You Roll Over And Die

The last thing Hendrix remembered was flying through the air, trying to dodge a piercing wave of blood.

After a few seconds, he also remembered feeling like he was going to collapse.

“Oh. Then I covered myself.” Hendrix thought to himself.

He opened his eyes to a blur of light, too bright, too soft. The air itself looked wrong. Hendrix chalked it up to hitting his head

He was still in the compound.

He looked around to verify his surroundings.

The Advisor was there, but wasn’t paying attention to him anymore.

Instead, Shezmu was now staring down the six other teens, who were staring back in fear.

“Hendrix!” Vida screamed. The Advisor was walking towards them with malicious intent.

“Your hero’s gone now,” Shezmu said, his tone laced with disgust. “That boy was the only one with any promise. You sinners aren’t worth my time.” Shezmu held his hand backwards, closing his fist as he brought it forwards.

“Vida!” Hendrix screamed out. No one reacted to his shout.

The Advisor’s wave of blood came crashing towards the kids, the front of the tidal wave shaped into an array of sharp ends.

Time slowed for Hendrix.

He saw Kai try to grab anyone near him. Taro tried to push his friends out of the way. Chase grabbed Amora instinctively. Akilah tried to activate her Mode to see if they could dodge in time.

“What the hell…” Hendrix muttered. “Am I dead?!”

That felt like the only logical conclusion to Hendrix. The last thing he remembered was passing out in the middle of the most heated fight he had ever taken part in, and now no one can hear him. His vision was isolating the figures in front of him from the background even more.

To Hendrix’s surprise, as the bloodwave closed in, he witnessed Vida turn to her left, the direction Hendrix was watching from.

She looked past him. Hendrix turned around to see that Vida was reaching her arm out towards an unconscious Hendrix.

The bustling sound of the scene cut out entirely.

Hendrix fell to his knees as the two sides of the conflict converged.

His friends were hit head on with a frenzy of sharp blood constructs.

Two went right through Taro’s abdomen, then Akilah was struck directly in the head. Kai’s back was struck three times by the blood spears. Chase turned his back while holding Amora, but the blood struck right through the both of them.

He blinked once, and his friends were all lifeless on the floor.

Hendrix let out a scream. It echoed through empty walls.

His chest threatened to cave in. His head spun so fast it felt detached from his body. He fell back, trying to keep his balance to no avail.

He stared at the horrid sight through wide eyes, tears falling down his cheek.

Vida’s lifeless body was reaching for Hendrix. He felt his heart press against his ribcage, like his whole chest was about to explode.

“Did you bring death to their door?” That familiar voice rang through his mind.

“Get out of my head!” Hendrix screamed between his heavy breathing. He closed his eyes, his hands still clutching his head.

“Would they have lived if they never met you? Milo said your little outburst was the reason they closed in-” The voice continued to ask questions while Hendrix’s demands got louder.

“STOP IT! GET OUT OF MY HEAD!” Hendrix felt his world begin to spin. When he opened his eyes his world was actually spinning.

“What was the point of their lives? Just to die?” The voice that once imitated Hendrix morphed into that deep, gravely voice that Hendrix had heard in one too many dreams.

Hendrix was now on that cold, dark street once again. The street where he met Mr. Frewin.

He watched his younger self cry while walking down that quiet road.

“My dreams always start here. If only I could remember what happened before-” Hendrix’s thought process was interrupted by a voice from across the street.

“You’ll find the door you're searching for soon, boy.” That familiar masked man stood across the street, minding not the pouring rain.

That blank white mask, the bird feathers on his shoulders, those piercing yellow eyes, Hendrix had definitely seen him before.

Hendrix’s vision focused on the figure, the buildings behind him blurring like he was looking through a camera.

Hendrix had never noticed how rough the man’s mask was. It seemed to be carved out of something.

“You’ll find the meaning behind this mask as well, boy. For I am you, and you are me.” The man’s vague words frustrated Hendrix.

“Who are you?! Why do you keep showing me this moment?!” Hendrix asked.

The man was silent for a few seconds. His eyes wandered to the younger Hendrix, who had now stopped in front of that jazz club, his eyes closed as he enjoyed the slow rhythm of the song.

