Far From Home

Phobean

     Kendra stared out of the window of the SUV, tapping her hand rapidly against her knee. Warren sat at the wheel of the car, peering at the neverending road ahead with a determined gaze.

"The road is empty, Warren, can't you drive faster?" Kendra demanded, looking up at her cousin. Warren shook his head.

"We'll do no good for Seth if we're lying dead on the side of the road after crashing for speeding," he replied calmly.

His calmness infuriated Kendra, though she knew that he was just as worried for Seth as she was. But this was their first clue of where Seth may have been taken to since his disappearance a month ago, given to them by a group of fairies that had sensed a great deal of dark magic from a cave some two hundred miles from Connecticut.

It seemed that he had been gone longer. Though he had spent a large part of his disappearance in a deep sleep, which she blamed herself for. She should have been out there, searching for him, and instead she had been sleeping!

Vanessa leaned forward from the backseat."I'm with Kendra on this one, Warren. Whoever took Seth won't care about the speed limit; neither should you."

A smile formed on Warren't lips. "Well, now that you put it like that. . ."

The car lurched forward, pushing Kendra back against her seat and she returned her gaze to the road, now speeding at and past her, a smile spreading onto her lips for the first time in weeks. They were on their way to find Seth. He was coming home.

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The hours after his attempted escape slid past slowly, filled with dread for what was about to come. He almost hated the waiting more than the actual torture. Almost.

Dried blood stuck to his skin from where his wounds had been ripped open in his attempt to escape the minotaurs as they had dragged him back to his prison. Black and blues mounted his skin from where they had held him in a hard grip.

Seth held his eyes closed and fought against tears that wouldn't come. The lack of water had dried him up completely. It was a tease to be so near water, surrounded by it, but even then Seth didn't dare try and drink it. Chances were it was poisonous.

A clang echoed from the door and Seth's blood ran cold. His eyes shot open and he turned as Death walked in with the same minotaurs who had locked him into the chair. Seth tried to gather some spit in his mouth, but was once again reminded that he was just about as dry as a raisin.

As Death neared, Seth could see he was holding a jeweled box in his hand. Seth recognized it as the one he had seen the two centaurs pass over to the Society back at Fablehaven. Seth felt a pang in his heart as he remembered the last time he had seen his home.

Without a word, Death stopped in front of Seth and opened the box. From inside it, he grabbed a rock of some kindt, so black, that it seemed like there was nothing there. The only time Seth had seen black like that was when he had seen pictures of black holes in science class and imagined the soul of his math teacher. He wasn't sure which was darker.

"You might recognize the box, I'm holding," Death finally spoke. His voice sent shivers down Seth's back. "It's the one you tried to run off to tell your family about. If I remember correctly, that didn't go that well for you, did it?" Death sneered. Seth glared.

Death brought the black rock close to Seth's face. "This here, is what we call the Phobean. It has the special ability to-"

"How did you know where I was?" Death stopped talking as Seth interrupted him.