Wilted Flower

My name is Adrienne Martin when I was seven my life turned upside down. My mother Bella died of a brain tumor. I never knew my father; when I asked my mother said, "Mon Cherie he is in the underworld, but you will meet him soon." We lived outside the city in a big house that my mother had lived in when she came to America. My mother grew up in France but moved to Boston when she was eleven. She then pulled out a box from under her bed, it was small and plated gold .When she opened the lid I was expecting a tiara or something else extravagant, but at the bottom all there was, was a barrette. The barrette was made of black wood and in the middle was an emerald as big as a quarter. "This" She said "is a present from your father, he said it will be yours when the time comes"
"How will I know?" I asked my eyes fixed on the stone.
"You will know" she replied then she put the box away. Three months later she was gone.
The child services took me to my aunt. When they showed up she looked at me disgusted "I can't pay for another child, take her away from me!" then they mentioned the money, the house and everything else I inherited. My Aunts eyes shone with greed. They moved into house, My Aunt Melanie and her daughters Marcel and Marin. Marin got my room and I got the attic. Before they arrived I ran upstairs and retrieved my mother’s box. I hid it behind a panel in the attic. That was the only thing I was able to save.

OK. I want to know what you all think!! I know its short but that's cause it's the intro.

"Wake up you lazy girl!" my aunt hollered up the stairs, and then I heard a loud banging on my door "You were supposed to be up an hour ago to make breakfast!" I looked at my clock, 6:00 am, Monday, June 11, exactly 6 years after my mother died. My aunt didn't care, there was no 'I’m sorry sweetie' or 'why don't you head down to the cemetery I'll make breakfast', my aunt wasn't that type of person, she was the evil stepmother kind. I would have to wait until everyone was asleep to sneak out, and walk the two miles to the cemetery, picking flowers to place, along the way. But until then I was supposed make breakfast, mop the floors, dust the mantel, and clean my cousins' rooms like every Monday. I got dressed and walked to the door and stopped when I saw my reflection, I had long brown wavy hair and blue eyes, I was always told that I looked like my mom, though I thought she was prettier. I climbed down the creaky steps, and then walked along a long hallway and down another flight of stairs. When I got to the kitchen my aunt and cousins were sitting there staring daggers at me.
"We are hungry" my aunt said
"you could’ve just made breakfast yourself” I replied
“What was that?” she asked. My cousins giggled. My aunt was short and thin with short red hair in ringlets; she had beady eyes and thin lips. My cousins were no better looking; Marin was short and stocky with wispy blonde hair, and fat lips she thought it was cool to talk valley girl style and it really got on my nerves.
“Hurry up Adri-ella” Marin said “wow that was like so totally clever!”
“Yea Adri-ella, hurry up!” Marcel echoed. She looked exactly like Marin except she was much stupider.
“You do know that makes you two the ugly step sisters, right?” I remarked
“Shut up Adrienne!” Marin exclaimed
“Yea shut up!” Marcel Echoed again
“You shut up, marcel!” Marin shrieked
“Sorry!”
They continued to bicker the whole time I was cooking. When I put down the food, Marin looked at me appalled, “Why are there eggs on my plate? You know like I’m totally vegetarian!”
“Since when?” I asked
“Since like yesterday when I saw that nature film!”
“Yea me too I’m like totally veggie now!” Marcel claimed. They both pushed their plates away.
“Adrienne why did you give them eggs?!” My aunt questioned
“Sorry, I’ll get them some tofu or something.” I said
“Faster this time” Marin demanded
“Yea, like totes faster.” Said Marcel
“Marcel!”
After I got breakfast for Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dummer, I had to go clean their rooms. They always left their rooms a mess, when I got into Marin’s room I looked around, this was my old room. The wallpaper was faded but I could still remember the day my mother put it up, the big window out looking the garden was my favorite, there used to be a rocking chair right by it, and my mother would sit me on her lap and tell me stories about her child hood. “Right there”, she said pointing to an old oak tree, “was where Auntie Melanie and I had a tree climbing contest, Melanie won, but she got stuck up there and we had to wait for Father to get home to pull her down.” That would make me giggle and she would say “that’s why Melanie is afraid of heights”. I sighed; thinking about her won’t make her come back.
I finished the chores and went to my room it was almost 10:00 pm the girls and my aunt would be going to bed soon. I decided to get out my backpack and start filling it for when I went to the cemetery. I put in a bottle of water, a flashlight, a protein bar, a candle (lavender scented) and some matches. Finally I went to the wall opposite my bed and pushed there was a secret panel only I knew about, in it was the gold box with the barrette inside, every year I took it with me to find out why it was so special, I put it in the backpack. I reached under the bed and pulled out a rope ladder, the kind you used for when there was a fire, I set it on the bed and used both hands to swing open the window which was stuck when I finally got it open, and a cool breeze came inside. I went to grab the ladder but accidentally knocked over a glass on my bed side table. I watched as it fell to the floor with a crash. I heard a door open downstairs and I hurried but I was too slow trying to untie the rope that kept the ladder rolled up. My door swung open and my aunt her hair in curlers and a green face mask on, Marin and Marcel right behind her. She shrieked “WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?!” I started to climb out the window. And my aunt ran to it. “You will come back in here right this moment!” by then I was already half way down; my aunt froze. I remembered what my mother said about how she was afraid of heights; I guess she hadn’t gotten over that.
“Mom do something!” Marin shrieked
“Yea mom, do something!” Marcel copied
“Marcel stop!”
Then my feet hit the ground. I turned and ran. I never looked back. [b]

