Breaking The Balance

Breaking The Balance - Final Stand

The whole group stared in horror at the limp form of Caitlin, who was pale and lifeless on the stone floor. Ianita screamed in fury and grief at The Shadows who merely grinned back at her, knowing that it had removed an important piece from the game of death they were all forced to participate in. Clenching her fists together, Ianita's breathing turned shallow and focused as she attempted to break free of her shackles. Cocking an eyebrow, The Shadows stalked over to her side and watched in amusement as she struggled to break free – not observing what was occurring on the other side of the room.

Tucker and Sonja had managed to shuffle closer to one another, stretching their chains between each other and staring at Mianite in an attempt to grab his attention. Each second that ticked by was agonising but soon Mianite realised what was being asked of him and he managed to muster the energy to create a small ball of energy in his hand that eventually formed into a key. Tom snapped out of his state of insanity, allowing the chains that once shackled him to fall off with ease – clearly, his days of breaking and entering weren't over. Tom ran over, snatching the key from Mianite's hand and unshackling Tucker, Sonja and Jordan. Sonja then took the key and began unlocking everyone else's chains, getting closer and closer to where Ianita and The Shadows were situated.

"I heard that."

Everyone froze in place for a second, turning their heads slowly to see The Shadows still form across the room. Part of them hoped that it was referring to something Ianita was doing but they all knew deep down that any chance of gaining the element of surprise was completely out of the picture. They were all unarmed and weak from the torment that they had been put through. All they had left to cling to was a sliver of hope and their natural instinct to survive. Jordan stepped forward, ensuring that everyone else stayed behind him – as if that could protect them from the horrors to come.

"You realise the mistake you have made by killing her, don't you?"

The Shadows cocked its head and stared right back at Jordan, a cold soulless gaze that would've sent shivers down a weaker man's spine. Jordan had been through hell and back, time and time again both with his friends and without them. There was nothing left standing between The Shadows and the rest of the world, they all knew that.

"I wouldn't dub it as a mistake, Jordan. I'd label it as a very wise decision to remove one of the few chances you had – she was the only one with any dark magic abilities that matched my own."

Everyone sighed, coming to the same conclusion as Jordan as they thought about the hopelessness of the scenario. With their main offensive player out of the picture, they all knew what was left:

"We have nothing left to lose. People will die but we won't stop to mourn – you can't hurt us anymore. All we have left in this world now is a purpose."

"Pray tell Jordan, what is this 'purpose'?"

"To kill you."

"How noble of you all but there is no way you can kill me, not again – I'm not making the same mistakes again."

With that, The Shadows turned and slashed out with its knife – aiming for where Ianita was laying on the floor, sobbing her little heart out. He missed by an inch, the blade instead digging into where Caitlin's arm had flopped after she fell to the ground. Defending Ianita, even in death. Tom and Jordan looked at one another, their eyes meeting in a silent acknowledgement of what was to come. They were the main chance that everyone had of making it out alive which meant that their deaths were almost guaranteed. They had been tainted by The Shadows.

Charging towards The Shadows, Tom grabbed his shackles off of the floor and clumsily attempted to use them as some form of whip or lasso. With one hand near the manacle itself and the other with the chain wrapped around it, he advanced towards the creature that had attempted to break his mind and murder his friends. Jordan didn't have time to concoct some strange weapon out of thin air so he just kept running, barrelling into The Shadows and sending them both flying – unarmed. Sonja raced over and unlocked Ianita from her shackles, with Ianita pausing for a second to grab the knife out of Caitlin's arm and chuck it towards her father.