I stared at the ceiling of my bedroom. Only one word was swimming around my head. Bored. What to do, what to do? Use the computer? Nah, dad's just gonna see me and make me go out (ew).

 

      I twirled my pencil. My mother used to always tell me that being bored is only in your head. Then she'd bring me to the book store and buy me a book. But mom's out of the country and I can't go out without my dad 'cuz he's paranoid. I sighed.

   

     I rolled my head. "Ugh. I am so bored." I said out loud.

 

     I sat up. I looked around my room and my eyes landed on my study desk. Piles of books and papers was found. I stood up and walked to the desk. Pictures of me and my best friend, Jen, peeked out of my drawing notebook. I picked one up. It was of me and Jen outside my house.

 

     I furrowed my brows. I looked at the back of the picture. June 20, 2013. That's weird. June 20 was the day I went to visit my cousins. I wasn't home the whole day.

 

     I decided to sneak out and ask Jen.

 

 

     "Ouch!"

 

     That was the first word that came out of my mouth when I fell from my window. I mentally cursed myself. I looked up and breathed a sigh of relief. He didn't hear me.

I made my way out of the rose bushes. When I finally got out, I looked around. No one saw me.

 

    I ran to Jen's house, picture in hand. I finally reached her house number, 102. I knocked on the door, and tried to make myself look presentable. Jen opened the door.

 

      "Kelly! How nice to see you!" Jen looked fabulous as always. Her blonde hair was done in a messy knot, her green eyes alight with mischief ( as always). She was wearing a red shirt with white shorts.

 

      She ushered me inside. She got a cookie from the cookie jar (somehow, she never seems to gain weight) and said "Ok, spill. What's on your mind?"

 

      "This." I held the picture out so she could see it. She grabbed it from my hand and looked at it closely.

 

       "It's a picture of us outside your house. What's wrong with that?"

 

       "Look at the date on the back."

 

     She turned it over and raised her eyebrow. She looked up at me. "Darling, you can't expect me to remember every single thing that happens to you every single day."

 

      I rolled my eyes. "June 20 was the day I went to visit my cousins, remember? I was gone the whole day."

 

      She waved her hand flippantly. "Oh, I don't know, maybe we took a picture before you left? Don't worry about it, kay?

 

       She said goodbye to me and escorted me on the way out. I looked back and couldn't help but notice the worried look on her face.

 

     

       I made my way back to my house, thoughts swirling around my head. I climbed up the pole that leads to my window. I lied down on my bed and wondered why I was so paranoid. Well, at least I'm not bored anymore.

 

 Sadly, this wasn't how I expected my boredom to go away.

2: Confused

I lied in my bed until my dad called me down for dinner. I sat up and saw a glimpse of myself in the mirror next to my bed. I looked at it. Staring back at me was a girl with brown hair tied up in a messy ponytail and dark green eyes. I shook my head. I don't even know how I got these features. Neither of my parents had brown hair or dark green eyes. My parents said that I took after my grandparents, but I don't know whether what they said was the truth. They avoided my eyes when they said it.

 

    I exited the comfort and solitude of my bedroom and went downstairs to the dining room. The dining room had white walls and a table with four chairs. Two of them were occupied. One of the chairs held my dad. My dad was a tall man with a don't-joke-with-me look. But if you judge my dad with that look, you would be in for a surprise. He jokes a lot and wouldn't take you seriously unless you told him to. He had black hair and blue eyes.

 

    The person on the other chair though was someone I didn't recognize. She had dark skin and her black hair was in a bun. She had yellow eyes. No, not amber or gold, yellow. Pure yellow. She sat stiffly with her hands clasped on her lap. She held her head high, and she reminded me of a strict teacher.

 

     Right when I came in, they stopped talking at once. I had a feeling they were talking about me. I looked at my dad suspiciously and my dad cleared his throat. "Professor Kales," my dad said. I guess I was right about her being a teacher. "This is my daughter, Kellen. Kellen, Professor Kales."

 

     She gave me a brief nod. I decided that it would've been rude if I didn't greet her, so I said, "It's nice to meet you."

 

      My dad stood up to set the table. Professor Kales looked at me, with a serious look, and said, "Ms. Periwinkle, I was wondering if you would like to attend a special school. It specializes in many areas of work. We call it Solis' School for Solicians."

