A dull pounding sensation in the back of his head was the first thing Sam noticed as he slowly came round. His hand touched something cold and hard. He groaned lightly, placing a hand against his head as he pushed himself into a sitting position.
"Conri?" Sam called, glancing at his surroundings for any sign of the wolf.
There was no reply and Sam soon realised he was alone. The back wall was damp and made of stone. Keeping him trapped in the cage was a metal door with bars across it. Little space was offered between each bar, but Sam was just able to glance down the hallway. Cages were lined up in a neat row. Each one seemed to hold either a human or a halfblood.
Pained groans echoed around the prison and a girl whimpered softly. Sam turned his head. In the cage next to his, a female sat in the corner. They were separated only by a barred wall.
"Hello," said Sam, walking over so he was closer.
The girl lifted her head. She glared at him, shaking her head.
"I.. I'm Sam," he continued, slightly taken aback by her sudden hand movements. "Where are.."
Suddenly the girl shot up, gesturing to the corner of Sam's cage. "Be quiet," she hissed. "Sit in the corner and hope you aren't chosen."
"Chosen?" asked Sam as he did as she said. "Chosen for what?"
The girl had gone back to her corner and resumed her silence. She shook her head, motioning for him to be quiet. Dark blue eyes drifted back to the floor, trying not to be noticed.
Keys jingled in the lock. A faint click could be heard as the door was pulled outwards.
Two guards stood outside. One of them grabbed Sam's upper arm, roughly yanking him up onto his feet. He dragged Sam out of the cage.
"Where are you taking me?"
"Shut it." The one on his right growled.
He was led down the hallway. A large, wooden door stood at the end of the passage.
"The boss wants to see you," jeered the other guard. "He's got a little gift for you."
Raising a large hand, he tapped three times on the door. It swung open almost like it had been done on command.
The room was large and rounded, perhaps too spacious for the minimal objects in it. Darkness encased the room, except for the faint glow of a lamp on a small, square table. There was a figure standing in the shadows, holding a laptop. A TV covered every inch of one wall. There was a wooden chair facing it.
Sam found himself being shoved into the chair. His hands and feet were chained to prevent him from escaping. They pushed his head back, clipping a metallic band around his neck, keeping his head in place. A type of earpiece was placed in both his ears.
The guards tightened the chains once more before they hastily exited.
The figure turned around. "Hello Sam."
The automatic doors to the Police Station opened and Penny stepped through. Malcolm and Rose were in the control room. They were standing by a large, interactive screen.
The doors whirred quietly as they shut behind Penny. At the unexpected sound, Rose quickly turned around. She relaxed when she saw the blonde firefighter.
"Ah, Penny," smiled Rose. "What can we do for you?"
"There's a big emergency. Sarah, Sam and Conri are all missing!" She stepped towards the screen and looked up at it. There were several different pictures of halfbloods and humans.
Malcolm frowned. "More people are missing?" he sighed. "That's not good.."
"More people?"
Malcolm gestured to the screen. "There have been halfbloods and people randomly going missing for weeks now. We've been on this case for ages but we're no closer to cracking it than we were when it started."
Rose nodded. "Whoever's doing this is, unfortunately, good at covering their tracks."
"Tracks.." The words played over in Penny's head. She remembered what Conri had said at the Mountain Rescue Centre.
"I can easily track down Sarah and her kidnapper,"
Penny looked at the pair. "Sam and Conri were on Mercury in the mountains. Maybe there are still some tracks there that you could follow?"
Pondering this in her head for a minute, Rose nodded. "Indeed there might be. What side of the mountains were they on?"
"North." said Penny.
"Alright. Malcolm, let's get going,"
"Rodger that!"
Before she left the police station, Rose turned back to face Penny. "I'd suggest you head back to the fire station. We'll find them."
A few minutes later, Malclom and Rose were in the off road, 4x4. Rose glanced out of the passenger window, keeping an eye out for any sign of the missing party. The country roads heading up to the mountains were completely empty.
"At least everything's quiet in PontyPandy." said Malcolm.
Rose chuckled slightly as she nodded in agreement. "It would seem that Norman Price is finally staying out of trouble. I just hope it lasts until this is over."
"Hmm, I wouldn't want to be rescuing him right now, especially with Sam missing as well."
The ground became bumpy and uneven as the vehicle entered the mountains. Malcolm kept it heading North. Rose could see some tyre tracks straight in front of them.
"Tracks, straight ahead."
Malcolm bought the vehicle to a stop. They both climbed out. He knelt to the ground. "These are definitely from Mercury," he confirmed. Malcolm looked around. "But, er, where is Mercury?"
"It can't be far from here. We'll search on foot." Rose decided this would be the best option because they'd be able to see a lot more of their surroundings.
They walked alongside the tracks. "You don't think all these missing people are connected in some way?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we've got halfbloods and humans missing and now PontyPandy's Lead Fireman, maybe there's someone or even a group doing all this."
"It's highly likely. One person couldn't kidnap and keep hidden a large amount of people," she thought for a moment. "Hm, they'd have to have quite a lot of people working for them."
