Prophecy

The Replacement

Wyatt

James looks at me with wide eyes, the color draining from his face. He takes a step towards me like he means to sink back into the crowd. But the gap between us closes with bodies. I shoot a worried glance at Quinn, I see her swallow hard and bite her lip.

"And we have our next fighter!" the referee to the fight yells, his voice booming louder than I feel it should in the small building. Quinn grabs my shoulder, squeezing it hard between her fingers. I face her, leaning down to hear her voice over the noise.

"They think James is the next fighter!"

The realization hits me and panic races through me. I turn and try to tear my way through the crowd, but the bodies won't move. "James!" I push harder, shoving people out of the way. Our eyes meet through the heads and shoulders for a split second, before we lose sight of each other again.

The crowd has erupted with cheers, clapping their hands and shouting because they get to see another fight. "No! He's not suppose to be in there. James! James!" I see Quinn out of the corner of my eye, trying hard to fight through the crowd as well, with a huff she gives up and turns to me.

"It's no use!" she shouts. "There's too many people, we can't get through them. Besides what would we do if we could? I don't know about you, but I can't fight!"

"Well we can't just let James get beaten to a bloody pulp!"

"Are you ready?" the man yells again. The crowd gets louder, something I didn't think was possible. I remember watching basketball games at my old school. Sitting at the top of the student section, not being able to see a thing because everyone else was standing on the bleachers. I remember how loud it could get, everyone screaming at the top of their lungs, jumping on the bleaches, causing them to shake, being as loud as they could.

The noise here was deafening, I could feel the rumble of the crowd in my chest, like fireworks exploding on the fourth of July. Then, suddenly, it's quiet. The clamor of the people around me die out, causing a strange, eerie, silence. My heart stops along with the crowd, I notice it was pounding in time with them and their chants. I shift my feet trying to get a clear view of the ring, when I realize the people around me are willing to move again.

I push my way through them and they move numbly aside. When I get to the front I see James again, his back turned to me, facing the same way as the crowd. Through the corner of my eye, I see Quinn move in beside me.

I hear her quick intake of breath and look at her as she mumbles, "It's him."

"Him? As in the person who took your book him?"

She nods rapidly. I try to think of what to do, but no ideas come to life. All I can think about is James. How he's going to get hurt and how we will be the ones to blame. The worst part though, is this isn't a dream like I thought it was so many years ago. If James gets hurt here, he'll be hurt when we wake up too.

My attention is brought back to the fight, the guy, Ashton, is walking over to James. My mind spins, is he the one James is meant to fight?

"Excuse me," he says, his voice booming, "but I'm the replacement for this fight."

Another moment passes and nobody says anything, finally the man announcing recovers. "Well then. You all heard the man, let's get the fight started!"

The crowd erupts again in cheers, like the awkward moments before never happened. I reach out and grab James by the collar of his shirt, pulling him back. We melt into the crowd again, this time I'm glad for the people in the room. They happily let us move to the back and fill in our space.