CHAPTER 13

Chapter 13

*Courtney Tern*
I stare at the shadows in horror as they solidify, taking on the form of a girl.
Seconds later, she steps out of the shadows, and we all back up. Except for Nidhi, who’s still frozen in fear.
Shadow Girl faces us, her face cruel and unsmiling. She raises one hand, and the shadows near me begin to distort, twisting and bending towards me, creeping up my legs. I’m too stunned to react. A huge mistake.
The shadows petrify, forming coils of dark ropes around me, as Shadow Girl clenches her hand into a fist. I finally come to my senses and try to shake them off, but they only constrict even further.
I look wildly around and notice that the same thing is happening to Nidhi. She’s completely covered in shadows, shadows so thick and dark that I can barely see her. As I watch, her form flickers and starts to etiolate, like a plant dying in the night, until she’s nothing more than just an adumbration.
“Courtney!” Jack yelps and grabs at my arms, but he can’t seem to touch me. Too late, I realize that I’m fading into the shadows, into a realm where he will never be able to reach me. Beside me, I find that Nidhi is almost gone already. In the distance, I hear Jack and Alex shouting, scrabbling at the evanescent wisps of our remaining presence, to no avail.
Shadow Girl opens her palm, and the shadows draw me towards her. Blackness overcomes my vision, and I succumb to the penumbra within.

The first thing I hear are the voices.
“Who are they?”
“Who are you?”
“Are they even alive?”
I moan as I try to move my limbs. Are they talking about me? I’m very much alive, thank you very much.
“Hey, did you see that?”
“Yeah, she moved.”
They sound distorted, as if I’m underwater, or listening to the echoes in a long tunnel.
I try my own voice. “Well, of course I moved,” I mutter. My voice comes out scratchy and weak, but definitely audible.
I hear a female shriek. “She talked!”
“Yeah, I talked -- does that surprise you?” I say as I push myself into a sitting position and open my eyes.
Three blurry faces are staring down into mine. I squint against the lights, fighting the urge to throw up.
I register a blond-haired girl, an Asian boy, and another boy who looks to be Hispanic. Nidhi is lying near me, still unconscious, and Shadow Girl is standing several feet away with her arms folded and a mask of disapproval staining her features. I get my first good look at her: she’s Asian, tall and buff, and her hair is pulled back in a messy ponytail.
“Who are you all? Where am I?” I demand as soon as I find the strength to form words again.
The two boys exchange looks.
“It’s a long story,” one of them says.
“Do tell,” I respond, leaning back to make myself more comfortable. “Seems like we’re going to be here for a while.”

*Leo Qi*
Just when I think things can’t get any weirder, three girls just pop out of nowhere. One moment they aren’t there, and the next moment they are. They just appear. 
Two of them are unconscious and would’ve cracked their heads on the stones if Chris and I hadn’t caught them. The third girl looks on as we lower them carefully onto the ground, her arms folded. No help from there.
I get a good look at her. She’s Asian, her face squarish but her chin slightly pointed, tall and strong-looking, eyebrows knitted together in a scowl. I make a mental note not to mess with her.
“Who are they?” Sara asks her, gesturing towards the two unconscious girls.
“Who are you?” Chris adds.
She says nothing.
I look over at the other two girls. “Are they even alive?”
At that moment, one of them stirs. It’s the Asian girl, with long, slightly curly hair and delicate, elvin features.
“Did you see that?” Chris asks.
“Yeah,” I say dryly, “she moved.”
The girl mumbles, “Well, of course I moved.”
“She talked!” Sara yelps.
I roll my eyes.
As she pushes herself off the ground, the girl says, “Yeah, I talked.Does that surprise you?”
Sara still looks taken aback.
“Who are you all? Where am I?” The girl adds.
Chris and I look at each other, Sara still gaping at her.
“It’s a long story,” I answer evasively.
She shrugs. “Do tell. Seems like we’re going to be here for a while,” she says, and leans back as if it’s storytime in a preschool.
I glance back at Chris, not sure where to start. Luckily for me, he jumps in, introduces all of us, and launches into his story.

