Once Upon a Time: Ever After High (Book 13)

Ch.45 Stay the night

In their living room, Elena and Olivia held up the magic hand mirror Kim had given them as they watched the image of Brooke in her cell all depressed and looking hopeless.

"Man" Olivia breathed dismally "Look at her, has she gotten skinner since we last saw her?"

"Probably" Elena sighed "They're most likely starving her."

"I can't stand seeing her like this anymore, there has to be a way to Shadow High."

"Well the last time we went to Shadow High it nearly destroyed our stories."

"I know but, there's gotta be another way."

Elena let out a deep sigh while putting the mirror down "We've searched through everything about Shadow High, and we've got nothing, it feels impossible now."

Olivia pressed her hand against her forehead while letting out a stressful moan. But before either of them could say anything, the door suddenly swung open as Aidan and Terrence entered while still limping and covered in bruises and blood.

"Oh my God!" the girl gasped as they ran to them "What happened?!"

The brothers sat down on the dining room chairs while wincing in pain.

"What happened?" Elena demanded.

"Noah happened" Terrence grunted while clutching his arm "He and some guys beat us up in the mines."

"What?" they gasped.

"We had our hands on the Trigger" Aidan added while holding some tissues up his bloody nose "But they stole it from us."

"Wait you guys actually found it?" Olivia remarked surprised.

"Yeah" he muttered, "But now they got it."

"Oh great" Elena grunted while pulling out her phone "Olivia take care of them, I'm gonna call Mira and see if she knows what to do."

She began to call Mira as Olivia went to fetch the first aid kit.

"Yeah?" Mira answered her cell.

"We've got a problem," Elena said, "Lydia has the Trigger."

"What?" she gasped "How?"

"Her douchebag brother beat up Aidan and Terrence in the mines and stole it from them."

"Oh God" Mira growled with frustration before letting out a sigh "Okay look, in order for them to activate it, they need the Dark One's Dagger."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, and as long as we have it, they can't activate it, so we're safe for now."

"Oh okay, but what are we gonna do about it? We can't let them hold onto it."

"I know, but I don't think we should worry about that right now. We should just stick to getting Brooke back, getting rid of this so-called apocalypse, and breaking this damn curse."

"Well the one about getting Brooke back sounds almost impossible" Elena mumbled, "We've searched through everything about Shadow High, and we're not getting anywhere on how to get there without putting everyone's lives in jeopardy like last time."

"Oh boy" Mira groaned "We'll figure something out, right now it's getting late, you guys should probably call it a night."

"Yeah you're right" Elena sighed.

After hanging up, she turned to Olivia who was still helping the brothers with their wounds.

"How you boys feeling?" she asked.

"Still in pain" Terrence mumbled while holding an ice pack to his head.

"What happened to your glasses?"

"Noah stepped on them" he snarled.

"Of course" she grumbled, "You got a spare?"

"Yeah I got one in my car."

"I'll get it for you" Olivia offered while taking his keys and headed out.

"So what did Mira say?" Aidan asked Elena with tissues up his nose.

"Well luckily-" she began while taking a seat next to them "Lydia needs the Dark One's Dagger in order to activate the Trigger, so as long as we have it we're safe for now."

"So does this mean we're not gonna do anything about the Trigger?"

"Mira says we should focus on this apocalypse and getting Brooke back, although getting Brooke back is gonna be hard since we still haven't found a way to get to Shadow High."

"Still?" Terrence remarked just as Olivia entered with a glasses case as she handed it to him.

"What's going on?" she asked as they explained to her about the Trigger "Oh, well at least we can put their worry to the side."

"Yeah but now we gotta worry about Brooke" Elena mumbled while rubbing her arms "And I'm already starting to lose hope that we'll lose her."

"Elena don't say that" Olivia ordered.

"Well what else am I suppose to say? We're nowhere to getting to Shadow High, and the more we wait, the more I feel like she and her friends are close to death, and no matter how much we try, we're not getting close to saving them."

Nobody said a word as they just sat there in sadness. Elena could already feel her eyes began to water as she got up and headed into her room.

"I'll go talk to her" Terrence offered as he set down his ice pack.

"You sure?" Olivia questioned, "I feel like you should stay seated."

"I'll be fine" he assured as he slowly got up and made his way down the hall and into Elena's room where he saw her sitting at the foot of her bed with a look of sorrow on her face.

"Hey" he mumbled as he sat next to her.

She didn't say anything with her hands clasped in front of her.

"Look I know how worried you are" he began "We're all worried about her, but that doesn't mean you should give up on hope. We know she's still alive and that's all that matters."

"Yeah but she might not be alive for long" she muttered "Olivia and I noticed how skinny she's gotten while in her cell, and she just looked so miserable."

A small tear flowed down her cheek as she wiped it away.

"Elena-" Terrence sighed "I don't know what else to say but, I'm not giving up on hope just yet, and neither should you. Look it's been a long day, it's getting late, maybe you should get some rest."

"I would but-" she sniffed "I kinda don't wanna be alone."

He thought for a moment, and then replied- "Do you want me to sleep over?"

She turned to him "Don't you have to go home? What about Darling?"

"Darling's staying over at Kim's tonight. And besides, I don't think Aidan and I should go out at night, we're hurt and we don't know what we can run into."

She thought for a moment, but then grabbed onto his hand and laid her head on his shoulder.

"I guess you can stay the night."