Aiden's POV

Cherry's sword flipped out of her grasp and hit the ground with a clank as she tumbled off her feet into the water. Katcha was floating between us, out of breath. She looked back at me with an exhausted smile.

"I did it!" she said. I grinned.

"Look," Cherry said, getting up, "I don't know what's going on, but—"

"I think this game is about over, Cherry," said a very regal voice behind me. Cherry was flabbergasted as she began to walk backward. She was hampered by Jesse who stuck out her foot to trip her again. I looked back and found the same girl who was in the dream with us, the one wearing white, floating there. She emitted a blueish glow that lit up the night as she inched closer to Cherry past me.

"No!" Cherry cried, "Not until I get my flint and steel!!"

"You're outnumbered," the girl said, "And I am far more powerful than you."

"NO!!" Cherry screamed in hysterics. She continued to crawl away as the girl grew close.

"gaaAAAAAAH!!" Jesse screamed as she fell down on her knees, but then was calm. A shock of some kind blew through everyone.

"The curse..." she murmured, "I'm free." She pulled out her sword and walked over to Cherry. Watching her, Lukas and Maya did the same.

"You're through, Cherry," Erin said, "You don't even have a weapon!"

"NO! I can... I can kill you! I can kill all of you! I can—"

Before anyone could respond, the sound of a door bursting open came from the school. In a split second, Erin turned herself back into a normal outfit of a grey shirt with a black jacket over it and black jeans. A beanie was placed over her rose hair. Standing in the doorway to the school was the principal with a shocked look on her face.

"What the hell is going on out here?" she exclaimed.

"Wow," Katcha said, "Teachers shouldn't swear like that. This situation is getting pretty dire, though..."

"Katcha!" I hissed.

"Sorry."

"Ma'am!" Cherry exclaimed, putting on an innocent face. Maya glared.

"No, I don't want to hear it! I'm calling the police!" The principal yanked out her phone, fumbled with it in her hands, and dialed a three-digit number.

"Nice going, Cherry," Jesse muttered.

"But-- but, you were attacking me! What did I do??" Cherry stammered, crocodile tears dripping out of her eyes. Jesse looked away and crossed her arms.

When the principal hung up the phone, she said sternly, "Don't you dare move!" Cherry continued to sob.

The cops showed up and took us not too long afterwards and abducted us into their vehicles. Cherry cried harder, making things worse. I wouldn't be surprised if she was a psychopath because she can put up an innocent angel act in a heartbeat. The rest of us begrudgingly complied as we were shoved into the backseats.

-

I rode in a police car alongside Maya and Lukas. Erin and Jesse had to ride with Cherry in another car, although I doubted Cherry would try anything to them in front of an officer. The seats were cramped and uncomfortable, made of smooth vinyl instead of fabric or leather. A screen separated us from the policeman at the front, which was sensible. Maya sat in the middle seat, grumbling to herself the whole time. Lukas had his head craned at a 90-degree angle as he stared out the window trying to hide his face from the rest of us. I just sat quietly, fiddling with my thumbs.

"Aiden," Katcha said, breaking the silence, "Get ready to jump."

"What?" I whispered

"You heard me," Katcha said, "You need to jump soon. I've got the door covered, but you need to get ready to jump soon."

"Inside the car?" I whispered, "I can't do that!"

"Not inside the car."

We paused for a few moments.

"Are you ready to jump?" Katcha asked with seriousness in her voice.

"I think," I said, "What will happen if I don't?"

"...you get killed," Katcha said. That terrified me. She must have noticed because she added,

"I've got you covered."

"What about them?" I asked, motioning Maya and Lukas.

"They'll be fine," Katcha reassured, "You're the only one in serious danger with the seat you're in. They'll get hurt, but it won't be too serious. They'll survive. Just make sure you jump toward the door, even if you think it's closed. You have to trust me."

My heart pounded as Katcha began to count down in a slow, serious voice.

"Jump in three..."

I shifted my weight to my legs.

"...two..."

I took a deep breath.

"...one. Jump."

I winced as I thrusted myself toward the door. The car made a screeching noise.

"What the h—" the driver shouted before all sound seemed to fade to be very quiet. I floated up slowly and peacefully as I saw myself springing out of the car that was tumbling off the road. The street was three blocks below my feet. I turned to look beside me, and Katcha floated there, looking down on the scene.

"Katcha, what—"

"Everything is going according to how I envisioned it," she said, "You will return shortly."

The Aiden below me skidded through the water into the grass beside the street. The car was turned on its side and I heard the faint sound of screaming. Behind it was the other police car, which crashed into the one in front of it and did the same as the one in front.

"Wait a minute, Katcha," I said, "The person sitting in my seat in the second car..."

"That was Cherry," Katcha said. I had a sinking feeling, already knowing what happened to her.

"Okay, Aiden. You're going back to your body, now."