 

       I furrowed my brows. Was she saying that I needed help? 'Cuz I was sure as hell that most of the time people said 'special' when they either meant 'disabled' or 'mental'.

 

      My dad stopped whatever he was doing abruptly and said, "Kelly, why don't you go to the living room? I think I left my glasses there."

 

       I stood up, feeling like I wasn't welcome to the conversation that was about to take place. I went out and closed the door, but I didn't leave to go to the living room. I stayed put and eavesdropped.

 

        "What the hell was that, Mirin? You guys assigned me for this job to keep Clavis safe! And now you come along to this house, without any warning, and you invite her to the Solician School? What the hell?!"

 

         That was my dad. My dad said that. It was obvious that Mirin was the professor. But who was Clavis? Professor Kales started talking so I went back to work.

 

         "We need her now, more than ever Zaelan. Solis is in danger. She is one of the most powerful Solicians we've ever seen. We kept her safe so that the Firunes won't know about her. They might try to use her, or kill her. But now? Now we need to help her control her powers in the school before they strike."

 

         I frowned, my face against the door. What she said didn't make any sense at all. And my dad's name wasn't Zaelan. His name was Nile. Something was seriously messed up in this conversation.

 

        I decided to stop eavesdropping there. My head might start hurting from all those weird names. I went and got my dad's glasses. Before I went inside, I checked whether their conversation was done. Silence greeted my ears. I went inside and saw that Professor Kales left. I was even more confused. If Prof. Kales left, I should've heard or seen her. My dad looked calm.

 

        "Oh, hey, Kelly. Thanks for getting my glasses. Food's ready." We ate in silence.

My dad didn't use his glasses the whole time.

 

         I went back to my room. I lied down in my bed, wondering what their conversation meant. I shook my head. It didn't make any sense at all. I decided to just go to sleep. Right before I slept, I sudden thought popped into my head.

 

         What if I was Clavis?

    

3: Scared

Run, run run. That's the only word that is swimming in my head. I don't know what I am running from, but I know I need to get away from it.

         Faster, faster, faster. Hurry up! It's going to catch you! Hurry up!

        All I see is darkness. Suddenly, my foot snatches on something and I trip. And that's my downfall. Whatever I was running from will catch me, I know it, it will catch me, get up!

         But my body refuses and I hear the worst sound I've ever heard. A high pitched laugh and then it molds itself into a roar.

 

         I sit up on my bed so quickly that I fall on the floor.

         "I don't want to live anymore."

          "Seriously, Kellen Periwinkle? You fall on your face and you think that's a good enough reason to not live anymore? You're so weird." said a familiar voice.

          I roll over and stood up to see none other than my best friend, Jen March, sitting on my windowsill.

         She was wearing her usual fashionable clothes. Blue, skinny jeans and a white shirt tucked in. Cute looking white sandals and hair neatly brushed on her shoulder. Light amount of makeup could be seen on her already flawless face. Her backpack was at her feet. And that was enough to wake me up.

         "Crap, I forgot today's the first day of school! What time is it?" I looked at the clock in my room.

           7:30.

          "Jen, why didn't you wake me up earlier?! I'm going to be late!"

           She shrugged her shoulders. "You would kill me if I did, first day of school or not."

           I ran to the bathroom and mentally cursed myself for being so forgetful.

 

          By the time I was done getting ready, it was already 7:50. School starts at 8:00.

           I glanced at myself at the mirror. I was just wearing a purple shirt, black skinny jeans and black converse. My hair was in its usual ponytail, with some hair in front. My bag was slung over my shoulder.

           I ran out the door, but not before shouting "Bye, Dad! Going to school with Jen!"

           Before I closed it, I heard him shout a goodbye too.

 

            Jen and I ran to school. By the time we got there, the first bell rang. We looked at each other and laughed. This was such a typical first day of school for us. We get to school right on time, we laugh about it, and then talk about pretty much anything and everything.

            We walked up to school, debating about which is better: Ice cream or cake.

             "I mean, come on. Ice cream is kind of like a drink and food at the same time!" I argued.

              "Cake is delicious!"

               "I don't know about you guys, but I would have an Ice Cream Cake."

               Both of us turned around and saw our other best friend, Charlie Wilson.

