[Re-Upload] Luminescence

Part 7

After a few hours of Elizabeth getting comfortable in her office, she finally caught up on all the paperwork she missed while down in the tunnels. She hadn't fulfilled her promise to Sayeko by rescuing Jaydin, and the guilt was eating her alive. Trying her best to get back to work wasn't as easy as she thought, for Elizabeth's mind always wandered to how she was supposed to save Jaydin. It had been close to a week since she was taken, and the longer she was down there, the more it worried Elizabeth.

Slamming down her pen, Elizabeth stormed out of her office and went to the site from which Jaydin was taken from. On the way out of the L.O.G.I. building, she met up with Garrett whom insisted on following her to the site. Arriving at the location, they saw Sayeko and Kyoski working around the camps surrounding the different sites. Kyoski had noticed Garrett, looking a little bit ahead to see Elizabeth walking right towards the site again.

Kyoski would then get his brothers' attention, the two following after Elizabeth as well. All four would be at the entrance to the site once again, this time without their super good gear. Elizabeth grabbed a hard-hat with a light attached to it, getting ready to go in. Then a loud whistle echoed from above the four, a man standing on the shafts to the entrance. Well, he was more teenager than man, but either way, he got the attention he was looking for.

He would jump down in front of Elizabeth, looking back at the rest of the team. He averted his attention back to Elizabeth, "You must be Elizabeth Shadowgear, the leader of this expedition. There is a teenage girl trapped down in this tunnel, and I can help you get her out. After all, Jaydin is my sister." He then spit in his hand, holding it out for Elizabeth to shake. "Let's make a deal. I help you four down there, and you save my sister. Alright?"

Elizabeth declined the man's offer, "No need to go that extreme. I was going to head down there myself anyway. I made a promise to someone that I would make it my number one priority to save Jaydin, and seeing how we didn't do that the first time, the guilt was beginning to eat at me." Elizabeth glanced behind her, looking at Sayeko with a smile and a wink. He gained a smile too, seeing how determined Elizabeth was to save Jaydin.

The man then got a little embarrassed, "Ah, well, I'm Micheal. Nice to meet you at last, Miss Shadowgear." Elizabeth nodded back at Micheal, pointing back at the others. "The other adult here is Garrett, then the two brothers are Sayeko and Kyoski." Micheal then stiffened up a bit, seeing Kyoski and Sayeko. He didn't expect two kids to be on such a dangerous mission, but neither did he expect his sister to be taken by wolf-like creatures.

So, grabbing some spare gear lying around, the five all ventured down into the tunnels once again. When they got to the fork, the previous four decided that because of previous events, they chose the right path this time. Not wanting to repeat history, everyone was cautious for where they stepped and what they touched. The air would once again get cold, everyone pressing forward and farther than Kyoski and Elizabeth have ever been before.

Then Garrett would let his guard down once again, another trap being released. Everyone glared at Garrett for a while, the back half of the group falling down a much smaller drop. Those whom had fallen were Kyoski, and Micheal. Elizabeth shouted down to them, "Just keep going on ahead. Lets see if we can meet up somewhere." So, Sayeko and Garrett went on their way as did the remaining three.

As Elizabeth, Sayeko, and Garrett kept walking straight, Kyoski and Micheal ended up taking many turns and even climbed a few flights of stairs. Eventually, the two groups made it to an open area, their tunnels seeming to be escape routes from something. Where Elizabeth and the other two stood from, it seemed they were in the middle of the wall, looking down at what seemed to be a ritual performance going on. Looking in the center, Jaydin would be bloodied and beat as she was tied to a pole in the enter of it all.

Jaydin was awake for a while, and when she was, she would catch a glimpse of something to her far left, her weakened expression turning into a worried one. Looking over to Jaydin's far left, Elizabeth saw two more familiar faces standing in a different escape route. Theirs would be more higher up, Micheal seeming to be mapping out a plan to save Jaydin.

Kyoski couldn't stop Micheal from sliding down to the main floor and doing a surprise attack against the creatures, Elizabeth shouting at Micheal to stop. That sure got the attention of the creatures, for they looked up at Elizabeth then back over at Micheal. Elizabeth stepped back, not taking caution to Sayeko's words. For when she stepped back, a pressure plate was hit and the area where the three stood began to collapse.

Elizabeth fell hard on her back, seeming to very closely damage most of her spine. Elizabeth, Sayeko, and Garrett now on the same level as Micheal. Kyoski had managed to slip down to the main floor as well, slipping past the different creatures and getting over to where everyone was. Micheal had rushed into the pack, easily making his way into the center and untying his sister, getting back over to the group was the hard part.

Somehow distracting the creatures, Micheal and Jaydin were able to make their way back t where everybody was. When Micheal arrived with Jaydin, Garrett helped Elizabeth onto his own back as the six of them ran by Jaydin's careful instructions. After a long while of running, they managed to lose the pack of the creatures, everyone soon resting on the floor. Garrett had placed Elizabeth down, giving her some space.

Micheal began looking over his sister, "Why didn't you tell me you worked here? You could have stayed at my place just a few blocks down..." Jaydin accepted her brother's help, releasing a long sigh. "It's complicated. Living here in the mountains for 15 years of my life has taught me many things, Micheal." While Micheal and Jaydin seemed to catch up on things, Elizabeth watched Sayeko and Kyoski look one another over as well.

Something inside Elizabeth would begin to feel odd. She began to get confused a little bit, looking back and forth between the pairs of siblings. Because she wasn't able to do much, Elizabeth began to get teary-eyed and cry. No body noticed at first, everyone seeming to be resting. She would then mumble something, Sayeko noticing now. He tapped at his brother, Kyoski too looking over at Elizabeth.

Soon, everyone was watching the crying and confused Elizabeth. Kyoski inched up to her, placing a hand on her own. "Is everything alright, Miss Shadowgear?" She would burst into tears, slamming one fist into the floor. "I don't get it!" Kyoski backed up a bit at her sudden outburst, looking at Elizabeth with cautious eyes. "What do you mean by that?" Looking around at everybody, Elizabeth's tear-filled eyes landed on Kyoski.

"I just don't get it. While watching all of you from over here, something started to hurt inside here and I just don't get why." Elizabeth pointed to her heart as she spoke, more confused tears coming out of her eyes. Kyoski would inch even closer to Elizabeth than before, grabbing hold of one of her hands with both of his. He would look into her tear-filled eyes with his own. He seemed to know what was going on with Elizabeth, but he needed a little more proof to see if his theory was right.

"Look at me, Miss Shadowgear, do you mind telling me why you think you feel this way?" Elizabeth knew exactly why she acted up like this, but she wouldn't dare tell anyone what happed during her first trip into the mountains. Elizabeth frantically shook her head, silently telling Kyoski she didn't want to. He would sigh, "Alright. Then let me promise something to you. I know what you desire. You want someone to love you. So, I promise you I'll find you someone to make you feel whole again."

Elizabeth was shocked, for Kyoski figured Elizabeth out, but he didn't know her story. She then took a deep breath, "Thank you for the proposal, Kyoski, but I don't think I could ever experience love again." He looked a little heart broken, but a determined expression came to his face. "I respect your decision, Miss Shadowgear, but I will not give up until I know you're happy once again!" With a firm shake of Elizabeth's hand, Kyoski made his way back over to his brother.