The Missing Aren't Missing, They're Only Departed-Or Kidnapped

Part 2

The three women followed the trail until dark, when they set up a campsite in a clearing. The next morning, they woke with the sun and continued following the trail. the trail led down into a round, dark hole in the ground. Thalia secured a length of rope to a rock ledge jutting out over the hole, and put on a pair of fingerless gloves, handing Alex and Kling a pair as well. "I'll go first." she said, noticing how tense Alex had become. She slid down the rope and turned on her headlamp, looking around. "Clear!" she yelled up. "Are you sure?" Alex asked nervously. "No sinkholes or traps or nasty things waiting to attack us?" "Nope!" Thalia yelled back. Kling slid down the rope, followed by Alex. They walked silently through the tunnel until it opened up into a well lit room. Tobin and Moe were sitting in the room, their wrists bound above their heads with rope. Moe's eyes were closed, and she seemed to be more cut up than Tobin was. "Moe!" Kling whisper-yelled running towards her girlfriend. "No!" Tobin hissed. "Get back into the tunnel! Thalia, turn off your headlight! They're coming!" Kling retreated into the darkness of the tunnel just in time as two men came into the cavern. One of them cupped his hand under Moe's chin, lifting her face. "How're you doing, little one?" he asked. "Worse now, thanks to you!" Tobin growled. The other man slashed Tobin across the chest with his knife. "He wasn't talking to you!" he hissed. Moe was awake now, her brown eyes wide with terror. The man in front of her pulled out his knife and moved it purposefully towards her face. Moe whimpered in terror. Kling started to move out of the shadows, but Alex stopped her, nodding towards Thalia. The younger girl had her bow out and loaded, and was pulling the string back to her cheek. She released the string, and the man who was threatening Moe fell to the ground, dead. The other man started towards the hiding spot, but he, too, fell to the ground with Thalia's arrow in his chest. The three women ran to Tobin and Moe and cut them loose. Moe immediately wrapped her arms around Kling, sobbing into her chest. "It's alright, baby girl." Kling said. "It's alright. You're safe. Let go so we can have a look at you." Moe did as she was told, and Thalia bandaged her many wounds before turning her attentions to Tobin. Kling held Moe in her arms, cradling the smaller girl against her chest. Tobin was able to walk, supported by Alex. When they reached the rope, they tied Moe to Kling's back, and Kling climbed up the rope. "I can't climb that." Tobin said. "And I'm to heavy to go up on someone's back." "I've got an idea." Thalia said. "Alex, you go on up." Alex nodded, and began to climb. Thalia took another length of rope from her pack and fashioned it into a harness that went on Tobin's back. She tied the climbing rope to Tobin's harness before climbing up herself. When she got to the surface, she used magic to fuse another piece of rope to the main climbing rope, and tied it around her waist. She tied the main climbing rope around Alex's waist. "When I say 'go', start running." she instructed. "Three. Two. One. Go!" the two women ran, hoisting Tobin up slowly but surely. "That was not fun." Tobin said as she collapsed on the forest floor. "Sorry, Tobs." Thalia said. "Desperate times, desperate measures. Now let's get back so I can get a look at you two." they went to the Lodge, and Thalia instructed Alex to take Tobin back to the room that the three of them shared while she took a look at Moe. It took more than she had expected to heal the youngest midfielder, as the small girl had some internal damage, but Thalia got it done eventually. After she had healed Tobin's wounds, Thalia collapsed onto the bed next to her soul sister and fell asleep immediately. Alex smiled at the sight of the two women sleeping next to each other, and got into the bed that Thalia usually used. She fell asleep without a problem, knowing that everything would be alright.

THE END