CHAPTER 18

Chapter 18

*Dean Zhang*

“We have to hurry. The traitor alerted Christy that we aren’t her normal guests, that we’re here to help steal the key. She’s coming for us right now,” Rachel says. Without waiting for any response, she raises her hand, summoning her shadows. They pour over me as if I’ve jumped into the ocean, and I fade.

We appear outside the fortress.

“I need to go back and hold Christy off. You all will have to find a way to beat Sid,” Rachel warns. “He controls the earth. If he covers you with dirt, he’ll be able to control your movements.”

“Nice to know,” Sophie mutters under her breath.

“I stole these for you,” Rachel says, extending her hand. She’s holding five long, shining knives, each at least six inches in length. “They’re made out of diamonds, the only substance hard enough to break superhuman skin.”

Setting the knives down in front of us, she steps away from us and starts to fade.

“Good luck, and goodbye.” She disappears into thin air, and we’re alone.

“I guess we each get a knife now,” Courtney says, watching the weapons warily, as if they might explode.

When we’ve all picked one up, Gene says, “Well, we better start moving.”

He’s barely even finished his sentence when a loud crashing noise stops us in our tracks. I spin around, ready to face our attacker, to find a huge crack in the ground snaking towards us, dividing the land into two parts.

“What’re you looking at?” Jack hollers at our gawking faces. “Run!”

We snap back to reality and sprint for the dark forest in the distance, but before we can make it three paces, the ground shakes so hard that we’re thrown off our feet.

“What’s -- going -- on?” I manage to yell between vibrations, trying not to bite my tongue off.

“Earthquake or something!” Courtney shouts back.

Suddenly, the earth comes to a jarring stop. I’m the first to jump to my feet, looking around to find the cause of the earthquake.

I don’t have to look far. A tall, dark-skinned, dark-haired boy with a malicious glint in his eye is staring right back at me. Sid.

“Just in time for dinner,” he purrs, his voice sending chills down my spine.

“No way,” I snap back. “You’re not getting dinner today.”

I charge at him with my knife held high. He dodges my first swipe with ease, smirking at my inexperienced fighting skills.

“Idiot. You can’t beat someone like me with a little toothpick like that,” he taunts.

“Shut up!” I roar, bringing down my knife as hard and fast as I can. Sid tries to dodge again, his limbs moving in a blur, but he’s not fast enough this time. My knife scores a deep cut on his arm.

He looks down at the blood trickling down his arm as if he can’t quite believe what just happened.

“You cut me,” he says, sounding dazed.

Before I can strike again, however, Sid stomps his foot on the ground -- once, twice, three times.

“What--” I start to speak.

But I’m cut off when the ground opens up below me.

*Courtney Tern*

“Dean!” Sophie screams as Dean falls into a deep chasm in the earth, flailing and scrabbling at the edge before plummeting down.

“What did you do to him?” she sputters at Sid. “If you-- if he-- I’ll--”

Sid holds up a finger. “Watch, fools.”

Seconds later, a figure comes rocketing up from the depths of the abyss. It’s Dean, gasping and coughing up earth.

And he’s covered in dirt.

“Oh, God...” I murmur.

Dean gets to his feet, a strange light entering his eyes, and turns towards us sluggishly. The dirt clinging to his frame crackles and slithers around his limbs, encasing him in an earthy shroud.

Sophie lets out a small choking sound, freezing in place.

Dean’s head whips around. His eyes narrow and advances upon her, his blade preparing to strike.

“Sophie!” I yell, trying to shake her out of her trance.

It doesn’t work. Her feet seem to be rooted to the ground.

“Use your knife!” Jack says, pointing at her weapon.

She looks down at it as if she’s in a dream. “My... knife?”

“He’s going to kill you,” I say. “Use it!”

Her grip tightens on the handle; when she raises it, it seems to weigh a hundred pounds. Her arms tremble as she wields it against her boyfriend.

Dean brings down his dagger. Sophie moves hers in front of her face just in time and the two blades clash, the metallic sound ringing through the air. The power of the blow pushes Sophie back. As she stumbles over cracks in the ground, Dean raises his knife again for another attack.

Sophie’s nowhere near as strong as Dean. She can’t withstand his strikes, and I can see that the only way for her to beat him is for her to make a stab of her own.

“Sophie, use your knife before he can hit you again!” I shout, trying to make my voice carry over the turmoil all around us.

She looks at the knife in her hand like she’s seeing it for the first time, a terrified look on her face.

“I... I can’t,” she stutters.

I watch in horror as her fingers unclench. Her weapon seems to fall forever, a toothpick plummeting from Mount Everest before it clatters against the floor.

She’s defenseless. Utterly and completely defenseless. And she’s going to die at Dean’s hands.

I clutch my own knife, readying my muscles for action, although I’m not entirely sure I can bring myself to swing the blade.

If she can’t do it, I will. I can’t just let her die, I tell myself silently.

Then I rush forward while shouting at Dean, trying to draw his attention away from Sophie. He hears me and turns to face me, his knife poised.

As I reach him, I hear a scream. “No!” Sophie cries out, grabbing my arm.

It’s too late. I drive my blade into Dean’s stomach, tears escaping my eyes. Blood pours forth, red and dark, filling my nostrils with its rusty stench. It splashes over my hand, coming thick and fast.

No one could survive a wound like the one I’ve given him. Dropping my knife, I back away from Dean, not wanting to watch but unable to tear my eyes away. He’s going to die, and I’m the one who did it.

A life for a life. It had been Sophie Koh or Dean Zhang, and I’d chosen to have Dean die.

Dean’s eyes uncloud as Sid’s earth slips off his skin. He blinks rapidly and glances down at the blood draining from his body, looking bewildered and lost. Then, slowly, he sinks to the ground.

Sophie screams his name. Her voice is strangely muffled to my ears, and he doesn’t seem to hear her very well either. He coughs, blood splattering on his lips.

She runs to him and tries to staunch the bleeding wound on his stomach, but I can already tell that it’s a hopeless cause.

“How could you do this to him?” Sophie screams at me. I can barely make out her face through the film of tears blurring my sight.

She turns back to Dean. “Oh, God, please don’t...” she whispers.

He shakes his head. “Sophie, it’s okay. She... she did the right thing. You’re alive.”

“I don’t want to be,” Sophie sobs. “I don't want to be alive if you’re not.”

“Don’t say that,” Dean mumbles. “When I’m gone, you have to keep going. Keep moving on.”

“No,” she cries, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Don’t let go. Please.”

But Dean can’t hear her anymore. He exhales a deep, shuddering breath, and doesn’t breath in again. His eyes fixate on a point somewhere in the distance, glazing over.

And I watch the life leave him.
I watch Dean Zhang die.