The Arena - The Moon Trilogy - Book #2

Chapter forty:

Clarity's head was suddenly clear. The black, murky fuzz was gone. She gasped when one last jab of pain darted through her skull, but relaxed when it melted away to a blissful painlessness. It had to be the first time she'd been headache-free in a while.

Everyone's eyes were on her, and she snapped fully awake upon realizing it.

"Clarity, do you think you could teleport us out now?" Rachel asked slowly, as if afraid of what the answer might be.

"Yes, actually. I feel... great." She replied, the refreshed strength in her voice shocking even herself. She gently prodded her temple with a delicate finger, but though the warm, sticky blood was still there, the expected sting of the wound was strangely missing.

"But... how?" Alex asked, confusion showing plainly on his face.

"Who cares how at this point? We can get out now." She said after a second, relief flooding through her when the thought occurred to her. They would finally be safe.

She told them all to join hands, knowing now that the physical link allowed her to teleport them all much more easily than it would ever be without it.

The two end people of the semi-circle each established that same link with Xenia, Scarlet, and Johnny.

But rather than thoughts of escape and safety, she found that two completely different things flashed through her mind.

She thought of Eric because it made her burn up inside to know that he'd escaped again, and she thought of August because there was no way of knowing if he'd made it out alive, and they could be leaving him to drown. Neither were pleasant, and she wished her brain could have just stayed silent for once.

But she could never ignore anything so important.

"Do you think Eric Lance is still here?" she asked the room in general, hoping her sudden change in demeanor would be enough to let them know that she wasn't quite ready to leave yet. It was probably a dumb hunch, but it might pay off.

"Why?" Rachel asked. "We can get out of here now. Why are you bothering with him anymore?" Benjamin chorused his agreement to his sister's words.

"Because, if we get rid of him here and now, then he can never bother us again, but if he has a chance to escape, history will no doubt repeat itself, and we'll eventually get caught again... Plus, he might have August." The train of thought sounded even worse out loud, but instead of rejecting the idea altogether, there was a sudden hush of thoughtfulness.

"We should check the whole building, just in case." Sam said presently, his words slow. He let go of Rachel's and Alex's hands, who were the people standing next to him, officially breaking the circle and putting an end to their plan of immediate escape.

Clarity cast an unsure look at Scarlett and Johnathan. She hoped they would be okay while the search was going on.

"They'll be fine." Alex said, noticing her glance.

Clarity nodded, and they were off without even needing to formulate a plan. Silent communication passed between them and they sort of automatically split up.

She was almost glad that she had been left without a partner to search with. She could get around a lot quicker without someone else. Her process was quick as she quickly scanned over each room before teleporting to the next. The others soon disappeared from sight, heading in separate directions.

Every room she checked was starkly empty of any life.

The echoing splash of footsteps faded away as the searching pairs got further from her. She knew she'd be able to hear them if they yelled, and vice versa, but she still didn't like it.