I felt lightheaded and shaky as I followed the guard down the hall. At least I could meet with my friends. Seeing them would probably give me more hope. Well... if they were still alive, that is. No, keep those thoughts at bay. But why wouldn't Alexander let me see my parents? Why keep them away from me?

  “They’re right in here,” said the guard. I took careful note of exactly where this cell was in relation to mine. “But we do move them around quite often.” Never mind. Dang it! But I still felt my heart swell with hope as the door swung open. I stepped inside, bracing myself for some kind of unpleasant surprise.

  “Tiffany? Tiffany!” I shouted with joy as Beverly’s pale face emerged from the darkness. She leaped forward and pulled me into a hug.

  “Are you alright?” I asked her breathlessly.

  “I-I don’t know. How about you? How did you end up here?”

  “I came to help you guys… but… I got caught.” At that, her eyes filled with tears.

  “Bless your soul, Tiffany. We never should have left you behind. I’m truly sorry.”

  “It’s alright. But from now on we’re all in this together, okay?” She nodded.

  “Do you know about Ross?” she asked. I nodded.

  “I saw his body. Where’s Roy? He isn’t… he isn’t dead too, is he?”

  “No. Don’t worry, they’re just keeping him somewhere else.” Great. Forming an escape plan was going to be nearly impossible if all of us were going to be kept in separate cells. But at least they were both alive.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  “Where’s Tyla?”

  “She’s not here. They haven’t caught her.” At least not yet.

  “Well, that’s good at least.”

  “Yes, yes, it is.” We smiled at each other. The door was flung open suddenly. We looked up to see the guard step in. Was I going to have to leave? But I had only just gotten here. I had so many questions for Beverly, and she surely must have a lot for me as well.

  “Time’s up, on to the next one, Tiffany,” he said. Beverly’s shoulders slumped. I hesitated. “Now.”

  “You should go,” Beverly whispered gently. I followed him out of the cell.

  “Do you have any idea if or when I’ll be able to see her again?” I asked. He didn’t answer me. We walked down the hall in silence. We paused in front of another, smaller cell. This one might have even been smaller than mine. My goodness, poor Roy. But at least the ceilings were higher, I realized as the door opened slowly. I stepped inside. There he was. Roy looked tired and shaky, but unharmed. He was sitting in the corner, staring at the wall with a blank look on his face. I sighed. Now I had seen them both; they were both unharmed.

  “Roy?” He looked up at me.

  “Tiffany! I-I thought I’d never see you again. How’d you get here? The last time I saw you, you were wandering off into the desert with some kind of death cloud approaching!”

  “Yeah. I came here looking for you guys, but as you can see, I got caught.”

  “Where’s your sister?”

  “I don’t know, but she’s not here.”

  “D-did you hear about Ross?”

  “Y-yes, I saw the body.” A look of shock crossed Roy’s face before twisting into an expression of pain.

  “Oh my gosh,” he whispered. But I couldn’t help but smile. My friends were alright. That was great news. I had been so afraid that I’d find more dead bodies waiting here for me or at least find that they were about to be killed. I don’t think I could bear to see another person die. Yes, I think I had seen enough death in my life.

  “Alright. Your time is up. Tiffany Walker, I’ve been ordered to take you back to your cell,” the guard said firmly.

  “What?” Roy demanded. No, I needed my friends. There was no way I could do this without them. But before I could object, my arm was grabbed and I was dragged back towards the hall. I twisted free, but it was too late. Roy’s cell door had already been slammed closed behind me.

  “Come along now,” the guard said. I ignored him and started walking down the other hall, back toward Beverly’s cell. “Stop right there!” I kept going. He would grab me and drag me back any minute now, I knew that. But I was just so fed up with following orders. “I’m warning you! You should really turn around right now!” Why wasn’t he stopping me? He wasn’t scared, was he? Surely, he’d be more scared of Alexander than of me. I got my answer soon enough when I rounded the corner and was immediately sent flying back. I stumbled to the ground.

  “W-what?” I looked up but there was nothing in front of me. “W-what is this?” I reached out and felt something hard and smooth press to my hand. But still I saw nothing. This had not been here a moment ago.

  “Safety. Alexander placed these here for you, so that you don’t break out again.” Safety? Safety! That was the word we were going to use for this, not imprisonment. I got to my feet and shoved my way past the guard. I headed back toward my own cell; no invisible magical walls rose up out of the blue to stop me. The guard didn’t even follow me. Good. I just really needed to be alone right now.