Chapter 1: I suffocate my bus driver

The days before Christmas break are supposed to be more relaxed, right. Well, with my luck, I end up scratched up and fighting for not only my life, but my friend's as well. I… should probably start over.

I'm Alex Moore and I'm not your average seventh grader. I have to get my dark brown hair cut about every two weeks, or it'll be down to the floor (thank goodness for part-time jobs). My eye color… well, you'll hear about that later. The guy who was unconscious was Jason Kudo, the resident "tough guy"; he looked the part, too. His skin was tan from spending so much time outside with dark brown hair and eyes so dark you could barely see the difference from his pupil and the color. He was muscular from mixed martial arts training and basketball. His personality fit, too; He'd snap practically instantly, and he had no troubled speaking his minded, which is why most of the teachers in the school hated him with a passion.

Anyway, as I said before, it was the day before winter break was weird. But, then again, that entire week was pretty weird. Not only were they calling for this massive snow storm, it was poring rain the entire week. It wasn't just the weather; Jason was acting pretty weird too, well, more than normal anyway. He was acting really… protective; I guess is the word for it. He'd always be really cautious when we are outside at the bus stop and he'd always hold me up at the bus stop at the end of the day long enough for the usual string of cars to pass. But that day he was particularly tense; as we were standing at the bus stop, talking like usual, but he kept glancing around, as if he was expecting something to pop out of nowhere. When the bus finally pulled around the corner, Jason snapped his head around, glaring as the bus drove down our street. He immediately protectively reached for my arm, pulling me away from the direction of the bus.

"Hey, what's your deal?" I said, a little freaked by his actions. I'd never seen him in a fight before, but I could tell he was preparing for one. "Chill out, I know you hate school, but you don't have to glare at the bus." Being the smart-aleck I am.

"It's not the bus I'm worried about; it's something on the bus." He had said it so low that I was barely able to understand it. And the acidity, ugh, it was so…daunting. "I don't want you to sit up next to Holly; follow me to the back." I would have normally protested being anywhere near the back of the bus, but the tone of Jason's voice told me that this was a dangerous situation. I nodded in reply, suddenly getting the dangerous feeling that I'm sure Jason was feeling. It felt like eternity before the bus finally pulled up. Slowly, Jason led me up the bus steps, careful of whatever he was feeling. Two creepy things I noticed about the bus that day: 1) was wearing a ball hat, covering her eyes; 2) nobody else was on the bus. As me and Jason made are way to the back, Jason getting tenser and tenser as we passed each empty seat. We were barely in the last two seats when ripped out of the neighborhood an on to Route 30.

"J, why are we the only ones on the bus?" I asked, hearing the anxiety creep into my voice. No answer; just a side glance that told me he was thinking, which means I had a long wait before he would listen. He was mumbling to himself too, like he was mentally debating something; "Not now… not ready…can't help…" Before I had to, again, question what was happening, the bus jerked hard to the right, nearly slamming me into the windows. This caught Jason's attention, snapping his head up to check on what was doing. We had pulled into one of the back alleys, like a normal bus route... Not that it was the right route, but a route none the less. Jason obliviously noticed the difference and immediately pushed me further into the seat, tossed my book bag onto the floor and promptly took its place. But Ms. Gale didn't stop at the next stop, nor did the kids there even notice the bus flying past.

I turned to Jason, probably looking very distressed. "Okay. What the heck is happening? Don't I get to know that much?" I said trying to sound calm, but it wasn't working very well. Jason side glanced at me, then back at Ms. Gale.

"Look," His voice was low and serious, all the while watching our bus driver take the unusual route, "I don't have time to really explain this…Alex you're not normal."

I stared at him like he was an idiot. "Thank you, Captain Obvious."

"No, I mean your not who you think you are." I gave him one of my famous what-are-you- saying-and-why looks. Clearly annoyed, he said "Look, that woman at the wheel isn't our bus driver, that's , it's Echidna. "Another famous look was the "you-must-take-me-for-an-idiot".

"Are you telling me that our bus driver is an anteat...muuuph." Jason had slapped his hand over my mouth, cutting off the word "anteater".

"Don't say that!" He hissed. "Do you know how much trouble we'd be in if she heard you?"

"Sssss…sssss…ssssss." that both made us snap our heads towards the front, only to see woman without legs. And in place of those legs was a single snake's tail. And she was tick off; slowly, almost tauntingly, slithered (I guess) back toward us. With everything slowly processing in my ADHD mind, one thing was clear.

