-Poisonous-

                                                         (continued)

Jaiden was taken aback by Rune’s sudden change in attitude. It was only just moments ago that Rune insisted that he have it. Rune suddenly shot up from where they were sitting, startling Jaiden. He stood up as well.

“Eh- okay…” Jaiden put the cloth in his pocket, “It’s just a-“

“Where’s the other one!?” Rune snapped. They scrambled to the floor and looked around on the cold cement.

A game procured in the sky. One that was made up of white monsters that pranced about in gusts of flittering light. Crows cawed and circled around for what seemed to be for their own delight. They perched themselves on classrooms where they only sat and stared. Jaiden couldn’t help but to be overcome by a wave of fear.

His friend gagged and coughed as they crawled around on the floor. Jaiden knew Rune could get dramatic at times but this was different.

He looked down to try to find the last berry. Maybe if he did, Rune would calm down, but the crows kept staring and the wind grew colder. A thought crossed his head and he slowly picked up his foot. There it was. The last berry, smeared under his shoe.

“Rune… I accidentally stepped on the last one. If you want we can go ask Ms. Crowfer for more…?” Jaiden looked at Rune who stopped their wild rampage but was still on the floor. He continued, “I can drive you after school…”

Rune started to cough and gag even harder. Then they collapsed completely.

“Rune!” Jaiden crouched down on his knees as Rune grasped their stomach.

“Oh god! Rune are you okay?”

Rune coughed and curled into a frigid ball.

“Get… help,” Rune groaned and turned to their side as Jaiden was left to watch. Jaiden got up and looked around and saw two girls leaving the art room.

“Help! They need help!” Jaiden yelled. He didn’t know either of them but he got their attention. The one with a soft complexion and light brown hair ran up to him as the other girl trailed behind her.

“What happened?” She bent down beside Rune as she asked. Jaiden was frantic.

“They- I… They ate some berries that made them sick. They need to go to the hospital!” He replied, losing his monotoned composure. The other girl stood and watched, much like the crows. Her dark red hair framed the annoyance on her face as if this was wasting her time. Jaiden suddenly felt nauseated.

“Like an allergic reaction?” The soft-faced girl asked.

“Something like that.”

She stood up and beckoned the other girl to follow her and said, “I’ll go get someone to take her to the nurse.” Jaiden watched as she ran off and as the red-haired girl followed reluctantly.

“Jaiden…” Rune grumbled from the floor. Jaiden sat and put his hand on their back to comfort them.

Before he knew it, he watched as students and administration crowded around his friend. None of them knew what happened. He heard someone yell that Rune was dehydrated. Someone else yelled that they might have hit their head on something. As a herd of interest, they tried to follow Rune being taken to the health office. Some of them were commanded to give Rune some space, but not many obeyed the simple order.

In a dazed panic, Jaiden scraped away what was left of the berry from his shoe. He didn't try to follow the group that had taken Rune and he felt guilty about that subconscious decision.

“They'll take care of them,” he thought. He tried to calm himself down, running his fingers through his hair, beneath his hat. The bell was about to ring. The audience on the classroom rooves began to cackle and screech. The once perched crows had flown to the twisting clouds and began circling once again. It was a dreaded inky threat and the white in the sky had disappeared.

Jaiden looked at his shaking hands and put them in the pockets of his pants. There, he had shoved away the white cloth that was once holding the berries. He had completely forgotten about it. Pulling it out, he stomped over to a nearby trash can. Just as he was about to toss it, he saw something sewn into the fabric. It was lined with silver lace and had some sort of symbol in the center. He looked closely at the fine stitching at the bottom. The string looked like a painted spider web that only had the purpose of sealing someone's fate.

In cursive, it read, ‘An old debt finally repaid. She didn't value kin and would rather make a trade.’

“What the-”

The first bell for passing period rang. Jaiden clenched the cloth in his hand and ran across the school to the nurses' office. To where they took Rune. He passed the crowd of kids who were now jogging to get to their classes. Some of them yelled to each other with concern about the incident, others with amusement. The most they really knew about Rune was whether or not they were in the same class, but no one could recall.