Reflections; a KOTLC fanficion

Chapter 10

"you'd think I would wake up for something like this," Caroline sighed at their hopeless situation. 

"You were pretty knocked out, and after a while, they gave up and used gas," Thor told her. That made Caroline feel so much better.

They tried everything to get out. The jailer did a good job removing anything that was needed for an escape. All Amelia had left was a smaller lock picking chain that would not break through anything. Kyreen even sacrificed her jeweled hairpin to get them out. No such luck.

"They always get out like that in the movies," she told them. Caroline was well aware of the futile effort.

Caroline stopped trying to figure out how long they were in there. There was no clock, and the window only helped so much. The only way to really tell was that every few hours a man would unlock their large cell and give them a plate of disgusting food.

"I take back what I said about your food here. It's terrible," Christian said after what seemed like the seventh time they brought them food. The small window gradually was showing more and more light. It probably was their third day here. Time was slipping away from them.

"Why won't they let us out yet? I have a contracted lawyer!" Amelia yelled.

"So, there is a way to get out?" Kyreen said happily.

"Yes, but you have to either pay a lot of money or have a lawyer. And I think by now, my mom took away both. So now we are just homeless kids in jail. They'll let us out eventually, but for now, we are stuck."

"Well, that's just peachy!" Christian said, kicking the dirty floor.

Thor let a growl of frustration out. "How long do you think we'll be in here?"

Amelia shrugged. "At most? A week. If the jailor comes by, we can try to tell him why we were there, but it's hard to convince anyone that we are innocent."

"That's just great," Caroline sighed. "The elves could have attacked a dozen cities before we get out. If they tried, the world could be in ruins in a week, and we would never have noticed because we're stuck in a stupid jail cell."

Everyone got quiet after Caroline's outburst. For the rest of the day, they didn't talk to each other. Each left to their own thoughts. By nightfall, Caroline was fed up. She opened her mouth to talk, but suddenly a tidal wave rushed through her head and the familiar sound of Ash's voice filled her head.

THEY'VE BOMBED ST. LOUIS! THEY'RE GOING TO SAN FRANCISCO NEXT. I'M TRYING TO STALL THEM BUT I CAN'T FOREVER!

The thought was gone as quick as it came but it left an imprint on Caroline. They needed to get out before that happened, or they would be trapped in the forbidden cities forever.

Caroline ignored the bubbly feeling in her stomach from the encounter and quickly told her friends.

"You know this is probably just a ruse?" Thor said skeptically.

"Or he might be trying to redeem himself," Caroline told him.

"I don't think that's the case." Christian began drawing something in the dirt. "As a friend who often suffers from the same fate, I'm telling you that's just a dream. Ash probably isn't coming back. Try to start living in reality, instead of your head."

Caroline was moved by his words of kindness, but she knew they couldn't be farther from the truth. "This was not a ruse, and I am not living in my head. Thank you for thinking so much about this, but I know that he changed. I think we should listen."

Kyreen shrugged. "Well, we are hurrying to San Francisco as fast as we can, so it doesn't make that big of a difference whether we are in immediate danger, or the elves are in immediate danger."

Eve had been quiet up until now. A lightbulb seemed to go off in the girl's head. "Does anyone know why we're being chased? Why is every bomb going off either where we're going or where we've been?"

Thor stared at her thoughtfully. "They could have killed us back in Eternalia when they had us under surveillance. Why let us go, and then try to kill us?"

Caroline looked at the ground, suddenly interested in the minute dirt particles. "Because" she started. "The testing is done. We have served our purpose as their guinea pigs. They succeeded, and now they will not only kill us but will torture us while doing it."

"Now that's a happy thought," Thor said. "Why don't we all just sit around waiting to be bombed?"

On cue, people started screaming outside.