Chapter 1

Freya

They were coming for me today. I knew it. They had come for me once before, but then I had Dad. Now Dad was gone. I had thought they were gone forever. That was wishful thinking. Imogen knew it too, though how I didn't know. She kept furtively glancing at the door as if something was going to leap out and attack her. It put me on edge. It was harder to ignore when there were two of us. It made it seem more real.

"Something is going to happen today." I blurted out in the middle of our conversation.

Imogen blinked and turned away from the door. It worried me how unfocused she was. Usually we could chat to each other for hours. "No, of course not!" She smiled wanly. "Why do you think that?"

"It's just that you look a bit… well…" I trailed off, not wanting to offend her.

"What?"

I bit my lip. "Scared."

Imogen laughed, but it sounded forced, not at all like her usual laugh and her eyes were wide and scared. "Why would I be scared? What's there to be scared of at school? Apart from Mr Turner, I suppose. Anyway, what were you saying earlier?"

I tried to laugh, to pretend that everything was okay, but I couldn't shake that sinister feeling away. There was an uncomfortable feeling in the air. My skin was prickling all over with anticipation. Something was coming for me. It was just a matter of time before it arrived.

Suddenly everything went quiet. I could hear something rolling towards the classroom door, making a sort of whooshing sound, but scarier. Whoosh. Whoosh. Whoosh. There were screams and sounds of footsteps from outside the classroom, though in here no one moved a muscle. I was frozen to the ground, my breath coming in short ragged gasps. It had come for me.

Imogen grabbed my hand and pulled me into the store cupboard. It was dark and I could hear Imogen breathing heavily as she fumbled for the light switch. I looked around. We were in a small rectangular room, with shelves of books leading up to a skylight in the ceiling. Outside, there was a terrifying crash as the door burst open and whatever it was that was out there slithered into the classroom. There were screams and shouts from outside. I jerked the door handle. It was locked. I turned to face Imogen, a look of panic on my face.

"What are you doing?"

She wasn't listening, tossing books off the shelves to reach a hidden alcove I had never noticed before, a look of concentration and determination on her face.

"Take this." She thrust a small rucksack into my arms that she had just pulled out. "It's got a change of clothes, some food and some money." I stared at her, confused.

"What's happening?" The shouts were getting louder now. Someone began to pound on the door.

"Let us in! We know you're in there Freya!" A hissing voice whispered from outside.

I leapt away from the door, my hands clammy with sweat, still clutching the rucksack. "How do they know my name?"

Imogen made no reply. She was reaching into the alcove again and took out what looked like a dagger. It had a slight bronze glow to it.

"Imogen?" My voice began to rise in pitch as I struggled to comprehend what was going on. What on earth was she doing? I strode over and shook her hard. Her eyes looked serious and sad.

She sighed. "I wish I could explain everything to you but there's not enough time," The door began to creak under the pressure, although I was not sure whether it was from people desperate to get away from the monsters, or the monsters themselves. "You need to leave. Go to the airport and take a plane to Long Island. When you get there, ask for Annabeth and Piper. I'll hold them off for as long as I can so you can escape."

"What are you going to do though? And what are they?" I asked, still trying to take it all in.

"Amphisbaena." I noticed that she avoided answering my previous question.

I looked at the dagger in Imogen's hand, then back at the door, which had almost burst open.

"I'm not leaving you alone to fight them." I declared "I'm staying to help you. That's what friends are for, aren't they? Helping one another."

"No" Imogen sounded sad and I could have sworn that tears were forming in her eyes. "You need to go Freya."

"But-"

"Just go!"

"Well how on earth am I going to get out of here?" I asked, gesturing wildly round the room. "There's not exactly a door with a flashing sign saying 'Exit this way'."

Imogen smiled, and then pointed up at the skylight above us.

Taking a deep breath, I eased myself up onto the first shelf and began to climb my way up to the skylight. On about the fifth step, I turned around to look back at Imogen. "I just want you to know that whatever happens, you're the best friend I've ever had."

Imogen smiled sadly. "Thank you and goodb- luck."

The door burst open. I had to admit, it had taken longer than I had expected. The amphisbaena rolled into the room. I gasped at the sight of them. They looked like snakes, but had a head at either end of their body. It had sharp teeth-I was pretty sure that they were poisonous and had a gold sort of crown around both heads. They had a thick layer of scales running down their bodies. At a guess I would say that they were about six of them.

Imogen moved fluidly between, striking out with her dagger. They hissed back and spat droplets of poison at her. I winced as some burned smouldering holes in Imogen's grey pleated school skirt. She managed to hack one's head, but it was hard, as the layer of scales was so thick, and more and more of the amphisbaena seemed to appear with each minute that passed. Imogen was managing to hold them off well, for now, but who knew how much longer she could last?

I continued my climb, soon reaching the skylight and was struggling with the latch on it. Some of the amphisbaena had started to slither their way up to the skylight. I felt the scales brush my leg and I nearly lost my balance. I looked down to see that one amphisbaena was nearly level with me. I hammered the skylight harder to try and dislodge it so that I could make my escape. It was no use. The skylight was still stuck fast. I had no escape.

I looked around for a way to defend myself. All I could see were books. I picked one off the shelf. It seemed quite heavy. With all my strength, I leaned back and hit the amphisbaena. It didn't work. It teetered for a long, agonising second, and then continued its climb.

In a state of panic, I hurled more books down at it, but there was no point. Its scales were too strong for it to cause any real damage. The amphisbaena reached towards me and I shut my eyes. My heart raced and the blood was pounding wildly in my head. I grabbed the wooden shelf desperately. If this was how I died, so be it. At least I would die quickly. I could feel its slobbery breath on my leg as it inched its way closer. And closer. And closer, until I could feel him rear up to bite me.

I felt a wave of power wash over me. There was a sound, almost as if things were, well, growing, and the amphisbaena was lifted off me. I opened my eyes. Thick vines were growing from the wood underneath my hands. They had wrapped around the amphisbaena and squeezed the life out of him, I was pretty sure. I stared at my hands in confusion. "Was that me?" I muttered. I gave a silent prayer of thanks anyway.

But there was no time to waste. With renewed vigour, I burst open the skylight and pulled myself onto the roof. I started to run along in what I thought was the direction of the airport, when I heard a bone chilling scream. My blood ran cold. I stiffened. It couldn't be Imogen. No, it wasn't. It had to be, though. Who else could it be? I wanted to go back and help her, if she wasn't already dead, but I knew that was futile. It would be wasting the opportunity she had given me. Tears dripped down my cheeks as I ran. It made me see a glimpse of my true character, how selfish and shallow I was. I wouldn't go back to help a friend in need, the best, if I was being honest, only, friend I'd ever had.

I still didn't understand why the amphisbaenas were after me, why I had seemed to suddenly develop the ability to make plants grow with my hands, or why Imogen seemed so prepared for their arrival. All I knew was that whatever I found in California would somehow give me the answers to all my questions and more. I just hoped that I didn't have to come across any more monsters. Though I highly doubted that that would be the case.


I hope you are enjoying the story so far!

I know there aren't any recognisable characters in this chapter, but there will be in the next one, I promise :).

I will try to update as soon as possible, which will probably be around Saturday.

If you enjoyed it, please review it. It would mean a lot to me.

Thank you,

Libellule101 :)