Chapter 1: I am Hunted
My name is Kimberly Lorna Granger. I was twelve going on thirteen when I used to live on Madison Avenue in New York. I guess you could say I lived on my own. Not many people like living in alleys, except for the homeless. That would be me.
I have a story to tell you, and it starts at the beginning of my thirteenth summer. My life changed from that night on, when I got a couple of surprise visitors in the middle of the night.
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It was wet. It was cold. I had someone who had woken me from my nap pulling on my hair.
"Mmph, wha-?" I groaned, swatting at the stranger . "Gerroff!"
"Wake up!" the voice hissed in my ear. "You're in danger!"
"You're gonna be in danger if you don't get offa me!" I snapped back. Getting up was harder than usual. I felt groggy, and so I reached up to rub my eyes. My hands, they were too heavy. "Wha- what's going on?" I mumbled.
"Come, now!" someone grabbed my hand. I was pulled forward, too weak to resist. Not eating for several days does that to you.
Everything was a blur at first. My head ached, like I had a damp cloth bag over my head. Then, a smell, like burning flesh and poison met my nostrils. I jerked upright, eyes opened at last. I'd only smelt that once before. The time my mom was killed.
I could see now, and run without tripping. The guy dragging me was short, and ran funny. And he wore funny pants. No, those weren't pants. Those were furry goat legs!
I heard a hissing behind me, and panic choked my breath away. Then the smell grew stronger and I started to choke for real.
"H-help," I gasped, grabbing at my throat. The goat-man pulled something from a bag, which was slung over his shoulder. It was a cloth, and it smelt wonderful. He stuffed it over my nose and mouth, and suddenly I stopped choking. "Fanks," I muffled.
We ran for a long time, and as far as I could tell, it was still dark. The moon was out, and I was surprised I could see it. After all, nights in the city were often orange from pollution. Then I looked around and realized we weren't in the city anymore. I didn't know where we were.
"Hold on, hold on," said the goat-man. He pulled me through this strange place, and I saw ahead a forest. I pulled away, because it was dark and scary. I didn't have a chance to pull away again. A huge roar exploded behind me. I screamed, almost dropping the cloth. Thank the Gods I didn't.
The forest was closer now. I felt a tingling, like needles pricking my skin. Then the goat-man stopped, turned and drew something from his bag. At first it looked like a pen and then it was a sword, long and gleaming. There was that roar behind me again, and I dared to look at the monster.
I wish I hadn't. Maybe my nightmares wouldn't be so horrible if I hadn't. The snake-woman was terrible and beautiful. She had eyes which were poison green and slitted. Her mouth was a gaping maw, filled with sharp fangs. Instead of legs, she had a long, red snake tail. She moved frighteningly fast, faster than was possible. In her clawed hands I saw a weapon, something cold looking and dangerous. I froze, mouth hanging in terror.
An unearthly scream rose from her open mouth. It didn't seem real, coming from her. Her red hair rose and twisted into bands until they looked like snakes. She was above me, and had a ferocious grin on her face.
"Bloo-od," she groaned, licking her lips with a forked tongue. "I shall drink the Gods' blood tonight."
I screamed. It was all too much for me to bear. Last I saw was a flash of bronze and I heard an ear-piercing scream. Then, I couldn't see and my hair was drenched in something warm. I think it was blood.