So this story just tipped over 4000 views! HOW CRAZY IS THAT? (the answer: insanity)

Sorry it took me so long to write this chapter. This weekend I honestly didn't feel like doing anything...at all...so...short story is...I didn't.

I hope y'all enjoy this chapter. It's kind of a filler chapter and some of it's probably boring...but not all of it!

Enjoy!

Chapter 33: Must Be A Sibling Thing

The last thing Terry thought about before falling asleep was the goodnight kiss he had shared with Jess. Normally they were wonderful in every way possible, but tonight's was different. She felt distant, especially after the big "I'll always love you" speech she gave. Now that he thought about it, it felt more like a goodbye kiss. And Terry couldn't help but wonder why.

His peaceful dreams were interrupted by shouting, banging and high-pitched screams.

Terry jumped out of bed and ran to the front room. He peeked out the window and what he saw scared him.

There were multitudes of guards running through the streets, some with torches. The ones with torches threw them into the windows of random houses, while the others kicked in the doors and ransacked homes. There were some people lying on the ground, covered in their own blood.

His first thought: Jess!

He searched the front room for something—anything—he could use as some sort of defense mechanism, but the only thing he could find was the iron spike he used for his blacksmith work.

This'll have to do.

He opened the door and ran toward Jess' house.

He had heard of the raids happening all around the kingdom over the past year, but for some reason he never thought it would happen to them. They lived in a small town in the middle of the kingdom. Why would Maleficent care about a small town like them? From what Terry had heard, there was always a reason for the raids: food, luxuries, money, people.

What could she possibly want from this small town?

Terry kept running, using the spike to knock out the occasional guard, until he got to Jess' house.

He kicked the door in and heard a shriek. Fearing that he might have hit Jess, he hurried in.

But instead of seeing Jess, he saw Amanda.

"What are you doing?" She asked him, holding her head. He could see that there was a small cut on her forehead from where the door had hit her.

"I wanted to make sure Jess was okay," Terry glanced around the room, but didn't see Jess, "and you too."

"Thanks. Feeling the love, Terry." She struggled to get up. A loud BANG! made her flinch.

"Where's Jess? We need to get out of town!"

Amanda's eyes went wide. "I thought she was with you! That's where I was headed!"

"I came here to find her!"

"Then where is she?"

"Why isn't she here?"

"I don't know! She was here when I fell asleep!"

Another loud BANG! could be heard over the chaos outside.

"Where could she have gone?" Terry asked her.

"I have no clue! I thought she was with you!" Amanda reached down and grabbed a dagger he hadn't seen before. "But we need to find her before she gets killed!"

Amanda pushed past him and walked out onto the street. He followed without a second thought.

They would search all night. And they wouldn't find her, for Jess had disappeared into the night without a trace.

After what seemed like a never-ending search, Amanda turns around and collapses into Terry's arms, in tears.

"She's gone." She says before composing herself. She wiggles her way out of his grasp and looks him in the eye.

At first, she doesn't say anything. Then she starts shaking him, screaming his name.

"Terry! Wake up Terry! Come on! You've got to wake up! We've got to go!"

Terry opened his eyes. He saw Willa standing over him, shaking him.

"Come on Terry! You've got to wake up!"

"I'm up Willa!" He swatted her hands away and sat up. Then it hit him. Did Finn say she was missing?

"Oh my gosh! Willa!" He yelled as he pulled her into a hug.

"Terry!" She got out of his embrace. "We've got to go," she whispered.

"What? Why are you here? Finn said you went missing!"

"I ran away before Maleficent could get me." She looked down at the floor. "She's got Dell."

"And Charlene and Jess." He stood up. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. We know that already."

"WHAT?" Willa's attention snapped back to him. "She's got them too?"

"If you were here, you would know that. Speaking of which, where have you been?"

"I was with my father. He…he saved me."

"Your father? You and Finn don't have a father!"

"Surprise!" She spat out sarcastically as she walked toward the door. "We need to get Finn and Amanda and leave now."

He hurried to follow her, grabbing his sword as he left his room. "Why?"

She turned and abruptly stopped, causing him to run into her. "She can get in and out of the castle without anyone noticing, and no one knows how. We're not safe here anymore."

"And I'm assuming you know where we'll be safe."

"That's why I'm here."

And she took off again.

They made their way across the castle toward Finn and Amanda's bedroom.

Without warning, she burst through the door and both Finn and Amanda jumped out of fright.

The baby started crying. Amanda hurried over and grabbed him, whispering soothing things to him.

"Willa? Terry?" She whispered as loud as she could. "What are you doing here?

Finn stared at Willa in shock. "Willa? You're here? She…she said you were gone! Where have you been?"

Willa studied the couple, taking deep breaths. "Finn, you're not going to believe me."

Terry could tell they were having some kind of silent conversation with each other. Must be a sibling thing.

Luckily, Amanda was just as confused as he was.

"What's going on? Willa, where have you been?"

"I need to take all of you to a safer place."

"What place is safer than the castle?" Amanda looked to Finn for answers.

"Maleficent can get in and out of here undetected, and you know it Finn. We need to relocate to some place safer."

"What? What about the baby?" Amanda kept looking at Finn for answers that Terry figured he didn't have.

"He'll have to come too." Finn interjected. He reached down and grabbed his sword. "We'll meet the two of you at the end of the hall in a few minutes."

Willa and Terry left the room and Amanda went into hysterics.

"Finn! We can't bring our son along! What if something happens? What if Maleficent comes back for him? What if she comes back for you?"

"Amanda." He walked over to her. "I won't let anything happen to you or our son, I promise."

