**Chapter two**

-The first visit-

My head drooped, hair spilling over my shoulders and blowing in the breeze. My fingers and toes were numb; my breath was coming out around me like clouds of smoke and the chattering of my teeth could probably be heard a mile away. That son of a gun! Why didn't he frickin' help me? And where the heck did he go? People didn't just vanish into thin air . . . . But I guess people imagined things. Was it really possible that I had imagined him? I didn't have a history of mental unstable-ness, but it was definitely possible.

That's when I saw them. Big, huge, ugly . . . beasts. Their skin was a dull gray color and their pupil-less eyes were probably the brightest blood-red color I had ever seen. If I thought I was crazy a second ago, I was definitely mental now. I had gone insane. Off the edge! There was no way—no way!—I had landed in Jotunheim, through the book. That was impossible, totally impossible.

One of them spoke as the group of at least five surrounded me, their bodies easily standing to almost ten feet tall. "Well, well, well, Goblergroan. Looks like we've caught us a pretty mortal girl. Laufey will surely be proud."

A different monster clubbed the first one in the head. "Gibberish, Malkin. I saw 'er first."

"Nuh-uh! You saw me pointin,' didn't ya? Right, Dyfross?"

The one presumed as Dyfross shook his head. "You're both nuggle-heads. Obviously the one who gets 'er is me. I am the one closest to her now!" he explained and moved to grab my arm. I shrieked and flinched from his huge fingers.

All six of them growled, their eyes like angry pools of red. I just sat there, frozen in more ways than one. My mouth was wide open, but my eyes were probably even wider. These things were huge and scary. I shivered to the bone.

"P-p-p-please, d-d-d-don't hurt m-me," I chattered. They tilted their heads, staring at me like I was an animal in an exhibit. "On, sec-c-cond thought," I muttered. "K-k-kill me quick."

"Let's just eat her!" One shouted. The others cheered and advanced towards me, but before I could tell them I tasted horrible stringy, someone else's voice stopped them. "Enough! This mortal girl poses no threat. I shall return to her realm immediately." Snarling in anger, the giants parted and the man from earlier became visible, his arms crossed and his dark hair blowing against the wind. He looked human, but completely at ease. How was he not freezing to death?

At first, I wanted to be angry at him for leaving me in the middle of nowhere, but I decided that getting angry at the person who was currently saving my life probably wasn't a good idea. If I wanted to live, that is.

Ever so gingerly, he picked me up, his angular face remaining impassive. I wanted to say something, but my tongue was frozen solid.

As he held me, I expected to feel warmth from his chest, but he remained freezing. He provided little to no body heat whatsoever. It was like he was just as cold as those Giants. It creeped me out a little, but this man was hopefully saving my life. Whether he was hot or cold was soon forgotten.

"Are you t-t-t-taking m-me home?" I asked. He sighed in an un-amused fashion, his dark eyebrows knitting together tightly. "I presume that is what you wish, do you not?" he replied, his voice smooth as silk. An unfamiliar accent rolled off his tongue. And all I could muster in reply was a vigorous nod. He smiled ruefully.

In the blink of an eye, colors appeared around me. At first, I thought I was going to pass out, but I remained awake. The colors soon started to blend into one another, creating almost something of a rainbow. My eyes widened, and all at once, they disappeared, just as quickly as they had appeared in the first place. And surprisingly, I was standing back in the teachers' lounge in Vivian High. The air was warm and stuffy and I felt myself being laid down on the rock hard couch. I was back to where I started. But . . . how?

Finally, my skin and muscles started to thaw and I could talk again. I bolted upright.

"How did I— " I began to ask aloud. The man looked up at the ceiling and mumbled something inaudible. The rainbow colors returned, appearing like tiny snowflakes in the air. He was leaving.

"Wait! Who are you?" I asked. He looked back at me just before the colors blurred into one another, a smile crossing over his lips.

"Your God," was all he said, before he disappeared into nothing. I stood up and walked to where the man had just been standing, looking up at the ceiling. I seriously needed a doctor.

"Riley Carmen! There you are!" the principal said from behind. On my heel, I spun around and saw Mr. Darkwood and the principal, Mrs. Lenner. Their faces were flushed and bright red for some reason. Taking a quick look at myself, I noticed the inevitable. I was soaking wet.

"Riley, what on earth happened to you?" Mrs. Lenner gasped.

