Jesse's POV
We set off down a sidewalk, trying to forget the past. We had a mission ahead of us, and we couldn't let grief get in the way.
As if nature was trying to make us feel bad, guess what? It started raining. Fantastic.
"Well, great," Lukas said.
"We're not gonna let this get in the way of what we have to do," I reminded, "Come on. Let's find that portal."
As we walked down the sidewalk, I couldn't help but have this paranoid feeling... like we were being followed.
"Guys?" I asked, "Is someone following us?"
"Well, I didn't think so until you said that," said Petra.
"Sorry."
"I think you might just be paranoid, Jesse," Lukas said, "I don't see anyone."
I didn't believe him.
He might be right, though. I thought. You're probably just paranoid because of how Gabriel acted last night. Notch knows where he is now.
Suddenly, a loud bang echoed through the rain and Lukas winced in pain and grabbed his arm.
"What? What happened?" I asked.
"Agh, my arm is on fire!" he exclaimed.
"But it's raining!" Petra said.
"No... it... oww..."
"Jesse! Are you trying to run away from me!?" someone yelled.
"Oh, no," Petra said. A truck came slowly driving up the side of the road. Looking out the passenger side was Gabriel, pointing his middle finger in the air.
"You thought I was gone, didn't you?" he said through the rain. I could see his head twitching slightly. His buddy in the steering wheel chuckled.
"Just leave us alone!" I yelled.
"I'll leave you alone when I'm satisfied. I was hoping to shoot you last night, Jesse."
I looked at him in confusion as he leaned back into the car to grab something. I looked over at Petra and Lukas.
"Jesse, Lukas," Petra said in a low voice, "run."
My legs seemed to understand faster than my brain because I took off without knowing what Gabriel was doing. I could hear Lukas's footsteps pounding on the shiny, wet sidewalk right behind.
There it was again—the sound of a gunshot.
Again, a scream.
I turned around in horror as the pictures moved in slow motion. My heart thumped and my throat tightened as I saw Petra fall forward onto the sidewalk with a thud. My mouth dropped open. This wasn't happening. The world grew blurry as my head spun. I couldn't breathe. I could feel my heart beating faster. My legs couldn't hold me for long. Petra was going to get up... any minute now. She always does.
"GET OUT OF HERE!" I heard Gabriel scream, "SOMEONE CALLED THE MOTHERF---ING POLICE!" The car tires squealed against the asphalt as the car sped away. I could hear sirens in the distance. This wasn't happening.
The world appeared in flashes. I saw the police coming. A saw ambulances. Flashing lights. Rain. I saw Petra being lifted into the ambulance. Some people ran to Lukas. Police cars sped down the road after Gabriel. Rain. There were reporters and cameramen.
"How do you feel about this whole matter?" a woman asked as she shoved a microphone at Lukas. I could faintly hear her voice.
"He's badly injured! Get away from him!" someone yelled.
"But the viewers wanna know! Who is this criminal? How angered are his vict--"
"Leave now!"
"Here, come with me," someone said right behind me. They gently escorted me into an ambulance.
I barely even remember the ride to the hospital. I was in a daze the whole time.
We pulled in and I sat in the waiting room as the doctors brought Petra and Lukas into rooms in the back. Lukas was in a bit of pain, but Petra still hadn't woken up. The waiting room had blue plastic chairs lining the walls and a desk by the wall. The walls were gray and the tiles of the floor were white.
A little while passed until a nurse came out and said I could see Lukas. I got up and she led me to his room.
Lukas's POV
"A report had been filed the night before the event that they had seen some suspicious activity around the school. The police stayed on the lookout, until a shooting happened the next day and the criminal was captured and arrested."
"Those idiots..." I muttered to myself as I watched a small screen in front of my bed in disdain. It displayed Gabriel and his friends finally getting arrested.
"Lukas?" said my nurse as she popped her head through the door, "Jesse is here to see you."
