The Crystal 2 by Jones M (reading cloud ebooks .txt) 📕

Everyone who was backstage asked me in shock. I ignored them as I made my out of the room, planning to go towards the exit.

"Emery!" they all called out to me, but I ignored them. A hand grasped my elbow, turning me to face Justin.

"Did you use magic? Are you trying to get everyone to like you?" he dared to ask. There was a moment of deadly silence as I replayed the words he said in my mind.

In an instant, I slapped him hard. 

"Really? You think that everything I do is to gain attention?" I asked him in anger.

"Well, if you really want to know: yes, I can sing. I have been able to since I was a teenager. And that song you heard? That was about all of you. Read in between the lines and you'll know what I was talking about."

"Emery--"

I turned to leave, ignoring Ethan's shout, but then about ten erwiches appeared. 

Oh no.  

The crew around us screamed, quickly running away from the scene.

I had been expecting another erwich attack, but then I didn't expect it in an area so public.

I went to act, forming a fireball on my hand, but something hard hit me on the head. I collapsed onto the ground. My vision was going out of focus just as I noticed the rest trying to fend for themselves.

I felt tired, and so I closed my eyes, instantly passing out.

Emery's P.O.V

My eyes slowly fluttered open, and I took my time observing my surroundings. Something about the frameless windows and the gray brick walls that surrounded me seemed familiar...

My eyes shot open when I realized where I was.

I was in Eva's castle!

I felt fear as I wondered how I got there. The last events I could remember began playing in my mind, and I was momentarily shocked. It had not been a regular erwich attack, but an ambush. I also couldn't believe an erwich had hit me on the head!

 I tilted my head back, wincing as the back collided with the wall behind me. It hurt a lot, and I had a feeling it was the spot I had been hit. I just hoped there wasn't a wound.

I closed my eyes as I waited for the throbbing pain in my head to subside. Once it stopped, I got up from my sitting position and went to move forward, only to be stopped by the chains that bound me to the wall behind me. I looked around, noticing that I was not alone. 

Erick, Justin, Selena, Bianca and the members of the Ordinary Brothers were also with me. They had all passed out.

Wait. Bianca?

I was instantly pissed that the erwiches had kidnapped her too. What was the point of stringing along an innocent human? 

Okay, Bianca wasn't that innocent. However, if the erwiches decided to torture her to get what they wanted, then that would be great for me. The bitch would deserve it for what she did to me. 

But then Bianca had to be the least of my worries. Despite worrying that she would eventually find out about magic, I had to get all of us out of there.

At least I was not in the room where my mother...

I shook my head, refusing to recall those events at a moment of danger. It would bring me nothing but sadness, and I needed a clear mind to figure out my next move.

My eyes turned to my left, noticing the open window that showed the clear sky. It was a bit dark blue, meaning it was either morning or evening.

I tried to use my powers to break the chains, but they did not work. The erwiches must have used a spell everyone in the room from channeling their powers on their land.

I still couldn't believe they attacked in public! I hoped no one had seen what had transpired. However, I recalled the events that followed once the erwiches teleported into the building. There were some screams, and without a doubt, I was sure the guys and I were on the news. 

It would be a lot of work to wipe out the memories and the evidence of the attack.

My thoughts were interrupted by a grunt. I turned to look at the rest, noticing Liam moving his head sideways as he was waking up. Just like my form earlier, his was hunched in a sitting position.

I went to approach him, but the chains could only take me so far.

"Liam!" I whisper-yelled at him. Liam groaned.

"Eighty more minutes, mom," he mumbled as he continued to sleep. That would have been funny if we were not in grave danger.

"Liam!" I tried calling him again.

"What?" instead, Logan woke up. He blinked, taking his time to realize the kind of situation we were in. Then his eyes widened in shock. He opened his mouth.

"Speak quietly," I told him.

"H-how?" he stuttered, taking in our predicament and trying to set himself free from the chains.

"It's no use, Logan," I said, sitting on the ground. "Our magic can't work here."

"Should we wake the others?" he asked.

I went to say no, but then I needed their help if we were to get out of the cell. Logan and I whispered to the rest to wake up. About two minutes later, everyone had gotten up.

"OMG!" Bianca screeched loudly. I glared at her and motioned for her to shut up. "Where am I? What am I doing here? Why am I here?"

The bitch was already annoying, and she had just woken up. I was not in a mood for her behavior.

"Bianca, please shut up," Erick told her, making her open her mouth in shock. "We need to find a way to get out of this place before the erwiches know we are awake."

"Does anyone have a phone?" Selena whispered. Liam struggled to reach his.