I kept running for another 300 meters before I slowed down. I wasn't even close to the cemetery. I slowed down on a stretch of road with no sidewalks. There were ditches on either side with wild flowers around it. I jumped down to one of them and picked a couple flowers. Behind me I heard a twig snap and I turned on my heel. I grabbed my flashlight and held it up
“Whoever is out there,” I said nervously “I have a flashlight and... and I’m not afraid to use it.”
No one came out; I figured it was just a squirrel or something. I climbed out of the ditch and back onto the road. I decided to run for at least another mile; that way I would reach the cemetery faster and I liked to run, it helped me think.
My feet hit the ground rhythmically, left, right, left, right. I started to think about home, or my old home, I guess. I had no idea where I was going to go now, I had no other family. My eyes started to get watery, but I brushed away the tears and kept running. Left, right, left, right left right. I thought about my mom, her eyes, her smile, how she always smelt of cinnamon and vanilla. The way she used to hold me and tell me stories. Then I thought of my dad, I had almost no memories of him, the ghost of a smile, maybe, or the distant sound of a laugh. He had to go, leave me and mom, I don’ t even know if he’s dead or alive, my mother was no help, her talk of him being in the underworld ,but I can still see him, that just made my head hurt thinking about it.
Half a mile. Left, right, left, right, left, right. Why does thinking about depressing things have to make me so depressed? All I thought about was depressing. I thought about Marin’s comment this morning, about me being Cinderella. Maybe that was true, how nothing was going right in my world; I was just waiting for my fairy god mother. But did I have one? Will I ever meet prince charming? But it was a fairy tale, this was real. Real situations, trying to be solved by fake resolutions. Left, right, left, right.
I stopped, breathing heavily. I looked up the sky was pretty like diamonds on black velvet. And the moon a silver disk. I was almost to the cemetery. I looked to the woods to the right of me. I could’ve sworn I saw something moving. I shook my head, I must’ve imagined it. I chose to sprint the last 100 meters to the black iron gates at the cemetery.
I always visited the cemetery at night; I actually had only visited it once in the day, when my mother’s casket was placed into the ground. It didn’t scare me anymore, when I first went I would jump at every little noise from a hoot of an owl to the rustling of the trees. But I would stay and talk to my mother, tell her of what I did that day, how I missed her, what we were learning at school. Everything.
The graveyard was dark except for the few lone candles not yet extinguished by the wind, and some fireflies. I walked down the center road back forty rows, over 6, my mother grave. I got on my knees and placed the flowers I had picked earlier, and pulled a lavender candle out of my backpack with a set of matches. I looked in to see if I had forgotten anything, and on the bottom partially wrapped in my jacket was the golden box. I pulled it out, and looked at it. Realizing I couldn’t see anything, I then strike a match and lite the candle. I opened the box and surprise, surprise; my barrette was at the bottom, still pristine from the day many years ago when my mother first showed me it. I picked it up and stared at it when I heard a whispered “Adrienne” I shrieked and stood up quickly the box clattering out of my lap. I spun around to where the voice came from, and I saw a teenage boy.
“Wh-who are you?” I asked very scared
“my name is Leaf. “
“leaf?”
“it’s a very normal name for my kind”
“Your kind?” I looked down and noticed the hoofs.
“Oh my god!” I yelped stepping backward and tripping over a flowerpot, I fell to the ground.
“Oh my gods, you mean.” He corrected
“What? What are you?”
“I am a Satyr.” Leaf said proudly
“And what did you mean by ‘oh my gods’?”
“No time for that now” he said sniffing the air “they’re close”
“Who’s close?” I said now getting up
“Well, well, well, it seems we found a half-blood girls.” I girls voice said behind me. I turned and faced what looked like two beauty queens, if beauty queens had one metal and one donkey leg, with flaming hair to complete the look.
“Adrienne get your sword.” Leaf said
“What sword?”
“Here, catch!” He threw me my barrette.
“Are you nuts? This is a barrette!”
“Press the emerald!” He said. I looked at the barrette in my hands then at the Demon girls heading towards me. I quickly pressed down the emerald and it grew, until it was a foot and a half bronze dagger with sleek wood handle and an emerald at the butt.
The Demon girls were a foot away when I got up my courage and swung. Slicing through the one on the left.
“You will pay for that Demigod!” she hissed. She bared her fangs leaned in when I heard a song behind me it was a folky kind of song, and I turned and Leaf was blowing on what looked to be pan pipes. The Demon girl started doing a jig and after looking at her with amusement I stabbed her in the heart and she turned to dust.
“Well, that was disgusting” I remarked brushing off the dust.

