Chapter Six: The Shard Keeper
Petra opened her eyes to see that she was in a dark, circular room. Her head was pounding from before, making it hard for her to think straight. On the opposite side of the room, Lukas, Axel, and Olivia were sitting up against the wall, all chained up; they barely even looked alive. She tried to stand up, but her torso, arms, and legs were tied up so tight that the blood circulation was almost cut off.
"Petra, you're wake?" Petra turned her head to her left to see Jesse sitting there, chained up as well and his skin was completely gray with purple veins going up his face; he didn't look happy whatsoever.
"Jesse, where are we?" Asked Petra, happy to see him.
"Jonathan kidnapped all of us." Jesse replied, looking down at the ground he sat on. Petra could tell something was wrong with him, but before she could ask him what was wrong, she started throwing up uncontrollably. Jesse just looked over to her with barely any expression on his face. Petra felt so sick inside all of a sudden. Eventually, the vomit stopped coming, but she still felt like more was going to come. Her eyes darted around the room, trying to find a way to escape. She tried squirming around in her restraints, hoping they weren't too strong, but she was wrong. She continued to look around for another way to escape. She looked over to the only door in the room and saw a rusted padlock on it and thought that maybe she could cut the ropes off with the lock.
"Jesse, come on, I think I might've found a way to escape." Petra said, but Jesse didn't reply. She was getting impatient, so she turned to her side and crawled over to the door. Once she had made it to the door, she couldn't turn her head away from her sick friends, all in a line, tied up, and most likely dead. She tried to ignore their lifeless bodies for now so she could concentrate on escaping. She turned her back against the door and leaned up against it. She slid her way up the door into a standing position and started scraping her back up against the rusted lock, eventually cutting the rope, and freeing her arms and torso. She then leaned down and untied her legs, freeing herself entirely. She then ran back over to Jesse to untie him, but all of a sudden, she started coughing up blood. Something wasn't right. It could just be that the black goo that sets off her wither sickness was in he room, but still, it just didn't seem right. She decided to ignore it for now and ran back over to Jesse and started untying him. Now that he was free, he stood up, but he still didn't seem happy.
"Jesse, we're free," Said Petra, "Now we can take down Jonathan!" Jesse still didn't look happy, like something was bothering him.
"What's wrong?" Petra asked him.
"You should know, you did it after all." Jesse replied. Petra didn't understand what he mean't, but she thought that he might've been talking about when Jonathan tricked her into kissing him.
"Jesse, what are you talking about?" She asked. Jesse didn't answer. Petra then came to the conclusion that he thought that she was cheating on him with Jonathan. To make up for it, she leaned up and pulled Jesse's head in, and kissed him. It lasted probably a whole minute, and it was so passionate and amazing. It had been a while since they had kissed this long. Petra eventually pulled back, knowing they were getting distracted. She was hoping that the expression on Jesse's face would've changed to a more happy expression, but it didn't; he didn't look any happier. All of a sudden, a loud bang was heard, and a small piece of iron flew so fast past them that could've pierced their skin if it had hit them.
"What the heck was that?!" Exclaimed Petra. Another bang was heard, and another iron piece shot past them again, but this time, it shot straight past Petra's throat and almost hit it. Petra and Jesse turned towards the source of the shooting, and a short man emerged from the shadows, holding a small item that looked like some sort of weapon; the man there was Jonathan.
"This weapon is very powerful, I tested it and it killed the test subject in one hit," He said, "I call it a gun. I forced Olivia to make it for me." Jonathan pulled something back on the top of the curved weapon, a click was heard, and a small piece of iron fell out of the top of it and fell to the ground. Jonathan then held up the weapon and pointed it at them.
"Hands behind you head and up against the wall!" He shouted. They obliged, and did what told. He then caught Petra eyeing her friends. He chuckled and put the gun in his pocket.
"Don't worry, they're not dead... yet," He said, "After the storm came, their wither sickness had gone away and they tried to escape, but luckily I got back here in time and reinfected them, but I think I may have overdone it a little."
