"Do you know how long it's been since you came?"

James shook his head.

Too long, he thought.

"Almost two weeks." Taylor answered, proud of herself for remembering. James's stomach lurched unpleasantly. Two weeks. He had been stuck here, in this cellar, for two weeks now. Taylor watched him for a second, looking for his reaction.

"We should escape." Her words hung there for a minute, and James slowly let them sink in. Escape. Just like he had from his father. Ever since James had come here, he hadn't really slept. There wasn't really a need to, and he was surprised how well his body was taking it. All those nights, he just talked to Taylor, or listened mostly. She told the most fascinating stories of her life as a witch that pushed James's imagination; he knew Tabitha would like to hear these stories. She loved things, stories, that seemed beyond impossible. A pang went through him, but Taylor had turned away, now focusing on the bricks as if she stared at them long enough, they would poof away.

James often thought about Tabitha, and wondered how she was back at home, but thanked himself, more than anything, for not dragging her into this mess. He had thought about it though, bringing her along….

"Do you think we could run through this wall?" Taylor asked, now standing and examining the bricks individually. James laughed.

"No, I think we would have to be the Hulk."

Taylor, clearly frustrated, managed a small smile, and sat down again.

"I mean, you could use your light, and I could use my powers. It could work…."

James sighed lightly, as Taylor kept going on about different way to attack the wall. It had come to this again, using 'his light'.

Taylor had told him about Lumokinetics – light wizards – and how they were really rare these days. She had tried to convince him every day that he was one. Slowly, James began to believe it. He was a wizard, but not just a wizard, but a Lumokinetic. That sent him reeling. Almost two weeks ago, he was a normal seventeen year old, going early to college because high school was getting too easy for him. He had normal friends, and now…. he had no idea where they were, or if they were okay—

James stood up abruptly, trying to push that thought out of his mind. He looked around desperately for a distraction. Near the back of the room sat a tiny round window. Taylor and James had begged Lee to install it about a week ago. James went over to it. The window was enchanted, so it didn't really show the outside. Right now, it looked like very early morning; the fake stars were dimming, but there was no sign of a sun yet. A heavy snow was falling, too, but James doubted that was true. Lee came down here every day and set the weather randomly, but he always got the day and night part right. Taylor turned around and faced James again.

"Do you think we could… tunnel?"

She was serious. James laughed and stomped his foot on the stone floor, showing her how hard it was.

"We could," he started. "But we would need something more than magic. Taylor, if you want to get out of here so badly, why don't you use th—."

A loud crash came from above, followed by several shouts.

"He's here!" Jared yelled angrily, his voice rose over the yells and screams. James and Taylor exchanged glances. That didn't sound good.

"Emmett!" Jared yelled again. "Lock the doors! We'll trap him in."

James couldn't hear Emmett's response, but he heard something heavy smash against a wall. Taylor moved closer to James and looped her arm through his. The act was almost family-like. More shouts were heard from upstairs.

"What's goin' on?"

"Where is he!"?

"What's happ—."?

All those questions mixed together, angrily colliding with each other. Suddenly, a small thump came from above. It sounded like a cat landing on all fours.

"Where's James?" This voice wasn't loud at all, nor was it scared or frightened, like everyone else. It seemed to project into everyone's ears. Lee squeaked a reply.

"Thanks." The voice said coolly, like he wasn't really thankful at all. The door to the cellar banged open. This was such a natural occurrence that James and Taylor didn't even flinch anymore. Footsteps came down the stairs.

James thought he had survived the weirdest, but oh was he wrong. An extremely attractive, tan, blond-haired boy stood in the dingy cellar. He couldn't be more than seventeen. He had a finely defined face, and the clearest sky blue eyes that James and Taylor had ever seen. He seemed slightly annoyed, but smiled at them, noticing their interlocked arms.

"Is this a two-for-one kind of thing?" His tone was slightly mocking. Taylor nodded furiously, but James didn't reply. He just kept staring at the intruder, not really sure what to make of him. Was he a friend or an enemy? The blond looked between Taylor and James, then at the open door. His eyes lit up.

"My names Alex, by the way. Alex Cordova."

Taylor shuddered, from what, James wasn't sure. Excitement? Fear? Her eyes were big round plate, staring at Alex like he was some kind of celebrity. Was he? Alex looked at James, and seeing no recognition, sighed dramatically.

"Come on." He said, and raised his hands. A curious sensation swept over James, like his veins were suddenly being tickled, and he felt like the air, weightless. He looked over at Taylor. She didn't look like she was having the same sensation, or maybe she was but was used to it. She looked up at the—

James's head hit something, hard. Slightly dazed, he looked up. He had hit the ceiling. No… no, that wasn't possible, he was on the ground a few seconds ago. James reached up his hand and hit… the ceiling. A wave of panic swept over him, and he didn't want to look down. Why was he floating? Alex… the answer came, pure and simple, even though James's brain was still trying to reject the idea of magic.

