Hello there! How is everyone? This is probably one of my favorite chapters this far because of the action. Yes it's pretty long, but I guess that's expected since this is one of the last few chapters. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
After I explained everything, everyone just sat there, contemplating how we would be able to save Jordan.
"We need to hurry. That monster is going to kill her if we don't get there soon," Cory said. Nick nodded. "Surprisingly, I agree with Carrie."
"Cory," she said, crossing her arms.
"Whatever," Nick said. "I'll get my strongest Reapers amongst my men, and let's kill this son of a b-"
He saw Will, Henry, and Zack.
"Bad guy," Nick corrected himself.
I thought about Jordan. She looked terrible (no offense). Even if Lee Parker didn't actually kill her himself, she would die of her wounds soon. I hated to go in without a plan, but we wouldn't be able to think of one before it was too late.
"Everyone, get ready. We leave for the base in half an hour," I said. Everyone listened, surprisingly. It was like we were getting ready for a war. Weapons and protection were being distributed. People ran around, preparing every detail. A few of the oldest Reapers were talking to each other, coming up with ideas to save Jordan. One was making a map of the base with an X where Jordan was. It was honestly terrifying. I had never seen anything like this before, but I guess most kids my age wouldn't go through most of the stuff I had over the past few weeks. My whole death had gone to chaos just because I had seen a dream.
I looked around for Nick, but couldn't find him. Eventually, I made my way to a private room with the door slightly ajar. I looked in to find Nick sitting at what looked to be a bar.
I went over to him. "You alright," I asked. He jumped slightly. I guess he didn't expect anyone to find him. He sighed. "Couldn't be better," he said, grabbing a bottle.
I shook my head. "Why are you lying to me? I thought you said we were friends." He turned to me. "Fine, you want to know the truth? I'm scared, Alex. This guy can do more than just kill us, he can destroy us. I don't know about you, but I don't want my soul destroyed."
"So what, you're giving up," I asked, sitting down next to him. Nick rubbed the bridge of his nose, as if he was completely done with me. "Of course not. I'm no quitter, you know that. I'm just stating the obvious. We might not make it out of this. So, let's go out with a bang," Nick said, taking a swig from his bottle of what I guessed was apple cider (since we obviously couldn’t drink).
I nodded and grabbed a bottle on the bar, opened it, and took a sip of apple cider. It tasted terrible, like it had been kept in this bar for the past 40 years, but I swallowed it. Nick looked at me as if surprised I hadn't spit it out.
"So, this girl. You like her," he asked, sipping his own drink without any reaction.
This time I did spit out the garbage juice.
"Hell no! That's disgusting," I said. I had never wanted to be in a relationship, especially with Jordan (she's my friend, that would be gross).
Nick laughed. "Good. You two would be terrible together."
I pretended to be offended. "Why?"
Nick looked at me, an eyebrow raised. "Many reasons. Main one being she's alive, you're dead. Well, you're supposed to be anyway." I thought about it and he was right. "Good point," I said. Nick nodded. "I make a lot of good points, you just don't realize it."
I rolled my eyes. "Totally," I said sarcastically. Nick pushed my shoulder. I did the same back to him. We smiled to ourselves.
"You know, after this is over, and I serve my time, I would like us to be friends again. If you would want to as well, of course," I said. Nick looked at me. At first he seemed shocked, but then he smiled slightly. "That would be nice. But you have to promise you'd never do this again," he said.
I shrugged. "Sorry, I can't promise that. Call me a sentimental and emotional idiot, don't care."
Nick smirked. "Alright, you're a sentimental and emotional idiot. Now come on, we need to get going."
Me, Lena, Nick, and a bunch of strong looking Reapers stood, ready to go. Cory was also coming, even though I told her it was a terrible idea.
"I can protect myself. I know martial arts. Plus, I got these," she told me, showing me her new twin daggers. She had a scary look in her eyes that told me she really wanted to stab some bad guys with them. So I let her come, to save the Reapers staying behind from getting hurt.
However, Henry, Will, and Zack were not coming. They argued that they could fight, but I wasn't letting them go. Will was 7 (soon to be 8, he made sure to remind me). Henry and Zack were 8. They were too little, so no, they weren't coming.
One of the Reapers stepped forward. "Are we really doing this," he asked, looking kind of terrified. He was one of the younger ones, not much older than us. Nick stepped up and placed his hand on the guy's shoulder. "I know this is scary, but we need to do the right thing. That's what the Reapers do. You are welcome to stay behind if you really can't do this," he said.
The Reaper nodded, a new fierce look on his face. He swung his scythe, opening the portal to the base.
It was now or never. We might not make it, I thought. But as Nick said, we had to do the right thing. So we all walked through the portal, ready for what was to come. Or at least we thought we were.
I guessed everyone had been asleep when I went here in my dream, because now the halls were filled with people who were staring at us. It was silent as we all stared at each other. Then someone yelled "Attack!" I don't know who it was to this day, or if it was someone on our side or theirs, but that was how the fighting began.
Before you could say anything, everyone was swinging weapons at each other. I held the sword I had taken from the weapon stash tighter and then joined in.
These guys were good fighters. I fought one that seemed less experienced. He swung with a weapon that looked like a spear at me, and I barely dodged. He was quick, swinging faster than I could dodge, so I had to block.
