1. My Friend Breaks Some Teeth.

My name is Natalie Hunt and I am going to tell you about the day the world I grew up in was destroyed forever. Not literally, but figuratively.
I'm not very fond of being adventurous, in fact, I would rather stay at home, bouncing a bouncy ball of my wall for hours than go on the end of year school trip to a bowling alley. It didn't help I was being forced too by my Mother and my so called best-friend Shannon.
She was not your average girl, with jet black hair that was often in a mess and a personality that seemed to match it. I can remember the first day at Brookside Academy, a private school twenty miles across the Brooklyn Bridge. Due to my ADHD and dyslexia, I was placed in a special programme to not only learn what everyone else was learning but also how to deal with my 'special problems' in real life.
Shannon was the only person in the programme apart from me.
"Mint?" Shannon nudged me in the arm and offering me a paper full of clear oval sweets.
"No thanks," she took them back and plopped another in her mouth. "You worry too much, just calm down."
I bit back a laugh as she practically spat at the seat in front of her. "I don't like tight spaces."
"Maybe you have claustrophobia?"
"I don't, I can handle being like this but I just do not like it," I said. Shannon shrugged.
It had been an hour before the bus pulled up outside a multiplex cinema and arcade. Everyone was restless and preparing themselves to race inside the sci-fi themed building. Mrs Doyle, a woman in her forties, stood at the front of the bus, the new assistant teacher knelt on the chair beside her. Yesterday was her first day at Brookside and she was quite easy to spot in the crowd as her blonde hair was vibrant and tied back in a ponytail and she had the cloudiest grey eyes you had ever seen. It was almost like her mind was always thinking of too many things at once.
"Right, listen up," Mrs Doyle exhaled. "We're here to have fun, not destroy the place."
Some boys at the front made ape noises and Mrs Doyle gave them a look which could be read as mess with me if you dare.
"Now you will go to the counter and get your shoes and then with your partner," Shannon was mine and I gave her a chirpy smile. "Go to the alleys assigned to you, only four people to an alley."
Mrs Doyle nodded to the bus driver and he opened the doors, allowing the flood of students near enough the age of sixteen out into the world. Both me and Shannon stood from our seats but when Shannon reached down for her bag, her fingers barely touched a metal grate when she jumped back up, her hair whipping me in the face. "Ow!"
"What?" I asked.
"Electric shock" she looked at her fingers, her blue eyes almost as wide as an owls. "Flippin' hurt it did."
"Wimp" I laughed, hearing her scoff at me as I walked down the aisle.
I was almost at the door when a blue Yankees baseball cap fell to the floor. I tried to pick it up when a tanned hand snatched it off the floor. Looking up I found myself staring at the assistant teacher's rather annoyingly beautiful face. That's right, I can appreciate when a woman looks hot.
"Sorry" she briefly muttered before jumping off the bus and literally running into the multiplex.
"What's with Barbie?" Shannon frowned, receiving a shrug back from me before the other students behind pushed us out. "Hey."
"Aw come on," some guy complained, only to get cut off when a hand hit the back of his head.
Looking back, I smiled at the owner of the hand as he returned a one-sided grin. "Show the girls some respect."
Liam Woolf, a decent enough guy who was probably mine and Shannon's only friend outside of the Brookside programme. He had light brown hair which could only be described as naturally stylised and had a very trustful look on his face. Like the rest of us he wore his own clothes yet somehow his always had a sense of elegance and pride in his outfit. I once asked him if he plans his clothing to which he always replied 'No, my wardrobe does it for me'.
"Come on will you Natalie, I'm aching to blast them pins to pieces," Shannon bounced.
"You're very violent aren't you Zippy," Liam teased, pinching Shannon's right cheek as he walked passed.
"It's Shannon."
"Whatever you say Zippy."

The bowling alley was what I expected. Like the outside, everything was either metal or space themed. The alleys were lit up by neon railings and already some families were bowling with glow in the dark bowling balls.
We did as Mrs Doyle said and swapped our shoes for the typical bowling ones. Except these had little symbols painted on the toes, one caught my eye as it looked like a horseshoe with shoes.
Omega.
I looked around, hoping to find the person who had just spoken to me. But no one looked like they fit the voice. At first I thought it was my own but it sounded too different to be mine.
"You OK Natalie?" Shannon said. I didn't reply straight away but it was only when I noticed a woman, standing tall and confident beside the desk. Her long billowing brown hair travelled down her back as she wore a formal cream blouse and what appeared to be a black snake skin pencil skirt. She had coffee coloured skin and her nails rhythmically tapped on the counter, staring intently in our direction.
She sauntered her way to the cashier and stopped in front of me as I finished lacing my shoes up. "Is everything fine here ladies?"
I was going to answer her but I was quickly cut off by a more strict and rather irritated voice.
"They are just fine," the blonde teachers assistant butted in. Literally moving in between me and the woman. "Girls, go and enjoy the day here, alley ten."
"I'm sorry but who are you?" the woman asked, emphasising the words ending in vowels.
The teachers assistant narrowed her eyes. "I am Annabeth Chase and I work at Brookside Academy. These girls are here for a school trip and I intend they get it"
The woman smiled sadistically as she offered out her hand to Annabeth. "Well Miss Chase, I am Mrs L. Mia. Enjoy our facilities."
The assistant, Annabeth, turned and gently pushed me and Shannon in the direction off our alley, all the while she was keeping a stern face. When she saw us sat down she leaned over and said "Stay here and don't you dare move."
"Geez, did someone burn Barbie's boyfriend?" Shannon joked, leaning back on the metal seat but once again jumping to her feet as she received another electric shock.
It turned out that our opponents for the trip was ironically Liam and the guy he hit over the back of the head. I think his name was John, James, Jack?
