Risking Everything for Nothing but Love

“Get the candles!”

“Where are the flashlights?”

“Mommy I can’t see!” The city was chaos. Just a few weeks ago we were living in peace. We went to school. With the light!

“Hey, Jamie.”

“Hi Kiya.” I looked at her and the door on her locker. It was filled with pictures of people, I wasn’t one of them.

“Don’t worry you’ll be up there one day.” She said with a slight smirk on her face. She closed her locker aa we walked down the hall and into our first class, P.E.

“Dodgeball! Get your teams. 10 on the left 10 on the right!!” The coach yelled tiredly. We jogged around and threw balls at each other. I missed drastically. I hit Kiya right in the face.

“Are you ok?”

“I’m fine.” She looked at her hand and felt the blood trip. “Just a little blood.” She smiled as I walked over to her.

“I’ll walk you to the nurse.” We walked through the hallway and down to her locker. She stopped.

“Jamie!” She sounded scared. “Somethings wrong, why is the ground so-” She got cut off. It happened. The ground was in an uproar of shaking. We ran out into the busy streets of the city as she spoke quietly. “Shaky?”

People crowded the streets as there were screams and children running everywhere.

One by one each light across the city went out. It was complete darkness.

“What happened?”

“I’m not sure Kiya.” She held onto my arm’s blood-covered face. The ground beneath her shook. She fell and dragged me down with her. We rolled down the school stairs. Now her face was covered in blood.

“Kiya!” I said crawling over to her. One by one they all fell. Until the whole population was on the ground. No one could stand up. Everyone was down except for 4 teenagers. I helped Kiya up.

“Jamie, how can we stand everyone else is down?” We looked around shock in her eyes.

“I don’t know.” I tried to lock my eyes on what she was looking at. We heard a piercing scream and looked up. Mark. He was standing. We heard another. Ally. She was standing too. Four teenagers.

Mark yelled to me. “Jamie it’s like a comic book!” He paused to get the girl’s approval. “Four teenagers have to save the world from danger!” I looked at him in disbelief as he walked over pies of people to get to me.

“You’re joking, right?” He passed us and went straight to Ally. I yelled over. “Ally are you ok?”

“I’m good! Just a little shaken that’s all, what about you, Kiya?”

She stood up straight and tried to walked but tumbled and fell. Returning to her standing position she said, “Good. I little blood but nothing first aid kit can’t fix.”

We trudged until we found a spot where there was a circle big enough for all of us to sit.

“What are we going to do?” Ally asked scarily. Her hands were shaking.

“I’m not sure, but we seem to be the only ones still standing,” I said helping her get steady. Mark ran over and took her arm and forced her the other way.

The ground was covered in countless bodies and crashed buildings and other things. We all sat down.

“Jamie, will we get to go home?” Kiya asked.

“I’m not sure,” I thought about the topic. “we have to figure out how to get the light back.”

There was a huge bang. Everything was silent. Kiya was the first to fall asleep. “Kiya?” She didn’t answer. Around me, Ally and Mark fell. I was next and I knew it.

It was the weirdest dream. There was a voice and a massage leading me somewhere.

I was walking down a path with beautiful flowers of all kinds. I heard a voice, “Don’t look back” The voice was distant and quiet. I couldn’t helo it. It was too tempting I looked. That moment ashes covered the flowers I ran.

The voice came back. this time more cheerfully. “I warned you, escape before it’s too late.” I ran. I couldn’t stop I fell into a hole blacker than black and bigger than big it was all at once like I loop I was awake.

They were all over me.

“Hey, Jamie.”

“Hey, Kiya. Who was the first awake?

“Ally, then Mark then me and you.” We sat up.

“Did you guys have like a really weird dream?”

“No, I thought we just fell asleep.” Ally said.

“So did I,” Mark said quietly holding Ally’s hand. I looked at Kiya.

“What about you Kiya?” I looked at her. The single word told me she knew what my dream was.

“Don’t look back.” She whispered grabbing my hands. I nodded. Her hands-on mine felt magical. it somehow gave me the power to say what I never wanted to.

“We have to leave.”

