Sam screamed next to me as the massive door behind us slammed closed with a resounding bang. The darkness was so immediate, it left us all frantically trying to turn on our flashlights, but to no avail. For some reason, they wouldn’t work.
"What the Hell!" Shawn said loudly, making me jump.
His words acted like a catalyst in the hallway. Warm bursts of air moved rapidly around the space where we stood, bumping us from all sides. The hair on the back of my neck stood on end as Sam screamed again.
"Everyone be quiet," I commanded, trying to get a gauge of what kind of evil surrounded us. "They're poltergeists," I told my friends, trying reassure them.
My words ceased the movement around us. "How do you know this angel girl," something breathed in my ear.
"What else would use these kinds of parlor tricks to try to scare us," I taunted.
My words triggered the response I was hoping for. The dark hallway filled with glowing light as the ghosts made themselves visible in front us.
"Parlor tricks indeed. How I would love to get inside that body of yours. Care to let me in?” he asked as if trying to be charming.
I cringed when I caught a whiff of his rank fiery breath.
"Try it and I’ll fry your already dead soul,” I said, trying to sound threatening. I wasn’t even sure my powers would work on a poltergeist.
"Ooh, still tempting,” he said, flying around the room, bouncing off every wall.
I focused heavily on the ghost as he sauntered around the room. What I was sensing was different than the emotional energy of living souls, but still something I felt I could manipulate.
"The Dark One would be angry for sure,” he sang as he pranced around in circles. “Oh, but this is too good to pass up,” he continued.
He was moving so quickly, it was difficult to maintain a read on his energy.
“No guts, no glory,” he said, flying up into the air in a summersault before making a beeline straight for me.
“Don’t!" I screamed, putting my hands up in front of me to try and protect myself.
The poltergeist came to a dead stop in mid-air, inches from my face. He was hanging there helplessly, unable to move. I moved my hands and stared directly into his translucent eyes.
“What is this?” he griped, trying to break free from the unseen force keeping him bonded. I continued my focus, using my power to keep him frozen. There were no human emotions to focus on, but I could sense a change in his force. The more I concentrated on that force, the brighter he illuminated.
“Noooooo!" He blared as he lit up like a bolt of lightning, disappearing into nothingness, leaving us in darkness once again.
"I wonder where the rest went," I asked, expecting my friends to answer. “Guys, are you okay?” I asked, getting no response. I was so wrapped up with the poltergeist, I hadn’t noticed where my friends went, but they were definitely missing. A cold dread suddenly gripped me. Some Ascended I was, I thought. I had allowed my friends to be snatched right out from under me. I sank down to my knees as the full impact of it hit me. I was utterly alone in the dark hallway. I started to hyperventilate when I realized the connection between my current predicament and the dreams that had been haunting me for months. The air around me thickened and I could feel the darkness pressing down on me.
After several minutes, I was finally able to get a grip on myself. This was different. I knew the dimensions of the hallway and also knew that I wouldn't fall into some unseen abyss. Sure, I didn't know what awaited me at the end of the hallway, nor did I know what had happened to my friends, but I was also a different person now.
I pulled myself up off the ground and slowly started walking forward. I kept my hands out in front of me to help alert me to any obstacle I might encounter. My pace was slow and cautious as I continued to proceed down the long narrow space. I used my gifts to see if I could sense the location of my missing friends, but felt nothing. This was not the way the plan was supposed to go. We had allowed ourselves to walk into an ambush. The question is why had Victor left me in the hallway alone? And why did he feel the need to mess with me?
"Because I can," his voice whispered in my ear, making me shriek in fright. Whipping around, I stuck my arms straight out to ward off a possible attack.
"Where are you, coward?" I yelled, angry that I was once again at his mercy. I turned back around and raced down the hallway, away from the voice, back where I knew there was a way out. I allowed panic to get hold of me and in my mad dash to get away I crashed headfirst into an unseen obstacle.
My head reeled from the blow as I slumped down into unconsciousness.
***
A bright light shining in my face finally pulled me out of the black oblivion I had sunk into.
"Why is it I'm always the one knocked unconscious?" I griped to myself, attempting to sit up. My head spun and my stomach threatened mutiny. I closed my eyes briefly to gather my bearings.
"What the heck," I muttered, finally able to focus my attention on my surroundings. My eyes widened in disbelief as I took in the room I was in. I had seen this space months ago on a monitor in Victor's lab. This was where Victor kept our missing Links. I swept my eyes around the space, taking in everything in the room. My eyes skittered over the delicate furnishings that sat on the elegant oversized Oriental rug that highlighted the antique look of the room to a tee. The fact that it was hidden within a mountain was another story. The room was actually beautiful if not for the overwhelming sense of evil emitted throughout. I continued to scan the room, taking in each elegant detail. My heart jumped to my throat when I spotted two individuals on the far side of the room, studying me. I instantly recognized them as the Links I had seen on the monitor in Victor's lab. What a relief to find them not only safe, but also in obvious good health. I had harbored gruesome thoughts at the torture Victor was possibly inflicting on them. My relief was short lived when a third individual partially stepped out of the shadows on the far side of the room. A face as familiar to me as my own peered at me from the shadows.
I had dreamed of this moment for months as my eyes greedily took in his appearance. His hair was longer than before and he looked too lean, but other than that, his appearance was just as I had remembered it. I longed to search his eyes, but the shadows where he stood prevented me from seeing them. I couldn't help sending my emotions toward him, searching for the link we had once shared, but my emotions were deflected back almost instantly. I swallowed back tears. I knew our link was gone, but I had so hoped that I would somehow be able to reach him. It was obvious now by the way he deflected my emotional probe that he was forever lost to me.