis couldn't let just anything be the source in case someone accidently destroyed it. It also had to be something that no one would ever think it to be." I shrugged.

"Then why is she always trying to kill you?" August questioned.

I frowned. "Good point. Maybe she didn't realize I was the source. Maybe someone else did it. Colton seemed to know."

August's eyes widened as an idea came to him.

"What? What is it?" I asked quickly.

"When you . . . died." He paused for a moment, swallowing hard. His arms tightened their hold on me though I doubt it was intentional. "Colton was far too upset. He claimed it was because he only wanted more time with you, but I don't think that was it. He knew you were the source. Having you die had destroyed it." His voice rose as he continued. "I didn't think anything of it then, but I didn't leave the curse right away. I should have, but I didn't. I'm guessing that when you died, the portal should have opened, but Colton had Isis bring you back to life before it could. Somehow, in doing so, it prevented the portal from opening."

I stared at him in shock. "Perfect." I said sarcastically. "So all I have to do now is die again and the portal will come back. Lucky me."

August shook his head. "No. You already died once which means the source is destroyed. If you died again, it wouldn't do anything. There has to be another way to bring out the portal."

"And how do you suggest we do that?" I asked him, pointing toward the small book that now sat on the ground at the opposite end of the room. "That stupid book told me nothing."

"Don't worry. We'll find a way. I promise." He kissed my forehead lovingly. "Now, I think it's high time we both got some rest. I have a feeling tomorrow's going to be a crazy day."

The next morning, I woke to someone shaking me. "Five more minutes." I grumbled.

The sound of August's soft laughter pulled me from my sleep induced state. "We've got breakfast." His voice sounded next to my ear, his warm breath fanning my face.

A soft smile appeared on my lips. "Breakfast sounds nice."

August chuckled again. "Come on." He said, helping me into a sitting position. "Today, we get you out of this curse."

"Really?" I mocked. "You figured it out already?"

August shrugged. "You know me, super genius!"

I rolled my eyes and smacked him on the shoulder. "Sure. I'll believe that when I see pigs fly."

"Hey!" August exclaimed, pretending to be hurt.

"Would you two love birds shut up already? You're starting to make me nauseous." Dixie teased.

"You're just jealous is all." I relied with a smirk.

"In your dreams!"

"Sure you are." August laughed at her. "But don't feel bad. Alfie's currently available."

Alfie had just taken a bite of food when August said it and he started choking, spitting food everywhere. "Excuse me?" He wheezed out after he finally was able to control himself.

Dixie had gone completely red and was shaking her head vigorously. "No, no, no, no! Aw man! Now I have that mental picture stuck in my head! Thanks a lot guys." She scowled playfully at me.

"You are very welcome my dear." I grinned smugly at her. "Now, onto breakfast! I'm starving."

There was a large array of food available. I was surprised that Isis would be that generous. I picked up half a bagel with some cream cheese spread across the top. It seemed fine, but something just didn't sit right. Isis was never this generous. There had to be a catch.

All of a sudden, Alfie started sputtering and coughing. His hands clutched at his throat as if he couldn't breathe. I quickly jumped to my feet and raced over to his side. I dropped back to knees beside him.

"What's going on?" Dixie as desperately as she wacked Alfie on the back a few times. "Do you think he's choking?"

I shook my head. "No. I don't think so." My head turned back to the tray of food. "I think he was poisoned."

"What!?"

"Think about it." I told her. "How many times has Isis ever given us anything that could help us? She would never be this generous with the food unless there was something in it for her. She's trying to kill us all off. Alfie was the only one of us who had taken a bite of the food."

Alfie continued to gasp for breath, his eyes wide with fear. I gave him a gentle smile and took his hand in mine. I gave it a reassuring squeeze. "You'll be fine, Alfie. I promise. We'll get you out of this."

Before anyone could see the tears threatening to spill over, I leapt to my feet and ran to the door. "Isis!" I screamed out, slamming my fists against the door. "I need to talk to you!"

August appeared behind me, trying to drag me away from the door. "What are you doing?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I bit back sarcastically.

"Are you insane? If she really wanted to kill us, why would we want her in here?" The fear in his eyes was apparent. I knew the feeling.

"I need to talk to her." That's all I gave for an answer before resuming my pounding on the door.

By the time Isis showed up, my hands were starting to bleed and my voice was raw. "What?" She demanded irritably.

"Took you long enough." My voice sounded unnaturally scratchy as I spoke. I pointed at Alfie who was lying on his back, still trying desperately to breathe. "Why would you poison our food? Cure him right now!" I shouted at her angrily.

Isis chuckled. "So you figured out the food was poisoned. I must say, Taryn. You're smarter than I give you credit for. It takes a lot to get something past you." She smiled in that deranged sort of way that only she could do. "I don't mind though. It gives me more of a challenge. I like a good challenge." Her eyes drifted over to Alfie and she shook her head at him. "He really is a sorry excuse for a man. I say 'good riddance'."

My anger bubbled over at that point and I tried to throw myself at her, to punch her in her pretty little face, but August held me back. "Do anything you want to me, but don't touch my friends." I ground out through clenched teeth.

"Taryn, what are you doing?" August whispered angrily at me.

"Yes, Taryn? What are you saying? Would you prefer I transfer the poison over to you?" Isis grinned smugly as she spoke.

I was about to answer but Alfie cut me off. "No!" He choked out. "Taryn, don't do it. Please. We need you well." He coughed again and fought to take in his next breath.

My shoulders dropped as I looked at him, so helpless and in so much pain. "I can't just sit back and watch you die."