"Sorry James." Alex laughed, and pushed the air with his hands, like he was trying to shove something over. James and Taylor shot forward, and out the door. James turned to look at Taylor, noticing how her grip on him had slacked, but she had not let go entirely. That was somewhat comforting to know that he wasn't alone. Taylor seemed to be interested in the state they were in, not scared like James was. She kept shooting her head around, afraid of missing anything. There wasn't much to see though; they were in the main room, where Jared had first interrogated James. Taylor had told James that Jared always changed this room's size and décor, according to his mood. Currently, it was set up as a giant dining room. Taylor was looking out the perfectly clear, glass ceiling, watching as the sun slowly rose in the sky. James was looking down, watching a scene that was as confusing as figuring out if Alex was good or bad. All of the nine people of Jared's coven looked like they were frozen in the middle of some action. Lee was in the middle of a jump, so he was slightly hovering off the ground. Justin's legs were sticking out at odd angles, like he was frozen in the middle of running. Jared, Emmett, and Elizabeth, a short, blonde quiet girl, were all in the middle of, what looked liked, a big argument. They all had angry expressions on their faces, and Emmett's hands were up in the air.

All of the sudden, Alex stood at the doorway to the cellar, and flicked his hand. Everyone came back to life. The four brothers, Casper, Percy, Bryant, and Kyle, all aimed vases at Alex, magically of course, but he dodged them with amazing agility, even though they were seconds apart. Taylor and James lurched forward again, but towards the ceiling this time. James tried to back up; he really didn't want to go through the glass. James looked down at Alex, seeking some reassurance, but he was busy dodging streams of colored light that had been shot out by random people. James didn't really like that crazy glint in his eye though. Suddenly, they jerked forward again, going faster than humanly possible, and busted right through the glass.

James shut his eyes, horrified that the car crash was happening again, except this time it was Taylor instead of Tabitha….

But, he was okay. They were still floating, up and up, and then stopped, causing James to hit an invisible barrier. His mind was going into overload, but he looked down at the glass ceiling. There was a perfect circle where they must have crashed through. This was the first time James realized that they were in a bubble-type thing. Taylor had stopped looking around, and was now glancing at James. She grinned widely.

"Wasn't that fun?"

James looked at her, his mind delirious with relief. An odd sensation filled him –the urge to laugh. He took it, and started laughing aloud.

"No."

Taylor laughed at that, until their laughter mingled into one another, blending, like sweet music. They barely noticed that the bubble had began to sink, lower… lower… until the bubble touched the ground, and popped, leaving James and Taylor sitting on the ground, laughing loudly. Alex loped out of the house minutes later, and saw the two of them laughing in Jared's driveway like weird little children.

"Well," Alex said, when he reached them. They –finally – stopped laughing and faced him. "I'm glad you had fun."

James wasn't sure about the 'fun' part, but he got up, helped Taylor up, and followed Alex in the dark. Alex was walking fast, and soon they reached his car. It was a very sporty, sleek, black Porsche. James wasn't really sure why he was following Alex to his car, but Alex just saved them from Jared. No bad guy would do that. But, now that James thought about it, why were they taking Alex's car? Why couldn't they do some magic thing?

"It would be very suspicious if Innocents saw two teenagers floating around in a bubble. Plus, I can't Transport with…. passengers." Alex answered, slamming James's car door. James sat, stunned for a moment. That was his exact thought. How had he known? Alex helped Taylor in the backseat, slammed her door, and got in the driver's seat. Alex started the car, and gently maneuvered out of Jared's gravelly, uneven driveway. Jared never wanted visitors, so he strived to make his place as run-down looking as possible.

James stared out of back window, at the now evil-looking house, even though it was in the direct sunlight. He saw a room at the top part of house that he hadn't noticed before now. It was octagonal in shape, and was entirely made of glass. Four people stood inside that strange room, all of them looking like boys. They were milling around mostly. They all had handcuffs, and looked strangely familiar….

James's heart jolted when one of them turned around and looked at Alex's car. Even from a distance, James saw that the boy had shaggy hair, the exact color of sand, and even now, he still had a small smile on his face – Sonny. If Sonny was there, that means… Mason. James could see Mason now, as he came to stand near Sonny. His glasses slid off his nose suddenly, and… and Nick picked them up by leaning backwards and grabbing them with his bound hands. His best friends were all there, at the top of Jared's house.

James slammed against the door; the panic he felt minutes ago came flooding back. The door did not budge.

"We have to go back!" James was surprised how normal he sounded, not whiney and panicked like he felt. Alex kept driving, finally turning off Jared's driveway and onto the highway, ignoring James's plea, but Alex glanced at James through the rear view window. James was worried about his little, human friends. Alex felt a little guilt creep in, he wasn't going to go back and rescue them. They weren't any use to him. Plus, they had a little longer to live. Jared never used human sacrifices unless he got totally, and utterly desperate.