Where the Roots Begin

Chapter XXII

You whom I could not save

Listen to me.

-Czeslaw Milosz

When she was down there in complete darkness, she remembered the only spell Dmitri had completely taught her how to do.

She put her hand in front of her, and whispered "ubi fumus, ibi ignis".

She didn't need the paper or the special ink. She didn't need the smoke first. Her hand immediately lit up in flames.

She was in a small room with moss on the walls, and a damp smell. It was humid. It was creepy.

And then she saw, in front of her, two bodies sitting in a corner. Two bodies with their hands tied together, and their feet chained to the floor.

Two bodies that looked a lot like Kaiya and Nirav.

"Alessandra?" The one that looked like Kaiya asked. But it couldn't be Kaiya. It couldn't be the girl she had met at the Labs because she should be over there. Or back home.

"Alessandra, is that you?" She asked again.

"Kaiya" Alessandra whispered.

It was her. It was. But how could it be?

The girl smiled and shook Nirav.

"Ravy. Ravy, wake up. Alessandra is here to save us".

But then Alessandra heard footsteps.

"Shit, he's back" Kaiya whispered. "You need to hide".

Dmitri was here.

Think.

She hadn't left any mess to signal she was here. She put the books back, cleaned up the bottle, and closed the trap door after going down.

Maybe Dmitri just came to pick something up?

Alessandra blew the fire in her hand out, remembering that as well. If he was here for her friends, they were screwed, but if he was here for something else, there wasn't any reason for him to come down.

He walked around upstairs. They heard his footsteps going from one side of the cabin to the other in complete silence.

The fear was palpable.

There were more footsteps, and then Dmitri left.

The three of them had been holding their breaths and let them out at once.

They waited one, five, ten minutes, and when nothing happened, Alessandra lit up her hand again.

"What- did you just-"

"I'll explain later, now I have to get you out".

"Alessandra?" Nirav asked, blinking slowly.

"Good morning" Kaiya whispered softly.

"Come on, we have to move".

"No" Kaiya said, suddenly serious.

"No? What do you mean no?"

"Do you have a plan? Where will we go?"

"We'll figure it out".

"No. We'll be here, don't worry, but we need to plan this. And you have some explaining to do".

"What do you mean?"

"I mean did you just light up your hand on fire? Who are you and who was that and where are we?"