Mr. Darkwood scowled. "I told you not to leave this room! You were to stay here until we came and got you! Why must you feel the need to do the opposite of what everyone tells you to do?!" he asked. The vein in his forehead was popping again. But for once, Mrs. Lenner came to my rescue. "Calm down, Larry, everything is fine. She obviously just . . . . Got wet. I don't know how or why, but that's really not the problem. Riley, your parents are here." Oh, goodie, more yelling and raging, I thought bitterly.

"Riley Jonnie Carmen, what did I tell you about playing hooky?! You knew the consequences, yet you deliberately went out of your way to do it anyway. I am absolutely ashamed of you!" my mom cursed dramatically. It was all I could do to not groan.

"Lily, darling, I can handle this. Riley, come on, you're grounded. Let's go. Mrs. Lenner, I am so very sorry for the trouble. I assure you, this won't be happening again." My dad glared at me. I looked at the ground and rolled my eyes. Man, parents freaked out over everything. It wasn't like I attempted to commit suicide or anything.

"It's no problem, Mr. Carmen. I'm sure your daughter had a reason for what she did, but I'm afraid rules are rules. Suspension for three days is the next punishment in line for her, as well as detention when she returns. Riley, I really do hope to see some better improvement in your behavior when you return. Mr. Darkwood told me that you and your friend Hayley were not being respectful to him earlier this afternoon. Is that true?" Mrs. Lenner asked. Okay, it was time for full on defense mode. "What?! All that man says are lies! He's a liar, you hear me? A liar!" I retorted.

Mr. Darkwood opened his mouth to say something else, but Principal Lenner interrupted him.

"That's enough, Mr. Darkwood. I see no reason that you should be here anyway. Go back to your classroom, please," she commanded. I smiled smugly, getting a glare from my mother. Her look read: I am so going to kill you when we get home.

"Again, I am very sorry for my daughter's lack of respect for adults. I will try to get some sense into her. Thank you, Mrs. Lenner," my father said.

"Really, it's no problem. Please, have a nice day." Ha! Yeah right. If that wasn't a laughing matter, I didn't know what was.

The moment I stepped inside my house, I was sent to my room. I had my phone taken away. I was grounded. My window was nailed shut so I couldn't climb out and I was banished to my bed for the next eternity or so. But honestly, my brain was still reeling from the lecture about respect for elderly people and adults that both my mom and dad decided to give. Why they thought I was going to change just because they said so was beyond me. But there were things more troubling at the moment. One of them involving teleporting people and the other, a frozen wasteland. But in the end, there was no way I could ever possibly explain it. And after some serious though, I convinced myself it never happened. I never almost drowned in a book. I was never rescued by a strange guy who seemed insane. I never met the Frost Giants. It was all just a crazy dream. Nothing more. Besides, even if I had the insane capacity to actually tell someone about what I had seen, or thought I had seen, I would probably just end up in a mental hospital for crazy people.

"Did you like, fall in a puddle or something on your way here? You look like you just swam a mile."

I spun around to face my older brother. He was standing there, leaning against my door frame as if he owned the place. My right eyelid twitched.

"It's nothing. I just took a shower," I answered irritably, flipping through a magazine with angry intension.

But Ricky obviously wasn't finished yet. "In your clothes?!" he exasperated.

"Maybe I forgot they were on?!"

His mouth opened as if he wanted to say something else, but mom called instead.

"Ricky! Come down and do the dishes, please! Now would be nice!"

My lips upturned in a smile and I stopped on a page with some neat jeans on it. "Yeah, Ricky, go do the dishes. Mommy beckons," I muttered without looking up. Before I could see his evil eye, I quickly picked up a sharpie and circled some clothing, looking busy while he fumed.

"Whatever, Riley," he cursed. "You still look like an idiot." I pretended to be offended until he walked downstairs. He might be twenty-two, but he sure acted like a fifteen-year-old boy, still living with his parents and all. I was in high school, what was his excuse?

After about three minutes of silence, I tossed the magazine aside and pulled out my back-up phone. A girl like me who lost her phone more than her mind definitely needed a back-up. Of course, my parents had no idea.

I checked for any new texts from Hayley and saw none. For a moment, I was a little sad. She had kind of left me in the dark since this morning.

Due to the fact I was still pretty cold and shaky from my last little adventure, I decided to take a shower. Thank the heavenly lord that I had a bathroom and a shower to myself. If I had to share one with Ricky, I would drop dead.

The water was nice and refreshing from my last cold experience. I was still working out the quirks on that one . . . No. I was not going to go there. That never happened. Mind over matter was my only option left.