Amanda sighed and looked at him disapprovingly. "Finn, don't promise that." She said in a small voice.

"Why not?" He asked her. She moved over and sat down on the bed, with their son still in her arms. Finn sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her back.

"Because…" She looked down at the floor, avoiding eye contact with Finn. "When you make a promise, you won't back out of it…no matter what."

Finn let out a small laugh. "And when did that turn into such a bad thing?"

"You almost married Charlene, because you promised her your hand in marriage in exchange for help on that journey three years ago."

Finn studied her. He was sure they had gotten past that…three years ago.

"Amanda, that's not fair. What does that have to do with now?"

"Because you promised me that you won't let anything happen to me or our son. What if that involves you dying instead of us?"

"If there was the tiniest possibility that my death would save the two of you, I would gladly do it."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Amanda whispered.

Finn pulled her tighter and kissed the top of her head. "I only say that Amanda, because I love you. I couldn't live with myself if anything happened to you because of me."

"And that's noble, and I appreciate that, Finn, but I don't want you to promise me that you'll do anything to protect us."

"And why not?"

"Because you'll actually do it. I'm not letting Maleficent kill any of our friends, or our son, or you." She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"Don't you worry about me, Amanda. I'll protect both of you, I prom—"

"Don't, Finn. For your own safety."

"I want to promise you that Amanda, because I want you to know how serious I am about this."

"But Finn, what if you die?"

Finn smiled at her. "I'll do my best to stay alive, sweetheart." He kissed her forehead. "But you and Dillard come first."

She studied him before slowly nodding. He pulled her in for one last kiss before packing up a few belongings.

As she changed, Finn wrapped up their son in a few layers of blankets. He grabbed his cape and placed his sword in his belt. When Amanda had changed, she took the baby and headed for the door. Finn was about to leave, but one thing caught his eye—his necklace.

He walked over to the bedside table where it was laying and picked it up.

His mother's wedding ring and his father's royal family emblem were still dangling from the silver chain. The dried green blood splattered the emblem was a constant reminder to Finn that Maleficent was back.

She had three of his friends. She had gone after his sister, but she had gotten away in time. She was the reason Dillard and his father were dead.

Those were just some of the reasons he was ready to eliminate her from the face of the earth.

"Charlene," the ghostly voice whispered.

Charlene's eyes fluttered open. Her head felt like it weighed a million tons. She couldn't tell where she was, but she could feel the chains on her ankles and wrists. With the little light in the room she was in, she thought she saw a figure standing before her, but it quickly disappeared.

"Charlene, wake up!"

Charlene's eyes darted across the room, trying to figure out where voice was coming from.

"Charlene, I'm right here." She turned her head to the left and saw her brother's ghostly form standing in front of her.

"Thomas?" Her cracked voice scared her. She desperately wanted—no, needed—something to drink.

"Charlene. I didn't get to finish my conversation with you earlier."

Charlene's mind immediately tried to remember what they had been talking about. Something about Maleficent…or was it Terry? Or both, maybe?

"Maleficent was the one who brought you here, and she's got horrific plans for the three of you."

"The three of us? Who else did she take?"

"I cannot tell you, for you will soon find our yourself."

"What kind of answer is that?"

"The only one you're going to get." Thomas rolled his eyes and sat down beside her. "Look Charlie, here's the deal. In order to stop Maleficent from taking over and killing everyone, you've got to do something."

"Me?"

"You! Believe it or not, you're vital to this mission."

Charlene stared at her dead brother in disbelief. Surely, he's lying.

"I'm not lying Charlie."

"Did you read my thoughts?"

"I'm a ghost, duh. Ghosts can do all kinds of stuff." He smirked at her. The last thing she wanted to ask him was what had he gotten himself into. But what did it really matter, he was dead.

"So…so what do I have to do to stop her?"

"Oh. That's simple!" He stood up and walked over to the edge of the room and grabbed onto something. From where Charlene was sitting, it looked like bars. Am I in a cell?

He turned back to face her, leaning his back against the bars. "Charlene, in order to stop Maleficent you'll have to give up the thing you hold closest to your heart."

"How am I supposed to know what that is?"

"How am I supposed to know?"

"You can read my thoughts! Surely you can tell me what's closest to my heart!"

"Besides a bunch of blood and organs and guts, I see nothing." He smirked at her.

Smart butt, Charlene thought. She hoped he was reading that thought.

"I can't tell you Charlene. You have to search your heart and figure it out all on your own." He glanced over his shoulder and looked back at her with a worried expression.

He hurried over to her and sat in front of her.

"Charlene, if I were you I'd pick something that you couldn't live without. If that thing disappeared from your life, your life would be meaningless."

"And how is giving up that going to help stop Maleficent?"

"Heck if I know! I just know that you need to give it up!"

Charlene thought about what he had said. She could think of a few things she loved, but she could live without all of those if necessary. She had lived without all of her favorite things on their journey to stop Maleficent three years ago.

So what was it? What was the thing that would help stop Maleficent? Charlene couldn't think of a single thing.

She glanced back up at Thomas. "I have no clue, Thomas." She lowered her head in shame. She would have put her head in her hands if they weren't bound to the wall by chains.

"You'll figure it out Charlie. I believe in you." Thomas laid a hand on her shoulder, smiled at her and then disintegrated.

Charlene sighed. "I hope I don't want to let you down, Thomas." Charlene closed her eyes and began to think of all the things she couldn't live without.

Please review! Seriously though, I really love reading them. Keep them coming!

I'll do my best to have the next chapter up as soon as possible!