“Why did those rebels take you in? They knew the risk, and they died for it. They failed their purpose-”

“Do NOT speak about the Frewins!” Hendrix screamed across the street. Both of them were soaking wet from the memory’s rain. The masked man’s pitch black hair and Hendrix’s bright pink hair covering both of their eyes.

“Hey kid, are you lost?” Mr. Frewin’s voice echoed from behind Hendrix. He turned around to see the memory of the first time they met.

Hendrix closed his eyes as tears began to stream down his face.

“I don’t know who you are, but if your with those fucking fascists, then I’ll kill you. You’ll die screaming with your comrades.” Hendrix spoke to the masked man without facing him.

A few moments of silence passed before the masked man began to chuckle.

“Oh really?” The masked man’s words seem to trigger something.

Hendrix felt his strings shoot out of his back. They circled to the front of Hendrix before ramming themselves into his chest.

Hendrix screamed in pain. The memory of the street around him faded to black, with him and the masked man now in that familiar void.

Hendrix fell to his knees, coughing blood onto the strings stabbing his chest. The strings receded before quickly wrapping around his abdomen.

Hendrix collapsed, coughing blood as his own strings coiled around him. They tightened like a serpent, slicing into his skin until he could barely breathe.

“You’ll see the truth soon, boy.” The masked man glared at the kneeling Hendrix for a moment before turning around. The man walked into the darkness, fading into black.

“LET ME OUT!” Hendrix screamed, blood pouring down his chin.

“Hendrix!” Vida’s voice rang through the silence like a lighthouse in the dead of night.

“Vida…” Hendrix’s blood began to mix with his tears. He didn’t know if he was hearing the last words of a deceased friend or an actual call.

“HELP ME!” Hendrix shouted at the top of his lungs.

He heard a metallic bang, before realizing the situation he was actually in.

His senses began to morph until he was actually awake. He quickly receded his strings, undoing the steel sarcophagus that had been covering him this whole time.

Hendrix got up, looking around to check his surroundings before his eyes landed on Vida, who was kneeling over him.

Hendrix rushed in to hug Vida, wrapping his arms tightly around the girl.

“Vida. Please.” Hendrix cried into her shoulder, muttering what seemed like nonsense to Vida.

Vida hugged him back in silence.

“Don’t ever die. I won’t ever forgive you.” Vida whispered into Hendrix’s ear.

Hendrix’s eyes widened as his words flooded back to him. He remembered the feelings he was shouting out at the Advisor. He remembered how much he wanted to die at that moment, how much he wanted to take the Advisor to hell with him.

“Yeah. I won’t. I promise.” Hendrix mumbled. He didn’t know if he meant it, but in that moment it felt like the truth.

Hendrix didn’t know how much those five words meant to Vida, how much she had wanted to hear those words all day.

“I’ll hold you to that promise.” Vida whispered. She closed her eyes, just for a moment, before that moment turned into a couple moments.

Hendrix noticed she had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He slowly leaned against the wall they sat next to before falling asleep himself.

The next morning, Kai and Akilah were the first ones to wake up.

Kai silently waved at Akilah from across the room, with Akilah letting out a tsk in response.

“In all actuality, it’s probably good to have these moments. I like that we can still be ourselves after all that’s happened.” Akilah thought to herself.

“Hey! Hey!” Kai tried to get Akilah’s attention without waking up the others, which failed miserably. The other kids woke up, while Alex and Bloom were far enough to keep their silence while they slept.

“Shut the fuck up!” Taro threw one of his pillows at Kai.

“Look!” Kai whispered. He pointed towards the corner of the room, where Hendrix and Vida slept, leaning on each other.

Within seconds, all of them had quietly gathered around, staring like tourists at a rare animal.

“So, what should we do?” Taro asked.

“What do you mean what should we do?!” Akilah responded.

“Hmm. We could dump water on them. No, it would be better to get a photo, does anyone have a camera?” Chase held his hand out while looking at each of his friends.

“Hey, be nice.” Amora pinched Chase’s side. “I do have a camera, though.” Amora whispered before handing the camera to Chase.

“And, got it.” Chase whispered as he took a single photo of the two sleeping.

“You guys are already awake?” Bloom’s voice startled the group, making everyone disperse.

“It’s good to see you guys still have so much energy.” Alex chuckled.