"What is wrong with you?!" Exclaimed Jesse. Jonathan chuckled again and walked up to Jesse, grabbing his broken arm and twisting it around, making him scream.
"Aaaahhhh!" The pain was unbearable for him, and Petra couldn't just stand there and watch.
"Jonathan stop it!" She exclaimed. He didn't stop and blood was starting to pour from Jesse's arm. A snapping sound was starting to become heard, and that's when Petra jumped off the wall and ran for Jonathan, but he saw it coming and pulled out the gun and shot it at Petra, hitting her right leg. Blood splatters went all over the place and she fell to the ground screaming in pain.
"DON'T YOU DARE GET IN MY WAY AGAIN!" Jonathan screamed, still pointing the gun at her. He then let go of Jesse's arm and left it almost hanging off of his shoulder. Jonathan then put his gun away and leaned down to Petra, brushing her hair out of her face. Tears were streaming down her face as blood poured out of her leg.
"Hurts doesn't it," He said, "It hurts to be left there doesn't it?!"
"W-why are you doing this?" Jesse stuttered, holding his right arm tightly.
"For starters, I want you, Petra, to understand the pain I felt when I was given this duty." Said Jonathan, standing back up again.
"Y-you sh-shot me for n-no reason?!" Exclaimed Petra, looking up at him.
"No, I have a reason for everything," He said, let the long explanation begin, "Once upon a time, there was a there was a four year old boy, me. I was an orphan who was abandoned by his parents and I had no friends. I was barely fed by the owners of the orphanage, but then again, that was the same with all the orphans, but when we did get fed, it shouldn't have even been called food, but oh well. I was the second hated child there, but the most hated was a young girl, around the same age as me, red haired and tall, never took off the bandana she was wrapped in as a baby; you Petra, you were the most hated, but that was because you were smart, and you always questioned the caretakers. One day, you were sick and tired of eating the same old rotten food and threw the plate on the floor, and I followed on and did the same. Together, we ended up starting a food fight and we both got locked in the meat cellar for five hours. In there, we got to know each other and became great friends. That night, you snuck into the boys sleeping room and asked me if I wanted to join you on the roof. I ended up following you up there and we sat there, talking for hours, and that was when I realized I was in love with you. When we were five, you were thrown outside and locked there for the whole night. I was so scared, I thought you were going to die, but to my surprise, you were fine. You said that you had met a guy who saved you from a swarm of zombies and put you somewhere safe, and that boy was seventeen year old Gabriel. That was when you decided you wanted to be like him, and I joined you in that no matter what we'd do. We started by fighting back to the caretakers more often and secretly started steeling from the meet cellar, so that way, we could give all the kids fresh food. Time skip to when we were seven, and we sat on the rooftop, talking about how the orphanage was taking any chance to get rid of a child immediately, when you brought up that you were going to run away, and you wanted me to come with. I was so excited to run away with you, but that was the last night I ever saw you. You left me behind, you told me you would never leave me, and left me! Anyway, so, you left me and ran off on your own, and I thought I would never see you again. Time went by and the orphanage was almost out of orphans and weren't picking up any others. They eventually shut the orphanage down when I was nineteen, and I was left there, the only orphan they couldn't find a home for. I was abandoned again. First by my parents, then by you, and then by the orphanage itself! I had to start stealing to survive, and that's when I discovered what The Order of the Stone was, and Magnus quickly became my favorite. I tried to move to Boomtown, but I had to stop halfway through my journey because of a problem I discovered with my legs; they were weak and I kept collapsing on the journey, so I gave up. That as when I was twenty, but when I became twenty-four, I was able to buy tickets to Endercon, where I would hopefully meet Gabriel, the man who saved the love of my life that night at the orphanage. I made it there, and it was the most fun I had ever had, until I saw you. It was at the meet up with Gabriel, when I saw you