Jolie yelps when a light beam surrounds her and her skin starts to tingle. This is not the heartwarming and cuddly reunion she envisioned.
"What's happening?" she cries. "Daddy!"
She wakes up surrounded by giant boulders and utterly alone. She only remembers desperately wanting her family the second she was hit by an unfamiliar beam of light. Jolie shivers as rain droplets trickle down her arms.
She thinks, what am I supposed to do? and I want to go home. She sobs openly while sitting on the wet grass surrounded by cold stone.
"Daddy," she calls out hoarsely. "Mom! Anyone!"
It doesn't take long for Michael and Amira to notice that their youngest is missing. A call to Jolie's phone leads them to the kitchen. Her phone is laying on the floor but Jolie is not there. Uncertainty gives way to panic almost immediately. They tear the house apart. pull all the furniture out of the moving truck, search the Pick 'n Pull next door.
Amira finally puts in the call to the police department. Her skin crawls when she dials but her hate of authority and her pride aren't important right now.
"I should have insisted," Varinia cries into her hands.
"You couldn't have known," Claude soothes. "We still don't know that this has anything to do with. . . with her kind."
"Don't be naive. First. Amira gets attacked and now, Jolie is missing. This has Draconian written all over it. I could have stopped it but I didn't want to rock the boat."
"We'll get her back," Claude insists. "We'll get her back and we'll take off. We'll go to Storybrook and live in peace. I promise, Varinia, all is not lost."
The police department sends Salvatore.
"They thought it would ease relations," he says.
"Well, they're not wrong," Amira sighs. "What are we going to do?"
"We'll figure this out. Walk me through what happened last night."
"She's just . . . just. GONE." Michael croaks out. His voice is shaky and his throat raw.
"Sssshhh." Amira warps her arms around Michael and continues, "We found her phone in the dining room but no sign of her. We searched the house, the van and cars, the yard and the Pick 'n Pull. No signs of her anywhere."
They are joined by Rickey.
"We're going to find her," he says. "I should have listened to grandma when she came to see me the other day."
"We can't worry about that now. Let's get some search parties together," Salvatore says.
"Do you think that's her plate?" Norman asks.
"Why would that matter?" Kenisha counters. "Our little cousin is missing and you're worried about a plate?"
"I was just wondering," he mumbles.
"Why can't we help with the search?" Jermey asks. "We're old enough. We're not going to get lost. I've been in scouts since elementary school. I know this town like the back of my hand."
"I'm sure our parents feel better knowing that we're all together and safe," Alonzo chips in. "They won't be distracted worrying about us."
Jermey crosses his arms and huffs, "I think we could be more useful if we were allowed to do anything instead of just sitting around this table staring at the walls."
"You want to be helpful?" Kenisha asks. "Why not help them finish packing up so that we can all get out of here as soon as Jolie is found?"
How long has it been? A day? Two days? Have they forgotten about me?
Jolie tries in vain to escape her prison. She tries to push. She tries to pull. She tries to climb. She beats the ground until her little fists are covered in mud and blood. There is no relief.
Day has turned into night and still no sign of Jolie.
"I know a lot of you have spent a good part of the day searching but we can't give up now," Salvatore yells over the din of the crowd. "I'm giving out new assignments and we will continue to search through the night. Anyone that needs a break is welcome to take it just let an organizer know."
"I want to search," Michael says. "I can't sit around waiting anymore."
"Are you sure?" Salvatore asks.
"She needs me. She needs all of us right now."
The search continues.
Amira and Michael are on high alert when they reach the outskirts of town and a thick fog rolls in.
"What is this?" Amira asks. "It's like a horror movie."
Michael scoffs, "It's too real to be a movie."
Michael's throat burns with every yell but he screams as loud as he can.
"Jolie! JOLIE!"
"Ssshhhh, I think I hear something."
Amira and Michael listen intently to the sounds of the woods around them and then, a faint hum that can't be natural at all.
"I'm not all alone. I am not all by myself," Jolie tries to comfort herself through another rainy night alone.
Bruce is frozen in place when he hears the hum of the saucer behind him. He's not sure if he should run and try to hide or turn and fight and probably die in the process. No one really knows what these aliens are capable of.
Just as he is preparing to run a blinding light envelopes the area.
Amira and Michael can see a light bursting out of the nothingness.
Bruce runs away from the light. Amira and Michael run towards it.
That's when they see the meteor. They make futile attempts to brace for impact. This is what Draconians are capable of, Bruce realizes.
Impact.
Everyone in the area hears the crash of rock meeting world. They appear from all directions.
"Help me!" Jolie screams. "They're coming for me!" She sobs, "Please!"
"Jolie is here," Sally cries. "We need rope. Does anyone have rope?"
They work together to toss the rope over the large boulders. Jolie's shaky, mud caked hands grasp desperately for her lifeline.
"Where's my daddy?" she cries when she's finally free.
"They'll be here so sunshine," Laila says. "So sunshine! We need to go now before the others come. Come children."
Sally calls Salvatore to call everyone home. "She's safe. We found her. We are coming back."
The reunion is short lived. They're met by five Draconians standing on the lawn.
You think you'll take her?
None of them speak but the words are projected with searing clarity. No one in the vicinity can ignore them.
She will come with us or you will burn.
A meteor hurtles from the sky to punctuate the threat.
"I need you to be strong," Amira says. "Take the girls and my mother and RUN."
"But you and your father. . . you'll be. . .," Michael can't finish his thought. The lump in his throat is too painful and too raw.
"We will find you. We have to hold them off long enough for the rest of you to get away."
"Ducentia protego." Claude murmurs the words quickly. The glyphs fly out of his wand and float in the sky. "Go now!"
The cars and moving trucks pull off the lawn and speed down the road. He only hopes he's given them enough protection to drop off the radar. He hopes they glide into the night unnoticed.
How dare you!
The shriek is mind numbing and Claude drops his wand.
Where have they gone?
"Where you can't follow," Claude yells into the night sky.
Amira joins her father and casts more spells.
"Glaciem in momento scutum," they chant in unison. "Perturbatio dispersio."
"Too many fires." Amira gasps. "We need to leave."
"One more confusion spell. We need to make sure they can't follow."
Amira nods and wipes the sweat from her forehead. They hold hands and start another spell.
FOOLS!
The voices are weaker now. Faint even. Amira holds back tears as she watches her home go up in flames. Neighbors rush to the scene of multiple explosions.
"We need to go," Amira urges as she tugs on her father's arm.
"Tenebris pallium," Claude says.
Glyphs surround them.
"Let's go find our family," Claude sighs. "Let's go start over."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
There it is. I didn't want to draw this out so I smashed it all into one post. Sorry.
Claude is the MVP of this entire legacy so far.