this is pretty good
you should make Willow's favorite person! Nellie Armon!!!

or frenemie??

Here is the new chapter. we will meet a new character, she is a charrie of misswho, who has generously allowed me to add her in. hope you like it!

Chapter 3

“Come on lets go” Leaf said helping me pick up my things and then pulling me by the wrist the second I had shouldered my back pack.
We walked for another 3 miles before we set up camp. Leaf took a backpack of his shoulder and opened it up, out came two sleeping bags, which I had no idea how they fit in there, A canteen and baggie full of a strange square shaped food, two water bottles, a bunch of tin cans, matches, a bag of cash, and a bag if what looked like gold coins. I picked up the canteen opened it and smelled the contents, it smelled like my mother’s baguettes, when I looked inside there was a gold liquid. “What is this stuff?” I asked

He looked up and saw the canteen I was holding

“Nectar, drink of the gods, it heals wounds of demigods in small quantities but if you drink too much it will literally burn you up. Same goes for the ambrosia.” He said holding up the baggie of square shaped food.

“What does it mean to be a demigod?”

Leaf looked up. “It means that you mother or father was a Greek god.”

“Greek god? Like Zeus and Aphrodite.

“Yep. They never actually died, they just moved with western settlement, like how the Greek gods moved to Rome. Now the Greek gods are thriving in America and brought everything with them, like mount Olympus, it’s now the Empire State Building.”

“Wow. Wait, everything, everything like the monsters?”

“Yea. They can’t die either; and like the gods they moved westward, you can delay their affect by ‘killing’ them with a celestial bronze sword, like your dagger, it sends them to Tartarus where they can’t reform for a while, sometimes a lifetime. Those girls that attacked us, they were empousai, demons created my Hecate, the goddess of magic.”

“Ok…” I said. This was a lot to comprehend. “How do I know who my godly parent is?”

“well, considering you mom was mortal he’d have to be a Greek god, not goddess, but other than that there’s no way to know till you’ve been claimed.”

“Claimed? Like property?”

“Basically.”

