As Thomas and Kathrine cautiously approached the source of the noise in the back, they discovered a wall lined with cells on each side, with stairs ascending in the middle. As they neared the cell from which the weary voice emanated, a man within came into view.
"Who is there?" the tired voice questioned, sounding weak. "Are you here to kill me or save me?"
"We are here to save you," assured Kathrine as she moved closer to the cell, examining the figure within.
"Kathrine, be careful," warned Thomas, joining her to see that it was a man inside.
"My name is Dean," the man introduced himself, coughing.
"Dean," Thomas repeated as he peered into the cell, sensing familiarity.
Before he could finish his thought, a noise echoed from the stairs. "Someone is coming," Thomas declared, grabbing Kathrine's hand. "We need to hide."
While Thomas and Kathrine sought a place to conceal themselves, they overheard a conversation from the approaching stairs.
"I'm just saying, why did you not tell us?" a girl's voice argued.
"Because it was not the time to," another girl responded.
"When would it be a good time?" chimed in a third girl.
"I'm just saying if you told us sooner, we would have found him sooner than later," the first girl insisted.
"Okay, you two," interjected the second girl, "we need to find the others and get the hell out of here."
As the three voices came into view, Thomas recognized them as Tierney and the others. "Where are we?" Courtney questioned, surveying the room.
"I don't know," Kristen admitted, looking around. "It gives me the creeps."
"I hope the others found Carlyle," Tierney expressed as she moved away from the stairs.
"It's Mom!" Kathrine exclaimed, repositioning herself. "You found us!"
"Kathrine!" Tierney called out as she ran toward her. "You're okay!"
"Yep, and we found Carlyle," Thomas announced as he approached his sister.
"Where are they?" Tierney asked, scanning the dimly lit room.
"We are right here," Niall responded as he and Carlyle walked over to them.
"That's good. You're all safe," Tierney said, hugging Niall.
"I'm fine," Niall assured, blushing.
"This is Carlyle," Niall introduced, pointing to him.
"Damn, he's hot," Kristen remarked unabashedly.
"You can say that again," Courtney added with a laugh.
"That's good we found you," Tierney said with a smile. "You look so much like your father."
"You know his father?" Kathrine asked, surprised.
"Yes, she does," Courtney replied with a smile. "And she knows who his mom is too," Kristen added, completing Courtney's sentence.
"Why did you not tell us this before?" Kathrine demanded, anger evident in her tone.
"So, are we telling them everything?" Thomas inquired with a smile.
"Are you kidding me right now?" Kathrine retorted, glaring at Thomas. "You knew as well?"
"So who are his parents?" Niall asked, curiosity in his tone.
"Yep, Mom," Kathrine addressed her mother.
"He is," Tierney confirmed, looking at Kathrine and then at Carlyle. "My son."
"What?" Niall exclaimed. "He is the twin brother to Kathrine," Tierney explained, tears streaming down her face. "I gave birth to twins that day."
"Then how did he get here and not with you?" Niall questioned, looking at Carlyle.
"Because they told me he did not make it," Selena interjected, crying even more, "and that I could not see him."
"So someone lied to you and took the baby," Kathrine surmised, her anger subsiding as she saw her mother cry. "And who was the person that took the baby?"
"You're saying that you're my mother?" Carlyle asked Tierney, incredulous.
"Yes," Tierney confirmed, wiping away her tears.
"So, who is my father?" Carlyle inquired.
"Good luck on that question," Kathrine remarked with a laugh. "I've tried for years."
"He was a good man," Tierney responded, hugging Carlyle.
"Told ya," said Kathrine.
"So how did you get her to say the truth?" Thomas asked, pointing at Courtney and Kristen.
"Because we found a room with files," Kristen explained with a smile. "They were files of all the elements and what you need to know."
"Oh, that makes some sense," Thomas laughed.
"We found out that the light and the dark elements are passed down from DNA and they are always twins in every generation of chosen ones," Courtney added.
"Now, that makes sense," Thomas chuckled.
"We also found out about the other elements too," Kristen continued with a smile, "and how to find them."
"Yeah, there was some really good info in those files," Courtney said, looking at Thomas.
"So how do we find the other chosen ones?" Kathrine asked with a smile.
"You and Carlyle," Tierney explained, looking at her two kids, "you two have the power to find them."
"How is that?" Carlyle questioned, looking at his mom.
"You guys have to combine your powers to do that," Thomas added with a laugh.
"How the hell did you know that?" Tierney asked her brother.
"Because I saw the last chosen ones do it," Thomas replied with a smile. "When Duke and Winter combined their powers to find the Spirit Element."
"Who is Duke?" Niall asked, looking at them. "I remember Winter as Darren Winter but not Duke."
"Duke was the dark element, and Darren Winter had the light element," Thomas explained. "They were twins too, just leading different lifestyles."
"What do you mean, different lifestyles?" Niall inquired.
"I mean they were separated at birth, the same as Carlyle and Kathrine." "That makes sense now," said Courtney with a smile.
"What are you talking about?" Tierney asked.
"It was not who took the baby but what did," Courtney clarified, looking at Tierney. "Kristen, did they show a photo of a woman with wings and horns?"
"Yes, they did," Kristen confirmed, "but I thought it was just a mythical creature."
"It had a name on the photo," Courtney continued, "what was it called again?"
"Enixa," Kristen replied, looking at Courtney.
"Yeah, that was it," Courtney confirmed with a smile. "Enixa. I don't know what it is, but the photo was interesting."
"Are you sure that is what it said?" Tierney questioned, looking at Courtney.
"Yes, I'm sure," Courtney affirmed. "Do you know that creature?"
"Yes, I have only heard about it in stories," Tierney admitted with shock in her tone. "It's a Pixie," Thomas added, looking at his sister. "Pixies are different from fairies."
"How so?" Kristen asked.
"Pixies are half-demon and half-angel," Thomas explained, "and Fairies are half-human and half-demon."