He swung at my head and I ducked, but he still managed to give me a cut on the forehead. Then I stabbed him with the sword. I flinched, expecting him to swing at me again, but he was still. I looked up and realized I had actually hit him. He looked at me shocked. I pulled the sword up as I stood, dragging the blade through him up to his neck. Then I pulled it out. He was dead.
I continued to fight. I got a few scratches on my arms and body, but I wound survive. One guy punched me in the face, causing it to bleed. I stabbed him before he could land another finger on me.
I kept going, blood dripping from my nose and the cut on my forehead. It was like all I could see was red. I could think of nothing but surviving in the moment.
I looked around and saw Cory struggling with some woman. I went over to her and swung before she even noticed I was there. Cory took deep breaths and looked at me, eyes wide. She had cuts all over her body. Her clothes were ripped, and she had blood all over herself.
"You look terrible," I said. She grabbed her twin knives which she had dropped. "I could say the same. You need to see a medic or something."
I shook my head. "I'll be fine." She didn't look like she believed me, but then some man started walking towards her. As if she felt his presence, she turned sharply and stabbed him in the head. He fell to the ground. "Nice," I said, raising my eyebrows.
She turned to me, taking another deep breath. "Just find Jordan. I don't like killing, even evil people." I nodded.
I began to run through the crowd of people fighting, trying to not get caught up in any more fighting. I didn't have time for it. Eventually, I saw Lena next to me. "Hey Alex," she said, more cheerfully than I thought possible. She shot electricity at a door that would've blocked us and we just kept running.
"So, how are you," Lena asked. "Not great, I'm gonna guess." I looked at her. "We are in the middle of a battle," I said. She shrugged. "So? It's kind of fun, isn't it?" She shot electricity at a few people in front of us.
"Don't lie to me Alex, you like it, don't you? Fighting, saving people," Lena said, more seriously. We stopped running for a second. "I'm doing what I have to do," I said.
Lena shook her head. "You aren't answering my question," she said. I stayed silent. The truth was I didn't know how to answer her question. I didn't like it, I told myself, but I felt like I was lying.
Don't lie, you like this.
Shut up, I told myself.
I'm you're mind. You want me to shut up, make me.
Before I could continue this weird head battle, I heard a bang. I saw a man with a gun. It was smoking slightly. I turned to see Lena. She had been shot. She collapsed to the ground, holding her stomach (where she had been shot) and clenching her teeth. She shot a bolt of lightning at him and he fell to the floor, dead.
I crouched over Lena. "I'll be fine," she told me. "Indestructible skin, remember? Just hurt a little bit, that's all." I shook my head. "Famous last words," I said.
"Alex, even if I do die, I'll just end up back in the Afterlife. You need to go," Lena said, coughing. I shook my head, eyes glassy. "I won't leave you to die," I said. My voice cracked.
"Alex, please go," she said. I looked towards where we had been running, then back at Lena. I knew we didn't have much time. I hugged her tightly for what felt like forever. 10 seconds...15 seconds...20 seconds...
I let go and got up. "Try not to die," I told her. She smiled. "I'll try."
I kept running through the hallways, alone this time. Finally, I made it to the room I had seen in the dreamscape. I expected the door to be locked, but it wasn't. I quickly turned the doorknob and ran in.
There was no one here.
Jordan was gone. Even the chair she had been tied to was gone. Like she had never been here. Was my dream wrong? No, I thought. That's impossible.
"I think you're in the wrong room," a voice said. I turned to see him. Lee Parker. He had this terrible smile on his face, like he had already won. "What did you do to her," I asked through clenched teeth. He chuckled. "She's fine at the moment. You...not so much." He took out a sword from behind him and I knew instantly what it was.
The Destroyer of Souls.
I could feel the power radiating off it. It was the kind of weapon you'd expect someone evil to wield. It was kind of beautiful, with fancy details all over the hilt and blade itself, but it was more of a terrifying beauty than anything else.
I raised my own sword, you know, the one without super evil or powerful powers. "I'm going to kill you," I said. Lee Parker laughed. "The amount of times I've heard that, but never from a kid. Let's get to it then."
I swung but he dodged as if it was the easiest thing in the world. I was so blinded by rage so I didn't have a plan, nor did I think about how to kill him. I just swung, imagining his body dead on the floor.
Suddenly, he hit me with the butt of the Destroyer of Souls and I fell to the ground. He sneered and raised the sword, ready to strike me down.
"Alex!"
I turned to see Nick. He had just come into the room and was behind Lee Parker. Parker noticed him and before either me or Nick could think, Parker swung. But not at me.
He stabbed Nick right in his chest. I screamed, but couldn't get up. I guess just being in contact with that weapon made it hard for me to move. Parker pulled the sword out of Nick, who collapsed on his knees.
I watched as glowing cracks began to appear all over Nick's body. He looked at me. He looked more terrified than I had ever seen him. "Alex," he said, his voice hoarse. Then there was a bright light, and the next thing I knew there was nothing on the ground where Nick had been.
He was gone.
I can't believe I just wrote all that. Nick dead, Lena dying...I think I might just be a psychopath.
What do you think of Nick now that he's gone? Do you even believe he's dead? Answer in comments if you want!