              Charlie patted Jen on the back and gave me a high five. Charlie was a typical cute guy friend that you can hang out and tease people with. He had blond hair and brown eyes.

              "Wilson! Where have you been? I've been trying to contact you! We didn't have our competition yet!"

              Here's the thing: Charlie and I would always have a competition at the start of every school year about anything, as long as we either were really good at it, or really bad at it. Never the middle.

              "Ah, we'll schedule it Periwinkle. But, I have to ask: are you really that eager to lose this year?"

             I punched him in the gut, rewarded with a small grunt.

              "Must I remind you that I won the last one? The one where you said the exact same thing?" (We had to get random people to sign a paper saying 'this person did not force me to do this'. Both of us are good at persuasion.)

               "Ah, whatever. That doesn't count. I have a feeling that I'm going to win this year." he said, looking at me with his peculiar brown eyes.

                 School went quickly. I had to endure the usual: people whispering about my clothes and the fact that I wasn't special. Whatever, they just came back, they'd move on to another target soon enough.

                 I enjoyed lunch, mainly because of my friends. We joked and laughed and I forgot about the dream. Until dismissal.

 

 

 

               I was walking home with Jen. Suddenly, she stopped. She reached into her bag to check whether something was there.

               "Kelly? Do me a favor, will you? Stay back, okay?"

                I was puzzled, but I did what she said anyway. I heard a hissing sound. Suddenly, a thing moved so quickly I almost didn't catch it.

                 Everything was deathly quiet. I started to feel scared, but I pushed it down. I watched Jen as she pulled out two daggers. I knew better than to talk.

                "I hate close-up combat." she said. Suddenly, she swiftly did a swooping motion and shouted "Kellen, be careful and don't run away!"

                 I backed up into the shadows and felt everything turn cold. That thing came out and was scary enough to scare the crap out of me.

                It was bloodred and had black eyes and its head kept turning around. It bared its teeth and I saw tiny heads, exactly like it, swiveling around. I bit back a scream. It had a long tail and spikes for hands.

                Jen weaved in and out of its way, striking here and there. She did things I never thought she would ever be able to do.

               Suddenly the thing caught her in the stomach with its tail and I watched in horror as she went flying backwards. It let out a familiar horrible sound. High pitched laughter. I knew right then what I was running from in my dream.

                Jen's daggers went flying out of her hands. I saw her lips move, as if she was saying an incantation.

                The monster turned its swiveling head to look for another target. Me.

                I bit back a scream. If it heard me, it would advance quickly and I wouldn't have time to even say help. I slowly made my way forward. It listened very carefully, trying to find me. I noticed that Jen's daggers were under it's ugly belly. It wasn't very far if I could just. . .

               I braced myself. I walked backward then sprinted forward, sliding under the monster's belly, and reaching for the daggers. Before it could react, I stabbed it's belly and rolled out. I stared at my hands in amazement. How did I do that?

               I heard footsteps running toward me. But, whether from exhaustion or shock, I collapsed on the road. Before I got knocked out, though, I heard something.

               "Clavis?"

4: Dreams

Pictures rushed past me, each more confusing than the last. First, I saw a hallway that seemed to go on for forever. It was very bright and I had to shield my eyes to keep me from getting blind. After that, I saw Jen, in a tank of water, her hair floating around her face, her eyes closed peacefully as if she was sleeping. I didn't know what was happening, but I knew I had to save her. I tried to move, but I couldn't. My mouth screamed the form of her name, since I couldn't voice it. Jen opened her eyes, and I tried to scream. Her eyes were filled with a bright light. I tried to scream again, but my voice wouldn't work still. I felt arms tug me away, away from my friend.

 

        No! Let me go!

 

        But my voice still wouldn't work. I was being pulled to another dream.

 

        This time, there was a girl in the clearing. A little girl. I walked up to her.

 

         "Mommy. . .  Where are you. . . I need you. . . "

 

         She turned her head around and met my eyes. I screamed. Where her eyes were supposed to be, there were only black, hollow holes.

 

         "Are you my mommy?"

 

           "No, but-" I said, my voice ragged.

 

           "Then go AWAY. YOU'RE NOT MY MOMMY! MOMMY TOLD ME NEVER TO TALK TO STRANGERS! GO AWAY!" she screamed.

