"Scover?" I asked, "Isn't he the one who you were with?"

Christopher swung his bag over his shoulder as he beckoned Denisse, "We're going to find Scover, he could be in danger! And that's true, Iolla."

With that, he knelt down onto the grass and started tossing large numbers of leaves into the air using his telekinesis. I turned to Denisse, raising an eyebrow.

"What's he doing?" I murmured.

"How am I to know? Denisse muttered back, supporting her laptop with a hand.

We ended up watching Christopher toss the leaves for another minute, but I could not stand it any longer.

"What are you doing?" I asked him.

"Trying to trigger the message," Christopher replied, tossing another bunch of leaves into the air with his eyes. I dusted some leaves off myself. What trigger?

As if reading my mind, he added, "Wait."

So we did.

It was quick. One moment Christopher was levitating the leaves in the air, and the next, they were literally gone with the wind. The wind picked up several leaves, which swirled around in a mini tornado in front of us.

We surrounded the leaves, Denisse included. Christopher was staring at the leaves intently.

All of a sudden, the leaves darted into a dense forest. Christopher sprinted after it, and we followed.

The leaves followed a complicated route in between trees and through clearings, even daring to fly around a large tree, as if waiting for us to catch up. Christopher sped ahead, but Denisse and I were lagging behind. My stitches were already getting to me, so I began to jog instead, keeping a steady pace while watching the leaves.

After a few minutes, the leaves reached the opening of a massive cave, before zooming into the mouth. Christopher darted inside without hesitation, but I flicked on my flashlight and focused it on him.

All was silent for a good minute, and Denisse and I established a slow tread, trying to catch our breath from the run earlier. She passed me a water bottle, and I gulped down water.

"Scover!" Christopher's yell reverberated off the walls of the cave. When we had caught up with him, he was bent over another teenage boy. He had a mop of blonde hair and was bound by a strange rope. Christopher whipped a sharp knife out of his belt and immediately starting attempting to cut through, but from his frustrated grunts, to no avail.

Scover was not physically strong, unlike Christopher, and had straight blonde hair. His eyes were a mixture of blending green hues, but that was not what caught my attention.

Scover was shaking his head frantically, his eyes were flashing.

Something's off. Why would Scover be trapped right here? Plus the rope's unnaturally strong. And it seems too easy.

"Uh, Christopher?" I asked, my body shuddering from the silence. Even the animals knew it was suspicious.

"Yeah, Io? Could use some help here," Christopher replied back.

I shook my head. Never mind Christopher, I should tell Denisse.

I looked to my right. Denisse was not standing.

"What..." I muttered, shining the light onto the ground where she should be standing.

There was only her blue spectacles.

I shone my light around the spectacles. Denisse was sprawled across the floor, not making a sound.

"Denisse!" I screamed, bending over to shake her. It was no use.

No, no, no...

"Christopher!" I hollered, my hand gripping the knife handle.

The last thing I saw was his face, the purple flames set free in his eyes.

Out of nowhere, something that glowed hurtled towards me.

No!

The connection returned that very second, and I instinctively ducked low.

The knife flew over, just barely brushing past my hair.

I looked back just in time to see the knife sink into the cave wall, before flying back to its thrower.

The attacker was a muscular man and was clad in a black attire from head to toe, exposing only his eyes, which studied me.

The same black attire the female assassin was wearing.

The attacker seized my shoulder and moved his hand back, preparing to slam me into the ground.

No.

My instincts took over, and I felt the unfamiliar and yet comforting connection again. Water splashed onto the attacker's face, sending him coughing as he stumbled backwards. The fight-or-flight response had been triggered again, activating a shield made of water. The male attacker coughed several more times, and I jerked my head in the direction of where I had last seen Christopher and Scover.

Scover was already gone, most likely taken away while we were distracted by the ambush. Christopher stood in his position, battling two attackers in the same black uniform, telekinetically striking one in the temple. The other attacker wielded an identical knife to the one the male attacker I was fighting, its glow illuminating the trio's every move. Meanwhile, Denisse lay on the floor, unmoved and still no reaction from her.

Christopher glanced up for a split second and the purple flames in his eyes flared up as he stared at the water bottle. Need help. I thought, wishing I had telepathy.

I let go of the water bottle at the last second, and it exploded into a million tiny pieces of plastic. Hurry, Iolla, before he recovers!

Making sure that I could still feel the connection, I pulled my hands upwards, trying to take control of the water before it seeped into the ground. The whole action would require time, attention and energy, none of which I had at the moment.

Relax and stay calm. Relax and stay calm.

The rate of absorption started increasing, making me feel like I was in Mrs Hallivy's chemistry class again. The second I felt the grip on my arm, I tensed immediately, and some of the water slid out of my control. Not now!

The grip tightened, and I whirled around, spinning the water with my hands as my instincts told me to, and directed it all at him. The male attacker fell backwards, coughing as he dropped his knife to wipe away the water.

The knife!

I gave the water a final blast, before diving down to the ground for the precious weapon.

Muscled arms wrapped around my body seconds after I had retrieved the knife. I writhed in the attacker's grasp, like a desperate animal trying to escape beneath a boa constrictor's coils, but all my attempts ended in futility.

With one hand keeping a firm hold on my shoulder, the man's gloved hand reached out for the knife...

It made the perfect opening.

I twisted my wrist and pointed the blade upwards. Taken by surprise, the attacker tried to jerk his hand back, but it was too late. The blade had scraped his hand. Aha.

I drove the blade into the man's hand arm, ripping his other arm off me. To my astonishment, there were no traces of blood. The man slumped to the ground, though I had no idea whether it was temporary.

Funny, it must be the knife. Doesn't seem ordinary.

I whipped my head around and caught sight of Denisse still lying on the floor. No...

I raced to her and shook her. Realising that she was most likely unconscious, I scanned the dark cave, trying to get a glimpse of Christopher.

He came running, a strap of his leather belt which he had tucked under his shirt dangling.

"Are you okay?" Christopher asked, scooping up Denisse's items.

"Just a sore shoulder," I replied, "We must go now!"

Christopher nodded, simply levitating Denisse with his telekinesis, while I hauled her equipment over my other shoulder.

Some rays of sunlight had already started to stream in, though it did not make our run any easier. The assassins, though injured by our attacks, still dashed after us. I ran in front of Christopher, so he could focus on keeping Denisse between us. I tried to anticipate several obstacles, though, with exhaustion setting in, it was immensely difficult to create a trained-assassin-proof course. Under the hedges, over the log...

Suddenly, the ground was seemingly pulled to my face. No, I'm being pulled to the ground. I barely had time to break the fall with my pre-occupied hands, and felt the wind get knocked out of me.

Come on, get up, Io, and continue running!

I pressed my hands against the ground and tried to push myself up, but something zapped through me and I collapsed back down. What's happening?

I rolled over onto my back and glanced down. My legs were wrapped in a... rope.

Oh no.

Behind me, Christopher yelled as he stared at the ground, trying to use his telekinesis, but he collapsed, wincing in pain.

What?

Something zapped again. This time, my arms stung.

The tree on top of me blurred. Don't succumb, you cannot afford to!

A face hovered over mine, and through the black mask, I caught the sign of a smirk.

As the world faded away, all thoughts in my mind disappeared except for one.

We've been captured. 

What now?

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, because the next will be even more epic and tense!