Jesse's breath was racing. She looked around her anxiously, but her friends weren't in sight.

She looked back at large ghast in front of her. It squealed loudly, a sound that slid right through the thick smokey air,  before launching one of it's deadly fireballs right at Jesse.

She somersaulted to the side, clear of the blow. The red rocks shattered in the explosion, showering Jesse in bits of Netherrack.

Jesse got to her feet as quick as she could. She could feel sweat running down her back, into her armour. It felt like the hot air was choking her, her lungs begging for more oxygen.

The ghast prepared to shoot again. Jesse cursed herself for not bringing a bow with her, having left it back in the overworld. Why did she have to be so stupid?

Jesse held up her diamond sword with trembling hands. She would have to knock back the fireball at the ghast. She wasn't sure if she could do it, but she had no other choice.

Her blade was red as it reflected the burning Netherrack. Jesse got into a fighting position, fighting any distractions. Focusing on nothing more, but the enemy in front of her.

The ghast squealed loudly and opened it's mouth, firing at Jesse. Using all her might, she flung her sword right at the incoming ball of flames.

The blow was so powerful, it knocked the blade right out of Jesse's hands. Her sword tumbled down the Netherrack drop off, disappearing into the lava below, with nothing but a sizzle.

Jesse saw the fireball shoot back at the ghast. It hit the monstrosity right in the face, and it died with a high-pitched moan. A stroke of luck that baffled even her.

Jesse rested her hands on her knees, breathing heavily. She felt light headed with shock.

She looked back up again, pulling her hand through her hair, drenching it in sweat, as she looked around. She was lost, she had no idea where her friends had gone. She was defenseless, unarmed.

Suddenly Jesse saw a hint of blue from the corner of her eye. She flung around, and felt her stomach lurch with relief. There stood her friends, right on the other side of the large lava lake. Not far behind them was the Nether portal, glowing a bright purple.

Lukas waved his bow at her, almost as if to get her attention. Jesse saw Petra's lips move as she called out something, pointing to the portal, voice drowned out by the crackling lava. Olivia's face was flooded in relief, leaning slightly against Axel. They had all probably been scared to death for Jesse's sake. 

"I'm coming!" Jesse called out to them. She wanted to get out of the Nether. She couldn't wait to return to the safety of the Order Hall, she couldn't wait to feel the cool, fresh air of the over world. Right there, Jesse vowed to never set foot in the Nether again.

She took a running start and leaped onto a small Netherrack ledge. It creaked dangerously beneath Jesse's weight. She quickly looked around for the next platform, knowing she had limited time.

Just as the ledge broke, Jesse leaped off it, grabbing onto a piece of glow-stone that was hanging from the rocky ceiling. Even through the gloves of her armour, it burned her hands. Jesse bit her lip, trying to ignore the scorching heat against her palms. She looked around, before shimmying over slightly and leaping down to another Netherrack ledge. A trickle of blood was emerging from underneath her glove.

Jesse looked over to where her friends stood, gritting her teeth as she tried to ignore the pain she felt. One more jump and she would be with them. One more jump and they could go home.

Jesse leaped. And She missed the Netherrack ledge by a centimetre.

Jesse shrieked, only just grabbing onto the ledge with her hands. She squeezed her eyes shut in pain, breathing in deeply to try and cope with the stinging of the burns on her hands.

Jesse looked down slightly. The lava was just beneath her. She felt the hot air raising around her, bubbling right below her feet. 

Using all her strength, Jesse started heaving herself up the ledge. Her arms ached with the effort, her chest heaving. Sweat dripped into her eyes, stinging and blurring her vision.

As Jesse pulled herself up, she collapsed onto the hot surface of Netherrack, gasping for breath. Smoke filled her lungs, causing her to cough painfully. She was exhausted, and in pain. Her head was spinning slightly, and it felt like she was just about on the verge of passing out.