 

             Her hollow eyes grew darker. She stood up. She thrust her hand forward, and I felt my body twitch uncontrollably. I screamed and screamed and screamed. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt, make it stop, make it stop, make it stop!

 

            I woke up, screaming. I hand steadied me.

 

             "Hey, it's ok! Stop screaming, Kels."

 

              I know that voice.

 

              It's Jen's voice.

5: Angry

"Jen! Thank God, what happened to you? Are you hurt? Are you ok?" I said in a rush of words.

 

      "Yes, Kels, I'm ok! Why are you so worried? Nothing even happened! It's the first day of school, so you have to get up!" Jen said, looking confused.

 

      What does she mean, nothing happened? She got thrown by a monster or whatever that was! Now she's here, looking worried and confused, as if I'm the one that needs to explain.

 

       Yet, as I looked around, I realized that I was in my room, everything exactly the same as before. Papers scattered on my desk, books piled high on the floor, trash everywhere. This might've fooled me, if I didn't notice something.

 

      A sort of glimmer at the edge of my room. I looked at Jen suspiciously. I looked straight into her eyes and noticed the exact same glimmer.

 

      "Kels, is something wrong?" Jen asked.

 

       I ignored her, even though that might be very hard. I looked carefully around the room, and noticed that it was a bit blurry. I might've thought that I needed glasses, if I didn't notice the glimmer beforehand.

 

       I don't think this is my room, and I don't think Jen's telling the truth, either. But, how to get out of here? From what I know, Jen won't be very willing to start explaining. She might even say that I'm hallucinating.

 

       Maybe I'll find another clue. I looked around again.

 

        "Kellen Periwinkle, if you will start answering my questions, we might be able to get out of here!" Jen said, angrily.

 

        What does she think I'm trying to do?

 

          Then I noticed it. A peel, right there in the corner. You know, when you're trying to get a sticker from a paper? I focused on it with all my might. Then, it got bigger and slowly, but surely, my room went away.

 

          And became a room that was as different from it as can be.

 

          It was very neat. Papers were in folders with names. Books in a language I didn't quite understand were placed neatly in shelves. Not a single piece of trash was on the floor.

 

           The room was also a bit bright. The walls and ceiling were white.

 

          I noticed that I was in a bed, with Jen at the edge, looking very surprised.

 

          "How did you do that? You. . . You took away the glamour. . .You don't even know what a glamour is."

 

           I looked straight at Jen. "You can start making sense anytime now."

 

           She looked at me with wide eyes. "Okay, Kellen, don't freak out, but some, um, doctors, will be here soon and. . .just. . .don't do anything stupid."

 

            I looked at her, a bit annoyed. "Why are some doctors coming here? I'm not even hurt."

 

            Okay, that was a lie. My body hurt all over and I had a very bad headache.

 

             "Um, Kellen, you are hurt. If you didn't notice, you have bruises all over."

 

           I looked down. Ok, that explained why my body hurt. How did I only notice this now? Is it because I was too preoccupied with other things? That's saying something, then.

 

            I heard the door open and I looked up. People came in, wearing different colours of coats. Some were red, others yellow, while most were white.

 

            "Jenisia, please step outside for a while. We can handle this."

 

             I looked around, wondering who Jenisia is. Then, suddenly, Jen stood up and went outside, with not even a single glance at me.

 

             Well, that hurt. She didn't acknowledge my presence after those people came in. I glared at them. Who do they think they are, coming in here, telling my best friend to get out? Why did they call here Jenisia? Her name is Jennifer. What are they even doing here?

 

              What am I doing here?

 

               Then I remembered something:

 

               Ok, Kellen, don't freak out, but some, um, doctors, will be here soon. . .and. . .just. . .don't do anything stupid.

 

               The doctors started whispering to one another, looking at me while doing so. That made me angry.

 

              "Can you please not talk about me while I'm here? Thank you." I said in a very controlled voice.

 

              They all looked at me in surprise. Then, one of them, wearing a red coat, talked to me. "Okay, so we will just ask you some questions, and then we will just bring you to the Memory Modification Center."

 

              Question #1: What the hell is a Memory Modificaton Center?

 

               Question #2: Who is this doctor?

 

               And lastly, Question #3: Why would I answer their questions when I don't even know what's going on?

 

               "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can do that. You see, I didn't agree to this."