at the corner of my eye. I knew it was you the second I saw your bandana and your beautiful face. I tried to get over to you, but the crowd was so large, and my legs were so weak. I wasn't paying attention to anything around me, only to you, and that was when it happened; The Wither Storm came to life. The shockwave from the storm blasted everyone back, and only one person couldn't get up; me. I was left there, my legs refused to be strong and I struggled to get up. As everyone screamed and ran, not one person looked back at me, even when I called for help. Not even you or Gabriel helped me. I army crawled away from the monster and used the wall to stand up and run, but all I could do was limp. I saw you and I called to you, but didn't hear me, and that was when The Wither Storm picked me up. I was abandoned again, and this time, by everyone. Everything was black, until at one point when the color of the world started to come back and I saw the world again. The Wither Storm was dead, or, as we all supposed. I tried to get up, but I couldn't. I was angry, furious even. I was abandoned again! The Wither Storm gave me warmth inside and I felt safe, but it was gone. I laid there, crying, until mister kitty cat came over and helped me up. He gave me the first act of kindness in years, but I wanted The Wither Storm back. I climbed the body of the monster and I saw the Command Block, and then I saw you, Jesse. You saw the Command Block, but you didn't see me. And then, that's when it all happened; the monster that somehow gave me comfort came back to life. I held onto the Command Block as tight as I could, and that's when everything was set up; I was in pain, so much pain as something stabbed me in the chest and dug in deep. I called for help, but once again, on one came. A shard had Broken off of the Command Block and was digging into my chest. Though the pain was unbearable, I liked the pain. And that was when the blood started to come, and I felt a stab in my heart, and I felt strength fill my veins. I felt stronger, and more powerful! I was The Shard Keeper! I held the last piece of the Command Block, and it made me who I am. With that done, I started plotting my revenge on the orphan caretakers, but my plans changed when YOU BASTARDS DESTROYED THE WITHER STORM FOR GOOD! That was when I decided to change my plan from taking revenge on just the caretakers to taking revenge on everyone! No one stopped to think that maybe someone here wanted the comfort The Wither Storm gave them! NO! NO ONE CARES ABOUT ME! NO ONE!" Jonathan pulled his gun out agin and started shooting the ceiling, tears filling up his eyes. He then lowered the gun and took his jacket off, his Wither Storm tattoo now visible.
"This is the mark of the storm," He said, "The Shard Keeper has it. AND I'M THE SHARD KEEPER!" He then pointed his gun at Jesse as he stared at Petra, his eyes turning pitch black.
"You took everything from me!" He said to the girl in which was dying on the floor, "And now I'm going to take everything from you."
"Jonathan no!" Petra pleaded, but Jonathan didn't listen, and pulled the trigger.
BANG!
"Didn't think you could take me down that easily, could you?" Jonathan turned around and a large stick of wood hit him across the face, giving him a massive gash in the side of his face.
"Damnit!" He screamed.
"Petra, I'll take care of him, just go!" Exclaimed Jesse. He had dodged the bullet Jonathan had shot at him and started to fight back. Petra stood up and limped to the locked door, holding onto the bleeding bullet wound in her leg. Before she got to the door, a bullet shot right past her, almost hitting her. She turned her head to see Jonathan standing there, pointing the gun at her, the gash in his face sealing up fast. She then saw Jesse behind him, on his knees, his eyes opened up wide, and now almost as withered as the rest of her friends. Petra was so scared. She turned the other way and started limping around the room, behind the pillars that circled the room, hoping that Jonathan would hit one of the pillars instead of her. Jonathan kept shooting, but he kept on missing the dying girl.
"I loved you, I really did!" He yelled, "In fact, I still love you, but you won't join me!"
"Jonathan, what the heck is wrong with you?!" Exclaimed Petra, losing blood quickly.
"I was abandoned by everyone, and I won't be abandoned again!" He replied, "Especially if there's no one left in this world to abandon me!"
"Jonathan, I tried to come back for you in the orphanage, I really did!"
"LIAR!"
