Magium - Project Zero (A What-If Story)

Chapter 11 - Blue Eyes

From a bright light to complete darkness, the group finds themselves in a dark room. The sudden teleportation of the group doesn't seem to interrupt their thoughts however, as Hadrik and Daren begin to shout in anger and frustration. Rose, however, stays silent, while Barry holds on to Kate, who is still knocked out.

"Damn it all!" Daren shouts. "That wretched banshee! I should have--"

Daren's monologue is soon cut as everyone's bodies suddenly get shocked with an electrifying paralysis spell.

"It's that spell they talked about!" Barry manages to say.

"I can't move at all!" Hadrik's voice appears from the darkness.

"I should have purified her when I had the chance!" Daren keeps shouting.

"Who..." Kate's voice suddenly appears soft yet still bearing her characteristic cold nature. "Who... is... grabbing... me?..."

"Uh..." Barry says, as he notices the feel of her skin on his hands. "Sorry about that."

"Get your hands off--" Kate tries to say, before suddenly feeling the paralysis effect and is somewhat shaken by it.

"Hey hey," Barry says, trying to calm her down. "We better get along here, none of us can move so we are stuck in this position for now."

"May the gods smite me down right now..." Kate mutters under her breath, as she realizes that she, in fact, can't move at all.

"Hey, Rose?" Daren says, in a more calm tone. "Rose, are you there?"

There is no response.

"I'm so sorry for having you here, if we had brought you with us, this wouldn't have happened," says Daren.

"There was nothing we could do." Kate says. "It was suspiciously quiet... up until I heard the snap of a branch and turned around. But there was nothing there. By the time I realized what was happening, it was too late. The last thing I remember is being hit on the head with a hard object... I'm so sorry, Rose, I should have been more attentive to our surroundings-- hey? What was that I just felt?"

"What do you mean?" Daren asks, confused. "I don't feel anything."

"Neither do I," Hadrik says. "I don't feel anything!"

There is a small pause before Kate speaks again.

"I felt it again," she says. "Is that... tapping?"

"What are you talking about?" Daren asks.

"Something is--" Kate suddenly stops talking, and her tone grows colder. "You idiot, is that your finger?"

"Well..." Barry says, in an embarrassed tone. "While you two were talking, I noticed that I could still feel my fingers, and if I focused hard enough I think I could move my hands."

"Then get them off me!" Kate shouts.

"Okay, okay," Barry says, in a hurried tone. "I'm trying, relax."

There is yet another pause before the sound of a hard thud followed by Kate's grunting.

"Damn it!" She says, fury in her voice. "Couldn't you have been gentler?!"

"What part of 'I can barely feel my hands' don't you get?" Barry retorts.

"Oh, when we get out of here I'm going to--"

"Enough!" Daren says, shutting down both Barry and Kate. "There is no time for that, we have to find a way to get rid of this paralysis spell and get out of here. Getting Rose to safety is our first priority. So, let's get to it!"