Chapter Thirty Two

*Keothi*
“Keo! Wake up! We need to get out of here, kiddo.”
I tried to open my eyes but they were so heavy. It was hard to force them open.
“Drake?” I gargled out. I needed to feed to heal myself but I wasn’t able to try to do it myself. I could barely move.
“I don’t know if I can carry both of you. You 2 are not little kids anymore.” Drake grumbled.
I felt him pick me up and put me over his shoulder. Then he bent down to grab Caleb as well. We definitely weren’t going to get anywhere quickly this way but if I could barely move, I was pretty sure that Caleb was in no condition to move at all. I tried opening my eyes again but they wouldn’t open up. I began losing consciousness again.
“It’s ok kiddo, I got you both.” I heard Drake say.
“Ari…” I breathed.
Darkness.
The smell of smoke was coming into the room. I didn’t know what was going on at first but as I got my bearings I quickly recognized the danger. Fire was everywhere. People were running. People were screaming. They were on fire and they were still running. Still screaming. I looked at our little town in horror as I saw people I loved burning alive. Ari. I ran to my sister’s room hoping to find her. But she wasn’t there. Panic set in. Where are you Ari? I ran outside hoping to find her. I couldn’t see her. My heart started pounding and I started running around searching for my sister. As I turned the corner I got knocked to the ground. The air whooshing out of my body. As I gasped for air, a small whine came from above me. I looked up, Ivan! “Ivan! Where is Ari? I can’t find her.” I practically screamed in fear, thinking the worst. I got up and ran, still searching for Ari. I don’t know if Ivan followed me or not, but I had to find Ari. As I rounded another corner I looked ahead of me. Frozen in place for a second. Ari was there and a man was standing above her, a sword above his head, ready to slash down at her. “ARI!” I screamed running toward her.
“ARI!!!” I screamed, jolting awake.
“Easy, Keo! Breathe!” A voice next to me said.
I was breathing heavily and trying to figure out where I was. It wasn’t familiar. I got up and fell to the floor. Unable to hold my body upright I lifted my head searching.
“Keo! Wake up! I’m sorry. Ariya isn’t here. She stayed back there. Breathe Keo.”
I looked up at the voice, it was Drake. He looked at me concerned.
“Where is she?!” I growled at him.
“She’s still at the place she works for. Keo, calm down. You’re ok. Caleb is ok.” Drake said softly.
“Ari isn’t! She’s still back there! We have to go back! We have to get her!” I shouted, beginning to panic, I started looking around frantically.
“We will, Keo. But we have to follow her plan. Look at me, Keo. Where are you right now? Slow down, take in your surroundings.”
I started to slow down, thinking of what Drake was telling me. He’d had to do this many times when I was younger. When Ari and I were first separated. I couldn’t bear it at first. It took forever to calm me down. But now, it usually happens a lot quicker for me to calm down. I looked around me. We were in a house. I had no idea where we were. We’d been searching for Ariya, Caleb and Ivan for a few years now. So we moved around a lot.
“We’re in a house. That’s all I know.” I said.
“Take a breath, Keo. What do you smell?”
I did as instructed. I smelt an all too familiar smell. “Ariya. I can smell her. And Caleb.”
“That’s right, Keo. Caleb is here. But Ariya had found this place a while back. Her and Caleb made it a safe house for when we finally found her. She’s been waiting for us. She’s been planning all of this for a while now. Just breathe.”
I started calming down, taking in the moment. I needed to get to Ariya. But I was remembering what happened. She had told me I wasn’t getting a choice this time either when it came to staying with her. It didn’t register at first because she was hugging me and I was happy to just have her back in my life. I missed having my sister in my life. I needed to know she was safe. I was so happy at first and then she shoved me out of a door and promptly shut it in my face. I’ll get back at her somehow.
“You ok?” Drake asked me.
I shook my head, “No, but I will be. As soon as we get her back…and Ivan. We need him back too.”
“About that…” Drake trailed off.
I glared at him, “We’re getting her back right?!”
“Eventually, yes. But right now we’re following her plan. We have a lot to go over. But first we need to know what happened to you both in there and how the hell did you get caught?” Drake said.
“What do you mean eventually?!” I shouted enraged. I could feel my fangs pushing their way out and I knew my eyes were changing color.
“Easy, Keo. Ariya has a plan and she asked for us to abide by it.”
“The hell with her plan! Do you even realize what’s going to happen while she’s in there?! They know she’s a Navi! They know she turned! They’re going to torture her Drake! We can’t leave her there! And as soon as Ivan gets his memories back, they’re going to take him captive as well!” I shouted.
Drake looked at the ground, “I know.”
“She knows what she’s doing, Keo. She’s not stupid. How about you listen to everything we planned out before you start coming to conclusions. None of us liked this plan. But it’s the hand we were dealt.” Caleb said behind me.
I looked at the ground, “I know she’s not stupid, but this plan sucks. I don’t even know any of it. But I know they’re going to torture her. She’s been through enough. Can’t we just get her out of there?”
“No. Not yet. Ivan needs his memories. Ariya needs time. Remember how long it took for you to get control after you turned?” Drake pointed out.
I flinched, “She’s going to suffer though. That’s only the best case scenario. They could kill her.”
We stayed in silence for a while. Everyone knew what I said was true.
“There’s something else going on though,” Caleb said, breaking the silence.
“What do you mean?” I asked, looking at Caleb confused.
“Ariya and I argued about the plan for hours. We were trying to come up with every contingency and every road block and obstacle that we thought could possibly happen. There was only one reason that we would end up at Plan B. Plan A was all the best case scenarios. There’s so many twists to the plan but Plan B was specifically in case ‘Boss’ had something more.” Caleb explained.
“Who is ‘Boss’? And what is this something more?” I asked, confused.
“‘Boss’ is what her boss is called. I don’t know if that’s his real name or if anyone even knows his real name. That’s the only thing Ariya ever called him. As for something more, that was the only reason we would go with Plan B. Ariya was pretty positive that it would lead to that. That there was something that Boss knew or had that she didn’t know about. The only other reason we would go to Plan B is if something was wrong with Ivan. But the only way we can know for sure is if we get in contact with her.”
“How would she know if something was wrong with Ivan? She doesn’t even remember who Ivan is.” I told Caleb.
“She does. Well her unconscious mind knows. She doesn’t actively know, not yet at least. But she knows. She was the one that told us that she thought she knew who Ivan was. We didn’t confirm it before she left though. There were too many other things to take care of.”
“So how can we get in contact with her?” I asked.
“Remember that thing that you couldn’t ever figure out?” Drake smirked, slyly.
I gasped, “Seriously? Can she do it?”
“Not completely. We only got a couple test runs. But I honestly think it will work better between you and her.” Drake said.
I thought about it for a minute and it was like a light bulb clicked on in my head, “I know how we can make the torture easier to handle! Ari and I can switch!”