"Yeah, but . . . if you do that . . . you'll die. You're no use to us dead, Taryn." Dixie chimed in, holding Alfie's shaking hand.

"Decisions, decisions." Isis mocked. "Well, until you've figured out your answer, I have things I need to do." Before I could respond, Isis spun on her heels and marched out the door, slamming it shut behind her.

My eyes drifted back over to Alfie. Dixie had helped him to sit up a little, using the wall as a support. My eyes filled with tears as I looked at him. This was all my fault. I had to find a way to fix this.

August tried to get my attention but I brushed him off. Stubbornly, I picked up the small book off the floor and plopped myself down against the wall opposite to Alfie. I flipped the book open and starting searching the pages for answers. It had to be here somewhere. I just had to find it.

August gave me my distance. I wasn't sure how I felt about that. I was grateful for the space, but at the same time, I could have really used the comfort and support right then. Pushing my own feelings aside, I focused all of my attention on the small book in my lap. This was going to be a long day.

It took me all day and part way into the night to get through the entire book, and I hadn't found anything useful. It wasn't until the last few pages that I stumbled upon something. If a source is destroyed, the curse can no longer remain. This is true for any curse that was created, no matter how large or small. Destroying the source will open a portal for some curses in which any person or animal may exit through if they so desire. Been there, done that. I already knew that. I sighed, flipped the page and forced myself to keep reading. If the source is destroyed, but the portal was never opened, the curse can sustain itself for a little while longer. Eventually, the portal will open on its own, though it will not be open for long. Depending on the depth of the curse, it could take anywhere from a day to a year for the portal to open. "You've got to be kidding me." I breathed, running a frustrated hand through my hair. "We don't have a day, let alone an entire year. We need to get Alfie out of here now."

I flipped the page. There wasn't much written on the last page, but what was there was exactly what I was looking for. The portal will open in the place where the source was destroyed. That will be the most vulnerable spot in the curse. From there, it is sometimes possible to open the portal manually instead of waiting. The opening of the portal requires a sacrifice to be made.

"Seriously? Another sacrifice? Haven't we suffered enough already?" I whispered to concrete since no one was awake to hear me. A silent tear slipped from the corner of my eye and I quickly wiped it away. Maybe it wasn't that kind of a sacrifice. Maybe it was something different. I had to cling to that. I had to believe that we were all going to make it out of this alive.

With a shaky breath, I went back to reading. What's left of the source will need to be present in order to bring the portal to life. Once the sacrifice is chosen, the portal will open. That was where the book ended. There was no more after that.

The book dropped to the ground as I jumped to my feet. "Dixie!" I didn't bother to lower my voice at all as I shook the girl awake.

She sat up groggily, rubbing her eyes. "What – what's the matter?"

I grinned at her. "I found a way out."

Her eyes grew wide and she jumped to her feet. "Are you serious? You really found a way out of the curse?"

I nodded. "When August and I were first put into the curse, you played the fairy godmother, right?" Dixie nodded and I continued. "Then in the next tale, you didn't have a part, but you still showed up. Is there a way to jump from tale to tale?"

Dixie frowned. "For me and you, yeah. But I don't know about them since they aren't a part of the curse."

"We have to try."

"Why? What's so important that we need to jump tales?" Dixie asked, her voice filled with confusion.

"We need to get back to Neverland. It's the only way to open the portal." I told her.

"You found a way out?" August voice sounded from beside me.

I turned to grin at him. "Sure did. By morning, we'll all be back home." I did my best to keep my smile in place as I thought about the sacrifice needed to open the portal. I was wishing with everything in me that it wouldn't require a life sacrifice, but if it did, I was more than willing to do it. I wasn't about to let any of them sacrifice their lives for me. I just wasn't worth that.

"I knew you could do it." Alfie coughed out.

I knelt beside him and took his hand. His skin was burning up. We didn't have much time before the poison took him over. This had to have been much stronger poison than what those stupid monkey's had injected into me. It was killing him much faster. Either that or he was just a whole lot wimpier. Yeah, I was going with the latter.

"That's right, Alfie. We're gonna get you home, okay? You're going to be fine." I did my best to sound confident.

"I know. I trust you."

I stared at the boy in front of me. He could still drive me completely insane, but in the short time that I had known him, he'd grown to be family and I would everything in my power to keep him alive. That was promise.

Dixie showed me how to jump tales and we practiced a few times. No one had any idea when Isis and Colton were going to show again, so we had to hurry. We couldn't let them catch us.

After Dixie decided I was good enough, we decided to try and take along a passenger. In this case, August. Alfie just wasn't well enough. We'd only be able to take him once and even that would be risky.

I gripped onto August's hand, our fingers locked together. "Ready?" I asked.

He nodded and I closed my eyes. I pictured Neverland and the beach where I had been killed. A moment later, I felt as if I were being pressed through a small tube that was nowhere near large enough for me to fit through. It for a moment before the pressure faded and I found myself standing on the warm sand. The sound of the crashing waves hit my ears and a smile lit up my face. I opened my eyes and found August standing next to me.

"You did it." August grinned down at me. "I knew you could."

"I'll go get Dixie and Alfie. Be right back." Before I could disappear, August's lips captured mine.

"Be careful." He warned as he pulled away.

I smiled. "Aren't I always?" He didn't have time to respond before I had disappeared again.

Dixie was waiting for me. When I returned without August she grinned. "It worked?"

"It worked. Let's get him out of here." Together, we worked to get Alfie into a standing position.

"On the count of three." Together we counted down. "One . . . two . . ." The door flew open as we shouted, "Three!" The last thing I saw was Colton's angry expression before Dixie and I disappeared with Alfie.

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