With that I grabbed my sleeping bag and un-rolled it, I then dragged it over to the side and crawled inside and laid there. I pretended to be asleep when he called out “Adrienne?” I then heard the striking of a match and the crackling of flames.

I didn’t realize I had fallen asleep until the dreams came. I was standing in the middle of a ginormous cavern; I could see a field in the distance that looked like it went on forever. To the left of it was a bunch of neighborhoods with a bunch of nice looking houses in the middle was a lake and in the center was an island. To the right was an area enclosed by barbed wire and inside were what looked like ghosts that were experiencing cruel punishment on person kept rolling a rock uphill screaming “curse you
Percy Jackson!” I then realized what I was standing in front of. It was a gold palace with big gold doors and giant diamonds for door knobs. I walked in and walked along the halls I seemed to know where I was going. I finally came across a big throne room where a young lady was sitting; she was pale with long blonde hair and a face that looked like she used to be beautiful. She tuned to me and said
“He will not let me leave. You must free me. I need to see my mother! Prove to me that you are not weak.”

I awoke with a start. Leaf was already making breakfast which consisted of a bowl of Lucky Charms© and skim milk.

“I went to the nearby grocery store, and picked up a few things” He explained handing me a bowl of cereal and a plastic spoon.

“Thanks” I said

“So where exactly are we going?” I asked once I had finished my cereal.

“Camp half-blood, a place where people like you can live, eat, and train safely.”

“People like me, as in, demigods?”

“You are correct.”

“Ok then.”

I got up and started to roll up my sleeping bag when leaf started sniffing the air again.

“do you smell monster?” I asked, not wanting to get in another fight.

“no I smell a half blood.” He said

Then a bush rustled and out came a girl my age. She was thin with unnaturally bright red hair and brown eyes. Her jeans were badly ripped like something with claws slashed at them, Her t-shirt was also ripped but not as bad. She looked like she hadn’t slept inn days and was pointing a bronze sword at us with a stern look in her eye.

“It’s okay.” Leaf said calmly “we are not going to hurt you, just put your sword down and we’ll explain.”

So he did. Everything. How he was a satyr and how he had rescued me from the graveyard, how he now was going to take both of us back to Camp Half-blood where we would be safe. Etc.

She listened without saying a word. I grabbed a bottle of water and a bowl of cereal and handed it to her. She took it but still looked at me warily like I was going to turn into a ferocious demon. At the end Leaf asked what her name was.

“Nellie. Nellie Armon.”

OK! Hope you enjoyed!
What will happen next? Will Nellie be BFFs with Adrienne or will there be some rivalry? Where did Nellie come from? What beast will they encounter next?
All of these questions will be answered in Chapter 4 of Adrienne and the Emerald Dagger.
Leave you Comments,Questions, Ect. Below!
Thanks and have an awesome day!

WOOO yay Nellie!

Sorry this chapter is a bit short, it felt like it was time for a chapter break. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 4

“Nellie How old are you?” Leaf asked

“Fourteen”

“How come you haven’t been found by a Satyr yet at your school?”

“I guess I’ve moved around too much. My dad’s an architect; I travel the county with him. I was attacked by some half dog half seal type thing in Chicago. I’ve been moving ever since.”

“Telekines. Well don’t worry Nellie we’ll get you to camp half blood. It looks like we’ve got a team now!” He then took a large bite out of a tin can.
Leaf and I started to clean up the camp site, putting out the fire, rolling up the sleeping bags and stuffing it all into Leafs magical back pack. Nellie sat on a log staring into space. I looked at the ripped up clothes she was wearing.

“Nellie?” I asked, coming up to her.

She snapped back into focus and looked at me.

“Yeah?”

“I just wanted to see if you want any more food before we start walking. We’re going to take a train into New York City. But we have to walk a couple more miles to the station.”

“No, I’m fine.” She smiled “let’s get going.”

“Ok then; Leaf? You ready?”

“yep.” He said, unenthusiastically

“Leaf?”

“Yea?”

“Why do you look so bummed?” I asked

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to be using a train.”

“Why? There perfectly safe.”

“Not from monsters”

“What?”

