Trapped

*Kelly*

I open my eyes, but I still can't see anything, although my eyesight is very sharp even when I'm not in ET form. I have a strange feeling that surrounds me; Everything feels muffled and confusing, and I can't even think straight.

Then I remember: the crash, the overturned car, Heather's screams, the people dragging us outside. —Heather!— I scream.

"I'm... I'm here," he says from somewhere. I'm not sure if she's in the same room or not, because she sounds distant, hollow, like she's talking through some kind of iron tube or something.

I try to shapeshift and somehow, I'm completely blocked from doing so, no matter how hard my mind tries to focus. The next step is a mental link to call Eli, but it's also strangely blank, so I start to feel panic rising in my chest. Is there any powerful ET1 around here who can block my shapeshifting and mental link? Kane is dead, so it's not him. But I don't think ET1 Stephen or anyone else is powerful enough to block my mental link. At least, I think so. I've never experienced it before.

"Are you okay?" I ask Heather.

He doesn't respond for a moment, so I'm worried, but then he intervenes in a weak voice, "I think so." No no I dont know. Where we are?

I shake my head but I know he can't see me in this total darkness. "I don't know," I say. —But I'll find out.— I try to get up but I'm instantly pulled down by something holding my hands together. It's metal, probably handcuffs, and they're very tight. My head had been too foggy to notice them before. I take a deep breath and try to adjust my eyes. There must be a flash of light around here somewhere.

“Kelly,” Heather says. -I can not move. I'm afraid.

“It's okay,” I say, although I'm not convinced it's okay at all. —I'm going to contact ET1 Eli, and he will find us. We will be fine.

"But I... I can't even talk to Eustace," he says. -Because I can not?

"I'm not sure," I say. I debate for a moment whether I should tell him that I can't contact Eli either. She may have had a difficult life, but she is still young, almost a child, really. In fact, she may be even more of a child because she has led that difficult life. I don't want to scare her, so I decide to keep that quiet.

The only thing I can do now is try to evaluate my situation. The darkness tells me we must be underground. If we're just in an interior room, we'd see some kind of light through the cracks, I guess. I'm sitting on the floor, and it's cold, and clearly, I'm tied to something low with these handcuffs because I can't get up.

The fog in my head is clearing a little. Did they drug me? I can not remember.

A huge metallic sound startles me so much that I jump and try to instantly change shape, but it still doesn't work. Blinding light comes into the room and I have to close my eyes because it's so bright it physically hurts. Then I hear loud footsteps.

“Kelly,” Heather whispers.

I try to reach her, but I can't move, and she's too far away.

***

*Adam*

“What!?” Shelby is yelling at me, and I'm pacing the room. I just told her about my demotion, and clearly, she's not taking it well.

“I wish that were the worst of all this,” I say.

-There is more?

She's getting louder, so I gesture with my hands that we need to speak more quietly. I really don't want him to scream in my head and give me a headache, but I have no choice but to take this conversation to another level.

'He has a new henchman, and he wants me to kill everyone,' I say in the mental link.

'Kill everyone?' She's still screaming, and yes, she's already giving me a headache. 'Kill who?'

'Everyone,' I say. 'The ET1s, Kamila... even the pups. 'She wants them all killed.'

'But why? What did these four innocent babies do?' she says. 'Adam, you have to stop him.'

'I know,' I say. I wish it was that easy. 'I know. But I do not know how. I need help figuring this out.'

'Well, who is this henchman guy?' ask. 'Do you really think he will kill innocent babies?'

'He seems to be the type,' I say. 'His name is Alastor DravenET. Have you heard of him?'

'The name sounds familiar, but I can't say I remember it exactly,' he says. —What are we going to do?— He asks the last question out loud, but in a whisper.

"I need to warn the ET1s, but no one has answered me lately," I say.

He nods. "Well, they're new parents," she says. —Now that I think about it, no one has sent me messages either. I know Kamila would want to tell me right away about the babies and she would have sent us messages. Don't you think something has gone wrong?

"Goddess, I hope not," I say.

“No,” he says, shaking his head. —I'm sure everything is fine. Giving birth to four babies is quite an accomplishment, so I'm sure she's exhausted. She's probably just staring into each of their eyes right now and she's completely forgotten that the rest of the world even exists.

“Probably,” I say. Now I'm worried. That threat from Gene sounded like he meant it, and I don't know anything about Alastor. If they don't respond, maybe he's already caught them all...

"Actually," he says. -Something is wrong.

"Why?" I ask.

“Kelly,” he says. —The moment those babies came out, she would have told me. She's with Eli. So either Eli hasn't arrived at Mark's castle yet, or something is really wrong. Oh, Adam! What can we do?!

"We'll get information from this side," I say. "He may have fired me, but Gene is too far away to pay attention to me listening."

"Well, I'm coming with you," he says, reaching for his shoes.

“I don't want you involved in this,” I say. —I think it's better that you stay here. If they think I'm up to something, you could be in danger. I have no idea what this Alastor person is capable of.

"Oh, no," he says. —You can't play the 'protect women' card with me. I'm with you. Whatever you're into, I'm in it with you. Do you really think I'd be safe if they thought you were a spy anyway? They would take me to that miserable dungeon to sit in Malena Milly's old cage, or worse.

Ugh, Malena Milly, I had forgotten about her. Gene is harmless enough, but if that guy Alastor and Malena Milly get together, we could all be in serious trouble. "Don't remind me of that useless bit...," I say. —We have to keep an eye on her too. I think that's the best thing we can do for the ET1s and Kamila right now.

“Okay, that makes sense,” he says. —So there are two people who need to be watched, and we are two people, so it's perfect. I can manage to hang out wherever Malena Milly is, but I think she'd stick out like a sore thumb if I hung around Gene's room. You might think I'm trying to... Oh, Goddess, I'm not even going there. I'll just keep an eye on Malena Milly. Where is she?

I have no idea where Malena Milly is, and she's the one I'm supposed to keep an eye on, according to the ET1s. If they knew about Alastor, I'm sure they would want us to keep an eye on both of them.

“I really don't know,” I say, and I get 'the look', which means it's time for me to get out of here. Shelby can be scary when she wants to. She's beautiful and sexy, but scary every time she thinks I'm doing something stupid.

"I'll find her," he says after a brief exchange of glances.

“Okay,” I say. -Be careful. He keeps trying to communicate with the ET1s. Whichever of the two reaches them first, ask the ET1s to bring the other to the mental link and we'll figure it out.

“It's okay,” he says, pulling me into his arms and kissing me pas...ionately. We stay for a moment, letting the other revel in the delicious taste of our partner, then we separate, both heading to opposite ends of the hallway.

“Don't do anything stupid,” he says in my mind.