“I’m not leaving, my brothers here!” Ally exclaimed.

“And the only way to save him is to leave,” I said pointing onwards. they looked at me with confusion and hurt. “We must risk everything for nothing but those we love.”

“Are you a poetry genius I’m not leaving unless Ally is leaving?” He said confidently and confused turning toward AAlly.

“Well then when you convince your girlfriend to come she can,” I said angrily getting up to examine how to get to where we needed to.

“Jamie,” Kiya said coming toward me. “Please, we need not fight but work together. Remember, ‘risk everything for nothing except those whom we love.’” She whispered in my ear, grabbing my hands.

I ignored her but kept a firm grip on her soft hand. “We need to go north. that’s where we should be able to find what we’re looking for.”

“And what exactly are we looking for?” Ally asked.

“I’m not sure Ally,” I looked unto the distance. “but I know where it is.” I walked forward Kiya following me.

“Are we just supposed to follow him?” Ally asked Mark.

“I think so.” He walked up Ally’s hand in his. Her foot grip was solid. I looked back to see him hugging and stroking her hair. “You’re going to be ok.” He said encouragingly. “And so will Luke.”

We walked up the hill when Mark came to a jog and asked Kiya to go to Ally.

“Hey, I wanted to talk to you, Jamie.”

“About what? I saw you and Ally, you’re lucky to have her.”

“Yeah,” He paused. “are we gonna make it out of here?”

“I will do my best, whatever happens, we have to keep them safe.”

“Agreed.” He turned to face me. “but will we find Luke.”

“Yes, if they can’t I will.”

“Thank you.”

I looked back at Kiya and Ally.

“How are you, girls?”

“Fine.” They looked at each other and all at once started silently crying.

We walked over and comforted them.

“I think we better stop for a minute and calm down.” No one responded. “So keep walking?” I looked at Mark and he nodded holding Ally’s hand.

We walked up to a huge volcano-like figure. It was bursting with flames, but not exploding. I heard the voice. I fell once again, right into Kiya’s arms. She caught me like she knew what would happen.

There was the big volcano-like mountain with stairs leading its way up.

“Come!” The voice boomed. “You want the light you must listen carefully!” The voice got softer.

“Come up the stairs. The light will be restored once two people come and sacrifice themselves to me!” I could see Mark and myself walking up to the mountain. I could hear Ally and Kiya’s cries.

I woke up in Kiya’s arms. Mark was on the ground Aally was holding him looking at me.

“Jamie, this isn’t funny what happened.” Ally demanded.

“We need to get Mark awake.” I walked over to him. Kiya followed. “Anything you can do to get him awake, try.” I started to walk away.

“Are you going to help?” Kiya asked sweetly.

“No, I need to think.”

“Ok. Be careful.”

“I will be.”

I walked over to the mountain and thought about what I should do. Mark came up behind me.

“Hey, the girls got me awake.”

“I’m glad.” I looked at him. “Did you get the dream?”

“Yeah. We have to go if we’re ever going to get the light back in the city.” He paused. “The girls need to go home.”

“I completely agree. How do we know when It’s the right time?” I asked Mark.

“I don’t know.” The ground started shaking an amplified voice came from the mountain.

“Come!” The girls ran over to us. “If the light is to be restored, come forth and risk everything!”

Mark and I looked at each other we nodded hand in hand we walked toward the pit.

“Jamie! Mark!” The girls asked.

“Kiya and Ally of were going to restore this city and get you back home we have to go.”

Kiya ran ver to me.

“Jamie please.” She pleaded.

“Kiya, beautiful.” I paused and grabbed her hand. “Remember, I’m risking everything for absolutely nothing but love.” I grabbed her into a hug and whispered in her ear. “And your love, Kiya.” I let her go and Mark and I continued to walk up the stairwell into the mountain. We looked back one last time before falling.

In the distance we could see the sun shining, we knew we saved the city and we were proud.

The city was restored and nobody knew anything that happened other than Kiya and Ally.

Kiya was at her locker looking at pictures when Ally walked up.

She pointed to a picture. “Who is that?”

She picked up the picture and handed it to Ally. “Jamie. One of my favorite people.”