Young Heroes

Light

*Sophia's POV*

We'd spent half a day searching through the city of Genoa and by the time we'd finished, the sky was starting to glow a soft, orange color with dark clouds streaking the canvas. Great. It was gonna rain. That wouldn't make it harder to find her.
Nathan sighed and weakly raised his hands. We had decided to regroup behind a coffee shop and head to Turin.
  "Let's get going." Nathan breathed half heartedly. He was visibly exhausted mixed with hopeless, with heavy bags under his eyes, scuffed up hair, and an unshaven jaw. I never stopped to think how stressful this must've been for him. Without Ash, he's pretty much second in line to run the show, so he's been handling finding me, Joe, and Ash. Then to find Joe dead. Then to find Ash vanished. Now he has to take the lead in finding her. He probably hasn't had a break in a week. He looks like he just finished finals.
  I gripped his hand and we all braced to teleport.
  In a flash, we were in what I assumed was Turin. I looked up and around and it was absolutely beautiful. The buildings looked hand carved and rich with history, but my amazement was dulled by the ominous clouds rolling in slowly.
"Ok let's get started." Carson said, getting ready to sprint off.
Once again, I took Asena and she travelled along side of me. My powers were that of a type of sorcery. I could produce a deep purple, mystical power to use to my advantage, and I could also lull people to a deep sleep with a touch of my finger tip. Using my powers, I could levitate myself, so I also did the same for Asena.
Like the rest of us, I still haven't reached my full capabilities, so even I wasn't completely sure what my exact powers were. All I knew was that I was a sorceress of some type.
I floated along by with Asena in tow and stopped at my first of what would be many buildings. We stopped on the roof and I peered in through the glass ceiling. Asena peeked her head over so her wet nose was pressing against the glass and I couldn't help but smile. Smiling felt so foreign on my face it felt peculiar, and that mad me sad. I really loved the idea of having a team dog. We needed her.
I knelt down and scratched her face as her tail wagged.
I laughed and wrapped my arms around her neck, resting my cheek to her spine.
"I know I'm gonna love having you around, Asena." I whispered more to myself then her.

*Ashlyn's POV*

  I woke up once again to the sound of music, gently flowing from...everywhere really.
  I had fallen asleep, and as usual, I woke up to nothing but pain. My abdomen was already dangerously sore, and the cuts on my face and body throbbed dully. I raised my head and felt the familiar pain in my neck from the uncomfortable position.
  'Love ain't you on a sidewalk in your new dress all alone...'
  My ears perked. They weren't playing any music...they were playing my favorite music.
  'Sad movies are for crying on the couch, there in the dark...'
  "Good song? Hm...I never had a particular taste for country." Said the man. I raised my head weakly and then stopped myself. Not like there was anything to see.
  'The way you're talking sounds like he's somebody you should hate...'
  "Can you please give me some light? I deserve that." I said through gritted teeth.
  "Why would you deserve that, princess?"
  "I've put up with your shitty breath and attitude."
  "Hardly an argument."
  "You broke my rib."
  "An accident."
  "Don't talk to me casually like we're friends. I will get out of here and after I do, I'm coming for your ass first." I said with every ounce of aggression I had.
  "A cute attempt at intimidation, but patience, my dear. Our plans don't involve killing you, no. We have high hopes for you. Your friends however..."
  Suddenly a screen appeared before my eyes, and it was the first light I'd seen in days, so I was temporarily blinded. Luckily the screen was dimmed or I could say hello to permanent eye damage.
  I squinted and saw the screen was split into three. In each one, I saw one of my friends and I felt my heart swell, and my chest constrict at the same time. They were each running, jumping rooftops, or sneaking around buildings. Nathan was leaping across an open gap between two buildings, Sophia was peering through a ceiling window, and Carson was running through buildings in two seconds each. I assumed they were searching for me.
  "We can't have this. The WP-8gency doesn't take our threats amd warnings seriously enough, so we're done playing nice. You showed us your match. We're gonna show you our bonfire."
"Well it takes a match to start a wild fire asshole." I growled through gritted teeth.
I could almost feel his death glare on my skin, and I was actually surprised when I didn't feel a fist across my cheek.
"I can't believe you're the one we've got hopes for...would've thought it'd be the Aquinoa one, or whatever." He mumbled under his breath moodily.
  "It's Aquino. Quinoa is a grain, dumbass."
   "Shut. Up. You never stop talking."
"Can you at least turn on a light in here? I just want to see the light." I said desperately.
There was a long, hesitant pause and I felt the familiar sensation of his presence leaving. I let out a breath, and I felt the pain of being alone return, and it was almost worse then a broken rib.

