SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 33- Find the Reasons

 "Thank you for all coming on such short notice." Zade, my father, begins confidently, "There have been some developments that I need to share with you."

"What's going on, son? You haven't seemed like yourself for the past few days, and I had begun to worry." Ruthus explains calmly.

"Daddy's right. First, you send Rain home, and then there was that whole mess with Corrina. It's not like you." Serene explains, sounding worried about her brother.

"I was trying to send Corrina home and she lashed out at Umbree," he explains solemnly "I didn't want to kill her, but I'm afraid she gave me no choice." Excuse me? He did what?

"I don't understand; what's so special about Umbree?" Serene asks curiously. "Corrina seemed good for you and had been here for ages; then you just cast her aside for some peasant girl you've only had for what, a month?"

"Do not call her that," Zade commands, his voice echoing through the hall.

"I'm sorry," there is a change in Serene's tone, "but I just don't get what you see in her." Serene sighs and I can hear her shuffle around in her seat.

"There's something about her, and even after this short of a time getting to know her, I'm convinced that her presence here wasn't just a random circumstance."

"Wait, you don't mean-" Serene tries to interject, but Ruthus speaks over her.

"What makes you think that she's the one?" Ruthus asks skeptically. "Veronika told you that she would ensure that her line ended with Camila's death. I find this hard to believe unless you have solid evidence of the contrary," he explains.

"I thought so too, but... Umbree is carrying my child." He states, and the room falls silent.

"You can't be serious." Serene gasps in disbelief.

"No...." Blaze sounds mortified.

"Bring the girl to me." Ruthus commands and there's a pause for a moment "Umbree," he suddenly addresses her kindly.

"Yes, s-sir?" she replies nervously.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he says softly.

"Father, Isobel needs to see her as soon as possible," Zade suggests eagerly.

"I agree," Ruthus states "Please send for Isobel, and tell her to meet us at the mountain shrine in an hour," he orders.

"Zade, please get ready and meet us outside," Ruthus asks kindly.

"For everyone's sake, I better see you change the way you treat her." Blaze scoffs. "Do you understand me?"

"I promise I already have, brother,"

As everything falls silent, I think deeply about this moment. These were my parents and my family, but everything seemed tense and unfamiliar to me. I had never envisioned this moment before, and now I wish I never had. Zade's voice, my father's voice, spoke of doing things I had never been told before. He killed someone, Corrina. I don't know who she was, but she died at his hand. Something isn't right here. My aunt sounds like she hated my mother, looking down on her. I knew that they had a rough start in that lifetime, but this sounded different from what they told me. I don't like this.

The ground is rough and coarse, scratching my skin as I roll onto my side. When I start to open my eyes, everything is blurry. I can see a wall made of dark stone, and as my vision begins to refocus, I can see the scorch marks that paint it. Suddenly, I remember everything; I had been kidnapped.

"Tessa?" I hear from behind me. When I turn around, I see Pearl in a cell across from mine.

"Oh thank god, are you okay?" I ask in terror as I crawl to the cold metal bars.

"I could ask you the same." she says worriedly "I can't believe they got you too." she sighs.

"We tracked down Sterling and I fucked up, so he got me." I explain "Magnus was with me, but they left him behind for some reason."

"Sterling?" Pearl asks, confused "That's so strange, he wasn't the one that got me. It was actually a woman." she explains.

"Wait, then how do you know his name?" I ask curiously.

"He was my friend." I suddenly hear another voice one cell over, when I look, I recognize Artemis "Or at least, he used to be."

"What do you mean?" I ask nervously "I saw you running from him a few weeks back. What happened?"

"Oh, I didn't realize that that was you." she sighs "Well, it's kind of a weird story. He was my best friend, but that day, it was like he was a whole different person. He was talking differently, and he just... wasn't him. After I caught him in a lie, I ran." she explains solemnly.

"At least you had some warning." I suddenly hear Jewel's voice coming from the cell beside Pearl's "Someone hit me over the back of the head and that was that. I woke up here completely confused and with the world's worst headache."

"Oh god, that's awful." I sigh "Look, I'm glad that you're okay though."

"Wow, I never thought I would hear you say that to me." Jewel says in surprise "I figured you hated me after everything I've done." she explains as she looks down at the pink scar on my leg. I had a feeling that that would never completely heal.

"Not gonna lie, I kinda do." I state bluntly "But, that doesn't mean that you deserve this shit." I explain. Jewel looks upset but shrugs it off.

"What did you say to Sterling that tipped him off, anyway?" I ask Artemis curiously.

"Oh, that." she begins "I mentioned that his mother was excited about having us over for dinner since she hadn't seen him in a long time. When he agreed, I knew that wasn't him," she explains as she leans against the back wall.

"How did you know that he was lying?" Pearl asks nervously.

"His mother is dead," Artemis states bluntly.

"Gotcha." I say as I look around "How long have you been here?"

"Two weeks." Artemis explains "I was on the run after he chased me down, but eventually, he and two other people cornered me and brought me here."

"A man and a woman?" I ask, trying to put the pieces together.

"Aside from Sterling, it was two girls." she explains "That much I remember clearly, but once they caught me, I blacked out and woke up here."

"Where is here, anyway?" Pearl asks nervously as she looks around "I never knew that there was a dungeon anywhere but the palace and I'm guessing that's not where we are."

"No, there was another, but it was sealed up centuries ago." I explain as I look around at the burn marks on the walls "I'm gonna take a guess and say that this is Gael's compound."

"Gael's dead." Artemis states "I don't think they're necessarily connected to him, but they've definitely taken advantage of what he left behind."

"I agree." I say as I stand up and try to take a better look around "My god... this place gives me the creeps."

"Same," Jewel states as she curls up in the corner.

"How many people do you think died here?" Pearl asks nervously as she studies the wall behind her.

"A few dozen at least, I'm not sure," I state as I remember the stories I had heard about the day that they closed the door.

"Actually, it's a lot higher if you count the ones they tortured and executed even before that." Artemis explains "These cages were made for a reason."

"Shit, I didn't even think about that." I sigh "I also heard stories about Hexa and Iris storming this place during Nico's revolution. Iris single-handedly took out nearly a hundred people somehow." I explain. They always tried to keep parts of those stories vague, but that was one thing I could never forget.

"Is anyone else terrified of ghosts right now?" Pearl asks nervously as she curls into herself more.

"Ghosts are the least of our concerns right now." Artemis explains "Something bigger than just kidnapping is going on here, and we need to figure out what it is."

"Um, about that..." Pearl says nervously but suddenly locks up.

"Unfortunately, I think I already know the answer," I state worriedly.