I felt myself gently float back to Aiden. The sounds of sirens grew louder until things were back to normal. Cold water ran down my shirt. My leg was crushed underneath the police car. It didn't hurt, but I could tell it was broken.

"Aiden!" someone screamed. I looked up and saw Maya and Lukas splashing toward me. A trickle of blood was streaming down Lukas's scalp and Maya walked with a limp. I got my bearings, then yelled,

"Lift the car!"

They rushed to the car and pressed their hands on the bottom. Grunting, they lifted it just high enough for me to get me leg out. They dropped it which sprayed water onto me. I examined my leg. It was unscathed.

"Aiden!" Maya cried, "How do you feel?"

"Never felt better," I grinned. A look of tired relief spread across their faces as they sank to the ground and gave me a hug. (More or less; hugging was a bit difficult with handcuffs on)

Jesse and Erin came out of their car shortly later without any wounds.

"Erin can make forcefields," Jesse explained. Their cuffs were off too.

"Here," Erin said as she extended her hands. Magically, our cuffs disappeared into thin air.

All around us, ambulances showed up along with other police cars and officers, scrambling around to take care of the situation and making sure everyone was fine. Everyone seemed to survive, except for one person, and you can probably guess who that was. The thought was chilling, even though Cherry was crazy.

We managed to get our stuff back before anyone noticed and escaped into the woods.

"Jesse," Erin said, "There's something that I'd like you to say to Lukas. Can you tell Lukas that I got in a lot of trouble with my parents for fighting Nightmelody with you? Can you also tell him that I got a bunch of curses put on me to make it look like I was on his side and secretly planning on backstabbing you? And, more importantly, could you tell him that... I'm sorry?"

Lukas's face fell.

"Oh, man," he said, "I am a colossal idiot. Erin, I... I am so sorry."

"It's not his fault," Erin said, "It's my dad's. He put a curse on me that prevented me from talking to Lukas. It's funny to think that he could really get this one by me, even though—" She froze as her face grew dark.

"What?" Jesse asked.

"He sees everything," Erin said, "I gotta go!"

She swiped her hands through the air that created a black hole in the air.

"I'm sorry to leave so soon, but there's something I have to do! I'll see you later, I hope!"

"Hold on," I said. She looked at me.

"Yeah?"

"So, you can make portals, just like that?"

"Yep."

"You don't suppose you could take us back home, could you?"

"Holy crap!" Jesse exclaimed, "I didn't even think of that!"

"Uh... hmm..." Erin thought, putting her fist up to her chin, "See, that might be kind of challenging because I don't know where your home is, and neither do you."

"Aw, man!" Maya exclaimed, "Just when I thought that—wait, you're a Phantom??"

"Uh, yeah. The Phantom is my dad. I'm like a human with Phantom blood. But don't worry, I'm on your side. Anyway, even though I can't take you directly to your home, I know where the portal hallway is, and I can bring you there easily."

"Awesome!" Jesse said, "Thanks for everything, Erin. Is there anything we can do to help you fight your dad?"

"I appreciate your offer, but this is my battle." Erin turned and opened a portal.

"Go through there and that'll take you back to the network. I'll see you 'round."

Jesse walked through first, followed by Lukas, then Maya. Before I stepped through, Erin tapped my shoulder.

"Aiden," she said. I looked back at her. She had a sly grin on her dark red lips.

"Tell Katcha I said 'hey' for me, will you?" With that, she stepped into her own portal and was gone.

I smiled. I guess Phantoms can see angels, maybe?

"Dude!" Katcha exclaimed as I walked through the portal, "She knows who I am! She said my name! Did you see that? First, I can touch things, now some people are seeing me..."

"Well, you gotta remember that Erin's, like, not completely human too." Katcha slumped her shoulders.

"Yeah, whatever," she said in a mock-gloomy voice. I smiled.

"Not that I'm trying to be a buzzkill, though. Maybe you are starting to fit in better here."

"That would be awesome!" Katcha exclaimed as I walked out into the hallway.

We stood, back in the blocky dimension, faced with several portals waiting to be traveled through. We dripped water all over the floor wherever we stepped.

"Now, we should choose our next world carefully," Lukas said, "We can't have anyone else..." his voice trailed off, "We've just gotta make sure it's not too dangerous," he finished curtly.

"Well, the problem is that we don't even know what's behind any of them!" Maya said, "Well, despite the few tell-tale ones like that one." She pointed to a portal made of netherrack that had an orange swirl inside.

"Or that," I said pointing to a portal made of prizmarine that had a blue swirl inside.

"So in that case," Jesse said, "Let's try to choose a portal that looks like it resembles our world.

"And... what would you say our world would even look like?" Lukas asked, "I've traveled over it a lot, and it seems like the further out you go the more the world changes, you know?"

"Well, we know what our town looks like, right?" Jesse said, "So let's choose one that looks like that. Okay, everyone, start looking around!"

With that, our search for the right portal began again as we went our separate ways.