One Second

By: RM Lynn

Naoki yelled out to Jamie, who had fallen to the ground. They were nearly tied. Shiretown Ravens 1 set. Turoo Phoenixes 1 set. This was the final set, the only chance to get into the Nationals, whoever lost would be forgotten. But whoever won would represent the district in the 2016 high school volleyball nationals. But Naoki -the guardian- only cared about Jamie, powerful, huge, shy, caring, Jamie. Many people on the Shiretown volleyball team -the Ravens- called him the gentle giant. He's powerful. He's the ace. I wouldn't expect anything less from him, but even the ace - one of the most powerful members of the team should known that his jump and spike would be off due to exhaustion, and a bad set...and a bad receive, but he went for the ball. He's being an idiot again, Naoki thought almost bitterly. He hit the ball hard, perhaps too hard, although they got the point. He might not play for the rest of the day, if he's injured then we'll for sure have holes in our defense and offense, we have to win, we can't lose to them again.
"Jamie. Jamie. Jamie!" Naoki yelled out to the fallen giant.
    "Naoki? Why are you yelling? Won't you get called for yelling and screaming?" Jamie asked, always caring about the mere 159cm libero.
    "If I get called then we have Ollie to fill in for me." Naoki told the giant cheekily while helping him up, a rather comical sight.
Naoki's electric blue hair was plastered to his forehead, but his gold eyes were full of joy, mirth and energy. Naoki looked like a fifth-grader helping up his big brother. All while Jamie struggled to pull his brown hair back into a bun and slipped on his white sports headband, his stormy grey eyes glanced over to the net. The team's setter -Yamah- he looked as nervous as ever as Tezz tried to comfort him after his bad set. "It's fine Yamah, I didn't give you a good receive. In fact I really goofed it."  Naoki tried his best to comfort the setter.
"Your team is utterly pathetic. You all need a little elementary school kid to help you regain your little bit of confidence." The voice came from over the net, one that was sickly sweet and was one that many girls swooned over.
Kyle Northkin, captain of the Tooru Phoenixes he is one of the best in the league. He is known for angering players and breaking hearts. Many said that he was the reason why  powerhouse players disappeared. Others said that he was insane but yet he was allowed to play volleyball.
"Mad Dog, it's not a good idea to anger them when they are close to victory." One of the players from Tooru called out to Kyle.
Kyle Northkin -Mad Dog- simply sighed and walked away, leaving the Shiretown Ravens fuming. That was Kyle's only mistake in the whole game. Angering the Ravens.
The serve came from the Raven's side. Over the net, Naoki thought, on to the enemy's side. The Phoenixes quickly received the ball. Receive, pass, recover. Receive pass recover. Receivepassrecover, that is my job.
WHAM!! The ball hit the court. The ball was nearly out. The ball landed on the side of the Phoenixes. That was Jamie's hardest hit in the whole game. We won. WE WON! Cheers and yells filled the gym, but those cheers soon stopped and a single high pitched scream was heard, a scream that Naoki swore he had heard before. The gym went pitch black, the emergency lights weren't working, people began to panic. Naoki could hear the breathing of many people but someone's breathing sounded struggled and harsh. As quickly as the lights had shut off, they came back on. But two things were different. First, being Kyle Northkin was missing. Second being that Yamah was on the ground in a bloody heap barely breathing. Tezz was holding him, trying to stop the bleeding, making sure that Yamah kept on breathing, all while trying not to cry over his boyfriend's wounded body.  Everything felt like it was in slow-motion people ran forward, while Naoki began to run away, he wasn't sure what he was running to or from. The world rushed by, the school halls were just blurry colours flying past him in his mad dash. But then the blurry world turned white. A bright, painful white. Naoki felt a cold hand and his forehand, the hand felt unhumanly cold, like it was doused in dry ice.
When the bright light melted away, he seemed to have gone from an innocent school to, what seemed to be an old abandoned warehouse. The kind that looked like it's from zombie or horror movies. A faint coppery smell plagued Naoki's nose. He blew a stray piece of his wild blue hair out of his face, almost wishing he hadn't dyed it, almost. "Naoki?" the voice sounded slightly rough and hoarse.  
Naoki turned to his left to see a tired and bloody Jamie, his silver and black uniform was torn and also rather bloody, whose blood it was, Naoki did not know.
When Naoki looked down he noticed that his own black and silver uniform was covered in blood, he wasn't sure if it was his blood or someone else's. "Now that we're all awake let's have some fun!" a sickly sweet voice seemed to appear out of nowhere and surround the powerhouse duo.
Spring green eyes met one pair of gold and one pair of stormy grey. Greasy black hair shone in the dim lighting, as a tall, lanky man stepped out of the shadows. Captain of the Tooru phoenixes, the rivals of the Shiretown ravens. A single man who could cause so much physical, mental and emotional pain. Minutes later the ace and the libero felt all those kinds of pain, both were bloody, battered and bruised. Naoki looked up at his captor. His eyes held insanity, his face covered in a mixture of the blood of the guardian and the gentle giant.
One second Naoki and Jamie were playing volleyball. One second the Ravens beat the Phoenixes. One second the world went pitch black. One second Yamah was on the ground bleeding with Tezz nearly crying over him. One second Naoki ran away from it all. One second the blurry world went white. One second Jamie and Naoki were at the mercy of a psychopath. It only takes a second, that's what grandmother always said, it only takes one second for your life to change, end or even begin, now I know what she meant. That was Naoki's last thought as the loud laugh of an insane man boomed throughout the warehouse. The sweet relief of the darkness soon followed.