Chapter 15: Alone in the Dark

I woke up to the smell of sewer, and the sound of my own breathing and the squeaking of rats. I sat up and rubbed my soar head. "H-hello?..." I said into the dark. "Hello?..." There was a shrill, from a rat I suppose, and a shiver ran up my spine. "Anyone there?..." My voice echoed through the room. I heard something behind me, I turned my head. "Hello?" I asked. Now the object was in front of me. "Justin?" I asked. "Hailey? Valerie?..." I waited. "Sasha?" I asked. Then the object came into the light. I winced, no knowing what to expect.

***

"Danni! Danni!" Hailey called. "Daaanni!!! Danni!!!" Valerie shouted. "DANNI!!! DANNI!!!!" Justin cried. "WHERE ARE YOU?!?!" He cupped his hands over his face and sat on a rock. "Oh man... Danni where are you?" Valerie kneeled beside him and patted him on the back. "Don't worry Justin, we'll find her." "Danni!!!" Hailey called. "Danni!!!"

Suddenly an idea sparked in the young blonde's head. "Hey! What about Annysia?!" "Huh?" Justin and Valerie chimed. "Annysia!" Hailey exclaimed. "She can help us!" "Yeah!" Valerie said. "Let's go ask her!" The teens, now excited, began running towards the cave. "Come on Justin! Hurry up!" Valerie commanded. "I'm coming!" he said, yanking a flower out of the dirt.

When they got to the cave, Justin threw in the flower, and the two girls fell down on the cave floor, exhausted. And Justin wasn't far behind them. Suddenly, there was a flash of purple and blue lights, and an angelic figure appeared. But it wasn't Annysia.

***

"Who's there?!" I commanded. "Danni?" the object said, apparently a man. "Huh?" I said, feeling warm breathing on my neck. "Danni is that you?!" the man exclaimed. I looked up and came face to face with Sasha. "Sasha!" I exclaimed. He embraced me suddenly, in a warm tight hug. "Oh thank God you're alright!" he exclaimed. "Why wouldn't I be?" I laughed. Man... This felt... wonderful... The er... hug I mean.

I melted in his arms, he was so warm, and his arms felt so great around me... "Man I sound really bad right now..." I thought. "I would feel even worse if I was still dating that jerk... Jake..." He heard about my disappearance with Sasha and my brother. And yelled at me for doing 'certain things' with him. What was my answer you ask? Oh yeah, 'I WAS WITH MY BROTHER TOO YOU RETARD!!!' Seriously though, I'm not that kinda girl.

"I swear if that jerk would of done anything to you, I would of whooped him into the next dimension!" Sasha yelled, hugging me tighter. "Huh?" I asked. "I don't know what's gotten into him... He's never been like this..." he continued, not hearing my question. "Who?" I asked. "I used to be the one that got him out of trouble... Not him getting me into it... No... No... Something's up..." he said. "WHO?!" I asked. "Oh... Sorry..." Sasha said, letting me go. "It's... my brother..."

He quickly explained what had happened when we had left. "So... You're own brother turned you in for treason? That just doesn't add up... After what happened to your parents... You think he would keep that secret..." I said. "Yeah..." Sasha said. "You would think that. But my brother has changed. I remember one day when we were working as slaves, he got into a fight with one of his best friends from the village. My sister and I tried to stop him but..." He zoned out, as if visiting another time.

"Sasha?" I whispered. "Sasha?"

***

"Sasha! Sasha!" Nina exclaimed. "Sasha come quick!!!" "What happened Nina?" Sasha asked as he put down his hoe. "It's Kiatso, he's gotten I a fight with Yumil!" she cried. Sasha dropped his hoe and began running after his sister. Sasha saw them, they were fighting by the dock, and they never fought. They both sat there and watched, feeling helpless.

"You're dad's the reason we're in this mess I the first place!" Yumil yelled. "Shut up!" Kiatso yelled. "Take that back!" "Never!" Yumil yelled. Kiatso grabbed his arms, and Yumil returned the force. Kiatso, being the stronger of the two, pushed him against a rock wall. "Take it back!!!" Kiatso said through his teeth. "NO." Yumil said.

Kiatso freed one hand and punched Yumil, breaking his jawbone. Nina ran off to find help and Sasha ran towards the boys. "KIATSO STOP!!!" Sasha yelled as he grabbed his older brother's arm. "You guys are best friend! Best Friends don't hurt each other. The two older boy glared at each other for a while, then Kiatso let go, and tuck out his hand. "Friends?" he asked. Yumil wiped the blood from his lip, and then smacked Kiatso in the eye. Kiatso cupped his hand over his eye, and stared at his old friend.

