The Return - A Michael Vey Fanfic

Chapter 30

I tried to gasp for breath, I tried to fight for it, but the darkness held me back. The darkness. The darkness. It was all I could see. It was all I could focus on. Trying to make my way through it was like trying to make my way through tar. It was black, sticky, and it liked to stick to me to keep me  from going too far.

I tried to call for help but no sound would emit from my throat. I was alone, completely and utterly alone. I knew that I was dying. There was no way out, no way to save myself and no one to save me.

I would die without my parents ever knowing what had happened to me but, strangely enough, that wasn't what I regretted most. I regretted that I hadn't told my brothers, or my parents, that I loved them before I left, but it was too late for that now.

With the darkness surrounding me, it was my time to go. There was nothing more I could do about it. I slowly closed my eyes and let myself drift off into the pitch black space. Alone. So completely...

Water. It wasn't darkness surrounding me but water.

My eyes snapped open to realized that I was still very much alive and in the eel pool. With the eels.

I did a double take and almost screamed before I remembered that that would release precious oxygen from my lungs. I quickly pawed my way to the surface of the water, not sure how I was even still alive.

I soon broke the surface of the water but didn't yet celebrate. There were still eels in the water that would be very happy to kill me at any given moment.

I pulled myself over the side of the eel tank and dropped at least ten feet to the ground of the empty lab where I finally collapsed and allowed myself to rest. I was cold, wet and somehow still alive but all I could think about was that weird dream state I was in. The darkness surrounding me, I could tell it wasn't just darkness or water, it was something inside me that was keeping a part of me contained, like a treasure chest.

I stare at the dark ceiling of the lab, wondering what all of this meant. The feeling of being trapped within myself,  the fact that I was still alive and that no one was in the lab. If no one was in the lab, I must have been in the tank for a while, but I should have died from the electricity, or the eels. Or at least from the water that should have been filling my lungs and drowning me. Plus, Quentin and Axel wouldn't have left the lab unless they were sure that I was truly dead. Yet I wasn't.

None of this was making sense.

I knew I had to go find my brothers. I knew that perhaps they, or Mackenzie, or Ostin, or Raymond or someone could help me. I was even beginning to think that maybe one of them had set this whole thing up and saved me. After all, it was the only explanation that made sense.

I slowly began to push myself to my feet, as I was in a lot of pain, and lean against the eel tank when I was standing. I was alive but it didn't seem like I was by much. Whatever happened in the eel tank drained me of my energy and it wasn't very pleasant.

I slowly begin to make my way across the room, only stumbling every couple of steps, and eventually make it out of the room.

I look around me to make sure no one was coming then cross the hallway as quickly as I can, to another narrow passageway. Fortunately, I at least remembered the way to the cell.

I continued walking as quietly as I could, scared that Quentin or Tara or Axel or a guard or someone would find me. It's possible that they thought I was dead but that didn't mean they wouldn't find me.

I suddenly heard footsteps farther down the hall and around the corner and froze. Visions of being dropped into the eel tank flashed through my mind. I stumbled backwards to try to hide myself but a group of people came around the corner before I could.

I let out a garbled noise, thinking it was Quentin and Tara and a bunch of guards and turned around to run.

"Emily?" I heard someone call out. I stopped, realizing it was my brother, and looked at him.

"Ethan?" I asked, surprised and stumbled towards him. Ethan, Jacob, Mackenzie, Raymond, everyone,  they were all here. They somehow got out of the cell. Though, Mackenzie, Ryann and McKenna looked different than I'd imagined.

McKenna was Chinese-American whereas Mackenzie was a mix between Chinese and Caucasian. She had black hair and green eyes and skin that a shade darker than white.

Ryann, in the other hand, was Caucasian and she had a full head of dark, read hair that came half way down her back. She was also pretty pale. Not unhealthy pale, just more pale than I had imagined her.

"Emily, how are you still alive?" Raymond asked me, snapping me back to attention.

"Axel told us you were dead," Jacob added as he embraced me then stepped back to allow Ethan to do the same. I could tell that they really thought I was dead as we rarely ever hugged. We weren't the hugging type.

I steadied myself on Ethan's shoulder after he let me go and shook my head. "I have as much an idea as any of you. I woke up above an eel tank and they dumped me in and I thought I was dead but I ended up waking up again. Inside the eel tank and unharmed except for this horrible pain inside me."

Ethan looked at me in worry. "Pain? What kind of pain?"

"Oh, you know, just the normal pain of feeling like my limbs are being torn out piece by piece."

I saw Jacob flinch and could tell he didn't like that description.

Behind me, I heard Mackenzie ask, "wait, so you woke up inside the eel tank?"

"Yeah, in the electric-infested water with two eels swimming around me," I said.

"How is that even possible?"

"You tell me," I mutter and look up at Ostin at that exact moment to see if look of panic stricken fear and realization all over his face.

"You alright?" I ask Ostin but he just shook his head.

"I'm fine, I have something I think O need to tell you though," Ostin said.

"Wait what?" I asked, now more confused than ever. I could see the looks of bewilderment on everyone else's faces too.

"Not now. We need to get out of here first," Ostin said.

"Right," Ethan muttered.

~
Hey, so I have some concept pictures (that means just kind of the basics of what I think they look like) of Mackenzie, Ryann and Emily and I'm going to get some for Jacob, Ethan, Raymond and Axel so do you guys want me to post those? Or would you rather just leave it up to your imagination to describe them? I don't care either way of course but if you do want me to post the concept pictures, go ahead and leave comment saying you do. Thanks!