Fire & Ice

ch. 16

DANIEL

I felt like a complete failure as Jamie and I trekked through the woods to find the others. I'd promised myself days ago that the next time I saw Jordan, I would kill him. I had tried. 

But I failed. And unfortunately, during the battle, I'd drained my energy until there was none left, and once it was over, I was left extremely weakened and barely able to stand. 

Jamie was supporting most of my weight as we walked through the trees. She didn't seem to mind, but I could tell that she was getting tired after about five minutes of walking. She'd drained a lot of her energy too, and she was still bleeding from the cut on her stomach. 

"So if there are more stones out there, do you think we should try to find them before Jordan does?" she asked, panting. 

"I don't know. I honestly don't even know where to start," I answered. "I wish Mom and Dad had given us some type of clues about all of this." 

"Maybe there's a book or something? I bet if we went back to the city we'd find some information." 

I didn't have the energy to glare at her, so I just sighed. "I know. I want to go back too, you know." 

"Then let's do it." She stopped walking, pulling me to a halt. "We can literally go right now." 

"What?" 

"I've supported you for this long, so why not? I can probably use my powers to get us pretty far. And then when I get tired, you can take over, and--" 

"Jamie..." 

"No, don't think about it! I know impulsive decisions aren't your thing. But I need to go back because I literally can't sleep. Come on, Danny, please?" She started to pull her ring out of her pocket, which she'd put away in order to help me without us hurting each other. 

As much as I wanted to help her, I hesitated. Jamie's last nightmare wasn't just terrifying for her--it was also terrifying for me to see her like that. And to see the couch burning. But even though she'd finally opened up to me, I knew that we'd be playing right into Jordan's hands if we attempted to head back now. 

Before I could figure out how to reply, a hole opened up in the ground right next to our feet, scaring the shit out of us both. "Guys! You made it!" Adrian whisper-shouted. 

"Oh thank goodness," I breathed. 

"Come on," he said, descending a ladder into the ground. I started to move, but Jamie grabbed my arm. "Danny?" 

"What?" 

"You know what, forget it! I knew it was stupid to ask you," she muttered, breaking away from me and heading down after Adrian.

I began my slow descent, sighing again. Two steps forward, one step back. As much as I wanted to get Jamie and the others back, it was just too dangerous now. But maybe if we could get settled and recovered again, we'd be able to return...

The first thing I noticed about the cellar was how large it was. It was modeled like an underground cabin, complete with pull out beds and even air conditioning. There were supplies stacked along two of the walls. Before getting here it didn't seem like it would fit thirteen people, but everyone pretty much had their own little space. 

"You made it!" Jas called out, rising with Natalie from one of the beds. They'd been sitting with Ethan and Adrian. "Did you fight?" Nat said upon noticing our battle wounds. 

"Yes, obviously," Jamie snapped, holding her stomach.  

I still didn't have the energy to combat my sister, so I followed up with, "Jordan brought four Stormtroopers with him. Jamie and I managed to take care of them, but it turned out that Jordan wasn't actually physically present. He'd somehow made a Holo that was a version of himself."