chapter 1

Jess' POV

In the situation I am in now, I know I am about to die. I can't pretend death isn't going to come now, because it is.

I am sitting on the ground. My wrists are bound with a thick hemp cord, the kind that no one can free themselves from. I can see my one and only best friend, Leslie, tied to a tree across from me. Her face is streaked with dirt and tears. She is crying, crying for me. I know she doesn't want to see me die.

"Kill me!" she shrieks, struggling against the ropes. "Kill me too! If you kill him, I must go with him!" The man, the one who has tied her up, is a tall, very scary-looking, drugged-out man, with greasy black hair, and a greasy black beard. His clothes are seedy and un-washed. He kicks her hard, in the leg, and she sobs, sobbing with pain and agony.

I can't watch the man torture her like this. "Don't kill her!" I scream, "Leave her alive."

But the man doesn't listen. In fact, now that I've spoken, it's my turn to be tortured. He laughs, smiling at me, pleasantly, with the crazed look of a murderer. He kicks me, and kicks me. The pain is unbearable.

"Now, Brownsman," The other man speaks up. He doesn't look as terrible as the other man, Brownsman, but he's no teen supermodel. His hair is blonde, and his eyes are cold and gray. His beard is only a bit of dirty, blonde stubble, "Remember the deal. The girl's yours. The boy's my plaything."

I shiver. Brownsman snickers, and nods. He heads over to Leslie.

The other man, approaches me. He laughs, evilly. "You ever wonder what it would feel like to die, sonny?" He taunts. His name is Oreley. That's what the other man had called him, "Well, you'll find out."

From behind his back, Oreley pulls out a pistol. Leslie gasps, "No!"

"Silence that girl, Brownsman!" Oreley snaps. Brownsman turns to Leslie, and slaps her straight across the face. Watching this makes me want to punch that man, though, of course I can't with my hands tied behind my back.

"Wait!" I cry out.

"What, boy. Spit it out before I kill you."

My voice squeaks, "Before I die, why do you want to kill me?"

Oreley chuckles, "Oh, you don't know, do you, son? You don't know?"

"Why?"

"Because we don't need you, boy!" Oreley says, "We only needed the girl. She's worth something. We took her, so we'd get some cash. We only need to get rid of you first."

"And why do you need to get rid of me? My parents will pay," my voice is stronger. I'm trying to be brave before I die, trying to be brave for Leslie.

"Because your parents are not as wealthy," Oreley continued, "And besides, your death, will make them fear us more."

"You're horrible," Leslie cries.

"Brownsman, you can do your thing now."

And with that Brownsman suddenly picked up the squirming, screaming Leslie, and carried her into the bushes. You could hear Leslie screaming, and gasping, and Brownsman just laughing.

"Any last words, sonny?"

The man points the gun to my head. There are no last words. Leslie pokes her head out from the bush. She has struggled free. I can only see her face. Her arms reach towards me. I know she is the last thing I will see before I die.

The day that I was to meet my death, the day that we were kidnapped in the forest, was supposed to be just a normal, funny, Leslie and me sort of day.

The phone rang early in the morning, at 8:00 a.m.

"Jess, it's Leslie," My mother called from the kitchen. I climbed, groggily out of bed, and padded into downstairs, into the living room. I entered the kitchen. Mom handed me the phone.

"Hi Jess!" Leslie said chirped, cheerfully on the other end.

"Hey, Les." Hearing her voice made me a little bit more awake.

"Want to go to Teribithia today?" Leslie asked, "It's a beautiful day outside. The Teribithians would love it if their king and queen came to visit."

"Uh huh," I replied, "Should we eat breakfast first?"

"Oh, no need to eat now," She continued, "I have blueberry muffins we can take with us."

"Alright," This cheered me up. I was sure I would have a good day.

As I headed back to my room, Mom sighed, "Going to go play with Leslie today, Jess?"

"Yes ma'am," I responded.

"You'll be back by dinner?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Won't you have breakfast?"

"Leslie's bringing some with her."

"Well, all right, I guess."

I stomped up the stairs, and headed down the hall. When I passed Brenda and Ellie's room, I could hear them snoring like hogs. I laughed to myself.

In a few minutes time, I was fully dressed and ready to go. I hurried down the stairs, and out the door. I looked back and saw Mom in the window. I didn't know if I should wave, because she'd probably think that was a cheeky thing to do, so instead I just kept running.

Leslie was waiting in front of her house.