 

                The doctor looked at me with a glare. "What I say, goes. Now, who are you?"

 

              I sat up straighter. "No, who are you? You have no right to ask me questions that I didn't agree to answer." I know that I was being ridiculous to them, but seriously, how do I know they won't use it against me?

 

             The doctor went up to me and held me in a tight grip. "Listen here, you will answer my questions and you will listen. You don't need to know or understand."

 

              I was getting angrier and angrier. No one tells me that. I don't care whether it's the President or some fancy pants doctor, but no one tells me that.

 

              Suddenly, I heard a sizzle, and the next thing I knew, the doctor was holding his hand and shouting. The others came forward and checked out the problem.

 

             I looked at the place he held me, and saw there was a sort of smoke around it.

 

             Jen's voice came back:

 

              . . .don't do anything stupid.

 

              Oops.

6: Frustrated

After that surprising little episode, they brought me to another room, big bulky people on either side of me. I looked up at one of them.

“Where are we going?” I said, sounding incredibly bored when in reality, I was pretty scared.

One of them (the bulkier one) said “A room.”

“Gee, thanks for pointing that out. I didn’t know.”

The less bulky one (I think I’ll start calling him Bob-I’ve never met a Bob before) then grumbled “Great. Another sarcastic one. Why can’t all of you just shut your yapping?”

“Well, we can’t all be clueless-someone has to know what’s going on or else everything will fall apart. But, then again, you guys seem like the type that would do anything as long as they get their pay.”

Bob looked at me, and said in a gruff voice, obviously irritated” Well, ignorance is bliss.”

I puffed my cheeks out. “Pft. Whoever came up with that is obviously stupid. I didn’t even know you knew such a phrase. Some people like you don’t understand such big words.” Okay, so I was being harsh. So what? This is what happens when I’m grouchy and no one will explain anything.

The bulkier one (I think I’ll call him Stan) said “No talking to the girl. You might piss her off. And I know that you know what happened when Mister I’m-A-Fancy-Doctor pissed her off.”

This is actually the weirdest conversation I’ve ever had in my whole life. I mean, seriously. No one ever really talks to people who are leading you to your doom.

Stan said “We’re here.”

Bob opened the door, and I saw something I completely didn’t expect. I mean, I expected chains or a jail or something, but not this.

Jen was there, sitting on a bed, and she was obviously on scary calm mode.

She looked at Stan and Bob and said “That’s all. You two can leave now.”

They left, leaving me alone with scary mode Jen.

This, most definitely, is not good. I really am meeting my doom.

 

“I mean, what the HELL were you thinking? When I heard what happened, I practically had to beg them to not kill you, and just wait for Professor Kales!”

I was leaning against the wall closing my eyes and shrinking back from Jen.

“I told you DON’T do anything STUPID. Do you know how much I hate begging and pleading? Especially when they’re people who already think lowly of me!”

I opened my eyes, and snapped.

“Well, I’m SO SORRY that I don’t know what you’re talking about. In case you’ve forgotten, we’re not on the same page March. While you can already talk about whatever, I’m still here trying to figure out what the hell is going on down here. And it most definitely is notnormal or a dream.”

Jen took a deep breath, obviously trying to calm herself. “Just. . .hang in there. I need to get some air.”

I felt even more frustrated than before. “Oh, so you’re going to just leave? We aren’t evendone here. This is like the Jen I know. Running away when there’s a problem.”

Jen stopped in her tracks, her hand hovering over the doorknob. She turned her head slightly. “I may be ‘running away’, but at least I’m doing it to clear my mind. Too bad I can’t say the same for you.”

And she left, just like that. I screamed, frustrated. She’s right. I need to stop being so hot-headed. I looked out the window. It was a clear blue sky. Apparently, I was to high up to see anything at the bottom.

Suddenly, I saw something fly out of nowhere. All I was able to tell was that there was a person riding on a creature with wings. I assumed it was a guy. I could tell that he had shaggy brown hair.

That’s it. I’m going crazy.  

7: Trials

I made my way through halls that looked exactly the same, following the man and woman in front of me. They both wore clothes that looked as if they were going to sneak into the White House. They were wearing black shirts, black pants, and belts with lethal looking weapons. They had hoods over their heads and the only thing that could make me distinguish their genders was their voices.

