Chapter seventeen

"Sara what's going on?"

Lexi stops suddenly frightened as Sara begins to glow. Sara looks down at her arms in confusion as they begin to glow brighter and brighter. She doesn't feel the ground under her anymore and looks down, realizing that she is no longer touching the ground.

"Sara," Lexi's voice shakes slightly.

"I don't know," She starts as she begins to float forward. Lexi begins to run over to help Sara but stops, unsure of what she can do to help.

"Do not be afraid." Sara's voice sounds different, more calming. "Lexi everything will be okay."

Lexi feels a sense of relief wash over her. She watches as Sara's feet touch the ground again and she slowly returns to normal.

"Sara are you okay?" Lexi slowly begins to approach Sara nervously. "Do you feel any different?"

"I'm fine but what exactly just happened though?" Sara wonders curiously as she looks down at her arms.

Everything seemed to be fine, though she did feel a little dizzy.

"I'm not sure you just started glowing and then you started floating and then you spoke. It was your voice but it didn't seem to be you speaking," Lexi explains as Sara looks at her a little frightened.

"I really don't know what happened Lexi. I felt this power surge through my body and then there was a woman's voice in my head. Then I don't remember anything that happened next," Sara explains to her friend as she hugs her tightly.

"I'm just glad you are okay Sara," Lexi hugs Sara back glad she was okay now. For some reason Terri suddenly crosses Lexi's mind.

I wonder if everyone else is safe? She thinks as they start to walk down the street again.

~

"Did I really just kiss Lexi?" Terri wonders out loud as she walks out of Sara and Julie's room.

She quietly walks back towards the living room, trying not to think about the kiss as she goes over to the couch and lays down on it. She flips on the tv and relaxes back on the couch.

Thank goodness nobody else is in here.

She tries to pay attention to the movie that was playing but soon her eyes begin to feel heavy and close. The last thing she hears before she falls asleep is the door opening.

"Terri wake up."

Terri feels her shoulder being shaken and tries to turn away from whoever it was.

"Go away let me rest!" She cries out in her sleep.

Whoever it was shaking her shoulder pauses and looks down at her.

"Terri it's about Michael he's gone. He seems to have disappeared this morning and I haven't seen or heard from him since."

Megan looks saddened as she sits down beside Terri. Terri begins to calm down a little as she sees the tear streaks running down Megan's cheeks.

"Why does everyone seem to be disappearing around here. First it was Kendra, then Chris and Lexi disappeared and now I don't know where Michael is. And Sara and Julie are still asleep. It's like they are under a spell or something."

"When did Chris and Lexi disappear?" Lexi looks over at Megan, her voice suddenly full of worry.

How long was I really asleep? She wonders as she looks at the tv, another movie has started playing.

"They haven't been gone that long. I was in the hallway trying to find Michael when I seen Chris go into Sara and Julie's room. Lexi ran into the room after him and then Lexi cried out no but that's all I heard. When I peeked into their room I didn't see Chris or Lexi so I don't know what happened to them." Megan explains, she can see the worry and a hint of something else, like jealousy clearly shown on Terri's face.

Terri jumps up from the couch quickly. "I think I know what's happened to them, come on."

Megan looks puzzled but follows Terri as she runs out of the living room and heads towards Sara and Julie's room.

"What are we doing in here?" Megan asks as she looks around the room in confusion.

"I was in here earlier and I was just about ready to try to wake Sara up when Lexi stopped me. She told me not to touch Sara or I'd be stuck in the shadow realm." Terri explains to Megan as they walk towards the bed. "That's where we will find them and maybe Michael too."

Terri grins as she looks back at Megan excitedly.

"Wait a minute, Terri are you suggesting we go into the shadow realm to find them?" Megan cries out shocked but Terri doesn't answer her. She just smiles and nods her head before grabbing a hold of Megan's hand tightly. "I really don't think this is such a good idea..." Megan starts but before she can say anymore Terri reaches out and touches Sara's hand with her free hand.

They are quickly sucked into a spiraling darkness as they begin to fall. Everything becomes a blur and the girls shut their eyes as they continue falling through the seemingly endless darkness. Once they finally feel themselves stop spinning they slowly open their eyes to find themselves still inside the ranch house.

"I feel like I'm going to be sick," Megan mumbles as she tries catching her breath. Everything still seems to be spinning around her. "Are we even in the shadow realm cause nothing seems to have changed."

The room still looked the same but Sara and Julie were no longer laying on the bed.

"Yeah I'm sure we are in the shadow realm. It feels just like it did the last time when Julie called me into the shadow realm." She shivers as she looks at the empty bed. "Come on, let's just try to find the others and then figure out how to get out of here."

They walk through the house and out onto the front lawn. The cool night air feels good against Megan's skin and she smiles, feeling a little better.

"Which way do you think they would have went?" She asks Terri as they start to walk towards the main road looking for shoe prints or anything else along the dirt path.

Terri stops and looks around, trying to determine which way to go. "There has to be some way to find them."

"I think I can help you find your friends," a voice comes from the darkness ahead of them. They stare into the darkness waiting on whoever was there to step out onto the dirt path in front of them. "My name is Amber and I can help you get to your friends."

