The Arena - The Moon Trilogy - Book #2

Chapter eighteen:

After what seemed like forever, Clarity was finally able to fall asleep. The dull murmur of voices was no longer enough to keep her tired mind from slipping away.

Before she drifted off completely, she had one final thought. I'm sure glad that August didn't do that the first time that we met... 

********

Clarity opened her eyes groggily. There was no sound in the room. She looked around. She was still in Alex's basement.

Then she remembered what had happened the night before... or whenever. She didn't know how long she'd been asleep. August knew where they were. That meant the people who had kidnapped him knew where they were.

She had to tell the others, fast. The people who were after them might already be on the move. Maybe they'd already finished nabbing the others and were on their way to snatch her.

She jumped to her feet. Her legs were still a little shaky, and she discovered that she now had a splitting headache, but other than that, she felt fine. She hadn't expected to recover that fast. She shook her head. She had already decided to drop the expectations about this.

She ran upstairs, tripping over her own feet. She struggled to get up the steep staircase, but she eventually managed.

She found them in the dining room, standing or sitting around in a loose circle and talking.

"Guys! I need to tell you something!" Her voice was scratchy and weak, but still loud enough to attract the attention of the room.

"Clarity! Thank goodness you're okay!" Rachel rushed forward and hugged her. Clarity was taken aback by the rare show of affection. "What do you need to tell us?" she added, stepping back.

"They know where we are." She said breathlessly.

"Who?" Clara stood up, frowning.

"The ones that took August." She replied, wishing her voice would clear up more. She sounded like a lifelong smoker.

The only one who didn't look utterly baffled at the news was Johnny. Clarity was too rushed to wonder why.

"We have to get out of here!" she shouted to the best of her ability, but it came out squeaky and just as weak as ever.

"How did they find us?" Sam asked. She felt stung by the skepticism in his voice.

"They found a way to control August." She said urgently, wishing that they were all telepaths so they could just see for themselves why they had to leave as soon as possible. "Now hurry up! They'll be here any second!"

But she was too late. She saw the other's collapse before she felt the sting of the tranquilizer in her own arm.

It worked fast, and her mind filled with fuzz too thick to fight. She fell over but never felt the impact with the floor.

*******

The next thing Clarity heard was a deafening sound. Her ears rang.

It took her a few painful moments to realize that it was helicopter blades whirring. She'd only ever heard the sound far off, but now it was closer than her own heartbeat. It hammered against her eardrums until she was ready to scream.

There was something over her head. A bag or a blanket or something. She felt the rise and fall of someone breathing at her back. She was lying against someone else. She felt like she was boiling alive in her own sweat.