The wither storm was right above them. They were back at the temple where Gabriel had sent them through the portal to the nether seeking safety. "I-im scared... what are we gonna do?" Olivia asked, whispering. "I... don't know. All we can do for now is sit still and be quiet." Jesse said in an effort to calm Olivia down, not to mention herself. Axel started shaking with fear and Lukas remained quiet. Petra was her brave old self and kept relaxed and calm at all times. They could hear the monster above them moving, making a whispering sound as it did, spiking fear into Jesse's heart. Please let us make it out of here alive, I don't wanna die.
All of a sudden, a wave of terror swept over all of them as a piece of the ceiling fell down and crashed to the floor, shards of it scattering everywhere. "Run!" Petra yelled as a long black tentacle traveled down the hole the former piece of ceiling had left vacant. Everyone was split up, forced do run different directions. Oh my gosh! Come on Jesse, all you have to do is run and try not to get caught by the wither storm, how hard can that be? As she ran suddenly she tripped over what seemed to be a large chunk of the ceiling. She got up quickly, running, panting. You just have to move faster than the wither storm, that's all.
She could see Olivia, Axel, Petra, and Lukas all running separate ways trying to catch small breaths just like her. Suddenly, she looked up and saw another piece of the ceiling about to crash down onto Petra! She is your friend, you know what the right thing is to do. Jesse ran towards Petra who was having quite a difficult time running, wither sickness will do that to you. She pushed Petra out of the way, just as the piece of ceiling fell from above sending Jesse flying forwards landing on the hard stone ground with a thud. Ouch. That hurt, she thought as she got up and noticed that her ankle was hurting badly.
This is so not good. Jesse supported her body on the other leg and began limping as she ran as fast as she could, which was not very fast considering her ankle was sprained. All of a sudden, Petra waved towards Jesse motioning her to go over to where she and everybody were hiding behind a large stone, (Probably another piece of the ceiling) turned upright to act as a shield. Come on, hurry! They are waiting for you. Suddenly, she stopped running and realized what would happen to her friends if she went to them. It will attract attention to them and the wither storm will see me going there giving away their spot. I can't go over there. She felt a sharp blow on her back, and as she fell onto the hard ground, again, and knew that she had been struck by one of the wither storm's tentacles.
Probably just the wither storm's tentacles taking me to my doom, Jesse thought as she felt something pick her up, and start carrying her and moving quickly while they were at it. But suddenly, she realized it was not the beast she had been running from, but Lukas carrying her to safety! "Th-thanks Lukas," she stuttered, still in shock from everything that was happening. He carried her to where the rest of her friends were and sat her down gently, her body beginning to relax a little for the first time since they had come here for so called safety.
Then, shattering her thoughts of comfort, Petra glanced at her back and said, "Jesse, your bleeding!" That can't be right, I feel... fine. Well, maybe not fine, but I don't feel terrible. She put her head over her shoulder trying to see if she really was bleeding. She was. Oh no, this is so not happening. She coughed a little, and Olivia and Axel shot at her worried looks. Jesse took deep breaths, unwilling to except the fact that she was doomed. But when her lungs began to hurt, and she had trouble breathing, she had to admit she was a little scared. You're gonna be fine, everything's going to be okay.
Everything wasn't going to be okay, in fact, it was going to be miles far from from okay. The wither storm's purple beams of light began to enter the room sucking up all remains of scattered stone and shattered ceiling. Including their shield. Everyone started running again, all except for Jesse. She just sat there, trying to get up, too tired to move a muscle. She began to feel herself floating into the air, but it took her a moment to realize what was happening and thought, I am floating into the air in a purple beam of light, I am floating into the air in a purple beam of light! She tried struggling and resisting the pull of the beams, but it was no use. But then, there goes Lukas saving her again. He jumped up, and grabbed her arms pulling her down with all his might. As he began being pulled into the air, Olivia grabbed his feet and pulled as hard as she could as well. A tug from Axel and they all landed onto the ground safe. "Now we are even," Lukas said as he landed onto Axel with him glaring angrily.
Why do I suddenly feel so cold? Jesse thought as she began to put her knees to her chest and shiver. I suddenly feel so... weak. As soon as Lukas, Olivia, and Axel got up, they ran to her and asked, "What's wrong?" Jesse slowly sat herself up and said, "I feel weak, and tired, and cold." Jesse looked to the side for a brief moment, and saw why Petra hadn't been there for her when she was in one of the wither storm's beams, she had her foot stuck under a boulder and the wither storm's attention was now completely focused on her!
You have to do this, it is the only way... A plan beginning to take form in her mind, she got herself up feeling worse by the minute, ran to Petra, helped her foot out from under the boulder, ignoring her quick "Thank you" and began trying with all her strengh to lift it up. Petra, soon noticed what she was trying to do, and began to help her, not that she was very much help considering she and Jesse had about the same strength level since Petra had wither sickness. But soon the others catched on as well and ran to help, and when the boulder was lifted, they smashed it against the wither storm's tentacle sending it back up through the ceiling leaving them in peace.
Jesse looked up again though, and saw that the tentacle's force had made a crack in the side of the whole that it had exited through. The crack began to grow bigger, spreading out and began to create and outline for what she knew was bad news. These are your friends, and they come first. She pushed Olivia, Axel, Lukas, and Petra out of the way as a piece of the delicate roof came crashing down onto her leaving only a small section of her upper body showing. Her vision became cloudy as her friends ran to her saying some things she couldn't quite make out. But she said something that she hoped they heard since her voice was weak because she truly meant it. "If this is the end, I want you guys to know that you are the best friends I could have ever have asked for." As her eyelids began to close she could hear vaguely Petra say, "I am so sorry I was ever a little mean to you, I am so sorry I shook my head when you called me your friend, I am just really sorry!"
"I know," those were her last words as she shut her eyes. There was complete silence other than Petra crying for the first time in her brave, adventurous life. And Jesse was glad she had chosen to save her friends, they meaned the world to her, and she couln't imagine life with out them. Her only option was to not live life knowing they were okay. And she was glad she did what she did. She had saved her friends, and that was the only thing that mattered to her.
