Claimed

Chapter 4 - Reunite

The cave was wet and the cave was dark. It felt like we had been walking forever, despite it only actually being like 5 minutes.

Water dripped from the ceiling in large drops, splashing on the floor as an echo rang through the cavern. The floor was wet. I had nearly slipped at least twice already--and so had Jay and Carlos. It was only Star managing to avoid doing so, gliding across the cave floor as if she wasn't touching the ground.
I guess that's the magic of a genie though.

I was honestly surprised we could still see. If it weren't for the dimming torches, Wrapped in the cold embrace of their bronze brackets, I doubt we would be.
The blazing torches were spread far apart; it was a few meters' distance between each one, but we were all thankful for them- even Star. Because they served more than one purpose.
Not only did they provide us the light we needed to search thoroughly, but also proved that someone was down here, or it was at least being used. Even if they were enchanted, which I doubt, it would deplate magic stores to keep them lit: there was no point. This crucial evidence was the only thing that kept us in the cave.

"Okay--this is ridiculous!" Jay growled after some time. "Why are we walking in the dark like this?" Star didn't say anything, and so neither did I. We were following her at the moment, and if she thought it was okay: well, I trusted her judgement.
Carlos however, looked over to him.
"I don't know," he muttered quietly. "But Jay, C'mon. It isn't that bad. There's enough light to see, right?"
I saw Jay roll his eyes out of the corner, and I rolled my own at his dramatics.

"I guess," Jay grumbles. I glanced over to see him dart forward slightly, and wrap his harsh grip tightly around the neck of the nearest torch. With a mighty heave, he yanked the torch from the bracket. "I just don't see why we can't just do this-" he was stopped mid-sentence when the wood became dry and flaky, rotten, as if it had been for years. The dancing flame extinguished as soon as it left the bracket. We were plunged into darkness; I could barely see the outline of the others by the faint light from the speck in the distance that was the next torch.

"Well done," Star comments offhandedly. "Now you know why I hadn't already done that."
Jay drops the torch, now just a staff of dead wood. It shattered as it hit the floor, the life sucked from it by the magic, leaving it shatterable.
Like a person.
My stomach dropped horribly. We'd better hurry the hell up and find my blue-haired best friend.

And eventually, we did.

<><><>

The cave opened up, into a small room the size of my dorm back at the school - the dorm that I shared with Evie.
It was the scene from the coffee cup.
The ceiling of the cave was held up by half a dozen support beams, all rotting and withered, groaning under the weight of the world. The ceiling itself was scattered with cracks; it felt like the tiniest little bit of contact would cause it to collapse. As it was, the rocks were scraping as water smoothed the stone, slipping through the cracks in its barrier, smashing against the floor and bringing small pebbles of the stone with it. The walls weren't much better, all cracked and scratched. One of them had a great big chunk out of it - I couldn't help but wonder what had caused it. No-one in their right mind would've believed that was natural.
The room was lit by a single torch, like the ones in the hallway, sitting comfortably in its bracket, flickering cheerfully. I glared at it.

My footsteps splashed against the floor as I walked towards the final object in the room: what looks like a pile of rags, piled up against the far wall. But on closer inspection, the figure was shivering gently. It was alive. Then she raised her head.

For the first time in months, I stared into those russet-brown eyes.
And quickly pulled my friend's fragile, shivering form into my arms. Soon, I felt fabric against my back, and knew the boys had joined the hug. We were all relishing in finally being given back our sister.

Evie shivered in our embrace, her blue hair matted and dirty, her clothes were ripped, and her eyes were wide, darting around without pause.
"Mal.." She muttered into my chest as I hugged her head close. "Please.. Save her too."
I perked up, confused. Who was 'her'?
Evidently, Evie noticed my confusion, and lifted a shaky hand. A wavering finger pointed past my shoulder, back to the wall where she had been chained up.
Only then, did I notice another figure beside her shackles.

Star's gaze was fixed on this other figure, her stance guarded, and apprehension dancing in her eyes. I turned back to the figure, and took a step towards them.
"Hey- you okay?" I asked, unsure. Reflecting on it, this was probably a stupid thing to ask a tied-up figure trapped in a cave, but it wasn't my wisest moment - I was still giddy from the return of my closest friend.

The other figure raised their--her, head, showing us her heart-shaped face and crystal icey eyes.
Slowly, she stumbled to her feet, wincing with every move, and brushed down her clothes briskly.
Well, she tried to, at least. But her wrists were still bound, so she could barely reach her stomach.
She gave a grunt of annoyance, and looked up at us.
Recognising the look in her eyes, I stepped forward to take her shackles in my hands.
But he's were tighter than Evie's were. I turned around, and looked at Jay, who was probably the only one possibly capable of breaking the chains.
He stared back at me blankly.
Rolling my eyes, I nodded my head to the girl, who was watching the exchange with interest, and realisation shone in his eyes.
"Oh.." He mumbled, moving forward to remove the bonds.

When they were finally off, I was sat on the floor, holding Evie in my arms, with Carlos beside us, and Jay moving to join us on the floor. The girl rubbed her wrists gently, wincing at the contact.
"That's better," she mumbles lowly, then looks at me and Jay. "Thanks," she addresses. I nod in response.
Only then does she spot Star.

The girl's eyes narrow with contempt. "Starlina," she addresses Star stiffly. Star nods back sharply. "Katelyn."
I frowned at the exchange, and so did Evie. Of course, she knew this other girl- Katelyn, better than the rest of us did due to being held hostage in the same cave as her for Auradon-knows how long, but there was something that rubbed me the wrong way about the way she was looking at the genie.

Evie looked up at Katelyn. "You know each other..?" she asked softly.
Katelyn's gaze snaps to Evie, and her hard gaze softens.
"It doesn't matter," she says sharply, and I pulled Evie closer.

"We should get off this stupid island."
Star looks round at us. "I don't want to be here any longer than I have to."
We hadn't known each other for very long at all, but I could hear something in her voice: something wasn't right. Something really wasn't right.

Then suddenly the ground rumbles.

I start to my feet at the sound. The ground shook, and pebbles rained from the cracked ceilings. I watched as one of the beams bent unde the brunt of the weight.

A loud snap echoed through the cave as it collapsed.

My eyes widened. And the next thing I remember, we're all sprinting back up the tunnel leading to the cave as fast as our legs'll carry us - even the two ex-prisoners, who were drained of energy.

Very quickly, the darkness blossomed into a flower of light as we emerged from the mouth of the cave.
The tunnel seemed much shorter than it had merely ten minutes ago.

Breaths racked our bodies as we gasped for air, Evie physically dropping to the ground with exhaustion.
Yet the relief is obvious. In both her and Katelyn.
Evie laughed softly, squinting into the daylight, breathing in the fresh air.

Her relief was infectious.
Before long, we were all laughing slightly, any thoughts of why the cave may have collapsed, or the fact that we were on the island prison holding some of the most notorious villains of all time, banished from our minds.

Unfortunately, this mental freedom did not last as long as I would've hoped.

For when I looked up from Evie's carefree form, I was met face-to-face with the dangerously swirling form of a shadow.