Lavender

Onward

Once everyone was back on the ground and it was discovered feasible for Luther to have escaped, everyone looked to Lucille for the next step. She searched around for footprints, she searched around for signs. She found nothing. "Who here is willing to do anything to get him back?"

We all raised our hands. "Alright." Lucille begrudgingly muttered.

She began whispering something to herself. She paced back and forth across the grass. She stopped. "Lavenders, let me get a good look at you."

She got in our faces and studied us, one by one. She got behind me and shoved me forward. "Grandmother, I trade this boy for the other. You may have him in exchange for help finding Luther."

"What?!" I screamed.

Adam moved towards me, but Lucille slapped his hand away. "You said you would do anything."

The wind began blowing faster. And Lucille began walking in the direction it flowed. "It will lead you to your boy. Onward. I must stay here."

Max grabbed me and we ran with the wind. We ran through the empty streets of the city, when the wind suddenly stopped. We were at a nice brick house. The yard was big and beautiful, the house itself was grand. The only clue to what was behind the door was the windows. They were all blacked out.

Adam started up the steps when Paolo grabbed him. Vienna harshly whispered. "We're breaking in. No front door."

She stalked to behind the house and tried, but failed, to look inside. In one motion, she said, "Eh, fuck it." And tossed Paolo her jacket. Swiftly, he put it over his fist, looked away, and punched one of the windows at full strength. It cracked enough to let him know one more punch would do it. So punch again he did. The window shattered and he laid the leather jacket over the windowsill. He dropped to a knee and Vienna used it as a step to crawl inside. Sam followed behind. Me and the other Lavenders shared a look. "This can't be their first time." Max whispered.

"Don't think too hard about it." Adam whispered back.

We climbed inside. Paolo jumped and heaved his way through. Once inside, we waited for sound. For movement. For anything. But nothing happened. Vienna turned on her phone flashlight. We saw a bdsm dungeon surrounding us. But none of us had a feeling like it was used for good purposes. Vienna carefully scanned the room. She slammed her hand over her mouth, causing her to drop the phone. She backed up into Paolo, who held her tight. Adam, knowing he might regret it, picked up the phone and pointed it to where she was looking.

It was a St. Andrews cross. Luther was on it. His body was pale, and limp. There was no color in his skin. My first thought: He's dead. I almost screamed, but Max ran in front of me and burrowed my face into his chest. I couldn't stop the tears from flowing. A light turned on, filling the room with red.

"Don't be dramatic, he's alive."

I turned to the voice. A woman was on the stairs in the back of the room, hand near the light switch. The worst part about her was that she looked completely normal. She was in pajamas and her hair was messy. She had no hint of malice in her face.

Adam spoke up. "Marissa, right? My name is Adam, and I would like to take him home. Please."

Marissa chuckled. "This is his home. He belongs with me. And you just broke into my house, remember? No one would blame me if..."

I heard the click-clack of metal as she reached behind her. She pulled out the gun and aimed it at Adam. I cried more. I wished I could be more helpful, but I wasn't. Apparently, when the chips are down, I'm useless. In the span of a day, my boyfriend was kidnapped, I was traded off to Charlotte, and now my other boyfriend is going to die. Great!

A thought entered my head. A single thought. A theory. I begged everything in the universe that it would work. I let go of Max, and I stepped in front of Adam.