I was awoken to a dim light that filled the room and my eyes. It took my eyes about 30 seconds to adjust and the room finally evened out.
I looked around and saw things for the first time in what felt like weeks. The room was completely white and pristinely cleaned to my surprise. I didn't see a door anywhere and I frowned. The walls were bare and the room was about as big as you'd expect a cell to be.
"Like your room?" I heard from the corner.
I flinched and my head shot up. I turned to the corner to the far left to see a man standing there. He was tall with a thin build, his body clad in dark clothes. His black turtle neck hugged his biceps in a way that I knew he was ripped, and that wouldn't boat well for me if he was stronger then I.
  He took a step toward me and a part of me wished the lights were still out. His large, combat boots came down heavily on the floor with each step he took.
  I stared back at his masked face with unyielding fury in my eyes, holding my stare.
  "So," I started icily. "you the boss or the bitch?"
  "I'm the bit—I am the right hand man, Miss Chamberlin." He said in a very formal, even tone.
  "Same thing."
  "Don't test me, darling." He said warningly. "I'll take away your light privileges." By now he was just inches from my face, and I could feel his warm breath on my skin that smelled of spearmint. I had only now noticed he had a slight accent when he spoke.
  "Hiding behind a mask like a coward and hitting imprisoned girls. You should be ashamed." I said venomously.
  His hand came up and whipped across my cheek, and my head jerked to the side with it. He caught it, and held my face in one hand, likely leaving bruises on my cheeks.
  "Careful. You wouldn't want to be scared in the dark...alone." He said slowly, emphasizing every word with danger. My skin crawled but I didn't let it show.
  "I'm not afraid of you." I snarled, glaring.
  We stared each other down for a few seconds, and all I could see of his face was his striking blue eyes that shone with hate.
  He released my jaw and began to walk swiftly to the right side of the room.
  "Don't get too comfortable with the view of your room. You won't be here long." He said over his shoulder, and with that, he vanished through the wall.

*Sophias POV*

  It had begun to rain about a half an hour ago, but now it was really coming down. The space ahead of me was thick with a sheet of rain.
  I tapped my earpiece. "Guys!" I had to shout so I could be heard. "I'm not finding anything maybe we should move onto Milan!" I shouted. I was getting more worried and stressed by the minute, and I was becoming more and more scared we wouldn't find her.
  In a second, Nathan appeared next to me out of nowhere.
  "I thought for sure we had her." He said sadly. I tilted my head and looked at him sympathetically. I knew how he felt.
  "Ok, she's gonna be a Milan. We have to trust that, ok? Don't lose hope. Even if she's not there, there are other places in Italy she can be—" I reasoned.
  "Great so we just have to look all over Italy! No problem!" He bursted out suddenly, making me flinch. "I'M GOING TO KILL THESE PEOPLE!"
  "Nathan, calm down. Let's just get Carson and go. You haven't slept. You need to re-energize. We need you to get some food." I said, tapping my earpiece just when Carson's voice filled my ear before I could talk.
  "Guys! I think I've got them!" He shouted excitedly.
  Nathan looked at me with wide eyes and I looked back at him, equally as shocked. Nathan was beginning to tap out and I could tell, so it was time I stepped up and took over.
  He took my hand and we were next to Carson in a second, on the roof of a car dealership.
  "Man, Ash's eyes would've come in handy right about now..." Carson muttered. "Guys, look I passed this place and thought it was a regular car dealership so I passed it. But I was double checking my rounds and realized. It's abandoned." He said, opening the ceiling window and pointing inside.
  He was right. It looked like there wasn't a speck of dust anywhere, but the only thing was that none of the machinery was working and it was dark.
  "Let's go." I said, gliding inside and gently bringing down Asena with me. Carson and Nathan came down their own way and I looked around.
  The place looked normal. Like it had just been cleaned. I began walking around and when I entered an office, I found forms of eviction, and a bankruptcy file. It was pretty clear what happened. I guess they just abandoned all the vehicles here though. 
  I began skimming through the office and I knocked a glass ornament off of the book shelf. I cursed as it fell to the floor and shattered to pieces. I bent down to try sweep it up when my back bumped the book shelf and I knocked over several books.
  "Shit." I muttered. I turned and saw the ground begin to shake all around me. Nathan and Carson came running inside.
  "What's going on?" Nathan asked, alarmed.
  "I-I don't know. I knocked over a book..." I stuttered.
  The door had completely opened and revealed another door that looked far too generic after seeing a bookcase door.
  On the plain door there was a folded piece of paper taped to it. Nathan snatched it off and unfolded it. We crowded around and read it and the two words on the paper settled in my stomach like lead.
  'She's gone.'