"Not to mention that they'd also need somewhere to keep everyone in. Somewhere hidden and secretive, like the mountains I guess."
"You two are good, I'll give you that. Unfortunately I can't allow you to go any further."
A female stood ahead of them, blocking their way. Blonde hair fell past her petite shoulders in thick, wavy curls, reaching mid-way past her back. Her eyes, a bright, forest shade of green, were narrowed slightly. She grinned, running a hand along the side of her staff, though it didn't quite meet her eyes.
"Who are you?" Malcolm asked. "And why won't you let us past?"
"Now is not the right time for you to know what's happening I'm afraid," she sighed. "However, I can tell you that my name is Adira and your friends are okay."
"You've seen them? Where?" Malcolm started to step towards her. Rose held up her hand to stop him.
She faced Adira, who continued to grin at her like all this was just a normal coincidence. "How do we know we can trust you?"
"Simple. I know a lot more than you two," Adira walked towards them. Her arms are covered by a dark red leather jacket. "Come," she called as she seemed to glide effortlessly past them. Confused, she turned around upon realising they weren't following. "Don't you two want the answers I can provide?"
Malcolm looked at Rose, who nodded. "Just don't try anything."
"Why would I? Either way I've got nothing to lose."
The three of them reached the vehicle. Adira lifted an accusing finger at it. "What is that death-trap on wheels?"
Malcolm gave her a bewildered look. "It's our police 4x4, to get to places?"
"You mean you actually trust that thing not to kill you?"
He chuckled slightly. "It's the drivers who are dangerous, not cars or any other vehicle," Malcolm pulled the door open for her.
Adira shook her head. "Yeah, my life is too precious to risk with that," she laughed, as if she'd told a joke only she could understand. "Besides, I have a quicker way."
Rose came round to them. "What's going on?"
"Your guess is as good as mine." shrugged Malcolm.
He turned his head just in time to see Adira slam her staff into the rocky ground. "What are you doing?!" He shouted, running towards her.
Adira paid him no attention, continuing with what she was doing. Smoke trailed out of the staff and she pointed it at them. It engulfed all three of them. The strangest sensation filled Malcolm's head: it felt like he was being pushed through a tunnel, with no choice or any power to stop himself as he tumbled through the vortex. He glanced over at Rose, who didn't seem to know how to stop herself falling either. Malcolm looked at Adira. The woman, or what ever she was, had somehow managed to remain standing. One foot was lazily slung over the other; she leant slightly on the staff. She noticed him staring.
"Your fear of this holds you back," she paused, gesturing aimlessly to them. "That's why you have no control."
"In our defence you didn't exactly give us a warning." Malcolm called to her.
"True, but then you would have never let me do this," Adira smiled. "Besides, stop letting fear control you and then you'll enjoy this a lot more."
"Who could possibly enjoy this?"
Lifting up her arms, Adira sighed quietly. "Me. It's a quick and easy way to travel," she glanced down. "Oh look. We're here."
"Where's here?"
"Hold onto your hats, Malcolm and Rose." Adira snapped her fingers. The smoke slowly disappeared, revealing where they had been bought.
Malcolm gasped lightly, staring around at the fire station lounge. "How did you do that? Why did you bring us here?"
"Magic," Adira leant against her staff. "Although that wasn't the easiest teleportation I've ever done. There were a couple of times I thought the vortex was going to cave in on itself."
"What do you mean?"
"There's some sort of weight limit for whenever someone teleports anywhere, it's strange but I don't make the rules. If the limit comes close, or exceeds it, then everything will crash and we'd have been stuck in limbo."
"Nice." muttered Malcolm sarcastically.
"Oh! And I bought you here because I had a feeling they'd like to know as well." She gestured to Ellie and Penny, standing in the doorway.
Rose looked at Adira. "How did you know our names? We never told you them."
"I.." she sighed. "Wow this just got a whole lot more complicated."
"What's going on?" Penny stepped forward, deciding to no longer remain silent. "And who's she?"
"Adira, and I can either help you or I can be your worst nightmare,"
"Help us how?" asked Ellie.
"By giving you answers only I can provide," Shifting the staff sideways, she glanced at a burn mark on the floor. "Well that's unfortunate. I could fix it, of course I can, but I can't be bothered."
"Adira," said Malcolm, facing the woman. "Stop avoiding the questions. Who are you, what's going on and what's complicated?"
"Oh fine. But are you sure you can handle this?"
"Yes." All of them chorused.
"Well firstly, my name's still Adira," she paused for dramatic effect before continuing. "I can do magic, yes I'm amazing."
Malcolm opened his mouth to tell her to stop fooling around but she beat him to it.
"Oh and I'm also PontyPandy's Guardian Angel," Adira grinned, flicking her hand downwards. "It's a fun job, making sure you lot don't kill yourselves before you're actually meant to."
A hand came to a rest on her chin. Malcolm couldn't tell if she was mocking them as she muttered: "Have I forgotten anything important?"
"Ah yes. No one here is supposed to know that I exist."