Taya knew whose hand was on her shoulder. She moved to turn around and kick it away. But then another hand clamped firmly down on her other shoulder and in a moment she was forced onto the floor, her hand wrenched from Henry's. She landed on her knees, she could only gasp. It felt like the breath had been forced out of her. Her knees were hurting badly. She couldn't even stand up.

     "Taya?" Henry called out.

     “Henry.” Taya gasped weakly.

     "What? What’s happened? Taya, babe, where are you?" He yelled.

     Taya tried to stand up on one shaking leg but was pulled to the floor, landing on her chest and stomach with a painful smack. She only managed to call out Henry’s name before she was dragged by her ankles across the floor. All she could do was scream.

     With the screaming came more screaming. Margot heard Henry’s shriek of panic, begging someone to help him find Taya. The sound of people rushing then stopping. Margot only just missed having her head be knocked against by something large heavy, she guessed a chair. More screaming, the sound of heavy objects skidding across the floor. Margot moved to her left, just in time as something large brushed past her, hitting her hip. She winced from the pain. She realized what was happening. It's barricading itself. A cold dread enveloped Margot as she listened to Taya's screaming.

     "Get off me! Let me go! Someone help!"

     Taya's pleas for help brought Margot to tears. Memories she tried to bury deep came to back the surface. Why didn’t anyone want to help? Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it's not real…

     Forcing herself back to the present Margot made herself banish the thoughts to the back of her mind. No, she could do something, she wasn’t a little girl anymore. This time was going to be different. Focus, stay calm, find her. All around she heard the sounds of panicked screams and objects moving. She crawled alongside the wall, trying to listen for Taya. "Hold on Taya!" She yelled.

     She wasn't going to let this thing hurt her friend. The old promise she made to herself erupted in her mind, never again. Margot could hear Taya's screams, what sounded like fighting. Margot listened as hard as she could but the noise around her was making it difficult. She wished she could see what was in front of her. Then, like some small miracle, Margot saw a light. Small, like a candle flame, she could see something glimmering a few feet away. Margot ran right towards it.

     No! No, no, no, no, no! Hijo de puta pinche !

     Taya kicked, screamed and thrashed her body to escape. She was exhausted, the cold from before making her feel numb. No! She screamed at herself. Fight back! Fight back! She told herself. Her hands were spread out in front of her, trying to grab at anything. This thing seemed to be dragging her around the floor like a mop. They were moving so fast the skin on her back felt raw from the friction. She could hear Margot and Henry screaming her name, footsteps everywhere but near her.

     With a sudden jolt, she felt her whole body be lifted up, hanging upside down. She clawed at the floor but could no longer feel it. She realized that was floating, being lifted off from the ground. Taya waved her arms and hands, trying to grab hold of something. If this thing could lift her up from the ground, what was to stop it from dragging her to the ceiling and then just dropping her? Her fire opal was in front of her face. She grabbed it to pull it away.

     Taya felt a warm sensation in her hand the moment she grabbed it. She heard growling from above her. Her opal, it must do something because every time she held it the numbness would ebb away and this shadow cabrón clearly did not like that.

     "Let me go!" She screamed. Deciding a different tactic, Taya swung herself back and forth and lunged head first, hoping to grab something and pull herself to the ground. When she had reached out to try and grab something, she had let go of the opal, she saw that it was glowing.

     The blood rushing to her brain was making her dizzy. She swung herself back and forth again, like a pendulum, to read for something. Taya felt her hand collide against something smooth, a door? Yes! Maybe a way out! The blood to her head was making it hard to concentrate. With as much effort as she could muster Taya reached out and grabbed a door handle. Without warning, she felt the cold grip on her ankles release and her whole body plummeted to the floor. She blacked out just as she heard heavy footsteps come towards her.

     Don't be dead! Don't be dead! Oh God, ne sois pas morte!

      Margot prayed and prayed, to whatever deity that existed, begging for Taya to still be alive. Her prayers were answered when she crashed right into her. A door she did not realize was there crashed opened sending them tumbling inside before the door swung itself closed. The little orange light had quickly faded out, putting them back into darkness. Pawing up along a wall she found a light switch. With a flip, bright fluorescent lights turned on. After a moment her eyes adjusted to the light. It took her a minute Taya was unconscious and Margot feared the worst for several agonizing seconds until she found a steady pulse.

     "Merci mon Dieu!" She whispered. Margot moved Taya so that she was lying on her back against the wall, trying to check for any wounds or broken bones. Nothing. She seemed fine. As fine as a person can be after being attacked by the supernatural.

     "Taya? Taya can you hear me?"

     Margot tried to shake her awake, lightly patting her face. She didn't want to do anything that would hurt her. She heard a gasp. Taya woke up.

     "Taya? Can you hear me? It's me, Margot. You’re safe." Kind of.

     With a grunt, Taya pushed herself up, Margot trying to support her. Shielding her eyes from the light. "There's light now? How long was I unconscious?"

     "I don't know, maybe a few seconds? I think you just fainted. Also, there is a switch " Margot said. "What happened to you?"

     Taya stood up straighter her face red with rage. "That thing! It grabbed me from behind, pulled me up by my ankles! It dragged me all over the floor like a mop and then it lifted me up until I was hanging upside down!"

     Margot's jaw dropped. "You were lifted off the ground?"

     "Yeah. God, I'm so sick of this. Why does this thing keep attacking me?"

     That was a good question. Taya consistently remained the target of this thing. She thought about something Aria had once told her. "Do you by any chance have any special hidden talent?"

     "Excuse me?"

     "Are you psychic?" She asked again. Taya scoffed.

     "Psychic? No, Margot, you know that I'm not. But that’s not the point. Where the hell are we?”

     It was a good point. Margot had tried to force open the door but found it stuck. The fact that there was light was reassuring but both girls were uncomfortable knowing that they were trapped in some place even smaller and seemingly no way of getting out. Margot continued to pound the doors with her fist calling for help as Taya pawed the walls to see if there were some other means of escape. To her astonishment, there was another door. With a twist of the knob, it swung open to concrete stairs going down to the building's basement. Flipping a switch from inside the wall lights turned on illuminating their path.

     At least it's not dark. Margot thought grimly.