"Yo, ass!" A faint voice called. Jonathan turned his head to see that Lukas, Axel, and Olivia were awake again, but they might not be awake for long, since their bodies had almost given up.
"Yeah, you jerkwad!" Axel called.
"Don't think you can win this, do you?!" Olivia called.
"Shut up!" Jonathan screamed back at them. He turned back around to Petra, who had fallen over and was coughing up blood again. Her body couldn't take it. Jesse then jumped onto Jonathan, giving Petra some time to get up.
"Petra, get up! Please!" He called, trying his hardest to hold Jonathan down. Petra finally made it up and turned and started running towards her friends to unchain them. Jonathan was able to get Jesse off of him and pointed his gun back at Petra.
"Petra, what're you doing, just run!" Axel told her, knowing that his time was nearly up.
"No, I need to help you guys." Petra said faintly. Jonathan then jumped in front of her and pointed his gun at her stomach.
"Here's Jonny!" He said, right before he pulled the trigger.
BANG!
Blood went everywhere. Petra fell to the ground after the second bullet had hit her as Jesse called her name.
"This was too easy." Voices surrounded her as her head hit the stone ground. Pain surged through her stomach and leg as she laid there, dying.
"PETRA!" She was losing sight of where she was; she was going into the light.
"I'm sorry." She whispered as everything started to become a blur. Jesse leaped at Jonathan, pushing him into the wall. He then grabbed his head and started hitting it against the wall rapidly, making it bleed.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" He screamed, tears pouring down his face. Jonathan started to cry as well, showing that he was regretting what he had done. All of a sudden, the door of the room was bashed down and a dozen people ran in, including Ivor.
"Ivor?!" Axel Asked, thinking he was gone. When Jonathan's powers were disrupted in the storm, everyone he had absorbed were free, including Ivor.
I came as fast as I could." Ivor said, and that was when he noticed the lifeless body of Petra, laying there in front of her friends.
"Bring her back! Bring her back! Bring her b-back!" Jesse chanted, crying through every word. Jesse then grabbed him and pushed him to the ground and started punching I'm the left eye. Two men came over and grabbed Jesse pulling off of Jonathan as two other people pulled him up so that he was standing and took the gun from him as they tried to put handcuffs on him. Jesse poured his eyes out as Petra's body was dragged off. Ivor then stopped the two people from dragging her out of the room, realizing he forgot to check something. Another person was unchaining the others, and with all of them unchained they all ran over to Jesse, trying to comfort him.
"She's gone, she's gone." He muttered, his face a light red from crying.
"She might not be gone." Ivor said as the two people laid her down next to the team. Jesse then leaped over to her and tried to stop the bleeding from her stomach, but it was too late. Ivor the whipped out a knife and held it down underneath her nose.
"What're you doing?" Asked Axel.
"Checking to see if she's breathing." Ivor answered. Unfortunately, there was nothing; she was gone.
"She's dead, no she's not dead, but I killed her, not necessarily, what're you talking about she's dead, no not unless you want her to be dead." Jonathan said, seeming to be talking to himself. Jesse looked at him, thinking deeply into what he was saying.
"What're you talking about Jonathan?" He asked, still furious that he had killed the one he loves.
"I can bring her back, but I can't what're you talking about, you can remember?" He replied.
"So you can?"
"Yes, no, maybe." Jesse then grabbed Jonathan's arm and pulled him over to Petra's body and then he took his handcuffs off.
"If you can heal yourself, then you can heal others." Jesse said, pushing him closer to the body.
"I'll try." He said, leaning down at her and placing his hands on her wounded stomach. His eyes then turned pitch black again and black particle dust started to emit from his hands. Petra's eyes then opened up, the same shade of black in Jonathan's eyes, and her wounds started to close up. Jonathan started to cringe in pain as the gash in his face from earlier started to open up again. He couldn't take it anymore and had to pull away from healing Petra, leaving the bullet wound still half there.
