Lukas's POV

Cherry looked back, then said, "Oh."

I sighed and turned around, setting my head back into my hands.

"Hey, it's gonna be okay! Maya and Aiden are looking for you!" Cherry happily said as she sat down between us.

"Great," I said a bit less than excited.

"But, in the meantime, we can all hang out together! It's a good thing that today I wore waterproof mascara!"

"What?" Jesse asked, her attention suddenly caught.

"Yeah! We can just sit here until someone comes out! Together!"

Cherry perkily sat up strait, which probably looked funny juxtaposed to the slouchy way Jesse and I sat. I wasn't in any sort of mood to be around Cherry. I held nothing against her, (probably) she was just so peppy all the time. Lately, and I believe you've noticed this too, my life has been everything but fun. Actually, sitting out cold in the rain is probably a good metaphor of how I'm feeling.

"Hey, I know!" Cherry said after a few moments in silence, "Let's play a game! That'll get your minds off this!"

"Haha, a game?" Jesse dryly laughed.

"Totally! You like games, right? I mean, how could you not like games?"

"You got me there..."

"I know a game," I said, my voice having an unintended annoyed edge to it, "It's called: Whoever can not talk the longest wins."

"Ooh! That one's tough!" Cherry exclaimed clasping her hands together.

"Really? You seem like the kind of person who'd be great at that game," Jesse said. I could tell she was being sarcastic, but Cherry didn't seem to take notice.

"Thanks! My mom used to make me play it all the time. It was really cool because she'd include rounds where I could earn bonus points like, 'Cherry, I'll double your score if you beat me in the quiet game!' Then she would pull out her computer and stay silent for-ever. But that's why I got doubled points because that was the time when she was really good!"

"Funny, you couldn't take a hint even now," I said.

"What?"

"Nothing."

"Okay, so the quiet game, then?"

"It looks like that's what we're playing," Jesse said.

"Okay," she began, "Three... two... one!" She took a gasp for air (don't know why, maybe that was part of the game) and closed her mouth, quietly breathing through her nose. All that could be heard now was the storm. I let out a sigh and rested my head. Something tapped my arm, and when I looked over, Cherry was looking at me, making a zipping motion over her lips. I tiredly nodded and she nodded back.

A few moments later, someone whispered into my ear, "Lukas!"

"Yeah?" I whispered back. Jesse was sitting beside me. Careful to keep her voice down, (although she's a pretty loud whisperer) she asked,

"What if we used this time to look around for the exit portal?"

"Yeah, but what about Cherry?" I asked, looking back to make sure she wasn't listening.

"What about her?"

"Well, we can't just up and leave her. She might try to follow and if we say no, she might think we're up to something."

"I don't know, Lukas. She doesn't seem too quick to catch onto things."

We both glanced back at her as she played with the little drops of water that fell onto her arm.

"Okay, maybe, but how about Maya and Aiden? Aren't they looking for us too?"

"Hmm... didn't think of that."

"And besides, I'd rather find the exit portal with them than without."

Jesse relaxed herself next to me as we continued to sit in silence.

"Hey, can I call a time out for a sec?" Cherry asked.

"Uh, sure," Jesse said.

"Okay," Cherry began. Something about her tone of voice sounded different, less peppy and energetic. "What were you talking about when you said 'exit portal?'"

"Uh, you... heard that?" I asked, scratching behind my ear.

"Yeah. Yeah, I did hear that. So, does this exit portal have anything to with say... flint and steel? Or rather, enchanted flint and steel?"

Jesse and I exchanged dubious glances. Something was going off in my brain screaming, "RED FLAG! RED FLAG!"

"Well... uh..." Jesse stammered, trying to think of what to say.

"How would you know about that?" I interjected. She reached behind her and pulled out something long. Its blue color glittered in the rain and she held it by a handle. It was an enchanted diamond sword. Jesse and I stared at it, dumbfounded.

"Where did that come from?" Jesse asked.

"My inventory," Cherry replied, a sinister smile piercing her lips, "Do you know what this is?"

"An enchanted diamond sword."

"Yes, that is correct." She studied it and twirled it in her hands before continuing. "People in this world don't have these, because people in this world don't have inventories. They can't craft, either. They don't know about crafting tables. They don't know about these things. They don't know about Minecraft."

Jesse and I were silent. The rain continued pattering on the sidewalk.

"Nothing to say, huh?" she said, "Am I not as sweet and ditsy as you took me for?" She stood up and held out her sword. Jesse and I did the same.

"Now, how about you hand me your flint and steel and this'll be over quick."

"I don't think so!" Jesse said. Cherry immediately lunged at her.

"Jesse! Watch out!" I said on reflex. Jesse parried the attack and knocked Cherry off her. She slid down the wet stairs but caught her balance at the bottom. The rain splashed around her feet as she landed; it was begging to flood.  

"You play tough, huh," she said, smirking at Jesse.

"I'm not as sweet as you took me for either, Cherry!" Jesse said as she ran down the steps. I followed to help.

Jesse leaped at Cherry who held off the attack.

