The Five

11. Power of a Name

"Did you find them?" Joe's voice was frantic.

It had all gone wrong. The moment the man came through the door, they knew. The boy's face was full of fear, and the second he laid eyes on his aggressor, he bolted. Sara was on her feet in a second. She moved toward the stranger, hoping to distract him so the boy could make a clean getaway, but he saw right through her. He fired off a spell, making a thick mist rise throughout the restaurant. By the time it was cleared, he was gone. Joe and Sara rushed out the back door, hoping to find Takuma and the others safe and sound, but no one was there. They had all vanished.

"No," Sara said breathlessly. She raked her hand through her hair. "I couldn't find a trace of any of them. You don't think he got them, do you?"

"No. Not all of them. We would have found Takuma's body by now because he would have died before he let him take either one of them. They have to be somewhere in hiding." He threw up his hands in frustration. "But he could have left me a sign."

"They could have just gone back," she suggested. "He would take them back if it was safe, right?"

A flicker of worry crossed Joe's features. "Oh, no."

"What?"

He winced. "Even if they did make it back, they can't get through the barrier. Not without me or you."

To his surprise, Sara looked relieved. "Then they could still be okay. They're probably just waiting for us."

"I hope you're right." He grabbed her hand. "Let's go."

They took off running down the street. Stepping out of the shadows, was the man they were looking for. He watched them run until they were out of his view with a bitter scowl on his face. He had been so close! Sasuke nearly fell victim to him. It would have broken the power of The Five and shattered their collective. He missed his chance again. His fists clenched at his sides.

He turned and walked off in the opposite direction. He used a lot of his energy searching for Sasuke. He didn't want to take a chance of running into Joe and Sara. They were not worth his time. He narrowly escaped the first time he encountered them together. The mist spell was genius. His scowl morphed into a smile.

"Next time," he vowed.

***

Sasuke was amazed by the vastness of the place called Cindermere. He never imagined such a place existed out in the middle of the woods or that he would ever be there. He stopped as soon as he came in the door, his eyes darting in every direction. He had spent so much time running from the man who had come after him. It had been days. It felt nice to finally feel safe. And for a reason he couldn't explain, he felt safe there.

"Follow me," Takuma said.

Divinity flashed him an encouraging look. She seemed so nice.

He blinked a few times, drinking it all in before he started to walk. Takuma led him into a huge room with bookcases in the far corner, a television, and a couch stretching halfway across the room. On the end of the couch was a boy and a girl snuggled up together, who looked to be about his age.

"Aw," Divinity cooed. "So cute. I knew they liked each other."

Takuma stopped short when he saw them, his eyes wide. He marched over to them and started to lay his hand on Freya to wake her up. When he got close, Akashi's eyes popped open, and he grabbed Takuma's wrist. Takuma looked shocked for a second before his shock gave way to a wry grin.

"Okay then. Glad to see you're awake...and alert. We have Sasuke, the last of The Five. Time to get up."

Akashi let go of his wrist immediately. "Sorry. I didn't know it was you."