"What're you doing, finish the job!" Exclaimed Jesse pushing him slightly.
"I can't, it hurts too much and I can't concentrate!" Jonathan replied, blood starting to pour down his face.
"Jesse look, she's breathing again!" Lukas called to him. Jesse then turned around and saw that she was breathing rapidly.
"Petra?!" Jesse then ran back over to her hand held her hand tightly, "Everything's going to be alright." Jesse then turned back round to thank Jonathan, and then beat him up him again, but Jonathan then started throwing up everywhere. He then dropped to the ground as blood started to seep out of his mouth, and eventually, a large shard slowly came out of his mouth, obviously cutting the inside of his throat. Eventually, it dropped to the floor, and the blood stopped. That's when everything got worse. Everyones wither sickness disappeared at the blink of an eye, and all of Jonathan's wounds from when Jesse violently beat him up got worse, his eye started to bleed, and his tattoo, The Mark of the Wither, was gone. Jonathan tried to stand up, all of a sudden, his legs collapsed and he couldn't get up.
"My legs, my legs, I can't feel my legs, I can't feel them, I can't walk." He said, realizing what this meant. Two people then grabbed his arms and pulled him up, then let go, and he fell to the floor again. Ivor then rushed over to him to see what was wrong with him. Jesse couldn't take his eyes off of the mysterious shard.
"Can you move your toes?" Ivor asked, taking Jonathan's shoes off.
"No." Jonathan replied.
"What's that?" Asked Jesse, pointing to the shard piece.
"That's the shard that came off of the Command Block." Jonathan replied. Jesse couldn't take his eyes off of it, even with the sounds of his friends trying to calm his girlfriend down, and the sound of Ivor trying to help Jonathan with his legs.
"Hey Jesse, you better come over here for a second." Said Lukas. Jesse then forced his gaze away from the shard and crawled over to the group. Petra was breathing less intense and was speaking.
"Jesse, don't do it, don't do it Jesse." She repeated over and over. Although she was talking, she didn't seem like she was going to actually wake up anytime soon. Eventually, Petra stopped, and her breathing slowed even further, almost to a stop.
"Ivor!" Jesse called, not taking his gaze off of the dying girl in front of him. Ivor then finished up with Jonathan with the conclusion that he will never walk again, and that he was to be arrested. He then walked over to Petra and proceeded to check her pulse etc.
"She's in a coma." He said.
"She can't be!" Exclaimed Jesse, not wanting to believe it.
"The shard," Jonathan said, "The shard is looking for a new host." Everyone looked over to him, all wondering what he might mean by that. All of a sudden, the shard started to glow and shake. It all of a sudden started darting around the room, bouncing off of the walls and hitting the ground. Everyone took cover from the very sharp piece of Command Block, hoping that they weren't the one it chose as a new host. Eventually, it hit someone in the chest and a bright flash of light filled the room. Once the light had died down, everyone raised their heads and looked around the room. Jonathan then started to laugh insanely, for he knew what was happening.
"This is too good," He said, barely able to contain his excitement, "Someone in this very room it the new Shard Keeper!" Everyone looked at each other, thinking about what this means.
"They know who they are," He continued, "The one with the shard inside of them has all the powers I had, which means that they are all powerful and can't be stopped. It's pretty easy to figure out who it is, and I already know. I just want them to know, I will help them through their mission to destroy everything and I will tell them everything they need to know." Jesse's heart started beating rapidly, not knowing if he could trust anyone, and if anyone would trust him.
"Get ready, 'cause all this is going fall to pieces all over again, AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!"
To Be Continued...
Authors Note: I lied! Turns out, I can post things from England, so there we have it, the last chapter of the first one, and you know this means: Sequel! Tell me what thought of this and who you think the new Shard Keeper is in the form of a review if you'd like to, and, thank you, all of you, for all the support on this story and the support for me as a writer, all of the reviews I've gotten are just amazing and so inspiring, just, thank you so much. Hopefully, I'll see you in the sequel!