I

~ JOSH~

"Okay, I don't see her anywhere," Brynn said, looking around the empty park, frowning.

"I'm sure she's here," Josh said, with a hint of uncertainty. He gazed around Brewer Park, quiet and mostly empty under the afternoon sun; there was a family at the swings and some college guys throwing around a Frisbee, but no sign of their English teacher.

"Yeah, I knew this was weird," Devin muttered.

"Maybe we heard wrong?" said Brynn.

"No, I'm sure that's what she said," Josh said firmly. "We're just missing her. Let's look around a bit."

Brynn and Devin exchanged a look that said, Is Josh playing some strange joke on us?

Josh scowled at his friends. "That's just what I heard her say, okay? I don't know what it's about."

They walked down the path and into the gazebo area, sitting on the bench in the shade. Josh checked his watch again. It was ten minutes into fifth period.

"Maybe she lied," Devin suggested after a while.

"Why would she do that?" said Brynn, smiling a little. "Oh, maybe she's secretly evil and is going to send dudes with guns after us to finish the job?"

Devin snorted. "I don't think she wants to kill us."

"She probably wants to kill me," Brynn said with a shrug. "I'm not exactly what some might call a 'model' student."

"Yeah, you're not even a 'decent' student," Devin added.

"Ah, you came."

They turned.

Ms. Theriault stood behind them, smiling. Josh felt a prickle go down his spine. There was something off about her-

"Hi," said Brynn, her eyebrows furrowed. She must've realized something was off, too. "Um... what's this about, exactly?"

Ms. Theriault took a step forward. Josh watched her carefully.

"It's that test I was talking about," she said, continuing to smile. "You know. The last test?"

"What last test?" said Devin. He looked helpless. "Um, I'm not even in your class-,"

Something started to growl.

It was a low, feral growl, and it made Josh's hair stand on end.

"That last test," Ms. Theriault said. "The one right behind you."

Josh wasn't the one who liked dogs. That was Brynn. But the look on Brynn's face hinted that she wasn't exactly inclined to go pet it.

Two enormous black hounds stood before them, growling viciously. Their eyes glowed red, and their muscles tensed as they prepared to lunge.

The first one snapped forward in a dark blur, jaws wide and teeth flashing. It went straight for Josh, and he dove to the side with a shout, rolling in the grass. The huge dog whirled on him, snarling, eyes gleaming.

"Catch!"
Josh looked to the side as something flashed toward him, catching the sun and glinting darkly. He just barely caught it, gripping it tight in his hand. He looked up to stare at Ms. Theriault.

"Kill the dog, you fool!" she shouted, reverting Josh's attention to the enormous snarling monster before him.

Josh barely had time to wonder what kind of teacher set monster dogs on her students and gave them pens to defend themselves before the dog lunged again. This time Josh wasn't fast enough, and the dog smacked him to the ground, nearly knocking him senseless.

As he fell, his thumb clicked the ballpoint pen out, and a heartbeat later he was holding a gleaming staff in his hand. He stared at it in utter astonishment- it was the size of a bo staff from karate class, about his height and a dark, metallic black with sharp ends.

The demon dog's claws dug into his chest as it prepared to rip his throat off. With a tremendous effort Josh wrenched his arm free and swung the staff with a yell against the side of the dog's head, sending it reeling off him.

Josh scrambled to his feet, breathing hard, clenching the staff.

The staff that was a pen.

He blinked a couple times, trying to clear his head. He looked over at Brynn and Devin, who were holding their own against the second demon dog- Brynn whacked a tree branch against its face as Devin screamed shrilly (he could scream higher than any girl, and plenty high enough to seriously hurt one's ears) and it seemed to be working, making the dog reel and howl.

Josh's demon dog had recovered and it lunged at him again, looking angrier than ever. Josh threw his spear up at the last second.

The dog went right into the spear, skewering itself. It stared at Josh for a moment, and then burst into a dusty cloud, where it dissipated just as quickly.

Josh stumbled, alarmed.

"Hah! You did it!" Ms. Theriault cried triumphantly.

Josh turned his attention to Brynn and Devin, starting off to help them, but just then Devin smacked a rock against its head and the demon dog howled before bursting into smoke.

Brynn let her tree branch drop. They were both wild-eyed and pale.

"My ears are about to explode," Brynn said, but she looked faintly impressed.

"Sorry," said Devin.

"Excellent!" Ms. Theriault said, striding toward them. "You three are more powerful than I could have guessed."

"Yeah," said Brynn. "And what were those things?"

"Hellhounds," she replied.

"Hellhounds," Brynn repeated. Her face turned gray. "Oh, hellhounds. Okay. Right, that makes sense."

Ms. Theriault nodded, smiling. "Well, I am quite impressed. Powerful, you three." With another nod she exploded in a burst of purple smoke.

"AHHH, WHAT THE HECK?" said Devin, stumbling backwards and falling over.

"I don't think she exploded," said Brynn, but she didn't sound that sure.

"So... what do we do now?" said Josh.

"Well-," Brynn started, then she noticed the staff in Josh's hand. Her eyes widened. "Woah, what is that?"
"I don't know," said Josh. "I think it's a pen."