I blamed the ipod.

It was brand new, for my birthday, so of course, like an idiot, I wore it everywhere, and on full volume.

Even crossing the street.

Didn't look left, didn't look right. Walked straight forward into…

(The screech of metal, the squeal of brakes, someone screaming…)

Into…

Greyness…

Or, perhaps not merely greyness, but more a lack of colour, as though at twilight.what was once bright sunshine somehow misted and coalesced into a long, darkened corridor, with dim, dusty shafts of light permeating the ceiling here and there. The hairs on the back of my neck rose - This wasn't a nice place to be, and I had a sudden vertigo feeling of unreality. I looked down at my hands. They were normal, pale pink and slender. Writer's hands.

Suddenly a strong hand grabbed me roughly, bruisingly by the shoulder and spun me around.

"Who the hell are you! What the fuck are you doing here?"

The voice and the hand belonged to a tall youth, probably a year or so my senior, and was as muted in colour as his surroundings. He was wearing a grimy, stained white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, dark brown breeches with suspenders (Suspenders! Breeches! ) and a face like a starving jackal.

"Well?"

His tone told me quite clearly that his regular course of action would be to attack first and ask questions later, so I tried to make it quick.

"I don't know, and…I can't remember." I said slowly, realising that I couldn't remember anything before…before…I couldn't remember that either.

Jackal guy grinned, baring yellowed fangs, almost tusks, like a ghouls'.

"Wrong answer." He growled, and lunged at me as I ducked, instinctively. There was a roar from behind me, and a rush of air as something leapt over me and at the boy. He snarled back at it, an inhuman sound, and I chanced a glance at the two of them.

At first I thought that the thing attacking the boy was a bear, it was big and broad and furry enough, but then it swung its head in my direction, and I saw, bizarrely, that it was a giant anteater. Or not, as the snout split open to reveal a mouth more like a crocodile's – dozens and dozens of razor-sharp teeth set like the serrations on a comb, or some mutant hacksaw. No real anteater had teeth like that.

It turned back and drove the boy back into a wall – no, rather through the wall; there was a moment where the boy's body looked insubstantial and almost silvery, like mist, and then he was gone.

The anteater-thing gave one last roar, as though saying 'and stay gone' then turned to me, its snout sealing up once more, and giving it the appearance of a normal, albeit larger-than-average anteater.

Are you okay? It said, although its mouth didn't move.

Oh great, I thought, it talks. As if this isn't weird enough already.

I reached out a hand and tried to pat it on the head. It was solid, and its fur was surprisingly soft, almost silky, like a cat's, although thicker. "Nice… anteater…thingy." I murmured, feeling like I was about to black out.

The beast seemed to roll its eyes, and then it said Cover your eyes.

"W-w-what?" I stammered, taken more than slightly off guard.

Just cover 'em up. It's for your own good.

I shut my eyes, and then there was a flash of light that I could see even behind my closed lids, sense of movement, and:-

"Okay. You can look now."

I opened my eyes, and sat down with a thud as my legs gave out.

In place of the anteater, the guy standing in front of me could have quite easily been the mad boy's twin brother, but for three major differences.

Firstly, whereas the boy's aura had crackled with a mix of power and insanity like black lighting, this one's aura glowed with yes, power, but with a sense of serenity like the golden light at the end of the fabled tunnel. Secondly, though the boy's expression had suggested that he would like nothing more than to eat a couple of small children for breakfast, the man's face gave an impression of lazy calm, like a big dark cat. Lastly, the guy before me had bright green eyes, frosted with tawny spikes near the pupil. The boy's eyes had been green as well, but so dilated and darkened with madness that they were nearer to black.

"Who are you? And who was the guy who tried to attack me?" I finally managed.

"He was Paul Morlock. A ghost. And I…" He paused for a moment, as though wondering whether or not I could be trusted. "I'm Anubis."

"No shit! And did you know that three blue sows just flew past the moon in pink tutus? Listen, buddy, if you really are Anubis that would make me dea…whoa." I looked up at him, the memory of the accident suddenly rushing back to me. I whimpered. "I'm not dead, right? Please say I'm not dead."

"You're not dead." I sobbed in relief, but he continued. "But I'm afraid you're pretty much comatose. So here's the deal. I do you a solid, you do me one."

Before I could answer, I felt a sense of falling, and everything went black.