She'd definitely heard me.

I suddenly felt Jason push down on my head, making sure I was protected by the seat in front of us. He immediately went for the emergency exit, only to find it jammed shut. He then pulled his iphone out and started punching in a code that didn't look like they were in English.

"Jason, I don't think this is a good time to make a phone call." I was seriously beginning to question my sanity.

"If only it were that simple." Then he showed me what he had typed, and I was right, it wasn't in English. It was Ancient Greek.

"What does…Oplo Metatrepo?" Translation for those who can't understand Greek: "weapon metamorphosis". Me? I had no idea why I knew what it said, not at the time anyway. Though it did make sense by the time I noticed that Jason's phone was a handgun. Now I was really ready to freak out. And had I been on my own, I might have.

"Whatever happens, stay down and don't let her see you. And as soon as she's completely distracted, make a break for it." I looked at Jason. He's got to be kidding me.

"So you're basically telling me to run and save my own life, while you stay here and fight this thing alone? And as for not letting her see me, I think it's a little late for that idea." He knows me better than to suggest something like that.

"Yeah, but the way I said it is much more heroic." He said that as he gave that smug and cocky smirk. Only he could be like this in the face of danger.

"If I called you an idiot now, how many times would that make it?" I said, Jason's confidence boosting my own.

"Today, one; this week, about 9." I couldn't help but roll my eyes. He could be such a smart aleck, and at the worst times.

"You really think I'm going to leave you here by yourself."

"And if you stayed, how could you help?" He got me one that one; I wasn't very coordinated, even after my brother gave me martial arts lessons. So me being able to help, chances were slim.

"Good question. I'll figure something out, don't I always?" It was his turn to roll his eyes. He hated it when I was right, as I often was.

"Alright, just don't get yourself killed, Moore." Jason said as he aimed his gun, causing the snake lady from up front to stop and reconsider her options.

"Right back at you, Kudo." I knew the only thing I could do was try and figure out how'd we could both get out alive.

First thing to do when making your escape route, assess all possible exits. That was the easy part, considering every other window was an exit. The hard part, figuring out how to get to one. The closest one happened to be four seats ahead, blocked by snake lady up front. The only thing playing our way, that fact that Jason had Echidna distracted and I knew it wouldn't be that way for long. I, if anything, clumsily started to climb over the seats, trying to reach the emergency exit window. Unfortunately, Jason noticed. He said my eyes always look different when I'm thinking hard and he must've been right. Instead of yelling at me for being reckless or making things more difficult then necessary, he just made sure Echidna couldn't see me. That only left me the task of noiselessly making up five seats. Easy, for the kid not on an adrenalin rush. I do not handle pressure well, but somehow I had made it to an emergency exit. I pushed down the handle and set off the fire alarm. This was apparently was more interesting to Echidna than a worn out Jason.

Muttering and thinking many swears that would burn my brother's ears. I quickly began trying to figure out how to open the window. Desperately I rammed the window with all the force I could muster and nearly fell out. Triumphantly, I turned to find Jason, but instead I found Echidna ready to strike.

"Don't think your getting away ssso eassssily, Earth Child." She hissed at me, bringing down her weapon. I braced waiting for whatever pain she might bring, but instead I felt something heavy hit my chest. It was Jason, with what had to be a two foot gash down his chest. With a mix of fear and anger, I put Jason on the seat and charged at Echidna. I didn't care that I was up against something twice my size with a deadly weapon, or the fact that the chance that I would accomplish anything were slim, but I was running on pure adrenaline. I was on my own to fight. I landed a punch squarely in Echidna's chest, knocking the breath out of her. Literally. Her hands flew up to her throat as if she was choking and soon she was nothing more than a pile of dust, blowing out the window.

I turned my attention back to Jason. He was completely unconscious and breathing heavily. Coming down off of the fighting rush, I realized that I had to do something about his wound. Digging though my discarded backpack, I found the bottle of water I kept for chorus practice. Using a handkerchief that my brother had always made me carry, I tried to clean the wound. But something weird happened to it each time I wiped over it. It would stop bleeding and the skin closed up. And by the time I had finished the only proof there had ever been a cut was a scar and the fact that his jacket and shirt were now in shreds.

Tiredness washed over me like a blanket as I sat Jason up into what I hoped to be a more comfortable sitting position. Taking a seat of my own, I tried to figure out what to do next, but I was too exhausted. Slowly, I began to close my eyes, ignoring the sound of voices getting closer to the bus.

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