Chapter 67 Finding Cassie
THE FIFTH ELEMENT 🔥🌊🌪️⛰️🌀
Sage’s POV
We walked for a long time before stopping in front of an old, sagging building.
Everything here looked ancient. Cracks ran down the stone walls. Dust clung to every surface. According to Madeleine, it was dirty too.
I couldn’t argue.
Why was everywhere here so messy? It was like the place hadn’t been cleaned in years.
“Okay, we’re close now,” the guy whispered. “We have to watch out for the kids assigned to watch her. They’re not nice. Trust me, you don’t want to run into them.”
“Why? What makes them so special?” I asked, keeping my voice low.
“They’re really powerful,” he said. “When it comes to magic and combat, they’re the best around here.”
“Oh,” Madeleine muttered. “Guess we’ll stay far away from those ones.”
“I’m not scared of them,” I said.
He shook his head. “I knew you were the crazy one.”
“Are we getting any closer?” Madeleine asked, glancing down the dark hallway.
“Stop here,” the guy said suddenly.
We froze.
He leaned out, peeking around the corner for nearly a minute before pulling back.
“Okay,” he whispered. “The Fifth Element is in the second room down that hallway.” He pointed. “I don’t think the guards are around right now, so it’s the perfect time. Go in, don’t stay more than a minute, and get back out here. Then we leave.”
“Aren’t you coming in with us?” I asked.
“Of course not,” he said. “I’ve already seen her before. And someone needs to keep watch out here, just in case.”
We both nodded.
“Now go! Hurry!” He gave us a light shove.
Madeleine and I moved fast, slipping down the hallway on quiet feet. The door to the second room was slightly ajar. We pushed it open and slipped inside.
“Sage? Madeleine?”
Cassie’s voice hit me first.
I turned and found her standing by the narrow window, staring at us like she couldn’t believe it was real.
“Oh my God, it’s really you guys,” she said, and her eyes filled up instantly. She was smiling and crying at the same time. I couldn’t tell if she was happy or terrified.
“CASSIE!” Madeleine shrieked and ran forward, wrapping her in a tight hug.
“Oh my gosh, I thought I’d never see you again!” Madeleine said, holding on like she was afraid Cassie would vanish if she let go.
“I thought I’d never see any of you again,” Cassie whispered back, voice breaking. “Thank God you’re here.”
They stayed like that for a long moment.
I stood there, awkward, not sure what to do with my hands.
When they finally pulled apart, Cassie turned to me.
“Hi, Cassie,” I said, because my brain short-circuited. “You’re not dead. Good.”
She let out a shaky laugh and stepped forward, arms open for a hug.
I stepped back on instinct.
“No, no, no,” I said quickly. “I’m good. I don’t hug.”
I managed a small smile to soften it.
She didn’t look offended. She just smiled back.
“I’m glad you’re here too,” she said.
But her smile faded fast, replaced by worry.
“Wait,” she said. “How are you guys here? I saw Damon earlier, in the crowd. Now you’re here. How did you even find me?”
“Don’t worry about that,” Madeleine said. “We’ll explain later.”
“Yeah,” I added. “Right now we need to figure out how to get you out of here. Like, right now.”
Cassie nodded. “We could go the way you came in.”
“We could,” I said. “But there’s someone waiting for us outside. If he sees you with us, he’ll raise the alarm.”
“Oh,” Cassie said, her face falling. “So what do we do then? I need to get out of this place.”
“Look,” I said. “We’ll come back. Now that we know where they’re keeping you, we can make a real plan. A better one.”
“No,” Cassie said quickly. “Please don’t leave me here. I need to come with you.”
“Don’t worry, Cassie,” I said. “Jake wouldn’t let us leave without you. Not a chance.”
“Jake?” Her eyes lit up. “Jake’s here too?”
I nodded.
Her whole face brightened. “Okay. I trust you. I trust all of you. So we’ll wait a little longer. Hopefully by then, my powers will be back.”
“Your powers are gone?” I asked.
“Temporarily,” she said. “I can feel them. They’re just… asleep right now.”
I nodded. “Okay. Don’t worry, they’ll come back. And we’ll be back too. Stay put, Fifth Element.”
I gave her a small smile.
“Don’t worry, Cassie,” Madeleine added. “We’ll be back soon.”
“Okay, we have to go now,” I said, glancing at the door. “Come on, Madeleine.”
We slipped out of the room as quietly as we’d come in, hearts pounding. I kept expecting someone to shout, to grab us. But the hallway stayed empty.
We ran back to where the guy was waiting, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed.
“What the hell!” he hissed the second he saw us. “I said one minute. That was way longer than one minute!”
“Relax,” I said. “We’re back, aren’t we? And no one saw us.”
He scowled. “Whatever. I shouldn’t have brought you both here.”
He turned and started walking off, angry and fast.
We hurried after him.
“Sorry we took longer than a minute,” Madeleine said, trying to smooth things over. “We just really wanted to see the Fifth Element up close. Please don’t be mad.”
“How about I buy you both a drink and get ourselves a nice quiet private room?” he said without looking back. “Maybe then I’ll have a forgiving heart.”
Madeleine and I exchanged a look.
“Ew,” Madeleine said.
“No,” I said simply.
“Fine, fine, whatever,” he muttered. “Let’s just get back to the Pit before someone notices we’re gone.”
We followed him back through the maze of dark corridors and broken stairwells. The whole place smelled like damp stone and old smoke. Every shadow felt like it was hiding something.
Madeleine kept glancing over her shoulder. I kept my senses stretched out, listening for footsteps, for voices, for anything that didn’t belong.
When we finally reached the Pit again, Damon, Jake, and the others were still waiting in the same corner. Jake’s eyes flicked to us the second we appeared.
“Well?” he asked quietly.
“We saw her,” Madeleine said, breathless. “She’s okay.”
“She’s scared,” I added. “But she’s okay.”
Damon let out a breath he’d been holding. “Thank Goodness.”
“According to her, Her powers are down, for now,” I said. “But she said it'll show up soon and We couldn’t get her out.”
Jake’s jaw tightened, but he nodded. “Atleast, she's okay. We need a plan to get her out without being detected.”
“Yeah,” I said. “We do.”
Madeleine stepped closer to me. “She asked about you, Jake.”
Jake looked up sharply.
Something flickered across his face before he nodded.
“We can't mess this up,” he said quietly and we all nodded in agreement.
The guy who’d brought us back was still muttering under his breath a few feet away from us about how we used him and wouldn't even have a drink with him.
What a Loser.
"So... what's the plan now?" Damon asked.
~~