James' Perspective

Surprisingly enough, the rest of the day flew by. You'd think, with everything going on after school, that the day would slow to a crawl. I mean, we were about to receive life changing information that could either save us or kill us. This was life or death!

Then again, maybe that's why each class seemed way too short. After all, these were probably going to be the last few normal hours in my life.

Well, there was no slowing down the clock. So I listened to the end of the day announcements in silence. The bell that immediately followed sounded like the Don't-Be-Stupid-You-Can-Still-Back-Out Alarm.

I ignored the warning, I couldn't be a wuss. My friends needed me, and I wasn't going to wimp out anytime soon.

I walked quickly to my locker, and got my stuff. My bike was waiting on the rack right outside of the door, and it was calling my name. No matter how much I dreaded the meeting at TJ's house, waiting at school another second was even worse.

I began walking to the exit door, and ran straight into Sophia and TJ.

"Are you ready for this?" Asked Sophia.

I nodded, then shook my head, "Yeah, not really," I said.

TJ spoke next, "I'm ready! I mean, we did summon Him. We wanted this, didn't we?" He pointed out.

"Yeah, certain death sounds like a total blast," I said, dryly.

TJ shook his head, "Oh, don't be so negative, James. We'll be fine!"

Sophia smiled, "I wish I shared your optimism, TJ. But James has a point. The chances that we'll get out of this alive are astronomical," She pointed out.

"We'll be fine, I'm sure the guys have a plan. I trust them, they'll get us out alive. All of us," TJ insisted.

Sophia tensed, "Guys, we need to have a serious talk about what's going to happen to us," She said, as we mounted our bikes.

I frowned, "Isn't that what we're going to TJ's house to do?" I asked.

We pushed off and began pedaling, careful to remain in earshot of each other.

"I mean, we need to talk about what could happen. You know, worst case scenario," Sophia elaborated.

TJ and I immediately understood what she was talking about, and neither of us liked it. TJ was still firmly optimistic, "No way. It's not going to happen. We're all going to make it through this," He said, stubbornly.

Sophia sighed in exasperation, "TJ! Be realistic! We don't know what's going to happen to us, but it's probably going to be nearly impossible to survive. I'm not saying there's no hope, I'm just saying we need to consider the fact that the odds of us all living through this are slim," She said.

I agreed with Sophia, "She's right, TJ. We need to talk about this, at least once," I said.

TJ's face fell in defeat, "Fine," He said.

Sophia began talking immediately, "Okay. Look, if one of us gets injured, or can't go on with whatever we need to do, we have to leave them behind. It hurts so much to say this, but we can't risk the entire group for one of us," She said, painedly.

That was horrible! I would never leave one of my friends behind. I opened my mouth to protest, then hesitated. I pictured a scenario where I was incapacitated, TJ and Sophia refused to run, and we all died.

After that cheerful thought, came to my attention, I agreed with her. After all, if something awful happened to me, I wouldn't want my friends to die too.

Unfortunately, TJ didn't see eye to eye with us, "No way!" He cried in indignation.

"TJ-" Sophia began.

"Do You think I would just leave one of you behind? Do you think I wouldn't risk my life in a second for you two? You guys are my friends. No! My family! I'd rather die than leave either of you," He declared.

I felt a sudden burst of impatient anger, "You don't get it! We're going to die, TJ! There, I said it. We made a stupid decision, and now we're going to pay the price. So stop being such a moron, and face it!" I snapped.

My words were followed by silence, and guilt flowed through me immediately.

I looked at TJ, expecting to see anger on his face, but there was none there. To my shock, there were tears, actual tears, rolling down his cheeks.

My guilt intensified, "TJ, I-" I began.

He interrupted me, in a broken voice, he said, "I know,"

I frowned in confusion, "What?"

"I know," He repeated, "I'm the one who made this stupid decision. It's my blood on the tree. I can't stand the idea of us not being okay, because it'll be all my fault. I'm sorry, I didn't want this to happen to you guys," He said, voice heavy with defeat.

I didn't have any words of consolation, but Sophia did, "Are you serious, TJ?" She asked, voice shaking in rage, "You think this is your fault? Your blood on the tree, he says! Who do you think put it there, dumbass! This is all of our faults, so stop moping around and man up! Come on, man, we have to be strong if we're going to survive. Understand?" Sophia asked.

TJ looked too terrified to contradict her, and I agreed.

"Yes Ma'am," TJ and I said.

She looked satisfied, "Good, now, to TJ's house,"
"Right!" TJ and I said.

With our morale newly restored, we pedaled to TJ's house. Little did we know, that morale boost wouldn't last long. For the worst, unfortunately for us, was still yet to come.