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Chapter 22: What a Bad Analogy

A loud roar echoed from inside the caves. The spirit was deep inside now. Willa stood up and offered a hand to Finn.

"Finn, we need to get rid of that thing before it comes out and kills us all."

Finn looked around at the temple. There were six people either dead or unconscious.

"Let's get the guys out of here first."

Willa nodded and they got to work. Finn scooped up Dillard in his arms and walked over to the south wall. After placing him on the ground on the other side of the wall as carefully as he could, he turned around to see Willa struggling to carry Philby.

After getting Philby and the captain over the wall, Charlene appeared out of no where with blood all over her hands, arms and clothes.

"What happened to you?" Willa asked her in a frustrated voice.

"Jess was bleeding pretty bad."

"I'd say so! Where is she now?"

"On the top of the cliff. I tried my best to wash off the blood but I didn't have that much water in my canteen." She glanced down and saw the three guys lying on the ground. "What happened to them?"

"Philby and Terry are unconscious. Dillard's…uh…"

"Dead." Finn's voice was monotone and completely lacking emotion.

"Oh." Charlene shifted awkwardly. "Do we go back to the ship now?"

Finn looked back at the cave. "Do you think we should just leave it in there?"

Willa wiped a tear from her cheek. "I think we should be good, but I'm going to grab the journal just in case." She put an arrow into her bow. "Be right back."

Finn grabbed her arm as she turned to leave. "No."

"But the journal—"

"It's over. The person who controls it is dead. It's not a threat anymore."

Willa studied Finn. "Finn, I just need to get the journal. If the threat's gone, what's the problem?"

This time, Finn studied Willa. He could see her desire to learn everything in that journal. She wanted this more than anything and Finn didn't want to stand in the way of that—especially since she's his best friend.

"Fine. But yell if you need help. Promise?"

She smiled at him. "Promise."

Finn watched as she ran off toward the cave in a daze. His whole body was numb. His best friend had just died in front of him and now his other one was running off to grab a journal in a cave where an evil spirit was lurking. He couldn't lose her too. No one else needed to die on this mission.

Charlene's cough brought him out of his daze.

"You want to help me carry these guys up to Jess?"

"Uh…yeah…sure."

Charlene and Finn had gotten the three bodies up to Jess at the top of the cliff. After explaining what had happened and where Willa had gone, the three sat in silence. Jess' head had finally stopped feeling like it weighed a million tons and her vision was finally back to normal.

Jess watched Charlene as she knelt beside Terry. Her light blue tank top was stained with Jess' blood. Her hair was pulled back in a rough ponytail, but a lot of the hair had fallen out. The leather jacket she had given Jess earlier had eleven cuts. Looking at Charlene now, Jess could see the scratches on her arm that matched the cuts on her jacket. Both of Charlene's hands were grasping one of Terry's as if her life depended on it. Tears were slowly falling down her cheeks as she watched Terry's chest rise and fall.

Finn, on the other hand, looked flat out miserable. He was sitting on a rock, overlooking the temple, waiting for Willa to come out of the temple. It might have been just Jess, but she thought he looked about as dead as Dillard. Wow, what a bad analogy, she scolded herself. His hands were shaking and his skin was pale. He looked miserable—no, more than miserable, if that was even possible.

He perked up a little when someone came out of the cave. Jess figured it was Willa. Finn watched Willa intently as she made her way up to the group.

"Hey." She said with a smile, everything from the waist up covered in dirt. "Look what I got." She held up the journal and Finn almost smiled. She wiped some dirt off her forehead.

"Let's head back then." Finn got up and scooped up Dillard. Jess got up and walked toward the edge of the cliff so that she could look down at the temple one last time. Her dizzy head caused her to stumble while she walked.

"How are we going to get the boys back? Jess can barely walk, so she can't carry anybody and there's no way Willa and I will be able to carry those two!" Charlene protested. "No offense, Willa."

"None taken, but she has a point Finn."

"There's a cart down there." Jess pointed to the cart not too far away from the west wall.

"I think I can carry Terry that far. Willa?" Charlene got up and brushed herself off.

