Stonebrook High School

Chapter 39

"Is that...?" Axel froze up and stopped trying to hold Jesse down. The male twin, no longer being resisted against, walked out of Axel's arms and turned around, hands smothering his face. He was crying, unable to stop sniffling.

Gabriel gasped quietly but loud and penetrating enough for the others to be afraid. "That... How is that possible?!"

"Okay, that picture's kind of weird, but can I know who this girl is and what happened?" Magnus said, raising an eyebrow.

Lukas glanced at Magnus with a slight hint of a glare but cleared his throat anyway. "That's our friend. She's Jesse's twin sister. Her name is also Jesse but we call her Jess." Cautiously, he picked up his phone from the floor and stared at the notification, lips thinning to a line. "When Gabriel was escaping with her to his fortress, she was taken by the Witherstorm. We don't know if she's still in there or if she's okay or not, but I guess this picture might give us some hints..."

"I've felt terrible since I left Stonebrook," Gabriel confessed, rubbing his forehead. "I never wanted dear Jess to get hurt."

The blonde lowered his phone and patted the Warrior's back softly. "It wasn't your fault, Gabriel."

The mentioned nodded hesitantly. "I know... but it's hard to not think of the possibilities."

"Wait, so Jess is in the Witherstorm..." Axel went up to Lukas as if he had never argued with him in a cave and took a closer look at the screen. "What about Petra? She's the one who took the picture."

The sudden realization hit Lukas with the force of a meteor burning in the atmosphere and he choked on his unspoken words, covering his mouth. The sudden action troubled Gabriel and Magnus and they instantly asked if he was okay.

"If Jess is in the Witherstorm and Petra took this picture..." Lukas held his head and looked up at the other three with undecipherable emotion, "it means Petra is in the Witherstorm, too."

Gabriel and Axel's eyes widened and they looked at each other as they became aware of the situation. "You're right," Gabriel breathed. He stroked his beard and was deep in thought before he asked Lukas to step to the side with him.

"Lukas," the Warrior began, "this picture proves my highest hopes correct. Before the others came back, remember I told you that I wasn't able to find and save Petra?"

Lukas nodded.

"I believed she was dead, but I hoped she was safe and still living. And look! This picture means she is still alive! She wouldn't be able to take this picture and send it to you if she were unconscious!"

"That's true, but what if both she and Jess are slowly dying? I'm sorry to sound pessimistic, sir, but I don't want to lose either of them. The fact that they are inside that monster is terrifying."

"No," Gabriel directed, "you are not going to think of such things. They are alive, and that is that. We can bring them back. We are not going to lose a single person. I already failed the rest of Stonebrook by being unable to stop the single Wither, so we must do what we can to protect the group and halt the Witherstorms."

"I'll take your word for it, Gabriel, sir."

"Please, simply call me 'Gabriel'."

Lukas shuffled his feet and shaped his mouth into an 'o' form. "Okay, then. Gabriel. If the people the Witherstorm took are still alive then, how are we going to safely destroy it and save them in the process?"

"I don't know yet. When your friend Olivia returns with Ellegaard, we must immediately develop a plan."

"Uhm, excuse me..."