Episode 64: Sweet Reunions and Snide Remarks
- Crystal Crawford
- May 15
- 5 min read
Updated: May 16
The dark-haired elemental in the orb-room was staring at me through his cell bars when I woke up.
“You okay?” he asked. “You were out for a long time.”
I groaned, wiping the dazed feeling from my eyes, and stood up.
I glanced around—no haze, no shimmer. I was back in the real world.
I exhaled in relief. “I’m good.” I turned back to the orb again, puzzling through what I’d just learned. “But I didn’t exactly get what I went for…”
I was this close to knocking myself back out with the device so I could try again to get Emery’s help with figuring things out, when a deafening siren blared from the ceiling.
Not the frantic beeping of the orb I’d heard in the dream—something new.
“We’ve got you surrounded,” a male voice spoke through whatever hidden speakers were above us. “Whatever foolish plan you had to stop me, it won’t work.”
Chloe’s dad. The Vorcos guy. I could hear the sneer in his voice.
“Congratulations,” the voice continued. “You all get to be part of an event that will change the course of history. Too bad you won’t be around long enough to see it.”
His voice cut out, and so did the siren.
“They really do have us surrounded,” I whispered, wondering how many other things from my dream were true. Maybe Emery’s visions had been fusing with my dreamwalk, giving me glimpses of the future… or maybe I really did have a prophetic gift, too.
Either way, we needed to figure out our escape, pronto.
“What’s going on?” the red-haired girl asked, gripping the bars of her cell. “What’s he talking about? What event?”
I looked at the elementals. “They’re about to detonate the orb.”
Their eyes all widened in horror.
The dark-haired guy stared at me. “But isn’t your sister—”
“Yes,” I said, my throat tight. “That’s why I need you all to hit me with your magic, right now.”
They gaped at me.
“What?” the girl said.
“I need elemental magic, I’m a conduit, there’s no time to explain and I don’t even know if it’ll work, but I promise I won’t blame you if I die. Now just—hit me with a stream of it or something, all at the same time. Hit me!”
They stared at me.
“But… our magic doesn’t work in here,” the other water elemental said.
My stomach fell. “Right.” That was why they were still in their cells… and why Trenchcoat Man had used the blood that set off the weird dream-trap ward. There wasn’t another way to mix their powers under the current circumstances.
I hurried over to retrieve the pencil sharpener blade and the used lid from the floor. “Well, here goes nothing,” I said, then pricked my own finger and let the blood drip into the sharpener lid.
I turned back toward the elementals. “This is weird, and I’m so sorry,” I said, “but can I prick each of your fingers and see if my blood works as a conduit to store your powers so I can use the elemental mixture to crack open the orb and free my sister before they detonate her?”
They stared at me, then the dark-haired guy shrugged.
“Sure. It’s not any weirder than what they’ve already done to me, and I’d strongly prefer not to get blown up today.” He held out his finger.
“Go for it,” the girl said, sticking her hand through the cell bars.
The others nodded and did the same.
I sighed in relief. “Thank you. Now just pray this works.”
I hurried through the process, trying not to look too much at the blood—I’d never been a fan—and when I came to the final elemental, I drew a deep breath before pricking his finger. “Here goes…”
His blood dripped into the sharpener lid, splashing into what was already there.
The air in the room imploded.
“My fire is back!” the red-haired girl yelled, flipping her palm up to reveal a flame.
“Thank you,” I whispered to heaven, then rushed toward the orb. “Please work,” I said, then tipped the contents of the sharpener lid onto the surface of the orb.
The orb split open with a deafening crack—-and a massive split appeared in the orb, much bigger than the one in my dream.
Inside was Emery, just like I’d dreamed, and this time the crack was big enough that I could pull her out, if there wasn’t still a force field. Was there still a force field?
She blinked her eyes open, and immediately focused them on me. “Aubrey?” She glanced around. “It worked? Help me get out!” She reached for me.
I shot my arm out, praying that there wouldn’t be a force-field to stop me this time, and when my hand touched hers without a barrier, I nearly broke down in tears. “Em!”
I tugged, and she stumbled out… still in the skirt and sweater she’d been wearing that night on the beach. It looked like she hadn’t aged a day.
“Emery?” Mom’s sob carried across the room.
Em and I both turned around. The others were waking up, too.
“Oh, Em!” Mom cried, scrambling to her feet.
Emery ran toward her, colliding into a hug. “Mom!”
“How sweet,” a snide voice spoke from the door.
We all turned to find the Vorcos man standing at the room’s exit. “The wards are back on, so good luck getting out of here,” he said with a look of fury. “You’ve ruined years of work for me, and I hope you all perish down here!” He cut a scathing glare at Chloe. “Even you.” He turned to stride away.
My breath caught. Had he just said that to his own daughter?
Chloe looked deeply hurt—and terrified.
I hurried over to her and put my arm around her. “You’re horrid!” I yelled at the man. It wasn’t the cleverest comeback, but I had to say something.
He turned back to look at me. “Oh, you have no idea.” He spun and stormed off, and as he turned the corner, I heard him tell someone, “The explosives on the bunker are still active. Finish the rods, then blow the whole thing.” Several sets of footsteps hurried away down the tunnel.
We were alone, still trapped down there…and about to be blown up.
***
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