11. Separation

Kairi was by Sam's side in an instant. "Where's Cade going?" Kairi's eyes were wide and she looked back and forth between Liam and Sam, waiting for an answer.

"She- She-" Sam stammered. He failed to form any words. The pain in his chest was too much. That didn't just happen. That couldn't have just happened. Cade didn't leave him. She loved him. Why would she leave him?

When it was clear Sam wasn't going to answer, Liam spoke instead. "She needed some time to herself."

"She can't go by herself. We'll lose her!" Kairi bit her lip.

"I need to go after her," Sam finally remembered how to talk.

"I think you've done enough, mate. I'll go find her." Liam turned and ran into the fog after Cade.

"Wait, Liam! No!" Kairi spoke too late. Liam had already disappeared. Her breathing picked up speed. "Sam, what happened?"

Sam's eyes were locked onto the spot Cade had been standing only moments before. "Cade broke up with me."

Kairi and Fred responded with silence. Both of their mouths opened in a small "O" shape and they exchanged expressions of shock.

"That's rough, dude. I'm sorry." Fred didn't really know what to say, but he felt the need to say something to comfort his friend.

Kairi shook her head. "No, no, no! You two are meant for each other. This isn't supposed to happen." Kairi wrapped her arms around herself and frowned, as if she was as upset as Sam.

"Well it did." Sam's eyes stung from holding in tears. "And now she's gone. Liam's going to find her. He'll comfort her, they'll fall in love, and then have hundreds of little Australian babies!" Sam's bottom lip quivered.

"That won't happen." Fred put his hand on Sam's shoulder. "They'll be back in a few minutes and maybe you two can talk things over."

"They're not coming back." Kairi hung her head. "It's nearly impossible to work your way through this fog and find your way back to where you came from. That's why it's so important we stick together and not travel at night." Kairi's head snapped up and she looked around, like a revelation had just hit her. "Where are Sydney and Joe?"

Fred rolled his eyes. "Probably off making up somewhere."

"I don't think even they would do that here." Kairi continued to search the area, and when she saw there was no sign of Joe and Sydney, groaned. "We can't be separated. We don't have time to look for each other and the portal to purgatory."

"We can do it." Fred pulled Kairi in for a tight embrace and kissed the top of her head in a gesture of comfort. Sam looked away, not in the mood to see other couples. "The portal can't be that far, right?"

"Liam said that-" Kairi froze as another realization hit her. "Liam's gone. He was my one way to find the entrance to purgatory. If I don't find it in the next four days, I'll die!" She ran a hand over her face. "This cannot get any worse."

"We can still find purgatory." Fred pointed at Sam. "Joe gave Sam The Book, and there were maps of this place inside. It would show us how to get to where we need to go, right?"

Sam pulled The Book out and flipped through the pages to find the maps of the Land of the Dead.

"Even if it does show where purgatory is, what about our friends? We can't just leave them!" Kairi looked around again, as if their friends would suddenly pop out.

"We will find them." Fred put his hands on Kairi's shoulders to settle her. "But it's more important that we get you to purgatory first. Besides, we all know that's the end goal, right? So they'll probably be heading in that direction anyway."

"I guess so..." Kairi sighed. "I just wish we didn't get separated in the first place. It's not safe here and it's almost night time."

"It will be okay, princess. I promise." Fred gave her a large grin. "You know our friends are tough. They'll get through this and we'll be back together before you know it."


Cade had only been alone for a minute when she realized her mistake. She shouldn't have stormed off like that. Black fog now surrounded her on all sides and she had no idea how to get back. Something told her you didn't want to be lost in the underworld.

She mentally smacked herself. "How could you be so stupid?" She muttered.

At least she was away from Sam. Cade had no desire to be around him right now, or ever again. The awareness of what she had just done hit her. She was a single woman now. Cade wanted to enjoy that fact, she hadn't been single in nearly eight years, but she only felt sorrow. Eight years of a relationship down the drain, and what did she have to show for it? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Maybe it was a mistake to date Sam in the first place. But Cade loved him, and she couldn't help the way her heart ached at the mere thought of him right now. Breaking up with him was the right thing to do. It had to be. She couldn't take any more of their relationship. It had become too much like a parasocial interaction for her to be happy with it anymore.

