Revive Me

Chapter Twenty Four

Everyone is pacing or screaming or yelling or crying. There's hair pulling, wall punching, tear slipping and stomping all around the room. Even James, who still sits at the back of the room, is crying. Probably from all the chaos that's happening.
Poor thing.
Winston bangs his fist on the table, bringing everyone to a hush. There are still a few sniffles from the girls who sit angrily with their faces buried in their hands.
"This can't be the only way," says Kenji in a shaking voice.
But it is. I wish he knew there was no other way.
"Nothing else seems more reasonable. No matter how awful this is, it's the only thing that makes some sort of sense," says Kent in a voice that's trying to sound brave but failing.
It's true. This is all we can do.
Everyone exhales deeply.
"Well? Who's it going to be?" asks Winston while looking around the room.
I know who it should be.
"Are we taking volunteers? Must we do a draw? Maybe have a lottery and the winner has to go?" suggests Brendan.
"But what if it doesn't work? Let's say that we send our man-erm- or woman," says Kenji while uncomfortably glancing at the few girls sitting in the room. "What if we send our man and the necklace still doesn't come off? That's one of our valuable men gone to waste!"
He has a point.
But there's no other way.
Sarah rises from her seat and takes a deep breath.
"Can someone please repeat the solution we came up with? Perhaps there are hidden words?" she asks.
I stand up and nod.
"All plans that come to Juliette are written down," I say as if I've rehearsed it. "All we found written down was 'kill' and 'only one.' However, there were no specifications as to whom it is that has to die. Using that, we concluded that one person, not specified who, has to die in order for the necklace to come off of Juliette. Without that, there's no way."
"THERE HAS TO BE!" screams Sonya.
But there isn't....
And with that, the entire room erupts into chaos. People are screaming, everyone's trying to figure out a way around our solution.
"SHUT UP WILL YOU ALL!" I hear someone yell. It's so loud, it's hard to make our whose voice it was.
"Well? Who's going to do it?" asks Kenji. "Who's going to be our knight in shining armour?"
And with that, I had enough.
All the frustration in my head blows out.
I release every bit of anger in my body in two words.
"I will," I say simply.
Kenji stares at my face.
"What did you say?" he asks.
"I said," I repeat. "That I will willingly go forward and give my life as long as you all take that necklace off. I will. I am willing."
The room erupts into chaos.