Jacen’s POV:
We have been walking for hours in a never-ending dessert which is hell. We are on a mountain and the ground below us is nothing but in red. The sky is red and everything looks dangerous. But it didn’t scare me. What scares me more than this is I can’t able to find Sydney. Iam so close to it and missed it. But Kassidy already figured out a plan to get to the castle. We are so close to the Hell Queen castle. We will be there in no time. That’s what Iam thinking.
“Stop, Jacen,” Kassidy pushed me backwards all of a sudden. It took a moment to understand what’s going on. I would have fallen from an unreachable height in the mountains.
“Have your eyes down. I can’t watch you all the time,” she scolded.
“I know how to take care of myself. I will be alive even if I feel down,” I yelled at her.
“Will you?” she asked and pulled me towards the edge again. I looked down to notice the volcano. There’s a enormous stone of steps to cross from one side to the other. There’s a large distance between each stone. One wrong step, game over. We will be fallen to death. A shiver ran down my spine when I imagine the pain of falling.
“Sorry. Iam not aware of this.”
“That’s fine. I know you. Now how are we going to cross the path?” Kassidy nervously said, slowly taking steps back.
“This is the only way we got. Iam okay with this,” I said and jumped without a second thought. I landed right on the first rock. My first step to getting to the castle. My brother and Amelia would have saved Sydney from whatever situation she’s in.
“Jacen. You aren’t supposed to leave me here,” Kassidy screamed from the edge. She looks terrible. She’s scared to death.
“Iam not going to leave you. Trust me and jump. I will catch you,” I assured her. I don’t know whether she will trust my words or not. But I’m not a cruel vampire to leave her alone.
“I don’t think I can do this. I don’t even remember any spells to escape,” she muttered and murmured some spells. But she couldn’t finish one spell without getting more nervous.
“Forget the spell. Trust me. Put your trust in me for this time.” I nearly begged and motioned her to jump.
“Don’t look down,” I remained her. She gave a nervous nod and jumped with closed eyes. She didn’t even leap as far as she can. But I had a grip on her arms. I pulled her up slowly until she’s safe next to me.
“Thank you. This is the one time I felt I could trust you,” she uttered with a sigh of relief.
“Are you appreciating or embarrassing me?” I questioned her and jumped to the next rock. This time she put her full trust in me. There’s more step ahead of us. Time is running. We have no idea when it will end. And then we reached the end. One more step to take to reach the other side of the mountain. We both can see the castle from here.
“We did it,” Kassidy said with excitement.
“Oh no, no, no, no” I repeated those words when I noticed the distance between the last step. It’s kind of hard to jump this time.
“You can do this, Jacen. Do it,” Kassidy encouraged me. What Iam going to do is going to save both lives. I can jump but what if Kassidy can’t make it alive. She has her trust in me. Who can I trust now?
I Jumped and looked back at her. Without warning, she jumped. I was three seconds late to catch her. I almost caught her hands.
“Iam afraid, Jacen,” Kassidy said with a lot of fear for her life. I won’t let an eighteen years old girl to die. I tried to pull her up but her hand is sweaty. Iam losing the grip. The next moment, her hands left mine. The last thing I heard is Kassidy shouting my name. I jumped too without thinking of my life. I won’t
The only thought Iam having is Iam never going to save Sydney without saving Kassidy’s life. I managed to get a grip on the rock in the edge of the mountain and my other hand which is holding Kassidy’s hands.
“There’s a cave down here, Jacen,” I heard the unexpected word at this moment. I can’t look down to see the proof.
“Are you sure? It won’t be safe.” I warned her while struggling not to let her go or fall and get burned to ashes.
“Iam sure. Take some steps down. We can be saved even if we can’t make it up to the castle,” she convinced me. We don’t have a watch with us, but after a few minutes, we are safe inside the cave. It’s empty, I guess. When I looked at it, all I can see was in the darkness.
“Can we go inside it? Maybe it will lead us into somewhere out of this trouble,” Kassidy asked my permission while catching up on her breath.
“We tried a lot. There’s nothing wrong in trying this too. I hope we won’t die,” I told her and feeling like a pessimist inside.
“Who are you?” I heard a harsh familiar voice inside the cave. Basically, there will be any wild creatures in a cave. But this is hell. There’s no chance for it. Animals won’t be cruel like some humans. It won’t end up in hell. It has to be some human. I feel like I already heard it.
Kassidy was about to talk but I closed her mouth and let the stranger call for us again. “Is someone there or not?” the same female voice echoed again.
“Don’t go...Let her come.” I suggested. Then she came outside, showing herself. Who is she? I know her. The person who’s being searched by my girlfriend all this time. Sydney was supposed to find her. But I did.
“Lydia? Am I right?”