Shai's POV

Click

Click

I opened my eyes and scanned the room. The monitor was still black and there was nothing else in the room to make any noise.

Or so I thought.

Click

This time the noise was followed by a flash of light from the front right corner of the room. I stood to go check it out. The flashes of blue light kept causing me to go temporarily blind. My curiosity pulled me forward like a moth to firelight. When I was in arms length of the light a voice called me away.

"Shai, I need your help." I turned to face Ethan. He stood in the center of the room. I noticed he kept his distance as I got closer, taking small steps back for every step I took forward.

"What's wrong?" I asked afraid.

"I need you to participate in the ceremony. We're dying you need to take part in the ceremony to save us." I stood there shocked. Unable to speak. I heard footsteps and Ethan heard them too.

"I have to go." Before another word could be said by either of us he was gone.

I woke up with a start. Rufus didn't give me a second glance, he just continued to mess with the screen.

I thought back to the fact that Ethan was my Osirion, could he have been sending me a message.

"What's the ceremony?" I asked before I could think it through. He had to look at me for a minute before answering. "The ceremony that will keep you and your friends alive."

"Are you saying you'll kill me if I don't?"

"No, I'm saying that I'll be one of many who'll kill you if you don't." I stiffened involuntarily. "What do I have to do with this?"

"The blood of a member of the Paragon is the highest valued sacrifice."

"So what would I have to do to keep everyone alive?"

"Like I said, blood is an ideal sacrifice." I nodded. "I'll do it." I stood but he shook his head, "Not now, later, I'll be here when it's time."

Ethan's POV

"Kiara you're a genius!" I said as the door opened. She smiled. "I try." We all filed into the hallway, it took me a minute to realize everyone was staring at me expectantly.

"What?" I asked.

"What do we do now?" A few voices asked.

"Umm, we split up and search the place, if you find Shai get everyone else. Do not face Rufus alone." I received a couple of nods and we all went our separate ways. Almost everyone started searching the other cells. Something was pulling me above ground. I followed my gut, it's gotten me this far.

I went upstairs and I began to search the rooms upstairs. "Hello?" I whispered into yet another empty room. "Any deranged sociopath walking around?"

Nothing

I was about to just walk passed another door, but then I heard voices on the other side. I pressed me ear door. The voices were too muffled to make out. I dared to open the door an inch.

Inside I saw Rufus standing a foot in front of Shai with a knife in hand, he was chanting in some old ancient language. Shai held her hand out to him and he took it bringing the knife to meet her skin. I didn't think.

"Shai don't do it!" I yelled as I threw the door open. A look of confusion crossed her face. "But you're the one who told me to." She said.

I shook my head, just as confused as her.

"I never told you to do anything, even if I did you wouldn't listen anyway." I said.

She turned to Rufus. "What's going on?" She asked.

Before Rufus could answer the sound of pounding feet entered the room. My yell had attracted the attention of everyone else and they were coming to our aid.

Rufus' POV

The boy had interrupted the ceremony, if that wasn't bad enough the others were coming. Before they could come up with an escape plan I grabbed the girl and I pulled a gun out of my coat. I pressed the gun to her head and clicked the safety off. The others stopped dead in their tracks afraid to be the cause of the girl getting shot.

"Smart." I said. "And if you want to continue being smart than you'll let me continue with the ceremony." I told them. The boy spoke up, angry.

"Over my dead body." He said.

I pointed the gun at his head. "That can be arranged." His eyes stared down the barrel of the gun. The girl let out a strangled cry that I could just make out as words. "Ethan, please, don't." His gaze shifted to her.

I'm Sorry-he mouthed. I was about to pull the trigger when the little brat elbowed me hard in the gut. I kept ahold of her long enough to run the blade over her palm. She cried out in pain. I grabbed a rag from my pocket and I wiped it over the wound.

"Leave all of you." I yelled at the group as I let the girl go. "I have the blood, I can finish the ceremony myself." And with that I pushed passed the group and I left the jail.

Ethan's POV

Rufus rushed from the jail as though it was on fire, which nowing him he was perfectly capable of doing at the moment. I turned my attention to Shai. She was holding her palm and staring at the floor. I walked up to her, "You okay?" I asked. She looked up at me and I couldn't read the expression on her face. I didn't have to wonder for long. She slapped me, hard.

"If you do something like that again I'll kill you myself." She yelled at me. Then just as suddenly she pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back tightly. "I thought he was going to kill you." She whispered. "I thought he was killing you." I whispered back to her. When we pulled apart I looked at her face and I noticed the start of purple and bluish bruise starting the form on her right cheek. "What happened?" I asked her. She just shook her head. "It's fine." She said.

Her mom came over and talked quietly to us.

"We're going back to Fabian's house so we can figure out what to do next." We nodded and we followed her as we exited the building. As we were walking back I reached out and grabbed her hand, our fingers intertwined and I saw her smile a little.