“When you travel in a train, or any kind of vehicle the electronics from people around you magnifies your scent.”

“Our scent?” Nellie asked

“The scent of a half-blood; that’s how monsters are able to find you. It will magnify if you are using an electronic, like a cell phone. But when in a condensed area surrounded by them, it also will amplify.”

“But we have no choice. Walking will attract monsters also, especially when we’re surrounded by forests.” Nellie remarks.

“I know, but we still have to be careful.” He insisted

“Leaf,” I said putting a hand on his shoulder, “it will be ok.”

~~~

We walked for about five miles, Nellie and me side-by-side and Leaf leading us, he was nervously munching on a tin can and repeatedly looking back at us.

“So…” I said to Nellie, not knowing where this was going to go.

“Yeah?” Nellie asked

“You said you traveled with your dad.”

“Yep.”

“Where did you live when you were a child?”

“Los Angeles”

“That’s cool.”

“What about you dad?”

“Umm he’s a Greek god, like your mom.”

“oh, sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about” there was an awkward silence before I said “Your dad; did you just leave him to come here?”
When I saw Nellie’s reaction I knew I struck a nerve. “He didn’t care about me; he just cared about his work.”

“Oh, I’m so-“

“I don’t need your sympathy!” she exclaimed, then started to speed up and walked next to Leaf; leaving me alone in the back with my foot in my mouth.

Sorry again for the really short chapter! Coming soon: Will Nellie for give Adrienne? Will they voyage on a train be safe? Will they make it to CHB? Hopefully, all of this will be answered in chapter 5 of: Adrienne and the emerald dagger! Have an awesome Sunday!

YAY! this is awesome

i like it, just one question, is this set in a world where their are no characters from the series or is are they at camp.

Super sorry for the late response! I had a bunch of fun writing this chapter... i really want to take a train now.

Chapter 5
By the time we reached the train station it was 5:00pm there were people everywhere walking around me and Nellie stood on the side while leaf went to go get our tickets. We stood there in silence, people bustling around minding their own business like bees in a beehive. It was loud, and you could barely hear yourself think, the trains were heard coming and going, and an occasional child cried out. Surprisingly no one paid any attention to us, you would expect an adult to notice three unaccompanied minors walking around a train station, but I guess they were too busy worrying about making it to their trains.

Leaf came back and handed us our tickets I looked at it, it would leave at 9:25pm. “So what are we going to do for the next 4 hours?” I asked. Leaf looked around “There are a few restaurants; we could eat.” I was getting hungry; Nellie looked like she thought a meal sounded good as well. “Yeah, sounds good.” I said. We walked along one side of the station passing restaurant after restaurant finally we decided on a 50’s style diner complete with black and white tiles and vinyl covered booths. It wasn’t very busy maybe, a couple people sat in various booths in the corner a TV was on showing the local news.

“Scientists are baffled at what looks like a flower plague, reaching all over the world, flowers have been dying at extremely high rates; some are calling it an early sign of global warming.”

“I’ll have a Veggie burger with skim milk, please” Leaf said. I snapped back in focus I hadn’t even seen the waitress come, she was dressed in a poodle skirt and white top with roller skates. “um…” I said looking at the menu, I’ll have a cheeseburger with fries please.”

“I’ll have a grilled cheese with a diet coke.” Nellie ordered
We sat waiting for our meal, my mind still floating to the news channel. “Adrienne are you ok?” Nellie asked. “You look distracted.”

“Me? Oh, I’m fine…” I said unconvincingly “so what’s camp half-blood like?

Leafs eyes lit up “it’s amazing! There is archery, capture the flag, a climbing wall that spews lava and shakes, sword fighting,
Greek lessons, arts and crafts and a forge!”

“The climbing wall spews lava? Isn’t that dangerous?” Nellie asked

“Well, it’s supposed to be, that way you learn.”

“Yeah, you learn that lava hurts.” I said

The waitress came back with our food, and we ate in silence. We finished and paid, then walked around for another hour checking out the other stores. I walked to a window and saw a giant thunderstorm occurring outside.