"It's in my pocket," he said. Logan, who was close to him, dug into the pocket that was behind his black jeans. He took out the phone and winced.

The phone had a huge crack on the screen. Logan tried to turn it on, but it wouldn't respond.

"Damn it!" he cussed. "Okay, what do we do?"

"There is nothing we can do," Selena said. "We are stuck in here, and I hope it won't be for a long time."

"Guys, relax," I told everyone. "Things are going according to plan."

"What?" Erick asked in disbelief. "You planned this?"

I rolled my eyes at him. 

"You will understand once we get out," I chose to tell him.

"Get out?" Justin repeated with a glare. "If you haven't noticed, we are stuck in this cell and we can't even use our powers! How do you plan for us to get out?"

"Glad to see that you are all awake," a foreign voice spoke to us. Every one of us tensed as we turned to face the speaker, noticing that he was outside the cell. The person had worn a brown cloak and was smirking at us. Something about him seemed familiar.

"Who are you?" Erick asked with uncertainty.

"You know who I am. Don't you remember?"

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. Then it clicked.

"Tevix," I spoke his name in shock. Everyone turned to face me in confusion while Tevix smirked.

"See?"

"Who is he?" Zane questioned, but no one bothered to answer him.

"What do you want from us?" Selena asked.

"I want Crystalia."

Of course he did.

"How are you going to get it if you have kidnapped us?" Logan asked. Tevix rolled his eyes.

"I have the King, don't I?" he spoke with a sinister smile. "It will only take a bit of torture before he starts doing what we want him to do. You know, since he has been sheltered in the castle his whole life and all that... Anyway, guards!"

The cell door opened as about ten erwiches entered the crowded chamber. Bianca screamed in terror.

"It is time for our festivities. Get everyone here, because today is a day we will all remember."

The erwiches unlocked the chains from the walls before dragging us toward the exit of the cell. There was no room for either one of us to escape, and our powers still did not work. We had no option but to follow Tevix.

We passed by a barely lit narrow hallway before emerging into a wide-open area. I took my time to observe my surroundings. The floor we were standing on was made of gray bricks. I realized we were on some kind of old courtyard of the castle.

A slight breeze past, making me shiver due to the unexpected cold. The sky seemed to be bluer than before, and I realized that the sun was just rising. Also, erwiches were present.

There were very many of them. In fact, it seemed like the whole lot of them was around the castle!

"This is bad," Justin commented. "This is very very bad."

"Fellow brothers and sisters!" Tevix shouted aloud for everyone to hear. "Today is a wonderful day for we have captured the King of Crystalia and the crystal!"

Loud cheers that seemed to come from a large crowd almost deafened me.

I observed my surroundings again while some evil witches used their powers to rebound our chains to ground. The erwiches were everywhere, seeming to be out of the castle too. According to how I saw it, some were on top of the castle towers; others had surrounded the guys and me on the courtyard while others were on the first floor, watching us with evil smiles. Erboons were also present as they flew around the sky like vultures waiting to devour a dying animal.

I hoped that people in Crystalia could see what was going on. However, Crystalia was far from Eva's castle, and so it seemed unlikely.

"Today we will take Crystalia by force!"

More loud cheers.

To quote Justin, it was very very bad.

"OMG!" Bianca screeched again. Despite our situation, her voice did not fail to annoy me up to the point that I wished someone would knock her out.

Tevix turned to face the guys and me with an evil smile.

"I have waited for this day for years. Now that we have it--"

"How sure are you that you have it?" Erick asked loudly with raised eyebrows. Tevix narrowed his eyebrows at Erick.

"The crystal and you are here. It would be easy to kill you and to take over the castle."

"Yes, you could do that, but the people of Crystalia will not easily back down."

While Erick engaged in conversation with Tevix, I tried to use my powers. They were still not working.

I sighed in frustration.

"You will make them back down, or else," Tevix said.

"Or else what?" Erick dared to ask.

In an instant, Selena was dragged upwards by an invisible force. She screamed in surprise. I stopped struggling with the chains as I looked at the ongoing spectacle.

"Do you think we are idiots?" Tevix asked with a smirk, using his powers to throw Selena to a wall behind her.

"Selena!" we all screamed. Just before she could make contact with the wall, she ceased mid-air.

"Every one of us knows about your infatuation with her."

"What?" Justin asked while the rest of us tensed in disbelief.

How?

"You're in love with her?" Justin asked in shock, but we all ignored him.

"How would you know that?" I inquired.

Tevix faced me as he chuckled.

"Come on," he said with a roll of his eyes. "For witches, you lot are pretty fucking stupid. Do you think that we don't use enchanted objects to spy