-Endless Summer-

- VIII | You Always Have To Be The Hero -

C h a p t e r  E i g h t
Y o u  a l w a y s  h a v e  t o  b e  t h e  h e r o

The crowd roared as the quarterback lined up under centre for the snap.

"Omaha! Ninety-six double!" The leader of the group, the tall, dark, and handsome Sean Gayle, called out to his teammate. The number five gleamed on his back.

Your school's stadium was packed to the brim for the weekend of freshman orientation. In the stands, wearing a pair of washed out jeans and loose hoodie, you cheered alongside your new dormmates.

"Man, if every game around here ends like an inspirational sports movie, I might actually have to keep showing up!" Your best friend, Diego, cheered from beside you, his voice hardly audible over the excited screams and shouts from the stadium.

"I have no idea what's happening!" You shouted deliriously into the sky, drowned out by fifty thousand other voices.

Just seconds remained on the clock. Freshman Sean Gayle surveyed the opposing defence and tapped the shoulder of his left tackle, a fellow freshman.

"Watch the weak-side! Linebacker's on a delayed blitz!"

"I see him!" Craig Hsiao, number 68, yelled back.

"Hut- hut... hut!" Sean shouted, and massive bodies collided like forced of nature. Gayle sprinted left, and the linebacker hurtled towards him for the tackle - and so does the free safety. "Damnit, there's two of them!" Sean cried out, and Craig quickly moved in to help.

"I can block them both! Follow me!"

Hsiao summoned all his strength and pancaked the linebacker into the safety.

"Woohoo!" Michelle, a pretty girl with long blonde hair, cheered from her place in the cheerleading squad.

"Awww Yeah!" Raj, large and dark, beamed from the row in front of you.

"Ha! Told you, I-" Craig began as he turned to look at Sean, only to notice that Sean had already ran the other way, totally going on his own.

Breathing heavily, Gayle stiff-armed a quarterback, hurdled a linebacker, and leapt towards the goal line. A defender blindsided Gayle in mid-air, cracking his back-

"Come find me, Elena."

It was Diego's voice, but chilling and sounding as if he was whispering it in your ear, and you turned to where he was standing beside you.

"What?" You asked, but gasped. Diego was gone, and so was everyone else. It was as if someone had turned off the sound. The stadium was completely empty except-

"Come find me." Estella whispered.

You were suddenly in the sprawling rainforests of La Huerta. Vines wrapped around Estella, dragging her screaming back into the darkness.

"Estella!" You cried out, and just as you were about to reach out for her an animal's claw cane to rest on your shoulder.

Something was behind you.

You looked back apprehensively to see the claws emerging from a massive paw. The Sabertooth let out a deadly growl, and a scream ripped through your throat as it lunged.

—

You snapped awake, sweating through your bedsheets. The pressure of the paw on your shoulder was still there, and when you glanced back in terror, you were relieved to see Furball staring at you with curious purple eyes. "Don't worry, Furball. It was just a bad dream... that's all it was. Right?" You asked weakly, and he cocked his head at you in confusion.