Crystal Powers

~28~

They looked at the directions and eventually found the right way to the school.

According to the map, it was farther away than they had thought. Instead of a journey of a few days, it was now going to be about a week and a half.

Camden sighed as the sun slowly went down. He had a feeling deep in his heart that they were going nowhere. That this school wasn't really real. That this school was really just a joke, but of course, he had to keep it to himself. He looked at the rest of the team and saw how they all looked tired and exhausted.

"Let's take a break, we probably need one," he suggested.

They went to a random spot and they all just flopped onto the ground.

"Yeah, I definitely needed this," Phoenix whispered.

The next day, they all slept in.

When Sapphire, the first one to wake up, saw the sun high in the air, she lightly shook the rest of the sleeping children, trying to wake them up.

After they had realized how long they had slept in, they shot up and quickly made their way.

"Oh man, did we really sleep in for that long?" Dawn said, looking at how bright the sun shone in the sky.

"I guess so," Phoenix mumbled, still a little drowsy.

~~

Ceren groaned as he lifted his head up from the ground.

He was hit pretty hard by the waves. He slowly lifted the rest of him and attempted to get up. He looked around and saw that he was in an empty forest, with a few corpses around him.

He looked down and saw the deteriorating corpse of one of the children only a few feet away. He wasn't sure what to feel about it. He killed someone, yes, but that was his job.

Was it really worth it though? Was it worth going through all of that, just to make his parents proud of him being successful in his job?

He shook his head. No, it wasn't fair. He took his eyes away from the corpse and remembered some of the events that had happened. Is this who he really is? A killer?

He limped as he went towards the path where he assumed that the kids went through. He was way too...confused to make up a sure decision.

As he walked throughout the forest. he contemplated how to gain the trust of the kids back, but he knew that it would be one of the biggest challenges in his life.

~~

"I have an idea." Camden suddenly blurted. All the heads turned to look at the black-haired boy.

"Speak, child," Sapphire said.

"Why don't we go back to the city? We could get in touch with our families one last time before we would be off to school and such. It would be nice just to surprise them and we could chat for a bit. I was thinking that we stay for a few days." he said, making the rest of their eyes widened with surprise.

"I-I guess we can do that." Dawn stammered.

This might sound a bit harsh, but they sort of forgot about their families. They thought that they wouldn't see them again, and that was that, but now hearing the idea Camden had, their thoughts were reconsidered. With all the drama that happened in the past few days or so, it would be nice to have a break.

"Do you think we would get caught if we flew to town?" Phoenix asked.

"There's a chance, but since they have already found one child dead, it would probably be enough for them to have like a big party or something, so I think we're fine for the most part." Sapphire shrugged.

"Well, if we want to risk it. We should be dropped off where the park in...Red Oak was it called?" Dawn said.

Quickly, Phoenix teleported away.

The two girls sighed and rolled their eyes at their friend.

"Well he sure listens," Dawn mumbled.

Camden took Dawn's and Sapphire's hands. "Ready?" he asked.

They nodded, as they flew to the park.

~~

Once they had reached the park, they looked at all the equipment that was there.

Not many people go to this park because it's a bit shady-looking, with a half-broken swing set, a metal merry-go-round, and a slide that was a mysterious mossy green color. It looked like something haunted, but really it just needed some care.

Camden, Dawn, and Sapphire found Phoenix sitting on one of the non-broken swings, kicking some rocks. "Well thanks for waiting for us," Sapphire said. Phoenix looked up and smiled, "No problem."

"Well, should we be on our way now?" Dawn asked, looking around. They all began to move towards town, hoping that they wouldn't be completely recognized.

The team walked through the streets, admiring the pretty lights.

Normally, they wouldn't be able to see the lights since of curfews and such.

The street lights were on, and they were decorated with a few orange ribbons tied around the base of it. It was fall, and the town liked to celebrate the seasons by decorating the city's lampposts with various things, like flowers, ribbons, or even banners.

They walked along the sidewalk, enjoying their time back home.

Once they were done admiring the city's beauty, they began walking in the direction of the children's homes.

They started off to go to Camden's house first since he said that he lived close to the city.

He sure was right, because right as they turned the corner, they were on his road. Camden practically sprinted down the sidewalk as the rest just smiled as they saw his enthusiasm. Suddenly, the boy stopped and stared at a house that they assumed was his.

He lived in a decent-sized house, a dark navy color with some fun lawn ornaments. There were a few lights on in the house, so the kids stepped up the stairs. Camden took a deep breath and pushed the doorbell.

The door opened to a small woman who looked tired. Her eyes were slightly bloodshot and she had deep under-eyes, making her look like a panda. She had her hair half up, and she was wearing comfy pajamas. Her panda-like eyes widened as she saw the black-haired boy right in front of her.

"C-Cam?" she whispered, as Camden pulled his mother into a hug.