“...so Christy took us back to this room, and here we are now,” Chris finishes a while later. He raises his eyebrows at the girls, both fully conscious at this point. “What about you? What’s your story?” he asks them.
“My name is Courtney,” the Asian girl starts, “and this is Nidhi.” She nods at the dark-skinned, dark-haired girl next to her.
“After the storm broke, my friends and I wandered around, gathering supplies by our leader Alex’s orders. Then, we heard Nidhi screaming, so we ran over to find her. When we got there, she came out of the shadows,” Courtney says as she points to the third girl standing in the corner. “We were kidnapped by her.”
I’d almost forgotten about the other girl. At first glance, she hadn’t seemed like the kind of person to melt into the shadows, but as I looked back at her, I couldn’t help but notice how she blended in with the dark shades.
Nidhi picks up where Courtney left off, and continues, “Somehow, she created chains out of shadows, then made us black out. We woke up here, and... yeah. That’s basically it. Pretty short story, huh?”
I nod absentmindedly, puzzling over the shadow girl.
Abruptly, my thoughts are interrupted by the veiled doorway appearing in front of us. Courtney and Nidhi gasp in unison and jump back. Sara, Chris, and I snicker at their reactions; we’re already used to it by now.
Ruiran steps out of the doorway. She’s abandoned her cloak, so I can clearly see the tense look on her face.
“Rachel?” she speaks to the girl still lurking around in the shadows.
“Yeah?” Rachel responds. Her voice is low for a girl and slightly rusty in tone quality.
“Christy wants to talk to you. I don’t know why,” Ruiran says, casting a sidelong glance at me. She sounds nervous.
Rachel scowls. “It had better be a more exciting task this time,” she mutters. The shadows around her darken, and she fades into them like a black cat vanishing into the night.
“I found Debbie,” Ruiran murmurs without looking at me, once Rachel has left.
I’m instantly alert when she utters Debbie’s name; all of my anger is forgotten. 
“Debbie? Is she okay? Where is she? Can I go see her?” I flood Ruiran with questions.
“Listen, all of you,” she says with urgency, ignoring my queries. She beckons to us, and we crowd closer around her.
“I have a plan,” she whispers.

*Debbie Dong*
A succession of loud crashes, followed by indistinguishable shouts, signal their arrival.
I break my bonds easily -- they’re about as strong as wet tissues -- and jump off the bed as Leo stumbles into the room, followed by Sara, Chris, and two other girls whom I don’t recognize.
“Debbie!” Leo yells, running towards me. “Oh, my God,” he whispers, “we found you.”
I embrace him. “I’m never losing you again.”
Near us, Sara clears her throat. “We kind of need to go...”
I blush and step away from Leo. “Right. Yeah.”
“Grab hands, everyone,” Leo says. “We have to walk through the door thing.”
“The door thing?” I snort.
He rolls his eyes. “Door thing, doorway, same difference. Whatever.”
With that, we step through the doorway, all six of us. Together.

We emerge out of the doorway and into the big, church-like room. Immediately, I spring towards Christy, grabbing her shoulders and throwing her to the ground. Leo punches her in the jaw and she sputters with surprise.
“Wh-what is going on?” 
Ruiran appears in front of me. “We have to go, now!” she calls to the others, motioning towards a window that definitely had not been there before.
“We’re going to jump out of that?” Sara protests.
Ruiran nods. “You have to trust me.”
At our feet, Christy starts to get up, a murderous rage in her eyes, and I realize that we need to get out of here, now, before something terrible happens.
“Go!” Ruiran shouts at Chris and Sara, pointing at the window. Looking bewildered and frightened, they rush towards it and jump out. However, I can’t see what happens to them, because Christy grabs me in my moment of distraction. Her hands erupts into light, searing my skin.
Behind me, the ground rumbles, and without warning, Sid bursts out of the earth. 
I’m surrounded.
I tear myself out of Christy’s grip and sprint for the window, dirt showering down around me.
“Leo!” I shout.
He’s standing near the window. “I’m here,” he calls.
Christy is gaining on me, her hands alight. I’m not faster than her; I’m not going to make it.
Finally, she reaches me, and her entire body explodes into a million lights in a paroxysm of fury.

“DEBBIE!” Leo screams. He’s trying to run to me, but Ruiran’s holding him back.
“Just go, Leo,” I implore.
He shakes his head. “I’m not leaving you.”

*Ruiran Xun*
I can see that Debbie’s not going to make it in time. Christy’s going to kill her.
I pull Leo back, keeping him from going to her and certain death. 
And then it hits me.
Why am I holding him back, when I should be the one running to Debbie?
Leo loves her; anyone with eyes can see it. If Debbie dies, then he will be damaged beyond repair. I can’t let that happen to him. Debbie has to live.
And at the same time, I just can’t let Leo save her, I just can’t let him die.
That leaves me one option.
I’ve never liked Debbie; in fact, I’ve always despised her for taking Leo away from me, believing that I would’ve had a chance if she’d never come into the picture. But now, I realize that Leo would never have forgiven me for what I’ve done. I can’t fix my mistakes. I can’t give Leo his family back. But I can give him Debbie’s life, I can let him be happy, and that’s all that matters.
As a golden halo of light engulfs Christy’s hand, I release Leo and shove him to the side, then rush towards Debbie and Christy, putting myself between them. Christy crashes into me, head on, and Debbie scrambles back, out of harm’s way.
Maybe, with this final act, I will have my chance. Not for Leo to love me, just for him to forgive me.
An exchange. A life for a life. Ruiran Xun for Debbie Dong.

I let myself fall.