Apparently, they thought that I was dangerous so they shackled my hands in front of me and tied a cloth in between my teeth and around my jawline. My eyes were darting everywhere, expecting another surprise. After all this day was full of wonderful surprises.

The people in front of me were talking about things that I didn’t understand. They kept on saying weird words like ‘Solis’. I knew that Solis meant ‘sun’ but I didn’t think that they were talking about the sun. They spoke in hushed voices, so I could only catch a few words.

After what I felt was millennia, we stopped in front of two big doors. They looked very impressive, and I didn’t see any handles.

The man brought out a dagger-like weapon with an inscription on the hilt and stabbed it into the door. My eyes widened. There was a blue aura around the dagger.

The woman turned around and looked at me. I still couldn’t distinguish her features.

“Impressed, outsider?” It sounded like she was smirking. I immediately decided that I didn’t like her. I glared at her.

“Oooohhhh, I’m so scared of a little girl.”

I clenched my fists. The man started talking.

“Shut up Biondia. I’m trying to concentrate.”

The man muttered something under his breath. The doors opened and behind them lay the biggest court room I’ve ever seen.

There were many people, at least a thousand. They were all looking at me, with different expressions. The most common thing that I saw in their faces was suspicion.

“Scared now, girlie?” The woman said. I held my head up high. I will not be intimidated by these people.

I walked down the aisle, rows of seats on either side of me. I saw a boy with shaggy brown hair and cold, light blue eyes staring at me. I narrowed my eyes. Is this the guy who was riding a bird –like thing outside the window? He looked away.

I continued down the aisle, ignoring the rest of the stares. When I finally reached the end, I was in front of a tall podium. I looked up. I could only see the top of the head of the judge (at least, I think it was a judge?)

He started speaking in a loud, booming voice. “The trial for Kellen Periwinkle has begun.”

That it has.

 

I didn’t pay that much attention to the trial itself. I was too nervous. I just realized now,as in right this instant that they might decide to kill me. This wasn’t like those things where it’s either ‘live or die’. This is one of these things where there are many outcomes, and you don’t know what they are.  

The only thing that I processed was that Jen was like my lawyer. But she wasn’t next to me. She was in another tall podium, but not as tall as the judge’s. I wasn’t listening to anything except for my heart beat. I just stared down at the floor.

I suddenly realized that I didn’t even think of my dad. What he was doing. Whether he was worrying about me. Whether he knows where I am. Whether a monster came for him.

I was only thinking about myself. He didn’t even pass my mind. I was a horrible daughter.

I came back to reality when I heard the judge say “I have reached my decision. Kellen Periwinkle will stay in a cell in the dungeon until Professor Mirin Kales comes. Currently, she is in the Parius Forest. We do not understand what is happening, and we Solicians do not come to conclusions so easily. We learn everything we can first before we make the decision.”

There were shouts of protest, and one went out louder than the rest.

“What? You are letting this- this abomination survive? I say burn her! Kill her! She isdangerous. She could be a danger to us all! How do we know that she won’t escape from her cell?”

I turned my head and surprise, surprise! There was the doctor that I burned. I raised my eyebrows.  He was standing up, next to the boy with shaggy brown hair. The boy looked tired and exasperated. He put a hand on the doctor’s arm. He seemed to say something to him, evidently pissing him off, but he also looked defeated. He sat down. The others quieted down too.

The judge looked at the boy. “Thank you, Kristoff.  Now, guards take the prisoner to her cell.”

Kristoff. The most normal sounding name I’ve heard today.

I turned around and waited for the strict sounding man and annoying woman to come and bring me to my doom.

Well, today was certainly tiring. I’m just hoping that my cell has a bed.

But, unfortunately, because of my extremely bad luck, my day was not over yet.

I just had to be attacked. The doors burst open revealing a man in the same clothes I saw on my escorts. He was bleeding. Badly.

He limped as far as he could. There was complete silence.

“There is. . .a. . .monster in the. . .premises. . .it’s one of. . . theirs. . .”

Then he fell. Someone screamed. That’s when chaos started.

“Everyone, stop.” The judge said.

And everyone did. They all looked scared. I was already stretched to my limits. I couldn’t feel anything anymore.