"I got a bad feeling about this Terri," Megan whispers as the girl approaches them slowly.

Amber seemed to be friendly enough but there was just something about the way she said that she could find their friends that made Megan feel uneasy.

"Please do not be afraid I won't harm you," Amber smiles, her voice is very calming to Terri and Megan as she holds her hand out to them. "Please take my hand and I will take you to your friends."

Megan looks at Amber strangely, everything inside her was telling her to run as far away from this girl as she could. Before she could make up her mind, Terri grabs her arm and they are pulled into the darkness once more. They have no idea what is going on as they fall through the darkness. It's not like when they first entered the shadow realm. This time they seemed to be floating through the air. Soon they feel their feet touch solid ground once again.

"Where are we?" Terri is relieved to be on solid ground again. She looks in front of her and freezes. "What are we doing at the high school I thought you were taking us to our friends." She shivers, slightly afraid. Her voice sounds slightly shaky as she speaks.

"I will take you to your friends I promise but first I wanted to show you something," Amber walks on up the steps and through the entrance. "Come on this won't take long, I promise."

"I don't like this."

Megan shivers as she follows Terri into the school. They follow Amber through the hallways silently, wondering why she had brought them to the high school.

Amber steps in front of a locker with the door ripped off its hinges. "This is why I brought you here."

Terri instantly recognizes her locker and rushes over to it. Everything inside her locker had been gone through. Papers were scattered all around the floor. She begins looking through her locker trying to see if anything was missing.

"Who would have done this?" She whispers quietly as she goes over everything. "My great grandma's amulet is missing!" She cries out suddenly as she picks up an empty box.

"I followed Chris to your locker earlier. He pried off the locker door and took the amulet. It was almost like he knew exactly where it was at. Then he threw everything else around to make it look like someone had been searching through everything." Amber explains as she walks over to Terri.

Megan hesitates for a moment before walking slowly over to join them by Terri's locker.

"Why would Chris steal my amulet there is nothing special about it." Terri furrows her brow, sighing as she looks at the empty box. "It was nothing more than a mere trinket."

"That amulet was much more than a mere trinket Terri. It has been cursed with dark magic. I doubt Chris knew that when he took it. With the amulet Chris thinks he is going to help Sara and Julie return to the real world." Amber explains to them. "But he must not try to use the amulet for that purpose. If he does it isn't going to go as he has planned. I'm afraid that a man named Griffin has given him the idea that he can use the amulet to free his friends from here but it won't work."

"How do you know about the amulet and it being cursed by dark magic?" Megan looks at Amber suspiciously. "Who are you really?"

Amber reaches her hand out to them once more. "Look I promise I will tell you everything soon but we need to go find Chris and stop him."

Terri looks at Megan as she grabs Ambers hand again. Megan reluctantly takes a hold of Ambers other hand and they feel themselves being pulled through the darkness once more. As soon as they are back on solid ground again Megan falls forward, her head still spinning slightly.

"Megan are you alright?" Terri puts her hand on Megan's shoulder. Megan takes a few deep breaths before looking up at Terri.

"Yeah I just feel a little dizzy."

As soon as she starts to stand up she sways a little so Terri has to put an arm around Megan to help steady her.

Terri feels fear creeping up her body as she stares up at the old manor in front of them. "Where are we Amber?"

"We are supposed to have travelled to the same spot Chris did," Amber replies, following Terri's gaze and looking up at the manor.

Terri catches the slight hint of recognition in Amber's eyes and feels a sudden cold chill run up her spine.

"Amber where are we?" Terri demands, shivering as Amber quickly tries to hide the worry in her eyes as she looks towards the manor. "Amber why does it look like you don't want to be here right now?"

She grabs Amber's arm and slings her around quickly to face her.

Amber winces as Terri's grip tightens around her arm. "Because we aren't supposed to have came here this is where Griffin lives."

"Who is this Griffin and how do you know so much about him?"

"Look now is not the time or the place for questions. I will tell you everything once we are away from here," Amber begins to sound panicked, trying to pull her arm free.

"We aren't going anywhere else with you until you answer our questions. It's time for you to be truthful and tell us everything you know," Megan's voice comes out a little hateful as she speaks.

"Okay, the reason I know so much about Griffin is because I was one of his prisoners. But I eventually managed to escape. He still has Julie locked up inside trapped in a bedroom on the second floor," She pauses as she looks at the two girls.

"Well let's go save Julie then." Terri starts to run towards the manor, dragging Amber along with her.

"Terri stop we can't. We have to save Sara first!" Amber cries out, forcing Terri to stop. Amber finally manages to pull her arm free from Terri's grip.

"How are we even supposed to find her?" Terri cries out as she stares at Amber.

"We have to find Chris first. We have to get the amulet from him," Amber replies, her voice suddenly calm again. "Now take my hand." She says as she holds her hands out to the two girls.

"It had better work this time," Terri mumbles hatefully as her and Megan grab a hold of Amber's hands once more. Where are you Chris? She thinks as they begin floating through the darkness once more.