She heard the sound of footsteps behind her and jolt of terror went through her. She spun on her heel and blindly struck out with her fist at whatever was behind her, hoping it wasn't another demon.

"Whoa, whoa! Easy there, dearie. It's just me." Liam held up his hands and paced over to her.

Cade sighed, relaxed her shoulders, and offered Liam an apologetic smile. "Sorry, this place makes you jumpier than a roo."

"No worries." Liam gave her an easy grin. "I've been here long enough to know this place is anything but friendly."

"I hate to sound rude, but why are you here?" Cade tilted her head. She expected Kairi to come running after her, crying over what Cade did to Sam and begging her to take him back. Liam was an unexpected, but somewhat pleasant, surprise.

"You seemed like you could use a friend. And it wasn't the best idea to go running off into the Land of the Dead alone." Liam looked over his shoulder. "I doubt we'll be able to find your mates for quite some time now."

Cade cursed. "You were Kairi's one way to find purgatory. You shouldn't have come after me."

"We'll find them soon enough. But it will have to wait until tomorrow I'm afraid. It's too close to night time to start a search."

Cade groaned and sat down on the ground with a heavy thunk. She buried her face in her hands. "This is all my fault."

"Don't talk like that." Liam sat down next to her. "You had every right to walk away like that."

"I just couldn't be around him. I feel like our entire relationship has been a joke. We should have been married by now. We should have kids by now. Sam knows how badly I want to have a family, and yet he still won't give it to me. I want to be glad that it's over, but I'm not." Cade closed her eyes and forced the tears not to fall.

"It takes time to get over a relationship. Try not focusing on it for a while."

Liam put his arm around Cade's shoulder, causing her to stiffen. A mix of emotions swirled inside her. She made herself relax. It's not a romantic gesture, she thought to herself. It's just a friendly, comforting one. No man would crack onto a girl so quickly after a break-up.

She decided it was best to change the subject. Liam was right, not focusing on her love life would help. "So, Liam. Exactly how long have you been here?"

"Oh about seventy years I think." He said it so casually, as if it was normal to be trapped in the underworld for that long and not look a day over thirty-five.

"What?" Cade leaned back with round eyes. "How is that even possible? Are you dead?"

"I'm really sure myself to be honest." Liam had a far-off haze in his eyes. He pulled his arm back. "I don't think I'm dead, but I wouldn't call myself alive either."

"How did you get here?" Cade shifted so that she could get a better view of Liam. Her inner scientist eager to learn more about him. At least, she hoped it was her inner scientist and not some other part of her.

"I was a captain on the HMAS Dampier during World War II," Liam answered. "We were travelling to the states to deliver some supplies and the seas turned stormy. I was making sure my crew was safe when I got knocked overboard. The next thing I know, I'm waking up here, confused and scared as hell."

"You're a captain?" Cade analyzed Liam. That would explain his outfit. Now that Cade knew he was a captain, she could see that it was definitely a ship captain's uniform. "That's why you're so detailed about everything. Why didn't you say something earlier?"

"You never asked."

Cade was tempted to point out that she and the other girls had tried several times to learn who Liam was, but he had never answered. Cade resolved to let it go and instead chose to question Liam some more. After all, this would help her get over Sam. Right?


"You know," Sydney began.

"We never would have gotten separated from the others if I didn't show up?" Joe finished, giving her a pointed look.

They were sitting side by side surrounded by the dark fog. They had tried calling out to their friends several times, but to no avail. Night had arrived quickly and they had no choice but to give it a rest and wait until the next day to look for everyone else.

"I was going to say, I think this is the first time we've been alone together and you haven't tried taking advantage of it." Sydney rolled her eyes.

"Oh." Joe's cheeks reddened and he look down. "I mean, if you want to, we can-"

"No," Sydney cut him off. "I was just making an observation. We are not having sex in the middle of the underworld. Something tells me that wouldn't be a good idea."

"You sure?" Joe teased, his usual flirtatious gleam in his eyes. "We can't travel until tomorrow so we have plenty of time to kill."

"I'm positive." Sydney laughed. "This isn't going to be like our old Netflix nights where I try to watch a show and all you want to do is cuddle." She put air quotes around cuddle. "I never finished Orange is the New Black thanks to you."

