CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

"You stay here, boss," Alec answered. "If that something starts attacking, you got an army you can command but we don't,"

"Great point," Clinton agreed, gesturing at Alec. "Whatever it is you need to do, I suggest you hurry up. If Alice really knows what is happening, we need her here,"

Ronnie clasps his hands. "Okay, here's how it works. There's no logic in there. Whoever is in charge of a channel has total control. If he says there's rain there will be rain. He will be able to control everything but us. But—remember, he can manipulate our surroundings,"

Alec and Jet nodded as they stood behind Ronnie who was preparing to open a portal. He removed his earphones and took a pill. He looked at Jet over his shoulder. "You know, I never wondered what was going on inside your head. Never thought I get to enter it," he finished with a grin.

Jet smacked the older man but Ronnie only laughed in answer. He gave his hand towards Jet who stared at it with disgust. The older man rolled his eyes and forcibly took Jet's hand in his. Then, he exhaled as he closed his eyes in concentration. Entering someone's dream when they are awake was difficult; but not entirely impossible. Though, he definitely needed the cooperation of the person.

And he wasn't getting that from Jet. "I'd appreciate it if you could concentrate, Jet," he snapped and Jet gave him a look before closing his own eyes.

It took them more than a couple of minutes but Ronnie had managed to successfully open up a portal to Jet's channel. The older man quickly let go of his hand and made a show of wiping his hands. Jet growled at him as Alec simply shook his head at the two.

"Shall we, then?" Ronnie asked.

Jet and Alec nodded. Clinton stood up from the chair he was sitting at and walked towards them. He gave the three of them a nod as he wished them all good luck and reminded them to be careful. Ronnie gave a playful salute while Alec nodded back. Though all Jet did was stared at him in response.

Ronnie stepped aside as he gestured to Jet. "Lead the way, then,"

Jet stepped in front of Ronnie and entered the portal without a second thought. The two older men followed his lead and went through the portal. As soon as they crossed, Ronnie swiftly closed the portal. The two of them looked around where Jet had taken them.

They were in a garden. And not in the far-off distance were two structures. One was obviously a church, and the other was a three-story wooden building. It was obviously old. The roofs were repaired, quite sloppily, by planks of woods—probably to stop leaking.

"The last I saw Alice here was at the kitchen," Jet explained as they walked towards the back of the building. "There's a door here that leads directly there,"

Jet stopped in front of a wooden door. He quickly opened it and the three of them entered the room. He walked to where he saw Alice's shadow to show it to Ronnie. Ronnie walked towards him and looked around the room.

"And then, that other shadow appeared over there," Jet continued. "A little bit to your right, Alec,"

"We're lucky," Ronnie interjected and the two of them stared at him. "There's a trail here. But—there's a small setback,"

"What is it?" Alec asked worriedly.

Ronnie sighed. "There's two of them and I have no idea which one is Alice's,"

"So, we're at a standstill?" Jet asked as he kicked the table in front of him.

"Not necessarily," Alec remarked with a smile Jet could even imagine the light bulb glowing on top of his head.

At that thought, a light bulb did appear on top of the older man's head. Ronnie burst out laughing at the sight. And Jet's eyes widened in surprise as he tried to stop his own laughter. With a frown, Alec looked up and couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Very funny, Jet," he deadpanned, clearly not amused.

Jet raised his hands in the air as he shook his head adamantly. "I swear it wasn't on purpose!"

Alec waved his hand up and down to end that topic. "As I was saying, we don't need to know which is Alice's. The unknown shadow took Alice with him. We just have to follow one of them and it'll still lead us to her,"

"Ohhhh," Ronnie answered, clearly impressed with Alec's way of thinking.

"Or it could lead us to our doom," Jet added, ever the cynical.

Alec shook his head at him and Ronnie quickly went to work to understand the trails the two shadows have left behind. Within a couple of minutes, Ronnie had conjured another portal.

"Are you guys ready?" Ronnie asked. "On the other side of this portal could be Alice. But it also could be what she's warning us about,"

Alec and Jet nodded gravely as all three of them readied themselves for a fight. Ronnie led the way and the two of them followed suit. In contrast to the morning light from Jet's channel, what they had entered was dark. Not only was there no sun, but the moon was also half crimson. There were no stars in the night sky nor was there anything in the place at all.

"Where are we?" Ronnie asked as he closed his portal.

The three of them looked around. The road they were standing at appeared to be unending. And the place itself was giving a foreboding atmosphere as the hairs on their nape stood in uneasiness.

"I'm here," a voice whispered and Jet whipped around, trying to pinpoint where it was coming from. "I'm still here,"

Alice's voice sounded so far away. It was so distant, and like television with no antenna, Jet couldn't hear her clearly. It was as if static was blocking her. He continued spinning around in his place, facing all directions in hopes of getting a clearer hold of her.

"I'm still here,"

His eyes widened as her voice suddenly turned crystal clear. He swiftly ran towards the direction it had come from without explaining to Ronnie and Alec but he knew they would understand. He kept his feet moving forward despite not hearing her anymore. He wasn't even sure if they were really moving since there was nothing to compare their movements to.

But—after what seemed like fifteen minutes of running, Jet could finally see something. And it wasn't good. He stopped on his track. He could hear Alec and Ronnie catching up. And when they stopped behind him, he heard Alec sucked in his breath in shock.

Alice was in front of them. She was inside a cage—tied by her hands and feet and kept upright. Her head was drooping, evidently showing them that she was unconscious. Alec slowly made his way towards her; his whole being shaking in anger, worry, and sadness at seeing her.

"Alice?" he called gently.

Her head suddenly rose and with a growl rushed towards them. The chains rattled at the sudden movement. The three of them jerked back in surprise. And as Alice's gaze fell down on them, a completely new fear engulfed them—her crystal blue eyes like luminescence in the dark; glinting dangerously mad.