"Hey!" Mr. Derek Fredrickson, their 'master', said. "What do you boys think you're doing?!" Yumil stood up straight and pointed his finger towards Kiatso and said, "He started it sir." Mr. Fredrickson looked at the two boys. Kiatso, down on the ground covering his left eye with his younger brother over him; and Yumil, standing up straight with a bloody lip. "Seems to me like you're the one who started this fight, I know your tongue boy. And look at the facts, he's on the ground with his baby brother over him, and you're standing up with nothing but a bloody lip.

Yumil's eyes grew wide, he knew that he had started the fight, but Kiatso broke his jaw! "You're coming with me, kid." Mr. Fredrickson said, pointing to Yumil. "I'm sure you know the place…" 'The Cellar' is what they called it. Really, it was just an old room in the barn that they locked the 'trouble makers' in for a night or two.

"You're gonna regret this Kiatso!" Yumil yelled behind. "You and your little brother too!" Sasha shivered. "Don't worry." Kiatso said ruffling his brother's hair. "He's all bark and no bite. And besides…" Sasha looked up at his brother. "I'd kick him into next week before I'd let him lay a finger on you." The older brother said. "Thanks Sasha." Sasha gave his brother an arm hug. "You're welcome Kiatso."

***

"Sasha! Sasha!" Danni said. Sasha shook his head and shivered. "Sorry…" he said. "I was having a flash back…" "I could see that." she laughed. "What did you see?" He blinked a few times and said, "Nothing…. It's not important." But he didn't know how wrong he was…

***

The lady had long green-blue hair in two long braids, elf ears, a blue sleeveless dress, blue fairy wings, a golden crown, and other gold jewelry. "Thank you for your offering my dears." she said softly. "You're…. You're…." Justin said. "You're the Harvest Goddess!!!" Valerie exclaimed. "Yes, I am. And you must be Justin, Valerie and Hailey." she said as she pointed to each of them. "Annysia told me all about you."

She looked around. "But where is the other boy? Sasha. And your sister, Danielle? Or Danni." she asked. "That's why we're here actually." Justin said. "My sister's missing." "So is Sasha." the goddess said closing her eyes. "But don't worry, they're together." Valerie sighed with relief, Hailey squealed in excitement, and Justin's jaw dropped. "How is that supposed to make me feel better?!" he exclaimed.

The Goddess laughed. "I can tell you're very worried about your sister. You are a good brother. But don't worry. He won't let any harm come to her." "That's what I'm worried about…" he whispered. "We need your help in finding her!" Hailey said. "We need to find her." "Right. Right." the Goddess agreed. She closed her eyes and chanted a spell, and then she opened them. Suddenly, a red crystal was around each of their necks.

"This will help you find Danni." the Goddess said. "How?" Valerie asked. "I will let Annysia help you with that." she said, closing her once again. Suddenly Annysia appeared beside her. "Yes Goddess?" Annysia asked. The Goddess held her hand out towards the children, and like magic, she understood everything. "I will do my best Harvest Goddess." she said, bowing her head. The Goddess nodded, then disappeared saying, "Good luck dears." "Follow me." Annysia said. "I'll explain everything on the way."

***

Ariella looked out the window as she dried the last plate. "Where are those kids?…" she said. "It's getting dark." Bo put down his newspaper and said, "I'm sure they're fine dear. Maybe they're at the beach, or Rachel or Perry's house." "Yeah. Maybe you're right." Ariella said as she went to the phone. "It's just unlike them to call."

She called Hailey's mom and Valerie's dad, and both said that they hadn't seen the kids since this morning. Rachel, Hailey's mom, offered to go down to the beach and see if they were there; but she called back a few minutes later and said that they weren't there.

Ariella bit her nails. "It's okay dear. Let's calm down." Bo said hugging his wife, and kissing her on the head. "They've done this once before, remember? If they're not back by dawn, I'll go to the police station and start a search for them." Ariella sighed and said, "Thanks dear." They kissed, and looked out the kitchen window. "Where are you?" Ariella thought. "And why are you there?"

Author's Note:

Well I hope this chapter makes up for the fact I haven't updated in a while. XD

I would have updated sooner but…

-I've been busy

-I just got back from my mission trip to Spain

-And I've had the worst case of writer's block, which was cured by TheScarletSky's "Out of the Blue" story ^.^ (Which I loved!!!)

Here is the poll so far: (it will close come next chapter)

Sasha: 4

Valerie: 2

Annysia: 2

Danni: 1

Justin: 1

Hailey: 0

Sasha has a slim lead! XD

If you haven't voted yet, please vote, for this is your last chance ^.^

Well, That's all I got for now! Hope you enjoyed this extra long chapter! ^.^