"Lukas! Get her!" she shouted. I ran in from the side to attack. She flung her sword back around and blocked me, screaming,

"Back off!"

The words seemed to have a physical impact on me, causing me to take a step back. It was the curse kicking in. Cherry looked confused, but got back into the fighting when Jesse threw her sword at her again.

"Give up, Jesse! There's no point in fighting the inevitable! I will get that flint and steel!"

Jesse held her hands in the air and dropped her sword to the ground where it glistened against the wet pavement. It made a clinking noise when it hit. Cherry glanced between the both of us, unsure of why we were acting as we were, but still had a look like she had uncovered something.

I ran at her again with my sword, ready to attack, but she said, "Give up," and I did the same as Jesse. We stood back to back with our arms up in surrender.

"Easier than I thought. Now I guess I can just take that flint and steel from you now!" Cherry said.

"Nope!" Jesse said, "RUN!"

We took off down the sidewalk in front of the school until Cherry shouted, "Stop!" We stopped. She slowly ambled over to us, her sword casting a glow on the bottom of her face, creating a sinister effect.

"Jesse?" I murmured, "What do we do?"

"I'll think of something..." she replied anxiously.

Katcha's POV

I searched through the school. Something was tingling inside of me. I speedily flew through walls and down corridors, into forbidden rooms and out in the open. Jesse and Lukas were nowhere to be found.

I finally came across the main hall, where I felt it the strongest. I knew they were close. I flew through the front doors, where the tingling was satisfied. A girl with red hair was inching toward them. The rain water was flooded up to their ankles and everyone's hair and clothes were sopping wet. I had to tell Aiden.

As quickly as I could, I raced inside yelling, "Aiden! Aiden! Aiden! Aiden!"

The thing about being a guardian angel is that you can always locate where your owner is. Owner? Maybe that's not the best way of putting it. The... uh... person you're guarding.

Aiden was coming out of a classroom when he saw me.

"Kat—"

"Aiden!" I exclaimed, "I found them! They're in trouble!"

"What? Where?!" he asked urgently.

"Outside! Someone's attacking them!"

"Come on, let's go!" He flew out into the hallway. Maya was passing by, and he grabbed her by the arm, tugging her along.

"Agh!" she squealed, "Huh--?"

"I know where Jesse and Lukas are!" Aiden said, "Come on!"

Without hesitation, Maya ran right after him. They sprinted out to the main hall and threw the doors open.

Maya's POV

"Guys!" I wailed when I saw Jesse and Lukas. The girl approaching them stopped in her tracks and whipped her head around.

"Cherry?!" Aiden exclaimed. She sneered back at me.

"What the— Cherry! What on earth are you doing?" I yelled.

"I'm taking what's mine!" she yelled.

"You did mug that guy today, didn't you?!" I yelled furiously, "You've been lying this whole time!!"

"Yeah? So what? I want that flint and steel, and I'm going to have it!"

"I'll never give it to you, are you kidding? You're insane!" Jesse yelled, "You can't be trusted with something like that!!"

"Give it up, Jesse!"

Jesse winced as she held herself back as hard as she could. Thunder clapped loudly.

"Did I stutter?! GIVE IT TO ME!!" Cherry roared.

Jesse began to yell as she fought through the pain of the curse.

"NO!" she shouted.

While Cherry was busy, I pulled out my sword and ran at her from behind. She turned around right as I was about to strike and yelled, "Give up!"

My sword fell out of my hand and my arms flew into the air.

"You're pathetic," Cherry said, "You really thought we were friends, didn't you?"

I began to blink away tears forming in my eyes.

"What happened to you?!" I yelled.

"Nothing happened, Maya!" she said, "I'll have you know that we were never  friends! All this time I've been out for the enchanted flint and steel, and now that I've finally found it—"

"Get her, Aiden!!" Lukas yelled. Jesse fell to her knees, doing everything she could to protect the flint and steel. Thunder crashed again as Aiden yanked out his sword.

"Give up, Aiden!" Cherry shouted. Aiden stood firm and gripped his sword tightly.

"I'm not surrendering," he said firmly.

"Huh, stubborn," Cherry said.

"Finish it, Aiden!" Lukas yelled.

"Yeah, Aiden. Go ahead. Take me down," Cherry mocked. She acted as though she was calling a bluff. His hands shook as I held out his sword.

"AIDEN!" Lukas screamed.

He inched his way forward, ready to block if she were to attack him. She only smiled.

"I will kill you," he said, "I will."

"Oh, I'm sure," Cherry said, twirling a strand of hair through her fingers, "Do it. Go on."

"Kill her, Aiden!" Lukas shouted. I looked up at him in disbelief. I never would have thought he would be yelling at Aiden to kill someone. Looking harder, though, he looked like he was on the brink of tears.

"Aiden, I'm not doing this all day," Cherry said. She stepped toward him faster, held out her sword, and...

THWACK!

"AIDEN!!" I wailed.

---

MWAHAHA! I leave you here.

So, would you say you expected this from Cherry, or was this completely unexpected? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!