The Dark Realm

Gone

Luke's heart skipped a beat. Where did she go. Frantically, he started searching all over the Eiffel Tower's observation deck they were at. After looking all around he circled back to the spot she had been standing.

He just noticed a gray note stuck to the ground. It read in an extremely nice handwriting: You lose. -Prince Max of the Dark Realm.

Luke gripped the note in his hand hard. He sat down on the deck and put his head in his knees. He lost her. He lost his best friend. It was all his fault. He shouldn't have turned his back on her.

He rode down in the elevator full of disappointment. He called Emily to see where they were now. She told him that they were at a small café near the museum. He met them there.

"Hey, Luke, where's Lilly?" Michael asked. He noticed the look on Luke's face and realized something was wrong. Luke's head was partially down and he looked full of guilt.

"Oh no. She didn't reject you, did she?" Jade's voice was soft and full of concern.

"I can't see Lilly rejecting him. It's just not like her. I always thought she liked him back. Where is she anyway?" Tyler questioned.

"It's worse, far worse." Luke set the note down at the table. Emily grabbed it and read it aloud.

"You lose. It's signed by Max."

"I turned my back to answer Emily's call. When I turned back around she was gone. It's all my fault." Luke slumped down into another chair.

"Luke, it's not your fault."

"Yes, it is!" Luke exclaimed, trying to take the blame. If only he hadn't of turned his back.

"No it's not, Luke! Lilly can handle herself. She's not a child who needs constant supervision! Even if you were watching what could you do about it. This Max guy has all sorts of magic tricks up his sleeve. What do you have?" Michael's tone was angry and demanding, but in an understandable way.

"He's right, Luke. What could you have done? It's not your fault. It's Max's fault." Emily placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. She had finally agreed with Michael on something. Luke clutched the table, anger bubbling up inside him. She was right. It was Max's fault. He was going to make him pay for taking his best friend. He was going make sure of it.

"What do you suppose we do?" Nate asked. "We can't just let them take her. We have to do something!" He pounded his fist on the table.

"I say we go to the Dark Realm and teach him a lesson!" Michael stood up. Emily stood up too.

"Oh yeah? And how do you propose we do that? He's a prince with an army! We're just a couple of teens who can barely fight! What do you thinks going to happen?" Emily screeched. Michael went silent for a second before spluttering.

"Well- I- we- we can't just let them steal her away! We have to fight for her! She's our friend, one of our best friends, and she'd do the same for us. We have to help her."

"And getting our asses kicked is how we're going to do that?" Emily countered, sharply. She rarely swore, so the group was  taken aback in surprise.

"We can't just do nothing!" Michael argued.

"Of course not! There are probably others who want to oppose the Dark Realm. We have to find them and we have to train. That's the only way that we'll be prepared."

"How long is that going to take?!" Michael screeched.

"Probably at least a couple months."

"I can't wait a couple months! She's there right now!" Luke stood up too.

"And there's nothing that we can do about it right now!" Emily exclaimed. Luke relaxed. As usual she was right.

"You're right. I'm sorry."

"Thank you, now I suggest that we head back to the hotel. We have a lot to do and no where to start. I suggest that we go home. We haven't seen our families in three weeks and they are expecting us to be home soon. It's just as good a place as any to start." Everyone nodded at her statement.

Luke moped down the street as they walked. They hailed some cabs. Luke didn't say a word the entire time. He was too busy thinking.

He thought about Lilly. He didn't care if she never returned his feelings. He didn't care if she fell in love with someone else. He just wanted her home safe and happy, away from this mess she was stuck in.

He thought about all the training he was going to do. He thought of Max and how he was going to regret stealing his best friend away. He thought of the five stages of grief: shock and denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance. He definitely was shocked, angry, upset, and would trade anything to get her back. He was feeling most of the stages all at once.

An hour later they stopped at the little hotel. Luke still didn't say a word as he went upstairs to the guys' room. He silently packed his bag, prepared for what was next to come, and went to sleep.

At least he tried to. To many emotions were flooding his mind. He loved her, he missed her, he was angry with himself and with Max, he was upset that she had been taken and furious at the same time, and he was unsure about what was going to happen next. Would they find people to help them get her back? Where were they?

Luke didn't manage to get very much sleep that night.