The Switch Sisters：Chapter 22 – Under the Rubble

Chapter 22 – Under the Rubble

“How did you get that?” Morgan asked, staring at the silver key that Mina was now using to open the door of their cell.

Mina whispered as she turned the key. “Well I’ve always had this feeling that sometimes, when I don’t want people to see me, they can’t,” she said. “Lately I’ve been trying harder to make it so people can’t see me, like this.”

Mina’s form shimmered and then disappeared into the air. The silver key turned in its keyhole without any visible hand turning it.

“Oh my gosh, Mina!” said Marie, “That’s fantastic.”

“Yeah,” chimed Morgan. “I can’t see you at all.”

Mina reappeared, looking breathless but smiling from ear to ear. “I tried it last time when we were here to get Mara—that’s how I stole the keys from the guard last time too! I wasn’t sure if it worked or not because I can still see myself when I turn invisible, but I decided to try it just a while ago, and sure enough, I slipped into the front room after the mayor no problem, and when he had settled in for a bit I just walked up quietly and took the key from his pocket.” She pulled open the gate, and the three older sisters scrambled out.

“You had faith in yourself in a time of crisis,” Mara said, squeezing her little sister’s shoulders. “I’m so proud of you. And thank you.”

Morgan had already walked towards the door leading to the front part of the holding house when Marie’s voice sounded in her head, Wait!

Marie held onto Mina’s hand and looked at her sisters. “Okay. Mina I want you to try to become invisible and make me invisible with you. Morgan, Mara, tell me if you can see me still.”

In the next moment, Mina disappeared while Marie stayed visible. Morgan and Mara shook their heads at Marie, who said to Mina, “Alright, come back.” Mina appeared again, an expectant look in her eyes. Marie shook her head with a smile. “Don’t feel bad! I just wanted to see if it would work. But that would just make things too easy, don’t you think?”

“Alright,” Morgan said, her hand resting impatiently on the knob. “There’s four of us, one of him. We can totally tackle him if we need to. Plus, Mina can go invisible and surprise him from behind or something. Let’s get out of here. I have a bad feeling about this place.”

“No,” said Marie. “There’s another way.” The sisters huddled around Marie as she told them her plan.

A minute later, the sisters were in their positions. Morgan, Marie, and Mara were huddled at the other end of the dark hallway, near the cell where the three younger sisters had emerged from the tunnel earlier. Meanwhile, Mina stood by the half-open gate of the other cell. She looked over at her sisters and they nodded at her, giving her a thumbs up sign. Mina disappeared, becoming invisible. Then, her voice shouted into the air, “Mr. Hunter! Come here! Something’s happened! Mr. Hunter! Quick!”

The sound of a chair scraping could be heard from the other room, followed by heavy footsteps. Mr. Hunter threw open the door and rushed to the other cell, looking around in surprise as he saw the door open. Then, his body was suddenly thrust forward by an invisible force—evidently, Mina—who was also pulling the gate of the cell shut. “Now!” whispered Morgan, and the three older sisters dashed out of the door and through the front door of the holding cell, trusting that Mina would lock the mayor in the cell and come running after them. They stopped a hundred feet from the front of the holding house, gasping in the fresh night air, looking into the dark for the form of their little sister to appear in front of them.

“Aaarrrggh!” The house shook with a loud yell, accompanied by thudding footsteps that seemed to shake the very ground. A sharp scream pierced the air.

“Mina!” Mara dashed back towards the house, her white wedding dress billowing behind her. Mina appeared in the doorway, running, and shot into her arms. “I’m sorry!” she said, tears running down her face, “I don’t know what happened! He must have figured out that I was there, he grabbed onto my arm…”

Behind her, the mayor was bursting through the first door and charging out, his eyes strangely blank. Mara grabbed Mina’s hand and ran from the house towards where Morgan and Marie were standing behind a tree.

The mayor was gaining on them. A strong wind started to blow in their faces. “Wait!” Mina said suddenly, pulling on Mara to stop. “Hold my hand tight.” She turned around and faced the mayor, who was struggling towards them against the wind.

Mina’s face crunched up in concentration. As she did this, the wind blew harder in a thin column that seemed to be directed at the mayor. Mayor Hunter staggered backwards with the force of it, the skin on his face flattened around his eyes and screaming, spitting mouth. Then, as if on rewind, the wind forced the mayor step by step back into the holding house, where it turned around and slammed the door shut on him. The air was suddenly still.

Marie and Morgan ran out, their eyes wide with shock. “Oh my word,” said Morgan, “was that you, Mina?”

“Of course…” said Marie. “Earth, wind, fire, water. The four elements. Of course, you’ve got power over wind and air, Mina!”

The twins reached forward, and the four sisters embraced. “I’m so thankful we’re all safe,” Mara said. “And I’m so sad that you girls had to go through all of this for me…never never never again will I ever put my younger sisters in danger!” Tears started to slide down her face, and then the ground started to shake, ever so slightly. Mara wrapped her arms around her three younger sisters, clutching them tight to her chest as the light tremor turned into a full quake, the epicenter of which was the holding cell where they had all been imprisoned.

As the ground shook, the walls of the holding cell toppled and the roof sunk in with an earth-shattering crash. Then, the ground was still and the night was quiet.

“I hated that place,” Mara said. She had been imprisoned in there for a week now. She wiped her face dry and stood up tall. “Let’s go home. Mom is probably wondering where you kids are.”

As the Switch sisters turned to leave, they took one last look at the holding house. In the rubble of stone, metal, and wood, they saw the remnants of their lives, which had too seemed so unshakeable just a week before, until, in a sudden quake of events they were broken into unrecognizable remnants of what they once were. The four sisters held hands and walked towards their home, wondering what lay ahead.