Joe winked at her. "I miss our Netflix nights." He brushed her hair back and let his hand linger on her cheek. His thumb slowly traced her jawline. "I used to count how long it would take before you finally stopped watching TV and did what we both know Netflix nights were really for."

Sydney scoffed. "Oh yeah? What was my record?"

"Well there were a few times you never even got the chance to press play." Joe dropped his hand and smiled like it was a great accomplishment of his. "But you only managed to hold out for an entire episode once."

"And you're proud of this I assume?"

"Very." Joe chuckled. "We haven't had a Netflix night in years. What happened to us?"

"We became adults." Sydney sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. "We got married, started having kids." She paused as a thought came to her. "Speaking of which, where are our kids?"

"They're at my mom's. What? You think I'd leave them alone by themselves?" Joe fake pouted.

"It wouldn't be the first time."

"It only happened once!" Joe quickly defended himself. "And Jade was fine. She was too young to even remember that happening. Every parent makes mistakes."

"Malum non esse," Sydney mumbled with a small smile.

"Ego operor meus optimus," Joe swiftly responded.

Sydney gave him a look of surprise. "I'm impressed. I didn't realize you had been practicing your Latin so much. Maybe now time will obey you a little better."

Joe grinned and gave her a quick kiss. "Speciosae sicut felis es."

Sydney had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. "I'm as beautiful as a cat?"

Joe rubbed the back of his neck. "I meant to say flower."

Sydney shook her head and smiled. She opened her mouth to respond, but before she could get any words out, a familiar, eerie high-pitched screech filled the air.

Joe and Sydney were on their feet in a flash. A bright green ball lit up in Joe's hand. He protectively stood in front of Sydney. "Don't worry. I'll just stop it like I did last time."

Several pairs of glowing yellow eyes peered out at them from the smoke and more shrieks filled the air.

"Sure about that? I think it brought some friends with it this time."

"Um..." The light in Joe's hand dimmed. "Maybe we should..." He trailed off, not knowing what to do. He looked to his wife for help.

Sydney snatched Joe's hand in hers and stared at him head-on. "Whatever happens, do not let go."

Joe never had a chance to respond. She took off like a rocket, dragging Joe along with her. It took a second before Joe could gain his balance and stop stumbling. The sound of hundreds of feet chasing after them urged them on and made them run faster through the terrain.

The fog was darker than usual, making it impossible to see farther than three feet. They turned corners and slipped through cracks, but the sound of the demons coming after them remained. Several times they nearly crashed into an unforeseen wall. Joe tried to shoot them with time magic, but all he could do was blindly fire into the smoke behind them.

"Sydney, I don't know how much longer I can run like this," Joe panted.

"You want to stop?" Another screech filled the air as if to emphasize her point.

Joe winced and sprinted on. "No, but running clearly isn't working. How long before we end up in a dead end? We need a new plan."

"I can see that." Sydney yanked Joe to the right as they came upon another wall. "But unfortunately, we don't have a lot of options right now."

Joe bit his lip, knowing she was right. Still, there had to be at least one other option. He had no doubt the demons would catch up to them eventually if they kept going like this. "What if we-"

Sydney skidded to a stop, and Joe nearly fell on his face. His arms waved as he regained his balance. He stared at her, bewildered. "Why did you just stop like that?"

"I think I found our new plan." Sydney pointed straight ahead. Joe's eyes followed her finger and noticed that they had reached a dead end. A dead end with a portal in it.

"You think that's purgatory?" Joe took a moment to catch his breath and studied the floating oval before them. It was big enough for the two of them to walk through side by side. Dark blue smoke swirled round and round, making it look more like a tunnel than a flat portal. It seemed to be begging them to jump in.

"Doubtful. Liam said purgatory would take days to find. It must be the entrance to another realm." Sydney glanced over her shoulder where the cacophony of their chasers grew closer. "We don't have much of a choice."

"Can demons go through portals?" Joe had an uneasy feeling about this. The glowing oval reminded him too much of when Isis had shown him his possible futures.

"We're about to find out." Sydney laced her fingers through his. "Ready?"

Joe nodded and took a deep breath. Together, they counted down to three and leaped into the magical doorway.

And found themselves drowning underwater.