March 26, 2005
"Girl, what in gods world are they doing to you? Why don't you want me to heal you?"
"They are doing the same thing as yesterday. They want us to tell them we're the witches known as Blue Thunder and Alejandro Salinz, and they beat and whip us if we deny it. It's nothing we can't handle. I just need to know Frank is okay and that no one took him."
"Frank is okay. High Mage Finnas doesn't know your security details around him but he said he will provide help to keep your mate safe if needed and ensure he is kept informed. I'm worrying about you right now. I see the marks on my body, if they look and feel raw on me, I don't even want to imagine what they look like on your end. I know you're used to physical injuries, but still."
"If I heal too quick, it will blow my cover. Humans don't heal as quickly as we do. As it is, I'm struggling to keep my energy contained. I don't have my eyeglasses and binds on me. Hell, I don't even have my wedding ring! To me, the violence on me isn't worse than playing flyball or fighting a war. The hard part is making sure the guards don't see my elemental eye colour, which is not a normal colour for humans, so I usually keep them shut when they're around or if I face the camera."
"Fine, but if injuries get internal, I'm going to heal them. Anyway, so High Mage Finnas also said he'll see what he can do to have you and Alejandro released. About Jourmol being captured in South Africa, is he a shadow?"
"Yes, and High Mage Finnas knows. He's one of the members who spoke with Jorgie, but he didn't know who he was. The shadows are trying to locate him and the three others who got captured with him. They think they're being held captured at the compound they were investigating."
"By Kruger National Park, right?" said Sonylla.
"Yes. I'll let you know when I know more and what's the plan. For now, as long as I know Frank is okay, I'm doing good and will hold on. Remember that people aren't supposed to know about our twinning bond. You know our elemental foes are also keeping tabs on us. If I heal a lot quicker than I should, even for a mage, they'll dig further to see if I'm connected to someone else. A human mate isn't supposed to speed up healing."
"Damn, you're right! Do you want him to know about the beatings?"
"I can't hide anything from him anymore. I mean, there are things about my past he doesn't know, and sure, I'd prefer if you don't elaborate on it or mention it, but if he asks, I don't want the truth to be hidden from him, not this time."
Coralis was lying on the ground, staring at the ceiling. Their cells were small. Their hands were still tied together with cuffs. Their ankles weren't tied anymore to the ground, but they still had cuffs around them, linked by a short titanium chain, slightly longer than the one linking their wrists together. Long enough to be able to walk around the cell and pee in a bucket, but too short to run out of there when the guards come in.
"We think the best course of action if we can't convince the authorities that you aren't the witches they are looking for, is to have you escape and possibly finish the mission Jourmol and Erikua started," said Riwik.
"Jourmol and Erikua had gathered a decent amount of information and Erikua has been able to brief us on their finding. We had sent them a backup crew so they'd be able to take them down. If we go with that plan, I would meet you there with another member and we just storm their compound when they sleep and don't see us coming," said Whazk.
"Especially if they think we're in some human jail far from them, they won't expect Blue and I there until it's too late," said Alejandro.
"I like that plan. The bars are entirely made of dense silver. It would cost too much energy to transform it all into iron or steel, but I could easily coat it so we wouldn't get burned when opening it," said Coralis as she sat down to look at the bars.
"If we are going to escape the human way, to be consistent with what we want them to believe, we need to figure out how to replicate a key without having to beat up a guard to take theirs. That would draw too much attention and they would send backup," said Alejandro.
"The plates and bowls they serve our meals on are made of styrofoam. If we go for it, we can make keys out of it. If doesn't need to be accurately shaped, we just need to make it look on camera that we didn't use magic to unlock the door."
Alejandro sat and look at Coralis.
"Blue, your idea is genius, but watch your eyes, they're silver and blue right now."
"If I can give you some advice on that, learn to meditate. Remember the day you met with me at the temple for training for the first time? That's the best way to calm the energy within yourself. Focus on keeping a calm sea within yourself at all times. As a spirit mage, water may not be your element, but you get the idea," said Malkya.
Coralis closed her eyes and tried to do as Malkya explained to her.
The next day, Sebastian called Frank at noon to update him.
"Still don't know if they'll release her?" said Frank.
"No, there is no progress on that. The shadows are also devising a plan to free up the other members who are currently captured in South Africa, but they aren't a hundred percent sure yet of where they are being held. They only know that, unlike Blue and Alejandro, they are being kept prisoners by elementals."
"But she's okay, right? I mean, is she still being tortured?"
"I didn't ask about the beatings, so I'm not sure, but Sonylla said she was okay. Blue told her that so long as she knows you're safe, she'll hold on and will keep claiming she isn't the witch they're looking for. Most of the stories circulating against her are twisted versions to paint her as a dark witch working with demons, so it's easy for her to deny being that Blue Thunder."
Frank heard their doorbell.
"True. My friend Mark is coming over and he doesn't know about any of it. Think you'll have more news if I call you after he's gone?"
"I can only hope so."
Frank hung up and answered the door.
"Hey bro!" said Mark as he entered the apartment. "Damn! You look awfully distraught for a man who is supposed to be celebrating his first anniversary. Do I smell trouble in paradise?"
Mark deposited the case of beer he was carrying on the countertop and handed him a bottle.
"No trouble in paradise, nothing like that. I'm just worried about her. She was supposed to be back this morning, early afternoon at the latest, but she's currently stuck in South Asia."
"South Asia? That makes me think," said Mark as he sat on a stool by the kitchen island and took a long sip of beer, "I've seen the kind of articles you've been sharing lately on MySpace. The Secret Posse? Funnily, I can see Steph sharing that kind of stuff, but you? I think it's the first time I ever see you sharing anything not music or movie related, or anything close to world politics."
"Steph shared them too."
"Yeah, I saw, but from you, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you started dating one of those so-called witches."
"You know where my heart is," said Frank, leaning on the kitchen island countertop.
"Hmm yeah, that, I do know," said Mark, pausing as he thought of something. "You see, lately, my dad has been talking a lot about the damn witch hunt and you know he's got friends working for the feds."
"I remember that," said Frank as Mark chugged the rest of his beer and opened a new bottle.
Mark looked at his best friend attentively. He could clearly see the worries and anxiety painted all over his face.
"I might be slow sometimes, but I'm not that slow. Your Coralis works the classified stuff and is coincidentally stuck in South Asia… Sri Lanka is in South Asia… is she also known as Blue Thunder, or connected to that mess?"