Catastrophe (Harry Styles)

Goodbye, Sophie

Jake's service was beautiful. The only people who came were Harry, Sunny, Adam, Jake's mother, and I. We buried him close to the creek. I thought it'd be nice because of all the happy memories. Harry didn't let me out of his sight for the rest of the day. He wanted to post-pone the final assessment but I flat out refused. He reluctantly agreed but I'm pretty sure he's rigging it so that my creature is the weakest. On the morning of the assessment, I was thinking about Harry and I, of all things. He obviously admitted to liking me and all that but he hadn't kissed me or even put a label on our relationship. I shook my head. I'll let him take care of whatever shit he needs to. I pulled on my jacket and headed out to the courtyard. Harry was standing with his hands behind his back. Everyone was pale and I wondered why I wasn't as scared as they were.

"This is your final assessment; it'll be a fight till the death. You are fighting for your lives here. This is not a game. It will be hard but I will give you one piece of advice, a creature's weak spot is on the back of their neck. Hit them there, and they will become paralyzed for roughly ten seconds. That's enough time to grab a weapon and send it into their heart. You all have been the most...Interesting group I've hand in a while," He said looking at me, "So please be careful and don't screw it up. Now follow me." Harry led us out of the courtyard and up a trail into the forest. After about five minutes of silent walking, we got to the circular arena. It was about forty feet in its circumference and the floor was sand. There was a rack of weapons and twenty large doors which would occasionally bang or shake, I assumed the creatures were in there. At second glance, I realized that all the doors had names on them. Our names. I saw Adam, Veronica, James, Sunny, Piper. I stopped at my name. Then the door under it rattled. The loud banges made the others jump but I stayed still, fearless. Harry led us through a gate and into the stands near the stairs, leading down to the arena. The gate that cut the arena and the stands was iron and looked very strong. 

"I will go down the list alphabetically. Adam, you will go first." Adam tensed next to me. All the color drained from his face and I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Hey. Listen. They aren't going to throw a full grown monster at you. These are weakened or wounded."

He looked at me with no expression but he was shaking.

"It'll be okay. Remember your strengths. You're fast, you're great with a dagger and you are an awesome motherfucker now go kick it's ass." I said with a reassuring smile. Adam seemed a bit more confident after my little 'pep talk'. He approached the gate slowly. Harry whispered something in his ear which made him clench his fists. He stood up straight and walked with more purpose. He strutted into arena, took a dagger off the rack, and stared at the door with his name on it. He looked...brave. The bar which held the door shut was lifted by some pulley mechanism. After three seconds, a creature jumped out. It wasn't how I expected. The creature had grey, shiny skin and it's yellowish fangs looked razor sharp. It almost looked like a dog, but bigger and more deadly. I heard it hiss something, I didn't know they could talk. Angered by the creature's words, Adam lunged at it. The creature dodged and Adam hit the ground. Sunny grabbed my arm and squeezed extremely hard, to the point where she cut off all my circulation. He sprung to his feet to see the creature charging at him. Adam did the only smart thing, he jumped. Once he landed, he bounced back. The creature was standing where Adam had landed. Adam kicked the creature on the side with all of his strength and it stumbled and threw it's head down, then Adam brought the hilt of his dagger down on the back of the creature's neck. The creature went stiff as a board and Adam sunk the dagger into it's side. The arena filled with noise. It wasn't till now that I realized there was a crowd. Only about sixty people, including the Lords who seemed to be in a compartment. They were all clapping and cheering for him. A few more people went. Every time Harry would whisper something in their ears and they'd walk with more purpose and bravery. They wern't afraid anymore. So far, everyone had won, though some had sustained minor to server injuries, everyone had stayed alive. Sunny was a bad ass. She chose the battle axe and she knew how to use it. She looked like a fucking warrior princess. Though she was covered in blood, it wasn't her own and all she came out with was a small cut just above her eyebrow. Then it was my turn. I gulped and walked to the gate. Nerves causing my stomach to flip. Harry brought his lips to my ear.

"The creature you will be facing is named Aldemeir. He's the creature that killed Jake, and is also the same one who killed your family during the massacre. It knows you, it knows who you are, now go get your vengeance." He whispered. I looked at him, a reassuring smile filled his face. I smiled back slightly, nodded, and walked into the arena. I approached the weapon rack and to my surprise, Harry's sword was there. I took it by the hilt and looked at him. He gave me a wink and I sighed with a small smile and faced the door. The bar lifted. Nothing happened for a minute until the creature came walking out slowly. He was wounded and weak but he still held an irritating sense of pride and superiority.

"Hello Sophie." He said. He was literally hissing but somehow I could understand.

"The name is Piper." I growled.

"That's not what your family screamed. That's not what I heard Jake say..." He hissed. His yellow eyes flashing maliciously. I gripped the sword. This creature is responsible for everything. He took my family away from me. He was the reason I had to hide in a closet for almost ten years, he was the reason I didn't have Jake with me anymore. My sadness turned into rage. I allowed the feeling to fill me up, to give me strength. The creature showed it's teeth and I glowered.

"Well you've taken all of my family except me. Don't you think you'd like to finish the set?" I asked raising my sword.

"You're right. The time for formalities has passed. Time to finish what I started." With this he charged. I jumped over him and jumped back, as usual, he sped to where I had landed and hurdled into the air, lunging at me. I ducked and went under him. Upon his landing, I slashed my sword on his leg. He yelped in pain, then turned to me. What had been cruel playfulness, had turned into blind rage. His eyes flashed as he snarled.

"COME ON!" I screamed.  He growled and lunged again, I didn't duck in time and he wound up on top of me. He tried to make for my throat but I used my right arm to block him. His teeth clamped on it and I could feel them sink into my bone. I screamed in agony as I felt my blood run down my arm and drip onto my face. I used my left elbow to knock his face away. I tried to use the hilt to hit the back of his head. It didn't knock him out but it was enough to force him off of me. I scrambled up to my feet and he snarled and circled me. The pain was starting to get to me, I could see black spots and my vision blurred. Agony consuming me. My knees went weak and when he lunged again, I didn't have the strength to duck in time. I let him tackle me to the ground.

"Goodbye, Sophie." He growled, a smile playing on his bloody mouth. I tried to push him off but I couldn't...I just wasn't strong enough... I was about to let go, to let him kill me when,

"SOPHIE!" I heard Harry scream. That opened my eyes. I was shaken back to reality and I summoned up all my strength to pushed him off. I scrambled to my feet and held the sword towards him. The creature snarled even more and went after me again. I ducked and thrust the sword up. It didn't get his heart but it went to his belly. He yelped again and spun around and sunk his teeth into my leg. It wasn't as bad as my arm but it still hurt like a bitch. I pushed away all the pain I felt and slammed the hilt into the back of his neck. He froze and I knocked him over and sunk the sword into his heart.

"Goodbye Aldemeir." I said bitterly as I watched as the light left his eyes. The audience roared. All the light, all the noise, the pain I just couldn't do it anymore. My legs gave and I tumbled to the ground. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Harry rush to me. He bit into his wrist and held it to my lips. I didn't have the strength to push away so I just let him feed me. Clinging to consciousness wasn't so hard now but it was like my legs were made of lead. He took me in his arms and carried me out. All the while the audience hadn't stopped cheering.

"Hey," Harry said looking into my eyes. "You did it. Congratulations, you're a graduate." 

I smiled a bit. 

I did it.