A/N: Hey readers! Here's chapter nine! Well, I don't have much to say so... enjoy!

Willa, Philby, and Finn exited the cast members only section, and Willa closed the gate behind her. Finn was still crying hysterically and Philby was trying to comfort him, so Willa took out her phone and called Wanda. After a few rings, Wanda picked up the phone.

"Hello?" she said. Willa was fighting back tears.

"They got Amanda." she said. Willa didn't need to say anymore.

"I'll be there in a few minutes" said Wanda. Willa closed the phone, and began to cry. The keepers were disappearing one by one, and who knew if soon they would all be captured, and the overtakers would win. A few minutes later, Wanda's van pulled up in front of the Animal Kingdom. They opened the doors and climbed in.

"Where's Charlene?" asked Wanda.

"Don't worry about her." said Finn. "Just go home. She's no longer a keeper." They all remained silent, until Willa broke the silence.

"Come on Finn. We're all mad at her, and what she did was wrong, but we can't just leave her stranded! Don't you think you're taking just a little bit too far?"

"No!" said Finn. "If it wasn't for her, Amanda would still be here."

"That's not all that true dude." said Philby. "Even if Charlene hadn't ticked off Amanda, she would have heard Jess calling her anyway! There was nothing we could do to stop that."

"Well if Charlene hadn't aggravated her" said Finn, "Then Amanda wouldn't have been so riled up and we might have been able to convince her not to walk through that secret door. It was so obvious that something was up. I tried to stop her, but I was too late." Suddenly, Charlene came running towards the car.

"Speak of the devil" said Finn. Charlene started banging on the windows.

"Come on guys let me in!" she screamed. Willa opened the door and Charlene climbed in next to her.

"Guys I'm really sorry." she said. "I don't know what I was thinking." Willa put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay." she said. "You did it, and it's over, but now we need to bury the hatchet and work together to find Maybeck, Jess, and Amanda. We're a team. We always have been, and we always will be." She emphasized the last words and looked at Finn directly. The two girls hugged.

"Philby?" said Charlene.

"Willa's right" he said. "You did what you did, but we have to put it behind us and find the others. They're family. You're okay and that's all that matters." He leaned over Willa and hugged Charlene.

"Finn?" she said. Willa and Philby looked at him. Finn looked away and said nothing. Wanda drove away, and they were all silent the whole way home.

That night, the kids and Wanda sat at the dinner table eating spaghetti. Willa and Philby had been trying to get Finn to forgive Charlene ever since they had gotten home. It had been five hours and they still had not succeeded.

"So Charlene…" said Willa. "How do you think we should try and find Amanda?" Finn did not look at Willa, or Charlene. He didn't even look up.

"I don't know" Charlene said. "But I'm going to find her, and Jess and Maybeck if it's the last thing I do." They all looked at Finn, but he didn't say a thing. Then, Philby tried.

"We know. And we know you're really sorry for what happened."

"Ya I am" she replied. Again, everyone looked at Finn. He got up out of his chair and began to stomp up the stairs. Willa stood up and shouted in a firm tone. She had had enough of the silence.

"FINN WHITMAN!" she yelled. "YOU GET DOWNHERE RIGHT NOW AND YOU TALK TO CHARLENE! YOU ARE GOING TO BURY THE HATCHET RIGHT NOW! DO YOU HEAR ME?" They all stood there with their jaws on the floor, even Finn. This was the first time that Willa had actually taken a stand. A few seconds later, she had calmed down. She spoke again, in a calm tone.

"Don't you get it? We can't function if we work against each other. We're meant to be a team, and that's what we have to be." Finn came walking down the stairs, and Charlene stood in front of him.

"Well?" said Willa.

"I'm sorry Finn." Charlene said. "I really am. I don't know what I was thinking I just…" Finn put his hand up to stop her.

"Don't worry about it." he said. "Like Philby said earlier. You're safe. That's all that's important." Charlene hugged him, and began to cry tears of joy. Willa smiled a smile of satisfaction, and Finn and Charlene broke apart.

"Well" said Philby. "Let's come up with a plan." They sat down on the couch, and Wanda cleared the table.

"At this point, it's pointless to try and find any characters for advice." said Finn. "Whenever we do, we end up getting there once they're already captured." They all nodded.

"We should just look in the places where the overtakers have hidden people before." said Charlene. "Hmm, but where do we start?" They sat and thought for a moment. "How about the dungeons underneath Pirates of the Caribbean?" They nodded.

"That seems like a good place to start." said Philby. "And if we don't find anyone there?"

"We can cross that bridge when we come to it." said Finn. "We'll head for the Magic Kingdom tomorrow morning. Is there anything else we need to talk about?" The room was silent for a moment, until Willa said

"Actually, there is something I wanted to discuss with you guys."

"Well, out with it. What's on your mind?" said Philby.

"Jess" said Willa. All of their faces sunk. Obviously, they had been thinking about it too.

"Amanda said that something had happened to her, but an overtaker grabbed her before she could say what. You don't think she's… You don't think she's dead do you?"

"I don't know." said Finn. "I guess we'll just have to find out."

That night the keepers were lying down in their sleeping bags in Wanda's den. Willa was lying next to Charlene. She couldn't sleep. The thoughts about Jess were eating her up inside. She decided that she needed to talk about it. She nudged Charlene.

"Hey Charlene." she whispered. "Are you awake?" Charlene turned around in her sleeping bag.

"Ya." she said. "I can't sleep."

"Neither can I. I'm too worried about Jess."

"Me too."

"I just don't know what happened to her, but judging by Amanda's scream, it's not something good. You don't actually think she could be dead do you?"

"Well, I hate to think about it, but it is possible. That's why I'm so worried."

"I don't know what I would do if she was dead. We haven't faced death among our ranks yet, well except for Wayne, but he wasn't actually dead."

"I know. I don't know if my heart would be able to take it. Well, good night"

"Night." In a few minutes, Willa drifted off to sleep, and dreamt about a happier time.

A/N: Well, what did you think? I left you with a little bit of a cliffhanger there didn't I? Well, remember to leave me your questions, reactions, and your answers to this chapter's opinion questions in a review. This week's opinion questions are: Do you think that Charlene deserved to be forgiven? Do you agree with Willa's statement that the keepers can only function as a team? Do you think the keepers should go to Pirates of the Carribbean? Why or why not? Chapter 10 coming soon. Thanks for sticking with me this long guys. Hope you're enjoying it just as much as the real books. Bye!- Kingdomkeepers365