She led Jesse into the room and went to go work on something else.
"Hey, Jesse," I said.
"Hey," she replied, "How's your arm doing?"
"Pretty worse for the wear. Remember that other time it got shot? Well, apparently, the healing potion didn't completely fix it, and I had no idea. So, because I've been using it and now it's hurt much worse..."
"...it's pretty bad now, isn't it?" said Jesse.
"Yeah. But the nurse said that if I just get a cast, it should heal completely in a while."
"Well, that's good."
The two of us paused in a moment of uncomfortable silence until Jesse said,
"So, Gabriel finally got arrested, huh." She looked at the screen, playing footage of Petra being lifted into an ambulance on a stretcher.
"Yeah. I just can't believe he would do something like that! I hope Petra's okay."
"Me too."
"Okay, Jesse. I'm gonna have to have you leave now. Lukas needs to rest," said my nurse as she came back into the room.
"Yes, ma'am," Jesse said. She gave me one last glance before walking out of the room.
Jesse's POV
Shortly after I left from seeing Lukas, another nurse came by and told me some news about Petra.
"She got shot in the stomach, which could be serious. Luckily she didn't bleed to death before we made it to the hospital, but she'll still need an operation and she might never be the same again. It's a miracle that she even survived that."
The news hit me like a ton of bricks. I felt like I was going to throw up right there.
The nurse must have noticed my horrified expression and said,
"I'm sorry. We're doing everything we can to her. And if you ever need anything, you can just tell me and I'll help. My name is Laurie."
"Well," I began, "How long would you say it'll be until Lukas can leave?"
"Oh, he'll be out in just a little while. We just need to apply his cast. Should only take about 15 or 20 more minutes."
"Well, I really hope this isn't too much to ask," I began, "but we kind of don't have any place to sleep in tonight."
She thought for a moment.
"I don't think you'd be allowed to stay here because we have to have space for other patients," she began, "But I know a place downtown that you could sleep. And the best part is, it's free! I could drive you and Lukas there."
"Really? That would be incredible! Thank you!" I exclaimed.
"No big deal. It's my pleasure," Laurie said good-naturedly.
Later, they let Lukas out of his room with a freshly wrapped cast around his arm. He had bags under his eyes and he was slouching a bit.
"Come on, kids. I'll get you to that place," Laurie said, "It's about time I get off work anyway. I'm sure boss won't mind I leave a few minutes early. It's for a good cause, anyway."
She led us through the dark parking lot to her black car. It was nighttime by now. She pulled something out of her purse and pressed a button on it, which made her car honk a little bit.
"Come on in," she said as she got into the driver's seat. Lukas sat next to her, and I sat in the back behind him.
She placed a key in the ignition and the car began to rumble a bit. Suddenly, the dashboard at the front lit up with buttons and soft music began to play behind the raindrops peacefully dropping on the roof of the car.
"Whoa," Lukas said.
"What?" Laurie asked.
"I mean, that was pretty cool. Everything just lit up when you did that."
"Yeah, I guess it is pretty cool. Well, let's get you guys someplace to sleep." She pressed a gear forward and began turning a wheel, which made the car start pulling out of the parking lot. I could see Lukas's reflection in the window. His eyelids were fluttering like he was going to go to sleep. I put my head in my hand as I stared out the window at all the trees and lit up buildings passing by. Raindrops were collecting at my window. I watched each one connect with another and roll down to the bottom of the glass.
I bet Olivia would like this. I thought. She'd probably be interested in building one. I should tell her about it.
My head would begin to drop like I was falling asleep every now and then. I just couldn't wait to get someplace safe... and warm...
My mind wandered as I looked out the window. Petra might die. It was already a miracle that she survived, and now she'll never be the same again. Even if she did survive the operation, the Order of the Stone would have one less member. She wouldn't be able to fight like she used to.