“Potomus, check Palirus. See if he is alright. If he is dead, bring him to the Graveyard. If he is not, bring him to the infirmary and have Aindus help you. All the people with weapons with them right now, and have experience with one of theirs, stay and wait for further orders. All the rest, go to your homes and do the safety procedures. Be careful!”

Unfortunately, the monster decided to appear right then, right there. And everyone started screaming.

The judge was too busy giving out orders to notice me. I felt a strong urge to help these people. I didn’t know them, heck, they wanted to kill me, but the urge was so strong and sudden that I just had to do this.

I looked for somewhere to destroy my shackles with when I noticed a certain annoying adult getting ready to shoot with a bow (I have no idea where it came from). I saw some keys dangling from the back of her belt. If I didn’t have a cloth in between my teeth, I would have smiled a grin that would have put the Cheshire Cat to shame.

I slowly walked towards her, making sure she didn’t notice me. When I was directly behind her, I ever so slowly removed the keys from her belt. Being the stupid person I was, I made a sound of triumph. Biondia immediately turned her head to face me, and my eyes widened. She narrowed her eyes.

“You little sneaky witch! Give me back my keys!”

I quickly ran away from her, trying to unlock my shackles while doing so. It was extremelyhard. I wove my way in between people either fighting the monster or running away. I didn’t have a good idea of what it looked like, and I didn’t want to find out.

Being the wonderful girl I am, I was looking back making sure that Biondia wasn’t following me, while trying to unlock my shackles. Big mistake. I bumped into someone, thus resulting in me falling, and the other person falling, and me letting go of the keys. I swore.

I looked at the person I bumped into and realized it was that Kristoff guy. He looked startled, and pissed.

“Watch where you’re going, idiot!” he hissed.

I gave him a glare. The cloth was still preventing me from talking.

I looked for my keys around the floor, which was pretty hard, considering the fact it was complete mayhem. I thought I saw something glint, and sure enough, it were my keys. I reached out for it, but someone got it.

I looked up.

Then I realized it was Kristoff. Crap.

I stood up, which was pretty hard, considering the fact that everyone kept on bumping into me. I realized he was much taller than me. I had to lift my head to look at his eyes.

He smirked and threw it back.

I widened my eyes. I kicked him in the leg, receiving a grunt as a reward.

I ran to the keys and put my hand out. Fortunately, it fell right into my hands. I looked around me and realized I lost Biondia. I tried to unlock my shackles. It finally unlocked. I savoured the feeling of my hands being free. Then I proceeded to untying the cloth. It got untied quickly, and I looked around for a weapon, any weapon. I noticed a dead person. I brought my hand up to my mouth and tried not to vomit. I’d rather not describe how he looked like. Let’s just say that he was in pieces, bloody pieces. I noticed that there was a sword at his side. I really didn’t want to go near the poor guy, but I had to if I wanted a weapon.

I ran to him, quickly getting the sword and running away from him just as quickly before I threw up.

I ran to the front of the crowd, where the monster might be.

It was a snake, with a pointy end at its tail. It kept on changing colour to blend in with its surroundings. It didn’t change smoothly though, so you could still see the general form.

I needed to wait for it to bend down low enough for me to jump on its head.

No, that’s too troublesome. Maybe just slashing at it would be better.

But. . .how did I know this?

People were obviously keeping their distances, scared to go close. The few brave souls that did go close got eaten. I needed to be quick about this.

I rushed forward, not listening to the people’s cries of protest. I felt as if I was in a trance. As if I was a different person. A brave person. Which I am not. I dodged its long body and tried to avoid its spiky end, making my way to the snake’s big ugly head. I reached it, but not without difficulty. I was having trouble because of its long body parts, and the fact that it kept on changing colour. It almost hit me in the stomach, but I dodged backwards just in time. I was starting to lose confidence.  Before the snake can pierce me with its tail end, I slashed its head off.

How did I do that? I don’t even know how to fight. But, the strategies, the dodging, the slashing, it all felt natural.

But the big ugly bas- snake gave me a little present. Before its body can lose its control, it freaking pierced my arm with its big ugly tail end.

I screamed and lied down, hugging my legs, keeping it close to my stomach. I felt like I was dying, and I knew that I would lose consciousness, that I would die. I could feel the poison coursing through my veins, and I felt like I was on fire.

From ashes we come, and to ashes we return.

                                                                 

Everything turned black, and the last thing I saw were people running toward me.