"Mornin' Jess!" She called, smiling. P.T. the dog stood barking at her side. In her arms, Leslie held a small basket.

"Morning, Les," I answered.

"How'd you sleep?" Leslie smiled, all filled with energy. I always wondered how she she was always so awake and alert in the mornings.

"Good, I guess," I yawned, sleepily, "I had a weird dream though," I admitted.

We began walking, towards the forest, "Yeah? And what was it about?"

" You swung off the rope and you were like.. swimming in the creek," I told her sheepishly, "And there was a bridge."

" A bridge?" Leslie's eyes widened, "That's actually a great idea. Maybe we'll build a bridge over the creek. The enchanted rope is starting to wear down."

"Yeah," I smiled, "We can build it over the summer."

We took turns swinging over the creek, using the rope. Then, we entered our magical world of Teribithia.

"So what did you dream about?" I asked Leslie, when we were finally sitting up in the old treehouse, eating the delicious blueberry muffins that Leslie's mom Judy had baked for us.

"Um, it's strange, very strange," Leslie said, in between bites, "Maybe it has to do with your dream. Ms. Edmonds was driving a car, and you were in the back seat. And you went to a place where there was art... an art museum, I guess. Yes, that's what it was."

"Hmm, that's weird. I've never been to an art museum before."

"What do you think our dreams mean, Jess?" Leslie asked, looking intently at me,"Do you think they are warnings, distractions from the Dark Master."

"I don't know, Les," I wiped off my hands with a napkin, "Probably just, well..dreams."

"Just dreams!" She said, imitating me, "Just dreams!? Listen to yourself, Jess! You're supposed to be the almighty magical king of Teribithia. You know that these can't be just dreams!!"

I laughed, "Then what are they, Leslie?"

"Prophecies, maybe," Leslie stared out into space, listening to the wind like, with the look she always gets in her eyes when she's imagining something, "We could be seeing the future."

"Well if it's the future, Les, it doesn't look too good," I swallowed a bite of muffin I had been chewing, "I don't think you were swimming when you fell off that rope. It didn't look like it was on purpose."

"Did I scream?"

"Yes."

"A joyful sort of scream, or the kind of scream that often is used in horror movies?"

"Horror movie scream."

There was a moment of silence.

"It was a nightmare," Leslie said, though she sounded a bit uncertain, uneasy even, "A distraction. The Dark Master is playing tricks on your mind, Jess. Don't let him scare you and take control."

"Yes," I agreed, trying to sound royal and mighty, like Leslie, "Let's not talk about that anymore."

"Yes, let's not," Leslie grabbed an apple from one of the baskets of fruit we had carried up the day before. She threw me one as well, and I caught it, murmuring a "thanks." Then she bit into it, "How about we um...talk about that bridge in your dream."

I bit into mine, "Well, I guess so," I answered.

"What did it look like, Jess?" Leslie asked.

"Well it was built of wood, obviously," Leslie listened intently, wiping a drop of juice that had dribbled down her chin when she took a bite, "There was a big sign over the bridge that I had painted, and the broken enchanted rope hung down on it. The sign said, 'Nothing crushes us.'"

"Perfect!" Leslie pulled some paper out from a little wooden stationary box in the corner. She began to sketch the bridge. The finished results were pretty rough, but the details were pretty good.

"You've got to teach me how to draw, Jess!" Leslie exclaimed.

I just laughed.

The afternoon carried on. I checked my watch, and it read "5:55"

"Oh no, Les!" I exclaimed, "I have to get home now. I promised my mother that I'd be home by dinner."

"My parents will be expecting me too."

We climbed down from our spot up in the treehouse, and began a mad dash to the rope. Suddenly, we were stopped, by a rustling sound, and the sound of whispering.

"It's the Dark Master, Jess," Leslie told me, but I had a feeling that it wasn't the fictional, imaginary character that she had in mind.

"That's not the dark master, Leslie," I whispered, "Be very quiet. I think that's a real person. It could be a druggie, Les. Be real quiet."

"Indeed, we are real!" A voice, a man's came clear and strong from behind us. We whipped around and saw the two men, Brownsman and Oreley behind us. They were holding ropes, and I knew they had guns on them.

Leslie gasped, then screamed. Before we knew it, the men had sprung on us, and tied us tightly.

And right then, I knew that our lives would end right there.

Author's note: I know this story starts off really sad, but the ending is happy. Just keep reading.

This story was obviously written by Gi, if it is a BTT story.

Please do not be grossed out over what happens to Leslie. I will not be explicit.

Gi