Fading Like A Dead Star

Rendezvous

Matthew's eyes fluttered open. How long was he out? It couldn't have been too long, judging by the position of the sun, which he could see from the tiny window of his cell. The cramped space held nothing in it. Just floors, walls, a single door, and ceiling. Not even chains. He concentrated hard, trying to determine if there was a magical barrier. Nope.
They want me to leave.
The realization struck Matt as rather odd. Why have him leave when he could stay here? He decided he wouldn't worry about "why" right now, he would worry about getting the hell out of here.
He dashed for the door. It slid open easily and he sprinted out. He was unnaturally fast, having only one goal in mind:
Dominic.
The word fueled his desire to keep going. Matthew kept running, unwilling and unable to stop. He found a door on his right, the first one he'd found since emerging into the long corridor. He skidded to a halt and thrusted the door open. He found someone inside, but it wasn't Dominic.
"Bells, I-"
WHAM!
Chris lay on the ground, clutching his face. Matthew's punch had hit the taller man squarely in the jaw, but Matt had pulled the punch, not quite wanting to break the man's face. No, he had other things to do.
"Bells, it wasn't me. It was a rogue demon. Bugger let me watch the whole thing before leaving on its own. Then Silver wouldn't listen to me-"
"It wasn't Silver. It was a WITCH. Pretended to be Tom when you three got back from your mission. Then it got her. Said she wouldn't be okay for long." Matt explained what had happened as quickly as possible. "Also, I forgive you."
Chris snorted at Matt's attempt at a joke. "Then let's go look for her, and Tom."
"And Dominic."
Chris smiled, in a very genuine and approving way. "And Dominic. You know, I'm surprised you didn't realize it wasn't me. You know that I really don't give a fuck as to who you shag-"
"Shut it."
Chris laughed, making the dreary prison seem a bit less daunting. They exited the room and continued down the corridor, coming across another door soon after. Tom was inside, and ran out as quickly as he could.
"I didn't think that the door might not even be unlocked. I'm a bloody idiot," Thomas scolded himself.
Matt shook his head. "No, you didn't do anything wrong. I don't blame you for thinking that. Chris didn't notice it either."
The tall man turned his head away, trying to avoid looking at Matthew, who grinned.
"Now come on, we have to find Sil-"
She's not here.
The voice echoed across the room, eerie and terrifying. Lee.
Matthew continued. "We have to find Silver and Dominic. Let's go."
They aren't here. You won't find them. Just go home now, while you still can.
Matt told himself to ignore the voice, when suddenly a thick, black smoke began to pour into the room from the cells they had just been in. It encircled the three men, blinding them, choking them. The only way Matt could even tell they were alive was by the sound of their coughs, growing more frequent and loud as the smoke grew thicker. Then, it was gone. All at once, they realized where they were.
The great hall. Back at MUSE HQ.
"FUCK!" Matt slammed his fist down on the table, breaking the skin between his knuckled open. He sucked in a breath, and Chris rushed over. Chris performed a quick spell, healing the broken and bloody skin. Matt mumbled a quick "thanks" to Christopher, who gave a small nod in return. They found Thomas, kneeling behind a table. What the hell was he doing?
Matt ran towards Tom, preparing to scold the man for wasting time. But then, as he dashed around the table, he saw what Tom was staring at. Matt collapsed to his knees.
In front of Tom was a massive square, hovering in the air, almost as if a projector were showing a movie. But it was magic, and Matt was fairly certain it had been created by Lee. The image was the most terrifying part.
On the screen was a video of two people. One was a blonde man, wearing tight yellow pants and a black button-down shirt. His sleeves were rolled up, and he was kneeling by someone else, a girl who was propped against the wall. Her curly hair was matted and dirty, her black shirt and blue jeans torn. Her eyes were closed, as though she were only sleeping. Her skin was deathly pale, and the man was desperately shaking her shoulders as if trying to wake her.
Dominic and Silver.
Matt heard himself choke out a sob, and he hurried over to where Tom was, hoping to see what had happened to his friends.
Dominic was desperately trying to wake Silver, but it wasn't seeming to work. Suddenly, he spun around, protectively wrapping his arms around her. Someone was coming. A large hand lifted Dominic up, pulling him away from Silver. Another hand lifted Silver up. The view shifted to a table. It was made of stone and had strange markings on it. A hand came into view, laying Silver on top of it. Dominic was placed near her. He was screaming, but he wasn't trying to get closer to her. That was when Matt noticed the shimmering layer of magic separating the two. Dominic was shrieking, tears streaming down his face. Tiny bolts of lightning began to flicker around the inside of the hemisphere of magic. They grew larger and larger until they finally stopped entirely. Then, without warning, massive bolts the color of coal shot out, slamming into Silver. Her mouth opened in a scream, her back curving into an arch under her. She rolled onto her side, curling into the fetal pose. The electricity dissipated, leaving Silver shaking on the table. The hemisphere shimmered out of existence, and Dominic rushed up to her, shouting a word that moved his lips into the same position, over and over.
"Silver! Silver! SILVER!"
The screen was gone. Just like that, the only thing connecting Matt to Dominic and Silver was gone. He shrieked in despair.
"NO! YOU BASTARD! LEE, WHAT DID YOU DO TO HER?!"
Chris slid his arms under Matt's armpits, dragging him away, while Tom sat, unmoving. His lower lip trembled. Matthew continued screaming as Chris dragged him away, only yelling one thing:
"WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

