His Last Song- "Ji'de Tas Anse"

Chapter Ten 10.2

Something thuds at my feet and I slowly open my eyes. The panther sits at my feet, its eyes still open and looking up at me but it's no longer breathing. I gasp and cover my mouth as I move backwards.

I look at the pistol in Song's hand then I look up at his face, he looks down at the panther as he pants then he glances over at me. It's as though the world stops when he looks at me, a...weird feeling passes between us; I don't quite know how to describe it, it's a weird feeling of...fascination. How many times has this guy saved me?

"Let's go quickly!" Adrian says as she runs with Ai to the building. "It's quiet because all the animals have been alerted!"

"Come on," Song says to me as he grabs my hand, we start running to the building.

"The staff-"

"Leave it," he cuts me off.

We get to the back of the building and Adrian goes to open the door, but it doesn't move. Adrian pushes the door with her whole body, but it still doesn't budge; like the time when I was in the tent.

Adrian lets out a breath and backs up.

"Maybe we should-"

Adrian runs into the door with a yell and it bursts open. Adrian turns back to us and gestures for us to come in.

Yeah, that works too.

The rest of us follow Adrian into the building and Song closes the door as best as he can. He leans against the wall and grimaces as he holds his side.

"He-hey, are you alright? You didn't get hurt, di-did you?" I ask him.

He nods, "Just...a cramp... I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Mmn."

I nod, "Okay." —I look at Adrian— "There was a cabinet blocking the door. Should we re-block it? Wh-what if some other people need to come here?"

"Even if they did, they wouldn't be able to use the portal," Adrian replies. "There's only one use left and we're using it. It doesn't matter if we block it, all that matters is getting to the portal. Let's go."

Adrian goes through the first door with Ai, I grab Song's hand and lead him to the door as he still tries to catch his breath.

It's taking him a while to catch his breath...

"Thank you, Song." He looks at me, "You are truly an incredibly good per-person. You're definitely my favorite person. And there's no way I could repay-repay you."

He smiles as he rustles my hair, "You have already repaid me."

"I have? Ho-how?"

He looks away as he scratches his forearm, he looks back at me and smiles, "I'll tell you later."

We go into the room and stand at the doorway as we look around. The room holds desks and chairs, along with papers and other things scattered everywhere. A few desks are flipped over, there's material hanging from the ceiling, and claw marks on the walls and floor. It looks like there was a fight to leave this dimension.

But what really catches our attention is a floating, multi-colored orb.

"Is that the portal?" Song asks.

"I'm guessing, yes." Adrian looks at the walls, "They said that there would be a button by the door, we press it, and it opens. It has to be held thirty seconds after it's pressed. The portal will stay open for three minutes after."

Song goes over to the button by the door, "I'll press the button.. You guys go first, I'll come after."

"Are...you s-s-sure?" I ask.