Reflection

20

James opened his eyes and found himself in a small, dim, and damp room. His wrists were chained above his head, and would not budge no matter how hard he yanked. Directly across from him, chained up like him, was Ellie.

Her golden hair shown in the dark room, falling in those long two braids, barely messed up. Her eyes gleamed, staring right at him. "Where are we?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse.

"I don't know," she answered, still glaring.

"Why are you looking at me like that? What have I done now?"

"I am looking at you like this because you are a blind idiot."

James opened his mouth, then clamped it shut again. "What do you mean?"

She shook her head. "Forget it," she said bitterly. James chose to drop the topic, as Ellie's threatening gaze was starting to alarm him. What had he done wrong?

"Are we in the castle?"

"I suppose so."

"Where are the others?"

"No clue." Her voice was a contained calmness, something that had always disturbed James. Never, never get on Ellie's bad side. He'd learned that the hard way, when he had first met her. After he'd been Turned, he'd made the mistake of telling her that he wasn't cut out for this vampire nonsense, that he was going to go through with his original plan of running away from his ignorant adoptive parents and move to California, maybe New York. He ended up getting judo-flipped and sprawled on the floor, Ellie on top of him, glaring at him with the same sharp eyes she had now.

He'd felt something strange then. It couldn't have been love, he told himself. He'd pushed the feeling aside, and now he'd found someone else: Scarlett. That, he thought, had to be love. What he and Ellie had was just friendship.

He tugged at the chains again. They were magic, he realized. They couldn't break them. "We have to get out of here," he told Ellie.

"Thanks, genius. What a great idea. Now that you suggested it, let me just use my magical powers to break us out."

James was quiet for a moment, and then he whispered, "Scarlett could probably do it."

Ellie's icy gaze turned deadly.

•  •  •  •  •

Adam was in a dimly lit room, all alone. He knew the room was small, but he could only see part of it. The rest was hidden in shadow. The walls were damp stone, and they were indestructible, just like the chains that bound his wrists above his head. He'd tried every way imaginable to break them. He'd taken his anger out on the chains and walls, but stopped after his inability to break anything only increased his frustration.

There was nothing to do, and his own thoughts crowded inside his mind, giving him a headache. Not to mention the consistent dripping noise that was driving him mad.

He'd expected a trap, but he had never expected this. Serenity had betrayed them, all of them. He'd known she hated Scarlett, but to do something like that—

Anger flashed inside him again, and he yanked down on the chains, wincing when the metal cut into his wrists. "It's no use," said a masculine voice. "They're unbreakable." Adam jumped against his will. "Who's there?" he called. He could see a faint outline in the shadows, but nothing more.

"My name is Samuel Owens."

Adam felt his muscles tighten. "As in, Red's father?" He caught himself quickly. He had gotten so used to calling her Red that he did it by accident now. He cleared his throat. "Scarlett, I mean."