"Yeah, that's not too far." Willa grabbed Jess and helped her down the cliff toward the cart, returning a few minutes later to grab Philby. Charlene followed her, struggling to carry Terry.

When all three bodies were on the cart, Finn got behind and started pushing. They had a long way to go.

Amanda sat up in her bed. It was the middle of the night and none of her friends had come back yet. She had just woken up from a horrible nightmare of Finn dying at the hands of Maleficent.

She was feeling better, but she was also feeling worse. Her stomach had stopped hurting and the feeling of nausea had subsided—so in that way she was feeling better physically. Emotionally, though, she was a wreck. She couldn't shake the feeling that someone wasn't going to make it back from the island alive. She hoped and prayed it wasn't Finn.

Within a few minutes she had made her way up to the top deck, where she saw the rest of her group.

Charlene and Willa were both hovering over unconscious bodies, trying to pour water into their mouths. It took Amanda a few seconds to realize the bodies belonged to Philby and Terry.

Charlene didn't have her jacket, her shirt was covered in blood and her arms decorated with cuts and scrapes. Willa's face, arms and shirt were covered in dirt with a few scratches here and there. Jess was sitting on the deck, leaning her head back against the railing with Charlene's jacket draped over her chest like a blanket. There was a giant gash from her left eyebrow to her chin—just like in her drawing.

There was a third body, but there was a blanket pulled over it. Finn and Dillard were no where to be found. Amanda's heart sank in her chest.

She slowly made her way across the top deck toward the blanket-covered body. She knelt down and slowly removed the blanket off of the person, revealing Dillard's dead body.

Amanda didn't realize she was crying until she saw a tear fall off her face and hit Dillard's cheek. Someone she had only met just weeks ago was now dead.

A hand suddenly appeared on her shoulder, causing her to jump. She turned around and saw Finn standing there.

"He's…he's…" She began to say, but the tears took over. Finn nodded and offered her a hand to help her up. Instead of just standing there, Finn pulled Amanda into a hug. His arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer than she thought possible. She could feel his chest rise and fall. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he placed his head in the crook of her neck. His tears were staining the collar of her shirt.

"I'm glad you're alive Finn. I don't know what I would have done without you." She whispered into his ear.

"I love you Amanda." At least that's what she thought he said. His voice was muffled by her shirt.

"I love you too." She pulled back a little and Finn lifted his head. Their foreheads were touching.

"I lost my best friend today." One of his hands moved to her stomach. "At least I didn't lose you two."

"You're never going to lose me Finn." She kissed him on the lips and quickly went back to hugging him. She had no intention of letting go of him anytime soon.

Charlene's mind was racing. Terry was lying unconscious in front of her. He was breathing but no matter what she did, he wouldn't wake up. The last thing they needed was to lose two more people. She wasn't going to give Maleficent and her allies the satisfaction.

She glanced up from Terry for one second to see Finn and Amanda kissing. She was glad that Finn was happy with her, but she knew there was something up between those two. Ever since they showed up at the beach with Jess, the couple had been acting really strange. Charlene couldn't quite put her finger on it.

Seeing them kiss gave Charlene an idea. She looked back at Terry. It couldn't be that simple.

"Hey Willa. I have a crazy idea."

Willa, who had obviously been crying, glanced up at her with a confused look.

"It's crazy enough it might just work."

"What is it?"

The name of the tale wasn't coming to Charlene, but she figured if she described it well enough, Willa would remember. "Ever hear of the fairy tale of the exiled princess and her seven dwarf friends?"

"She eats a poison apple and goes into a deep sleep that can only be broken by true love's kiss." Willa glanced down at Philby, then back at Charlene. "What does this have to do with them?"

"They weren't knocked out, they were force fed some kind of potion…possibly poison."

Willa's eyes went wide. "You don't think?"

"It's worth a try. If it doesn't work…no harm, no foul?"

Willa thought about it. In the limited amount of moonlight, Charlene could see the worry lines on her face. She figured her face looked the exact same way. This had to work. What else could save them?

"On three?" Charlene asked her, to which Willa responded with a nod.

"One…two…three…"

Charlene leaned down and kissed Terry on the lips and prayed for a miracle.

Well, we haven't had a good cliffhanger in a while, I figured now would be a good place to put one.

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