Hey guys...

I'm really sorry for the slow update, but school, activities, and life in general just, well, caught up with me.

I really don't have a great excuse.

Just to let you know, the chapter will now be a lot slower, just because.

I'm really sorry.

And on that happy note, here's chapter 8!

Chapter 8: The Escape Flaw

POV Ember

We slept. We woke. The guards escorted us out of The Room. They were taking us to hang us again, like they always do before torture. We knew what to do.

I was super nervous. They could kill us if this didn't work. But we had to try. I signaled Faybelle and Jaelyn. Our plan was about to begin.

First, we all wrangled free of the guards. They yelled for back up as me and Jaelyn ran for our lives into the closest door. I glanced back long enough to see Faybelle swinging on the chains, laughing like she never had before. Perfect.

Then, it was up to me and Jaelyn. We stepped out of the door and ran. We got lucky. Everyone was focused on Faybelle. We ran through the black door, leaving it open. We groped through darkness, trying to find the exit. I heard a scream. "Jaelyn? Are you ok?" I called. No answer. "Jaelyn?" A thunk. "JAELYN!" I was frantic now. I ran back out the door, trying to find her. What I saw was worse.

Faybelle was swinging on the chain. One of the Neverseen jumped up and grabbed her chain. She slipped, and started to fall into the pit below. I screamed, forgetting Jaelyn and the Neverseen. I ran towards Faybelle, who was reaching the edge of the pit. If she fell farther than that, I would never catch her. She reached for the edge, her arms stretched out.

She missed it.

I screamed again, knowing that this was the last time I would see her face. She seemed to fall in slow motion, her features twisted in fear and pain. I wished for anything, anything, to make her stay.

A spark.

A spark in her eye.

She reached out again and seemed to fly upward. She grabbed the edge. I yelled and squealed with relief. I thought it was over. It wasn't.

She was climbing out when a cloaked figure pushed her back. She fell again, this time hitting her head on a rock. I ran forward, ignoring the shouts around me. She fell limp. I leaped forward, and grabbed her weak hand. I pulled her up and ran back through the black door.

I screamed for Jaelyn, trying to find a hand. I did. But it wasn't Jaelyn's. It was bigger, and rougher, and it wasn't weak and fragile like Faybelle's. I screamed again.

The hand grabbed mine and pulled me out the door and back into the dark room.

The Neverseen figure let go of my hand, and grabbed Faybelle off my shoulder. He already had Jaelyn over his own.

He dumped them on the ground. I cried out as they hit the floor with a thump.

The Neverseen hooked me up to a set of cuffs against the wall. I said nothing.

He left and came back, with a small vial on his hand. It appeared empty.

It was NOT.

He shoved it under my nose, and a bright orange smoke filled the air.

The Neverseen stepped back. I could feel the orange stuff filling my nostrils.

Soon it clouded my head. I glanced at Faybelle and Jaelyn, and the image of them slowly seeped away.

I retracted into my head.

An image of my parents popped up. It slowly seeped away.

Every memory seeped away. Soon I was standing in a world of white. I called out, but it made no noise.

What was my name? Who was I?

Finally, one last image appeared. It was a girl's face. She had brown hair, and pale blue eyes with silver flecks in them. Did I know her?

One last thought came.

Oh! It was Aulie!

The image was starting to fade. I heard one last thing before it was gone.

A shy, silvery voice.

"Please don't forget me."

Then nothing.

Wait.

She asked me not to forget her.

Why would I forget anybody? Why would I just let myself go blank?

I called one last time. I screamed.

"WAIT!" I screamed. This time I heard it.

Nothing.

Everything.

Everything came rushing back.

I was me! I was Ember!

I reappeared in the real world, and the Neverseen was gone.

My vision was blurry, but someone unhooked me and dragged me out the door.

I blinked, surprised at how bright it was. I looked at the figure still holding my hand. He had blonde messy hair and...oh.

Keefe.

He smiled, letting my hand go. He had Jaelyn over his shoulder, unconscious, and Faybelle, who was also unconscious.

"They tricked you."

I didn't know what that meant, but I didn't need to. I was safe.

He pulled out a leaping crystal and grabbed my hand again. We leaped away.

We appeared in a city. I looked up at him, waiting for him to talk to me, to acknowledge me, even. But he let go of my hand and kept walking. I ran to catch up with him. We walked side by side, not speaking for a good hour. We twisted and turned around corners and streets, and I hoped he knew where he was going. Finally, he looked down at me. "You know, the Neverseen have a leaping crystal here." I gaped at him. He finally spoke, and he wanted to talk about THAT? He continued. "They sent me to find you. Alden and Della, I mean. I knew you had to be in there. We're in Paris, by the way."

It took a minute for the words to sink in. I found many things wrong with this sentence. "What about my parents? Why would they send you? Why not get me themselves? Why haven't you rescued us before this?" Keefe frowned. "Things have been...complicated, at home." He looked down at me. "You're ok, right?" I ignored this. "What do you mean, 'things have been complicated at home'? So complicated my parents can't come get me?" I pestered him. He sighed, his frown deepening. "We'll talk about that later, ok? We've got bigger problems."

"No."

"No, what?"

I took a deep breath. "Look. Me, my sister, and my best friend have just been kidnapped by the Neverseen, tortured, and saved. Meanwhile, things are so drastic at home that our parents sent you to do their dirty work, and both Faybelle and Jaelyn could stop breathing any second! I want to know what's going on! I DESERVE to to know what's going on!"

I was breathing heavily by now, steamed up. "You're right," Keefe said. "You do deserve to know. So, what do you want to know? You get one question, one answer."

"Well, for starters, where are my parents? Why aren't they here?" Keefe shook his head.

"Not that. Anything but that. Ask something else." I wanted to protest, but I knew that I wasn't going to get anywhere.

"Ok. Um...well, why did the Neverseen kidnap us?" Keefe sighed again. "We don't know."

A coy smile crept onto his face. "Question time over." I gaped at him, then realized he had tricked me.

Anger coursed through my veins. He took a step back. He was probably feeling my anger, but I didn't care.

(Neverseen spoilers here)

"YOU CAN'T DO THAT! YOU CAN'T LAUGH AND SMILE LIKE THIS IS ALL A GAME! YOU CAN'T BE THE GREAT KEEFE SENCEN, STEPPING IN TO MAKE EVERYTHING BETTER! NOPE, YOU HAVE TO WORK HARD FOR LIFE LIKE EVERYONE ELSE IN THE WORLD! THIS ISN'T SAVING YOUR MOM, HUH? JUST SWOOPING IN SWOOPING OUT! AFTER BETRAYING EVERYONE, JUST GOING BACK TO THE NORMAL WAYS!"

He looked taken aback. He opened his mouth, but the voice that came out wasn't his. It was a woman's. Boy, people sure do make a ruckus around here. Probably tourists.

I frowned at him, wondering why he would say that. He was looking at me expectantly. Suddenly, there were voices. Lots of voices.

They crashed through my head at the same time, making it impossible to hear the words they were forming. I held my head and fell to my knees from the pain. I heard someone screaming. Everything got fuzzy, and I felt someone pick me up and carry me to a dark place. Then silence.

Then a whistle.

There was a crack, and a blurry white figure appeared. I blacked out.

Can you guys guess what the white thing is? If you can, leave a comment! I will announce the closest guess on the next chapter.