A Prophecy?

"Hey guys." I said to the rest of the gang when I and Jake got to the tree house. "Where were you?" Crystal asked with a frown.

"We took a wrong turn. But we ended up at the colliery." Jake said and I shot him a look.

[Like seriously?! First you lie to your girlfriend and BFFs, then you lie to them again?!] I thought.

"So...." I started. "Did you guys find anything?"

"Well..." Luna started but Crystal cut her off. " We did." Crystal said and held out dusty, and sealed envelope.

"Open it." I said anxiously. Crystal opened the envelope and brought out a piece of paper.

"Where did you find it?" Jake asked.

"In a safe behind a drawer." Luna replied eagerly.

"Shush! I wanna read it." Crystal snapped and cleared her throat.

"Six friends on a quest hoping to succeed

Shall be betrayed by a close friend indeed

But not before a new friend is met,

And he and his new bestie's destiny set.

Confused, the leader shall be,

About her home and family,

Good or bad, day or night,

She wouldn't be sure until the time is right,

During the battle for what is right,

Truth be told,

Her chance of survival is low,

But no one knows what the future holds."

"Whoa." Nathan said and ran his hand through his long , straight, brown hair.

"What do you think it means?" Luna asked and we all stared at each other.

"It sounded like a prophecy." Nathan commented and Luna nodded. "A prophecy? This isn't Shazam you know?" I said with a shrug and looked at Crystal. "What do you think?"

"How about we get some sleep? We can talk about this tomorrow." Jake suggested and faked a yawn. He was obviously worried, and so was everyone else. "That's a good idea." Crystal said, her voice shaking and her lips quivering.

I followed Luna and Crystal to our room quietly.

"Crystal, for the umpteenth time, can you please tell me what's wrong." I said and we got to door of our little apartment. She'd been giving the silent treatment since we left the tree house. She turned around to face me and I noticed the pale look in her eyes. Her blue eyes were almost grey, fear and am emotion I couldn't recognise was written all over her face.

"Sam..." She started and shut her mouth, opening the door. "What's wrong?" I asked and grasped her wrist, gently pulling her back. "Nothing!" She snapped and I let go of her. "Some things are best left unknown, Sam."

I lay on my bed, trying to sleep, but it proved impossible. I checked the clock on the table;

11:49pm

My eyelids were heavy, but I just couldn't get some sleep.

I couldn't help thinking about what Crystal said, [Some things are best left unknown]

.... And then, a thought I'd tried not to listen to popped in my head; Could Crystal be the one the note spoke about? The close friend bound to betray us...

As much as I really wanted to discard that thought, I pondered over it for a while. It made sense...a lot of sense...but something else felt wrong, but I couldn't lay my hands on it...and like some kind of spell, I closed my eyes.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead." Luna said, tapping me on the shoulder. I slowly opened my eyes and sat up. It was 4:25am.

I looked around, then turned back to Luna. "Where's Crystal?" I asked and Luna pointed to the door.

I walked out, and everywhere was empty and quiet. "Jake says we should meet him at the treehouse. Want me to take you there?" Luna offered but I shrugged. "No thanks. I'll meet you guys later." I said and Luna unfurled her wings, the faint glow of the moon bouncing off her shiny feathers. She took off in a flash and I walked over to Crystal.

She sat by the riverside, skipping stones.

"Hey." I said, sitting beside her. She didn't look at me, rather she acted like no one was there.

"Do you need anything?" She asked and I suddenly felt guilty for tagging her the betrayer.

"Crystal, I'm sorry." I said and she glanced at me. She was hiding something for sure. She quickly turned back and continued tossing stones on the crystal clear water.

"I'm not mad or upset. It's just...." She started and we heard a loud boom behind us.

"What was that?!" I asked, getting up, and Crystal looked at me, confusion clearly written on her face.

"Let's go check it out." She muttered and we ran to the source of the noise.

We got to the thicket and halted to a stop. Right before us was a huge crater with smoke seeping out.

Luna lay lifeless inside, her wings spread out, the edges of her feathers slightly burnt.

"Luna!" I cried out, running towards her. I knelt beside her and examined her lifeless body.

She was breathing, and that seemed to calm me down.

"Come on, Crystal. Let's get her to the room." I said and we helped her up. After getting out of the crater, Crystal placed Luna on her shoulder and slowly walked out of the thicket.

I immediately heard someone whisper my name, so I turned back. Standing at the other end of the crater, was the figure of a teenage girl- kinda like Crystal. She stood there, watching me.

"Sam! Hurry up!" Crystal called from behind and I turned immediately and ran to meet my troubled friend. I caught up to her and slowly, we walked out of the thicket.