I just stared out the window and listened to the radio, trying to forget everything. Everything. Reuben never died. I never found the portal hall. I don't experience traumatizing nightmares every night. Petra is okay. Lukas is okay. Ivor is okay. I'm okay. I just closed my eyes and tried to forget all of it. Everything is just how it used to be. Just Jesse and Reuben living in a tree house with Axel and Olivia.
Just if only...
"We're here!" said Laurie as the car fell silent and the lights on the buttons went dark. I must have fallen asleep; that ride felt short.
I lifted my head and stretched. When I opened my eyes to look at where we were staying, I couldn't believe what I saw.
We were in the parking lot of a super run down building that looked like it could be abandoned. It had multiple stories and a lot of old paint was chipping off it. There was graffiti art around the base of it. Around the streets, police sirens were constantly ringing and a car was constantly speeding through the streets. A gun was being fired in the distance. Everything just looked old and dangerous.
"Where are we?" Lukas asked groggily.
"Downtown," Laurie said, "Come on. And be careful with walking around in public." She opened her car door which let off an awful ringing noise that lasted until she closed it. Lukas and I opened our doors and got out too. I turned around in a slow circle as I took in all the chaos that was going on. Gum and various pieces of trash littered the sidewalks and there were a lot of guys holding cardboard signs on the side of the street.
"Come on, you guys," Laure said, "Let's get you inside."
We rushed to the doors of the building to get out of the rain and/or the multiple police car chases. (I'm not sure which)
I understood why she said that it was free to sleep here once we got inside. We had to sneak past the guy behind the desk, although he was more sleeping than doing his job.
We climbed up a couple flights of stairs to get to our room. There were multiple cobwebs around the stairwell and I kept feeling something wet on the rail, which I decided was best not to touch. The yellow wallpaper was peeling all over the brick walls.
"And here we are! Home sweet home," Laurie said as she led us into our room. Both our mouths dropped when we saw our "home sweet home."
The place reeked and had mildew climbing the peeling walls. The curtains by the windows were ripped apart and pieces of them were scattered around the floor, along with pieces of wood and possibly pieces of the wallpaper. There was a couch, but big pieces of the fabric were missing.
"This is where we're staying?!" Lukas asked.
"Yep!" Laurie said.
"Why didn't you tell us about how it was a dump in the middle of the bad side of town!" I exclaimed.
"Look, I know it's weird and creepy and smelly. But... I didn't want you to worry. And, if you think about it, isn't this better than sleeping outside?"
"I guess so—" I began.
"Great! Well, I'll leave you to it, then. And if you need anything, just give me a ring. Here." She reached into her purse and pulled out a slip of paper and a pen and began to write something on the paper. She handed the paper to me.
"What is this for?" I asked.
"To call me..." she said. Lukas and I looked at each other in confusion.
"...You don't have any phones though, do you?"
"No," Lukas said.
"Alright. I guess I can just come over and tell you if there's anything urgent you need to know about regarding Petra."
"Okay, thanks," I said.
"G'night!" Laurie said. With that, she left us in the run-down room.
"Well," I said, "at least it has two beds."
"I can't imagine they'd be too comfortable, but I'm too worn out to care," Lukas said tiredly, "Let's just sort this out tomorrow."
I nodded and we made our way to the beds. When I laid down, I immediately felt a spring pushing my back. I let out a deep and annoyed sigh as I struggled to get comfortable.
I ended up just deciding to sleep on the couch, even though it wasn't in the least bit soft. At least nothing was sticking into my back.
Despite being extremely tired and ready to fall asleep at that moment, I couldn't sleep with all the noise- police sirens and loud banging outside, while the neighbors weren't too quiet, either. Screaming and loud music thumping was coming from other apartment rooms. I could hear the soft and steady breathing of Lukas from the corner and couldn't help but wonder how he does it.
After what felt like hours, I was finally able to find a moment of silence and fell asleep.
The bad news was that I still didn't get that moment of peace. A certain someone came over and visited me...
...and that certain someone was Nightmelody.