“Wow its really pouring.” I said

“Do you think the train could get struck by lightning?” Nellie asked

“No, we’ll be fine” Leaf assured

“Yea, we’re too low to the ground.” I replied

“OK…” Nellie said, she didn’t look totally convinced

“Come on, let’s get to our train.” Leaf said.

“Ok,” I said as I got out the tickets in my bag “we are on the Acela Express.”

It took us longer than expected to find the train, the station was huge, we ended up asking a conductor for help. He looked at us suspiciously but told us where to go. By the time we got on the train we only had time to find some seats before the doors closed and the conductor started taking tickets. When he got to us he looked at us suspiciously and asked “where are you parents?”
I started to panic. If he found out we didn’t have any he would probably take us to a security guard. I looked to Nellie she looked nervous also, when leaf did something totally unexpected, he snapped his fingers and I felt a ripple of air, he then looked at the conductor and said “I am their guardian, no need to worry”

The conductor looked at him and I was sure we were going to be kicked out until…

“Of course sir, my apologies.” The conductor said hastily, he then continued down the train, not even looking back.

“What just happened?” I asked

“I just rearranged the mist. The magical veil that keeps mortals from seeing monsters or other strange things”

“How does it do that?” Nellie asked

“Well if a mortal were to see a monster they would usually see something different like a tiger or lion.”

I nodded; I turned to look outside. Rain was streaking down the window, the sun had now set, and the lights that we passed looked like blurry stars through the rain. We were due to arrive at 3am in the morning, leaf was already dozing off in his seat, but I couldn’t sleep. Too much had happened, and I was afraid of seeing that strange lady again in my dreams.
The cities passed by in a blur of lights and color which stood out against black sky.
My eyes started to droop and I fell asleep.

Well... There you go! I know I changed the name... i just wanted one that actually had to do with the plot. Please comment below! Chapter 6 coming soon-ish! I might be on a train ;)

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.......

New chapter coming soon!

Could you put my character Lillian in it~? Please~? It's so good.

Whoa! WHOA! This is an epic tale. Can you put Alia or Leina in it? It is awesome!!!!!!!

Well hello everyone! Here is another installment of Wilted Flower! Enjoy!

Once again I had that dream. I was in the throne room, and she was there again, but she looked worse, her long blonde hair was a rat’s nest, and she had bags under her eyes like she hadn't slept in ages. She looked up and saw me. “You! Thank the gods! You must save me. I was wrong, it is not him who has trapped me it is someone more malevolent, more bitter, she would not show me her face because she has many.” I didn't understand a word she was saying, it sounded like gibberish

“You have until the summer solstice, then all my flowers will be dead, and the world will end.” I heard an evil cackle from the other room.

“good bye.” She said then my mind went black.

My eyes snapped open. I looked around and the others were still asleep. The sun was starting to come up, the sky was tinted red. I was reminded of an old rhyme that I learned. ‘Red in morning, sailors warning, red sky at night sailors delights.’ Red sky’s in the morning meant a storm, I guess that’s what we were going to deal with today.

I checked my watch,

It was 4:00 am, we were going to arrive in half an hour. Leaf was starting to wake up. He opened up his eyes and looked around groggily.

“Morning” he said.

“Hey.” I greeted

“should we wake up Nellie?” he asked

I looked next to me, Nellie's back was to me, but I could tell she was asleep.

“No, let her rest. She came 300 miles before she found us, she must be exhausted. How did she find us?” I asked

“Most Demi-god’s godly parents like to help their kids make it safely to camp, so they guide them to other Demi-gods so they can make it to camp together, safety in numbers you know?”

I nodded, I wondered if my father would ever send me a sign that he wanted to keep me safe, if he even knew I existed, I mean, where was he when I was being bullied by my step mother and the ugly step-sisters, couldn't he just send me a sign that I was going to be OK?