~

Dominic awoke, unsure of where he was. His mind was foggy, but it cleared away fairly fast. He remembered Lee knocking out him and Matt, but where was Matt?
His question wasn't answered, but as he turned to his right, he saw a familiar face:
Silver.
She was propped up against the wall, her head tilted slightly towards her shoulder. Her skin was pale, ghostly pale. Her eyes were closed, her breath coming in shaky wisps.
Dominic shook her shoulders gently, not wanting to hurt the girl. But she didn't wake up. He screamed her name. "Silver! Wake up! Are you okay?!" All to no avail.
The door slid open, and three people walked in. No, they weren't people. They were WITCHS. They walked over to Dominic, and he shielded Silver from them.
"Stand aside," the right-most WITCH said. Dominic didn't budge.
"If he doesn't want to move, then we can move him, Gabe," a familiar voice said. Lee. He turned to the WITCH on the left. "Everest, move the boy."
The WITCH called Everest snatched up Dominic in one quick motion. Lee reached over and carefully lifted Silver up, and moved her onto a small table in the middle of the room. He laid her down on it, and a shimmering hemisphere that was tinged black appeared.
"What are you going to do to her?"
Dominic didn't care how angry they might get. He was more worried about Silver. Everest set him down gently, and Lee bent over to look at him.
"You want to know what we're doing?" His tone was simple, merely asking a question. But his eyes were almost pitch black, empty of life and emotion.
"Yes. Tell me what you're going to do."
Lee smirked, but the smile didn't reach his eyes.
"Just an... Experiment. We're going to see just how far she can bend before she breaks."
"What does that mean?"
Gabe snickered. Lee's smile grew.
"We want to see if she can become one of us."

~

Matthew woke up covered in a cold sweat. Chris had dragged him to his room, forcing him into bed. Had Chris used a spell to make him sleep? It didn't matter right now. Matt had to tell Chris what he'd seen. He dashed for the man's room, not bothering to knock. He threw the door open and rushed over, waking Chris.
"Get up! GET UP, YOU BLOODY IDIOT!"
Chris nearly fell out of his bed, leaping up and turning to Matt.
"Bells! What's wrong?"
Matthew swallowed. He explained what he'd seen.
"But... What does all that mean?" Chris asked.
"I... I don't know. But they're going to hurt Silver. They already have. And... They have Dominic too. They don't just have him because they like looking at him. They want to do something to him too. I don't know what, but it won't be good."
Chris nodded. Neither man knew how they would do this, but they both knew what they had to do.

Silver... Dominic... I'll find you.