Jesse turned her head slightly towards her friends, wondering why none of them had run to her side to help her.

But to her horror, they weren't there any more, and neither was the portal.

"No!" Jesse gasped, forcing herself upright.

It was a mirage. The heat was playing tricks on her mind, she was seeing things. Her friends weren't there.

They were never there.

No Petra calling her name, no Lukas waving at her. No Olivia smiling in relief, and no Axel hugging her.

"No, no, no.." Jesse repeated, turning around on the spot as she anxiously glanced around her. But she was alone.

Suddenly the air was filled with muffled grunts and growls. She flung around, anxiously searching for the source of the sounds. Jesse's eyes grew wide as she realized the many pig-men were slowly advancing towards her. Her breath quickened, as she slowly backed up. Heart hammering inside her chest, feeling like it was threatening to burst out of ribcage. 

"I- I didn't hurt you!" She gasped, as she felt her back hit the wall. "You're not supposed to be hostile!"

The pig-men didn't seem to care, not even doing as much as flinching at her words, as they kept advancing towards her, clumsily swinging about their measly golden swords. Sweat dribbling down their wrinkled pink skin. Their eyes bulging, skin rotting in various placing and emitting a foul smell.

At the front of the horde was a pig. It wasn't a pig-man, just a pig. Yet, it's eyes were bulging, it's pink skin flecked with green as it rotted. Parts of it's ribs stuck out, just like any zombie's.

Jesse's eyes met that of the pig's. She felt her breath choke in her throat. Despite the awful condition the un-dead creature was in, she recognized it's face.

Jesse clasped a hand across her mouth.

"Reuben?"

The pig didn't respond to her voice at all, as it let out muffled grunts. The other pig-men started moving towards the defenseless girl faster, as if they were following the un-dead piglet's orders.

Jesse cried out as the nearest one aimed it's sword right at her chest.

------------

Jesse shot upright in bed, gasping loudly. The momentum was enough to throw her completely off the bed, and she fell to the ground with a thud, the back of her head slamming against the bedside table.

Jesse lay on the floor, gasping for air. Dull pain pulsed through her head from the hit, causing her to see double.

She groaned slightly, shutting her eyes, and rubbing her head. Her hands were trembling violently, fingers clenched into tight fists. Her body drenched in sweat,  breath coming out in short gasps. Exhaustion and fatigue settling over her as the adrenaline wore off. 

Using the side of her bed as a prop, Jesse heaved herself upright, and back onto the mattress. Her chest was heaving, heart beating rapidly. Fingers grasping her own blanket, gripping the fabric tightly. 

Jesse took a deep shuddering breath, looking up at the ceiling. It was just a dream.

Jesse started breathing out a sigh of relief, closing her tired eyes. It was just a dream, just a silly nightmare. They haven't gone to the Nether yet.

Yet.

Jesse's eyes shot open. Immediately she felt her breath quicken again. They were going back to the awful hell in her nightmare in a few hours time. Her mental promises to stay away from the living hell all in vain. 

Jesse pulled her hand through her hair, winching as she touched the forming bump on the back of her head. Her hands were continuing to shake, her heartbeat rapid and unsteady.

Jesse didn't care how childish it sounded, she didn't care how much of a wimp she was;

But she was terrified of stepping one foot into the portal.

___

The start of it all, so to speak. A simple fear, that will eventually lead to a much more complicated situation...

Sorry, this is still one of the shorter chapters... I promise they get longer! It's just me, struggling to properly start the book XDD

A quick note. I have a current autocorrect issue. No matter how many times I disabled the feature of automatically changing the spelling, it still does it. For some reason, it's keeps changing netherrack to start with a capital N. 
I am way to lazy to press the undo button every time after writing the word netherrack... so please ignore the fact that it's written with a capital letter through most of this book XD

Anyhow, I think this is where I'll round off this author's note. It feels weird to not be posting SBTL! XD 

I'll see you all in five days!