"Ready to be beaten girls?"
"Like hell you will." I retorted, picking up a bowling ball which had a blue trim to test the weight of it.
The rest off the night we spent playing many rounds, on the odd occasion we would change teams just to keep it fresh. Whatever the case, the boy whose name began with J was not good at aiming. Sometimes his ball landed in another person's lane, other times he would release it wrong and throw it backwards. I was medium skill when it came to throwing but Shannon was almost a pro as she almost got a strike every time. Liam didn't allow her winning streak to last though as he soon went into competition mode. At one point she even dug through her bag for her lucky brass bracelet, a tatted piece of metal that her Mother gave her.
"Miss Hunt" Turning round, I was slightly surprised to see Mrs Mia eyeing up our group. She sniffled twice, as if she had a cold. "I'm going to need both you and your Lady friend to come with me."
"Why?"
"You've had an excellent run my dear, my staff and I have agreed to give you a prize but only if you come with me." Mrs Mia extended her hand, signalling us to follow her. I looked over at Shannon and she nodded her head like a bobbing doll, excited and enjoying the fact she got a prize and Liam didn't.
Although reluctant, I still followed Mrs Mia as she led me and Shannon into a back corridor, leading down into her office. Two chairs had already been placed in front of an old wooden desk. Junk and papers littered the room, Mrs Mia even kicked some away as she tried to close the door. Taking a seat in front of us, she rested comfortably and stared at us, a weird smile growing on her face.
"So where's our reward?" Shannon pestered, sitting on the edge of her seat.
"You'll get what's coming to you, don't worry," she grinned, her teeth seeming a bit more toothy than before. "Now, I hear you are part of a special programme at your school."
"So?" I said.
"I was just wondering what I was going to put on the paperwork." Mrs Mia glanced between the two of us before letting her violent green eyes land on me. "Is there any other student in this programme?"
"No, just us," Shannon sharply replied. "Now where is this prize?"
"One minute little godling" she hissed back. Suddenly a thought came into my head that we weren't going to get a prize. I felt something cold on my leg but I shook it off, thinking it was the air conditioning.
"Godling?" I asked, once again feeling something cold, on my ankle this time.
"Yes and I'm sorry that I have to inform you of this but right now, you're going to die." Mrs Mia licked her lips, her forked tongue dashing out wildly. I stood from my chair, reaching my arm out for Shannon but my body seemed to fail me. I heard crashing as my stomach turned upside down and cold wrapped around my body. Shannon cursed something whilst an annoying hissing sound filled my ears.
It took me a second to realise what was happening as I saw the whole world upside down. I couldn't move my body and talking felt like it was burning my lungs, stroke was the only word passing through my mind. "What is happening?"
"Little girls," Mrs Mia exceptionally hissed. "So tender."
"Shannon?"
"Look!" Shannon pointed to my side and I looked in the direction, biting my tongue in the process of what I saw.
The desk was split in two and where two coffee skinned legs should be was a huge, long black snake tail which disappeared under Mrs Mia's blouse. She had grown in size and her skin had paled to a deathly white, clashing with the blackness of her tail and eyes. Seeing this, I soon realised that I was being hung upside down by her tail which was wrapped tightly twice around my torso and arms.
"What are you?" I wheezed.
"I am Lamia!" she said. "Devourer of Children, Bane to the Goddess Hera and Daughter of Hecate!"
"I'm confused." Shannon whined. Lamia bared her teeth, snapping together before trailing her clawed finger across my cheek. "Stop that!"
"There is no escape from my clutches, I will devour you ..." she sniffed the air, coiling up as Shannon once again tried the door which was locked. "You, dark haired girl, you smell like Hera, you will die first!"
Shannon had no time to react as Lamia surged forward, she raised her hands up in defence but against Lamia, I couldn't see it working. I shut my eyes, not wanting to see my friend being eaten by this creature. A loud clang rang through the room, followed by the pained hisses of Lamia, the evil snake vampire. "My fangs, you broke my teeth!"
Her tail loosened and I fell to the floor, grunting as I landed on my back. Crawling away from the thrashing Lamia, I barely noticed the door being kicked open and there in the doorway stood Annabeth, the assistant teacher, wielding a copper coloured blade. "Go blend in, they said, you'll love it, they said. Stupid Seaweed Brains."
"You're a half-blood, I smell it on you" Lamia hissed through broken teeth, some shards were still falling out as she moved. "Daughter of Athena!"
"Daughter of what?" I muttered.
No one had time to answer as Lamia surged forward, using her tail as pogo-stick. What I expected to be the sound of ripping flesh was instead the sound of something sharp swinging through the air. Looking up, Annabeth was holding Lamia's head with her left hand whilst she jabbed her small blade into the snake creature's body, ripping half her chest as she dragged it out. Lamia whined and spat as she coiled up one final time before bursting into black dust.
"What was that?" I whispered.
"Lamia, a vile woman who ate her own children." Annabeth explained, sheathing her blade back into her wrist scabbard. "I think I may have to explain some things to you."
"Hell yeah you do!"
"But first, how did you two break Lamia's teeth?" Annabeth asked. "Cause neither of you were prepared as I was."
"When she attacked me, she bit down on my bracelet and she kind of backed off in pain," Shannon explained. "Maybe she doesn't like retro fashion."
Shannon laughed at her own joke, rubbing the bracelet as she did and receiving another static shock.
"Dammit!"
"So freaky snake lady didn't like copper?" I said and Annabeth shook her head.
"No," she stated. "That there is celestial bronze, the metal of Mount Olympus"
"What?"
"I'll tell you when we're safe, which right now, we're not!" Annabeth stressed, running out of the door, expecting us to follow.