The darkness swallowed them as they made their way back. The air was thick with tension, their footsteps barely making a sound against the damp ground. Elias led the way, his grip on Lucien tight as he carried her limp body. Her breathing was shallow, barely noticeable, and the weight of uncertainty pressed against all of them like an invisible force.
When they finally reached the safe house, Elias laid Lucien carefully on the worn-out couch. Evelyn rushed forward, pressing trembling fingers to Lucien's wrist.
"She's still alive," Evelyn breathed, relief washing over her. "But she's in a coma. I don't know for how long."
The room fell into silence. The only sound was the faint hum of the night outside. Then Dave spoke up.
"So… what do we do now?" he asked, running a hand through his hair. "We can't just sit here and wait."
"What choice do we have?" Mira countered, arms crossed. "We don't even know what happened to her."
"We know enough," Elias said, voice strained. "Something—someone—did this to her. And if we don't figure out who, they might come after us next."
Jonas exhaled sharply. "That's exactly why we need to lay low. We can't make any reckless moves right now."
Evelyn shook her head. "No. We need to find out if there's a way to bring her back faster. She could be stuck like this for days, weeks… months." She turned to Elias. "You said you've seen things like this before, right?"
Elias hesitated, then nodded. "Not exactly like this… but close. There are methods. Some risky, some nearly impossible."
Dave scoffed. "Of course it has to be 'risky' or 'impossible.' Nothing's ever simple with us, is it?"
Mira ignored him, eyes locked on Elias. "What kind of methods?"
He glanced at Lucien, jaw tightening. "There are certain rituals. Connections that can be used to reach her. But they require… a lot. Energy, knowledge—and sometimes, a sacrifice."
Jonas frowned. "Define 'sacrifice.'"
Elias didn't answer right away.
His silence said everything.
Evelyn's expression hardened. "We're not giving up on her. Whatever it takes—we're bringing her back."
Mira sighed. "Then we need a plan. A real one. Because if we start messing with forces we don't understand, we could make things worse."
Dave rubbed his temples. "Great. So we either sit and wait, or we mess with dangerous stuff and hope we don't get ourselves killed."
Jonas looked at Lucien's still form, then at the rest of them. "Or… we find out who did this—and make them fix it."
A heavy silence settled over the group.
Elias nodded slowly. "Then that's what we do. We find them. And we make them fix this."