The Door of Death

Trigger warning: Death, blood and sadness

Hazel and Jackson sat in front of their principal, Mr. Perkins, on a dais in the gym answering questions with their teammates.

The two were part of an organisation inside their school board called Battle of the Books, and they had a team of four, named The Bookworms. The four people were Hazel, Jackson, an Asian-American girl named Kim, and a Canadian-born boy named Milo. They were a good team, and had made it to the finals. Now it was between them and one more team, The Speed Readers.

"Come on guys, we got this," Hazel muttered to the rest of her team. "Just three more questions and we're done."

Kim nodded, giving silent encouragement to all of them.

"From The Mark of Athena," Mr. Perkins began. "What is the species of the monster that Annabeth meets?"

"Guys, I know this," Hazel whispered.

Her mom had named her after her favourite character, Hazel Levesque. Before Hazel could read, her mom had read all of Rick Riordan's works to her as bedtime stories, and now Hazel read them to herself.

Hazel flicked the light switch, and the light bulb lit up. "Yes, Hazel, from The Bookworms," Mr. Perkins said.

"The monster Annabeth meets in The Mark of Athena is a spider named Arachne," Hazel listed.

"Point for The Bookworms."

Jackson pumped his fist. "Yes!" Milo whisper-shouted. Kim patted Hazel on the back, and Hazel leaned back in her chair, quite pleased with herself.

The next question went to The Speed Readers, but The Bookworms, Hazel's team, got the last question, which brought them to a total of eight out of fifteen points.

The Bookworms won the battle, eight points to six. It was very close, but all four of the teammates helped to bring home the trophy.

After their spectacular win, all four of them went into a huddle, right there on the dais.

"Guys, we did an amazing job," Kim told them.

Kim was the kind of person that congratulated the other team even when she was on the opposite team. She was sweet, kind, perky, and always had a huge smile on her face.

"Yeah, we did," Milo agreed. "Now we can relax, thank god."

Hazel laughed at his comment.

That night after school, Hazel told her family about her team's big win.

"That's my smart girl!" Her mom smiled. "Now I'm thinking we should have named you 'Annabeth' instead!"

Hazel giggled. "Thanks, Mom. But she's not your favourite character."

"No, but she's the smartest," her mom replied. "And a daughter of the wisdom goddess to boot!" She grinned.

They both laughed. "Great job, sweetie," Hazel's dad told her. "We're super proud of you."

Her little brother Isaac hugged Hazel's legs. "Good!" he said, looking up at her with his bright, innocent blue eyes. She picked him up and twirled around, which made him giggle. "I'm glad you approve," Hazel told him teasingly. Isaac laughed again.

When Hazel was getting ready for bed, she thought about what had happened that day. She was amazed that her team had won the Battle of the Books cup. Her team! She was also really proud of everyone on her team: Jackson, Kim and Milo. She was happy that they had joined her team for the battling season. In fact, Milo had come up with their team name, which Hazel and the others had immediately loved.

At school the next day, Hazel and her team were swamped by compliments and praise from their classmates.

"Oh my gosh, you did an amazing job," a girl gushed. "Wow dudes," a boy said. "Nice thing you did there."

"Just nod and smile, then walk by," Hazel whispered to her friends. They nodded to show they understood.

After school, Hazel and Jackson were walking to their swim practice when a woman suddenly appeared, leaning against a building.

Hazel started. "Who are you?" Jackson asked. The woman smiled mysteriously. "Erin. And I'm here to help you."

Erin led them into the building she had been leaning on.

"Here," she told Hazel and Jack. "is where you will make the biggest decision of your lives."

"What is it?" Hazel asked.

"You'll see."

Erin stood behind the two children, hands on their shoulders.

"These are the Doors of Life and Death," she told them. "One of them will lead to a wonderful life where you live to a ripe, healthy old age. The other will immediately kill you. You must choose wisely."

Erin nudged Hazel. "You first."

Hazel took a deep breath and said, "Okay. I'm ready." She stepped forward and chose a door to go through.

The door she chose entered into a long, narrow hallway. After walking for what seemed like forever, Hazel finally saw light at the end of the hallway.

She exited the building into the fresh air outside. "Well, I guess I chose the right door," she thought out loud. "Jackson should join me any minute now."

When Jackson didn't exit the building, Hazel started to get worried. "Where is he?" she wondered. "Why isn't he out of there yet?"

A few minutes later, Hazel was ready to charge back in, but then the building spit Jackson out like a watermelon seed.

She ran over to him to see if he was okay. He wasn't moving, and there was blood trickling down his forehead. She was really scared for him, and she said, "Hey. Jack. Can you hear me?"

Hazel was panicking now. "Jackson?" Still no answer.

She put her head on his chest. She couldn't hear anything.

Hazel started to cry.

"Come back. Come back."

But she had to accept what had happened. He had chosen the other door, the one that led to death. He hadn't gone after Hazel at all. And he paid the price. Hazel wished she could go back in time and tell him to follow her, but she couldn't. She could only live with survivor's guilt.

"I'll miss you, Jackson. See you on the other side."