Shadow Warriors | Book One

Suffex Condos

Chapter 1 3

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Sophie 

SOPHIE HAD BEEN WRONG. The walk wasn't a short one, as Liliana had led her to believe. Already drained of the fight with the Esmeray, shook from her glance at death and the long, excruciating run to their escape, Sophie couldn't possibly walk even halfway to the condos.

But still, she dragged herself as she led the way to Liliana's house. She didn't want to seem weak. Macy had been leading the 'expedition' so far, and Sophie hadn't gotten a chance to do anything. Heck, she had even almost died!

Sophie was a strong, independent woman, and she didn't want to have Macy control her and tell her what to do. If she told Macy she was tired, Macy would surely make fun of her and not let her lead the way to Liliana's apartment. And one thing Sophie couldn't let happen, as long as she was awake and had breath in her body, was to be made a fool. So Sophie dragged on, doing her best to ignore her burning lungs and aching legs.

"Are you... sure... this is... the way?" Wade asked through deep breaths as he dragged himself forward. He was quite far away from the sisters, but his voice echoed in the empty, creepy city. Sophie was just a little ways in front of Macy. It was scary to be leading the way in this scary abandoned city, but she was determined to not let her fear show anymore. She had to be strong.

Macy chuckled in response to Wade. "Already having trouble?" She teased. Sophie frowned. It was quite impolite of her to say. But it seemed she spoke that way to everyone. And anyways, it would be a futile attempt to try and stop her. Sophie knew that from experience. She shuddered.

Wade glared at her. "N...o..." He wheezed. Macy scoffed. "Right," But she grinned and pulled one of Wade's arms over her shoulder. "C'mon. If you're gonna keep going this slow, you'll need help." Wade looked at her. "Thanks," He finally said, ducking his head a little.

Sophie shook her head. Weirdos.

"Hurry up morons!" She shouted. "Ok, ok we're hurrying!" Wade groaned. Macy sniggered. Sophie sighed. This was going to be a long walk.

♛

Sophie's eyes widened in glee as she strode towards the large, white apartment building that loomed in front of her. It had to be at least thirteen stories tall, and every window had a balcony that was decorated.

Sophie spotted one on around the sixth story that had fairy lights strung up around the railing and hanging plants that fell to the top of the balcony underneath it. There was also a large lounge chair and table in front of it.

Sophie grinned. She automatically knew that that one was Liliana's (well, technically, it was Liliana's older sister's, but Sophie didn't really care about the 'technically').

Sophie pointed at it. "That's the one. We'll rest up there, raid the fridge, interrogate this kid, and then get going." She stated. Macy walked up to her. "Uh, yeah, just one question. How the hell do we get in?"

Sophie fell silent. She hadn't thought about that. She knew where the key was, but how were they going to get in the building in the first place? She was pretty sure it would be locked.

To test her theory, she walked up to the door, grabbed the handle, and pulled it. Then pushed it. Macy laughed behind her. "Are you stupid? It's not gonna open."

Sophie turned around and glared at her.

"It was worth a try." She muttered.

"What do we do now?" Wade asked, leaning against the wall. Macy rolled her eyes. "What do we do now? Sophie and I work out how to get in. You stay quiet. Remember, you're still our hostage."

Wade's face morphed into one of confusion. "Since when was I a hostage? I thought no harm would come to me?"

Macy touched a finger to her chin. "We're still thinking about that." She replied.

Sophie groaned. "Ok, enough dilly-dallying." She spoke, pointing at both of them. "We need to find out how to get in. Any ideas? Anyone?"

Macy and Wade shook their heads. Sophie stepped back and looked around. The lights were open in this part of town, but no one was outside. Still, it was much brighter where they dwelled now. No more shadows. Or Esmeray.

Sophie shuddered.

She kept inspecting the large apartment building. How would they get in? Suddenly, an idea popped into her head.

"Guys!" She called. They looked up. "Look for any sort of back door! Any door that can be opened from outside." Macy walked towards her. "I don't think a door like that exists. If it did, the people who own this place would either be really confident in their security people, or be really bad at making sure their residents are safe."

Sophie waved a hand. "It doesn't matter. Just try to find any entrance that we can get in through. Even a window or whatever. Remember, we can't stop for long. Who knows what's happening to mom?"

Macy's joking expression turned serious and she nodded. "C'mon, To Go, we have to go find a way in," Wade blinked. "To go?" Macy nodded. "That's what your name means."

"Stop talking about name meanings!" Sophie shouted, waving her arms frantically. "Go go go!"

They all hurried off in separate directions. Sophie headed to the right, scanning all the windows and the walls. Sophie ran a hand against the brick,
mummering under her breath as she walked.
There was something weird here. Sophie could feel it. Sophie had alway been a curious person, and with all the abnormal stuff that had been happening lately, it only fed her curiosity. The amount of questions in her mind could make her head burst.

Where had all the people in the city gone?

How did the Esmeray get to LoLotus?

How did they even still exist?

How did Lord Centurais survive?

Why had he kidnapped only Sophie and Macy's mom and not the girl's themselves? And where was Macy's dad?

Sophie knew some sort of alternate dimension, which she knew was called Raylem, existed, but she had thought it went.. Well, extinct, because of the lack of contact. But if the Esmeray still existed, did that mean that the world's saviors from Raylem still exist too?

Was there a chance there was still a bit of hope left?

There was also the question of Wade's random gem and fire conjuring thing. How did that work? Sophie had tried not to think too much about it, since she was already tired of everything that had happened, but it seemed way too coincidental to just let go.

It was like, right after they escape the Esmeray, they meet a strange boy with fire powers? How did he even have powers? Was he from Raylem? And moreover, this boy was one who Macy stalked (Sophie knew Macy thought she didn't know about that, but had overheard her talking about it with Lizzy. It had fed her suspicion of Macy being in some sort of gang.) once? And had acted 'afraid' of them? As if to make them sympathetic towards him. It was just way too much of a coincidence.

Sophie couldn't help thinking it was some sort of trap.

And another thing had popped into her mind earlier, but she had dismissed it immediately. Mostly because she hadn't wanted it to be true. Because how could it? But it came back in full force now, more frightening than ever.

Was Mara Carson... just bait?