Yes, it's like four in the morning for me and I'm sitting here posting three chapters on Fanfiction and writing one on Wattpad, but hey, I slept from four to midnight and I've been awake since then. YT has been my only friend during these dark times (literally)
I'm sorry for the lack of posting on Fanfiction, Wattpad is my first priority since it's easier to work with and sometimes I forget to post on Fanfiction ;^^
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Lukas sat Jesse down in the passenger seat and then sat himself down. Closing the doors, he drove out the parking lot and started driving to Gabriel's fortress.
As he drove, he bit his lip as he thought of Petra still lying inside her room at the hospital. Should he have taken her? The Withers might get to her before he did.
He glanced at the side mirror. The Withers were awfully close now and were right next to the hospital. How had they gotten there so quickly? He didn't want to go back to get her.
He was scared to do so.
Lukas knew it was cowardly of him, but his body refused to turn the steering wheel around. It was as if he was on autopilot.
The boy next to him let out a small groan as he stirred.
"Jesse?" he said quietly.
The brown-haired male opened his eyes slowly and ran his fingers through his hair, wincing. "Lukas? What... Where am I?"
"You're in my car."
"What happened?"
Lukas pointed at his leg. "When the first Wither broke down, some of the rubble fell onto you and injured your leg. You went unconscious from shock. We called an ambulance for you and I went with you. After they bandaged you up, Gabriel tried calling your phone."
The blonde carefully turned right around some swerving cars. "He told me to call Olivia and Axel and tell them to come to his fortress. He told me to take you, too. You know why?"
Jesse blinked. "Uhh... why?"
"Look at the side mirror."
The green-eyed twin looked at the side mirror with sudden dread. He gasped.
"Lukas, why the hell are there eight Withers?! And why are they fused together as some sort of gigantic monster?"
"I don't know why to both those questions, but I'm sure Gabriel knows."
"Lukas."
The Ocelot leader tried raising an eyebrow and raised both instead. "Hm?"
"Where's Jess?"
Lukas's eyes instantly flickered back to the road. "I don't know."
"What do you mean you don't know?" Jesse said with a dangerous, low rumble in his throat.
"I think she's with Gabriel because she last was with him. By the way, she told me to follow you to the hospital. If I had known eight more of those weird Wither things were going to show up, I would never have left her."
"Get to the temple as fast as you can. I'm not fucking losing her today."
Jesse looked at Lukas who had a face of surprise and shock. "Oh," he mouthed. "Excuse my French."
~*Ω*~
"I took some crutches for you," said Lukas as he curved around to the back of the car. Pulling them out the trunk, he gave them to Jesse. "Here, now let's hurry inside. It seems the Withers have already been here."
With Jesse limping on the crutches, they got in slower than they expected but still managed to get down to the bottom chamber. There was Gabriel, sitting against the wall with one hand gingerly rubbing the lights.
"Gabriel!" called Jesse.
The Warrior glanced up and ran to them. "Thank goodness you're here. Olivia and Axel are already in the Nether. You need to go with them immediately before it shuts you out. They'll tell you everything."
"Okay," nodded Jesse. He ran as fast as he could with the crutches.
Lukas was still standing next to Gabriel. "Gabriel, my friend Petra is still in the hospital. I think the Withers are going to get her..."
"Petra? As in the redhead?"
"Y-yeah, that Petra. You know her?"
Gabriel ignored his question. "Damn! Why didn't you take her?"
"I was scared, sir! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been such a scaredy-cat."
Gabriel sighed. "It's fine, Lukas. For now, just go through the obsidian border. I'll go and try to get her."
"But what about you, sir?"
"I'll be fine. Just go!"
In a panic, Lukas frantically ran after Jesse when he heard the Withers cry just outside the fortress. "Jesse! The Withers are here!"
"Crap!" shouted Jesse as he tried to hurry. Lukas caught up to him, but not before the Withers dropped a large tentacle down into the chamber.
"Duck!" Lukas yelled. The tentacle swung around and they dodged it. They kept running.
Then another tentacle dropped down into the chamber. Lukas was about to warn Jesse but the tentacle slammed right into him, sending both Lukas and Jesse through the obsidian border.
~*Ω*~
Jesse could feel his face burning as he entered the Nether. It wasn't the netherrack he was laying on, it was due to something the obsidian border was emitting. When he entered it, it was like his skin was being pulled off piece by piece.
"Jesse! Lukas!" cried a female voice. Jesse looked up to see who it was.
"Olivia?"
"Don't forget me," said another voice, this time male.
"Hey, Axel," Jesse said.
"Lukas? Hey, Lukas? Wake up," Olivia whispered to the blonde who was also laying on the netherrack. He opened his eyes with a few flutters and then groaned.
"That hurt really badly..." he winced.
"What happened?" said Olivia.
"We... we were making our way here when some sort of Wither tentacle dropped down and knocked us into here," replied Jesse. "Is Jess here?"
Both Axel and Olivia sent each other a glance and Olivia bit her lip.
"Um, Jesse... the Withers took her."
His eyes widened and he stared at them in horror. "No. You're lying."
"We're not kidding, Jesse. You can even ask Gabriel when he comes back."
"No. No. That isn't true. You can't tell me Jess is gone. She's been by my side every single day."
"I'm sorry, Jesse," Axel spoke up, "but we wouldn't be using this excuse as a reason to play games with you. The Wither monster things took her."
Jesse's eyes were glossing over, reflecting the red-orange light emitted from a nearby pool of lava.
"Wait, guys, someone's going through the border!"
The strange semi-permeable wall the border had created from lighting it started to fizzle and spark. They all watched, each person hoping it was a certain someone coming through.
It wasn't her.
"Ivor?" spat Jesse.
"Hey, you're the guy that created that first Wither!" shouted Lukas.
Ivor growled. "You again."
Before Jesse could say anything in return, a large tentacle diffused through the wall, smacking Ivor on the back of the head. Ivor, holding his head, got as far away from the tentacle as he could. The tentacle swung around violently, almost hitting Jesse. Then, the wall started to flicker as if there was a glitch, blinking a few times. The large appendage started to curl up in pain and the wall fizzled. Retreating, the tentacle disappeared to the other side before the wall sparked and became solid.
As everyone got back up again, Jesse glared at the oriental man. "Ivor."
The man mentioned reciprocated his look. "You ruined everything."
The rest of the group crowded around Jesse, as if making a protective barrier. "Don't pretend you didn't have any part of this."
Jesse simply kept glaring at him, unable to back down. "At least pay Petra the right amount of money next time."
"Ah, the girl. I saw her."
Lukas accidentally shoved himself in front of Jesse. "Where?" Axel seemed to have the same interest.
"She was at the hospital. I was there to pick up some extra materials. The Withers were destroying everything, blowing up patients and even absorbing them. Yet, instead of running away, she was running towards it. Such bravery. Of course, there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity, and your friend has crossed it."
With no hesitation, Jesse walked right up to Ivor's face and stared at him. He lifted his fist and punched the man right across the cheek.
Backing away, he listened as Ivor sighed. "More needless violence. It solves nothing. Learn your lesson now or else you'll share Gabriel's fate. You don't even realize you're in danger- right now."
An unfamiliar screech cried out behind the small group. "What was that?!" blurted Axel. "I would wish you good luck," said Ivor, "but luck won't carry you through the Nether. You have my sympathies."
With a final smirk, Ivor disappeared behind some Netherrack.
A large white creature with white, wispy strand-like tentacles hovered into sight, almost seemingly like a jellyfish. Its eyes opened, revealing the blood red orbs that stared down on them.
Jesse knew what was coming next.
"RUN!"