Nellie was starting to wake up, her bright red hair was a mess, and I realized how lucky I was, how I had someone to help me along to this point, she, she had to walk miles before she found companions.

“Hi” I said

“Hello” she replied “how long till we stop?”

“About 30 minutes”

“ok, I want to brush my teeth, wanna come with?”

“Sure.” I said standing up. We walked to the end of the train passing the conductor who gave us a suspicious look, I swore I saw a red glint in his eye, when I looked at Nellie she was looking ahead and didn't notice him.

We got to the bathroom; it was the size of a postage stamp with a door that folded open. We both squeezed into the bathroom and got out our tooth brushes. When we had finished Nellie spoke up.

“I’m sorry for lashing out earlier, I was just frustrated, my dad never really cared for me and I- I’m rambling aren't I?”

I smiled. “Just a little, and I know how you feel, I was a servant to my aunt and cousins.”
She nodded.

“So what else do you want to know about me?” she asked

“Umm… what do you like to do for fun?”

Her eyes lit up “I love to play the bass guitar, and sing and play badminton”

“That’s cool… what songs do you know?”

“I know, Don’t Stop Believing, Eleanor Rigby, and more.”

“Eleanor Rigby, that’s the one by the Beatles that goes, ‘Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in the church where a wedding has been, Lives in a dream Waits at the window, wearing the face that she keeps in a jar by the door, Who is it for?’” I sang

She smiled “Yeah and it goes on, like, All the lonely people, Where do they all come from? All the lonely people, Where do they all belong?”

We continued on until we reached to where the conductor was sitting.

“There’s no singing on the train ladies, especially anything by the Beatles.” He grumbled.

Nellie and I looked at each other, and tried not to hold back laughter; when we got out of earshot I said, “Wow, he really hates the Beatles.”

Nellie laughed. “So do you play an instrument?” she asked

“Viola, I used to be really good at it until my aunt sold it to pay for her face lift.”

“Oh, I’m sorry; maybe they’ll have a viola at camp.”

“Yeah, maybe.” I agreed

We came up to our seats where Leaf was packing up this stuff

He looked up “We’re almost to the station, where were you?”

“Brushing teeth, singing the Beatles, you know the usual.” Nellie remarked

He raised an eyebrow, “singing the Beatles?”

“yep!” I confirmed.

The train slowed to a stop outside the station. We grabbed our bags and made way for the door, when I glanced behind me, the conductor whom we had seen earlier was staring at us, the same red glint in his eyes.

“Leaf?” I asked “Is it just me or is that conductor behind us staring at us?”

Leaf looked and his eyes opened wide. “Go. Go. Go!” he yelled grabbing me by the wrist, I grabbed Nellie’s wrist, and we ran out the door
pushing passengers. When we got into the main area we slowed down.

“What was that?” Nellie asked breathing heavily

“I have no clue.” Leaf said.
We were looking back the way we came, until I felt a hand on my shoulder.

“Excuse me children” A voice said, I turned it was the conductor, but he wasn’t a conductor anymore, he had the same head but, he had a mane with big horns and 3 sets of teeth, and a scorpion tail. I thought back to a book that I had read back in 3rd grade called Mythical Beasts of Greece and Rome. A name started to form in my head…

“You’re a-“

“Manticore!” leaf yelled

The conductor guy seemed pleased to be called by his name. “Nellie.” I whispered.

“Yeah?”

“When I say now, throw your sword at him.”

“What, Are you crazy? That guy can throw precision poison arrows!”

“Maybe. Now!” I yelled

Nellie flung her sword at the Manticore hitting him squarely in the jaw. We sprinted away while he was distracted, pushing past bystanders. We ran out of the station and across the street, I felt an arrow whiz past my left ear and started to panic, we kept running until we reached a dock. We ran down the dock, and I made the mistake of looking behind me, the Manticore was gaining on us. When I looked forward leaf was in a boat named the S.S. Zeus. Leaf was already starting the engine.

“Jump in!” he said. Nellie and I looked at each other and we jumped into the boat.


Hehe. I love cliff hangers, well, only when i'm teasing others. Hope you enjoyed, leave your comments below!

Rawr. No cliff hangers!!! :P

Wow. I first saw it and didn't think I would like it, but you proved me wrong! I love it!

Thanks!

MOORREEE

I WILL SCREAM AT THE TOP OF MY LUNGS UNTIL I GET MORE, ~!