The Truth

Chapter 24

-Cindy-

A ray of sunlight pierced through the opaque curtains, landing right on my eyes. I groan and pull the blankets over Jack and I. Opening my eyes, I see him looking at me.

"Good morning." He says, brushing my morning hair out of my face. I smile and snuggle up close to him.

"Why can't we stay like this forever? Forget about Zarathos and saving the world." I say and he closes his eyes as if imagining it.

"That would be wonderful. If it wasn't for your brother." he points out. I nod.

"We need to get going." I sigh, not wanting to leave the bed. He kisses the top of my head.

"Everything will be okay. I promise I'll protect you. I promise I won't let anything happen to you." he says. I know he means it, so I smile. The blankets are thrown off of us and the sun hits my face again.

"Well?" Blake is standing there, looking furious.

"Well what?" Jack asks, and I know he's just trying to piss him off.

"Well let's get going." He scowls. I feel Jack's heartbeat speed up and realize he's scared.

"It'll be okay." I say, sitting up and looking at him. "Everything will be okay."

"So what's the plan?" Blake asks and as much as he hates him, he's looking at Jack.

"Zarathos is expecting us any day now, now that he has your brother, so a surprise attack isn't going to work. We're going to have to try to sneak in..." he trails off. Blake snaps his fingers, making Jack jump. "The train ride will be about twenty hours so we should arrive there sometime tomorrow morning." he finishes.

"We'll get there about five in the morning. They surely won't be expecting us that early." I point out. The boys nod. "We can sleep on the train and figure out a plan."

"Well we need to get moving. The train leaves in an hour." Jack says, pointing at the clock. We hurry and pack our things before leaving. After checking out, we run to the train station. They look at us suspiciously, no doubt wondering how three teenagers have enough money for a train ride to Chicago.

"The train is running an hour late today." she smiles at us and we thank her.

"An hour?!" I cry as we walk away. "We aren't going to make it."

"We will." Blake says. He's smiling and it's starting to freak me out.

"Blake, what's so funny?" I ask as we sit in front of a small cafe.

"Oh nothing. I want some coffee, how about you guys?" We shake our heads and he shrugs, walking into the cafe.

"This isn't good. This isn't good." Jack mumbles over and over again. I put my hand on his arm and he looks at me like he's trying to warn me. "This isn't good. We have to get out of here. This isn't good."

"Jack, calm down. I know you're scared, but everything's going to be okay. We can't leave now, we've made it too far." I say softly. He shakes his head and gently grabs my arm.

"Listen to me. We have to get out of here." The urgency in his voice and eyes tells me there's something really wrong. I begin to stand up when a familiar voice speaks from behind, making me shake with fear.

"Going somewhere?" It says. We turn around and see the man with the scar sitting at one of the cafe's outside tables.

"Because I can turn invisible, Jack." he says. Jack jumps.

"You can read minds." he mutters. The man laughs.

"Yes, and I finally decided to get rid of that silly knife." He takes out a gun, pointing it at Jack.

"Ms. Chase, you've caused so many problems." he says to me. Before I have time to react, he's grabbed Jack and is pointing the gun at him. "I was stupid not to recognize you at first. Then after the first time, I knew who I was dealing with. I knew I would be Zarathos's favorite servant if I brought you back alive. Now that you're here, waiting for the train, I finally had the chance to grab you." he laughs and I scream as someone grabs me from behind, covering my mouth. I feel the cold muzzle of a gun pressed against my temple.

"Quiet, girl." The two men laugh and I quit struggling. People walk by like they can't see anything. One lady even bumps into the man holding Jack and smiles at him.

"Excuse me." she says. The man holding me uncovers my mouth.

"Let him go." I demand. At that moment, Blake walks out of the shop with a coffee.

"Blake look out!" I scream, but nothing happens. No one jumps from behind him or points a gun at him.

"Hello boys. Took you long enough." he sneers. My heart stops.

"They work with you?" I whisper. Blake laughs out loud and the two men laugh nervously in response.

"Work with me? Cindy, they work for me." He pulls out a gun from his backpack. "You wanted to know how Zarathos knows everything about you? I've been his spy for years. Finally I'm going to make him proud. Lead the precious Cindy Chase to the train station, my final test. I must admit, it was easier than I anticipated. You were so trusting." I choke on my tears.

"Let Jack go, please." I beg. Blake studies me and nods to the man holding Jack, smiling evilly. What happened next felt like slow motion. Jack began to struggle to get free when. The man took out a dagger from his pocket and sunk it down to the hilt into Jack's side. I scream, tears streaming down my face, as Jack looks at me, shocked. He doesn't make an expression of pain, he just sinks to his knees, clutching his wound.

"No. Please, no! Please..." I sob, my body going limp.

"Oh, save it, he'll live. Maybe." The three boys tie us up to the fence surrounding the cafe. I finally get a good look at the one who held me hostage. He was about Blake's age, and unfortunately handsome. Not nearly as attractive as Jack, but still, too much so to be throwing his looks away on evil.

"It's okay, Jack. You'll be okay, I'll get you through this." I mutter to him. He groans, and leans his head on my shoulder.

-Jack-

The pain didn't hit at first. I felt the knife go into me, but at first I was just shocked. Then the pain took over and I fell to my knees. Dark spots started dancing around my vision as they tied us up. I know I have to stay strong for Cindy, but I'm about to pass out.

"Can you heal yourself?" Cindy whispers.

"Magic..." Is all I'm able to say. I know the knife had magical properties because I had already tried to heal. Or perhaps the wound was just to big. "If I die..."

"Shut up, Jack. You're not going to die, I won't let that happen to you." she says desperately. I don't want to scare her but I have to tell her what to do.

"Cindy just listen. If I die, there's a small basement door around the back of Zarathos's castle. That's how I escaped from the prison. I'm not sure if they know about it, but it's fastest way to get Jason out." I explain. She nods, but tears are falling onto her lap.

"You'll be okay." she mutters, and kisses the top of my head. I close my eyes, wishing I could just bleed out and let all of this be over with.