I cranked the shower off and wrapped a towel around my chest. Droplets of water splattered to the floor as I stepped out of the tub to grab my brush. That's when I jabbed my foot into the edge of the cabinet. A jolt of pain spiked up my foot and I cursed aloud, growling. Another annoying bruise to add to my collection. Great.

My foot throbbed as I limped back towards my bed, plopping down on the mattress. At the moment, I didn't care that my hair was soaking my pillow. I just needed to stop . . . doing things for a moment. Suddenly, my back-up cell phone buzzed and I jumped, looking around the room. Stupid thing, where'd I put it? I picked up my old wet jeans to see if I tossed them over it, but it wasn't there. A tiny thud made me pause, jeans still in my hands. It sounded like a bug had just dropped from the ceiling. Seriously, universe?

I looked down, expecting to see a little gross beetle or something, and just as I was going through the different plans of attack, I saw the key. The tiny, thumb nail key from earlier. What the heck? I thought I left that thing with those crazy stupid boxes. Strange. But annoyingly, part of me wanted to check it out again. Of course, the other part of me raged. I was three minutes close to dying the last time; who the heck knows what would happen next? I could wander into some . . . some, some desert or something! Or worse, get eaten by hideous monsters. Something told me my parents would frown upon that situation. But I did have an odd affinity for strange and obscure things . . .

"No, I'm not even going to think about that. I'm going to relax, read a book, study, take another shower and enjoy life with my family while on suspension. Nothing else." I dropped the key into the trash to prove my point.

Well . . . maybe that wasn't exactly what happened. In fact, I had quickly gotten dressed, found a hammer to pry the nails from my window and successfully was able to climb down the tree without severely injuring myself any further. And so, after ten minutes of waiting for a dang bus, sitting with a bunch of strangers and paying another one, I was outside my school property trying to break in. That was definitely a first.

Five minutes had officially gone by. I was still standing outside the barred window of the teacher's lounge, trying to muster up a little heat vision or something. A lock pick wasn't going to magically get me through a barred window. But more importantly, who the heck barred school windows anyway? It wasn't like every robber in town is just itching to get inside our lame teachers' lounge.

"Come on, Riley, think of something. Use that illegal brain of yours," I commanded to myself. This was going to be harder than I thought. Well, there was only one thing left to do. Sneak in the front entrance and pray to God that no innocent bystander was in there. It seemed, to me, like a pretty fool-proof plan, unless someone walked down the hall or left their classroom. Crap.

But the inevitable was this: I couldn't just stand there like an idiot forever. So, taking a deep breath and practicing to walk quietly, I snuck around to the front entrance and decided to go in the hard way. The front door.

So far it was so good! The halls were long and empty as usual. Lunch time was going on just about now. The carpeted floors provided nice cushioning so my rubber shoes didn't squeak or slam down on tile. I had pretty much made it all the way to the teachers' lounge without anyone seeing me. That was, until Jared bumped into me. I nearly screamed in surprised. His hazel eyes widened and he let his jaw drop to the floor.

"J-Jared! Oh, hey, buddy! What's up?" I leaned casually on the lockers to look completely at ease and not the least bit suspicious. "How's it goin'?"

He looked confused. "I thought you were suspended, Riley?" he asked.

"Me? Nah, that was just Mr. Darkwood lying again. Have you heard how much he lies? Like, all the time, I found out. We all think it's becoming a problem," I lied.

Jared crossed his arms. "Look. I'm a straight-A student, so don't think I'm stupid. I want fifty."

I gasped. "Fifty?! I thought the price was twenty-five!"

"That was then. This is now. Fifty or I go tell Dr. Darkwood about your surprise visit."

I growled. "Fine," I muttered. Jared smiled. "Nice doin' business with you—"

The sound of a door opening made me jump. I slid into the teacher's lounge easily and listened to see if Jared was going to rat me out. My breaths hitched.

"Hello, Jared. Were you just talking with someone?" I heard Mr. Darkwood ask through the door. Oh God, I silently pleaded he wouldn't rat me out

"Oh, was I? I was just trying to remember my locker combination, sir. Sorry for the bother," Jared covered.

And just like that, I was a free woman. Maybe Jared wasn't so bad after all.

I slipped the cash under the door and continued on my mission. If I was going to travel into a book, I wasn't going to need cash anyway, right? That would just be weird . . . . Right?

Just when my luck seemed to be looking up, I opened the door to find that the closet was empty. The boxes were gone, the key hole was gone; even the light bulb was gone! It was just a quiet, dark chamber filled with nothing but shadows and dismay. I couldn't have imagined it. My clothes were wet! I had the key in my hand! I had seen those Frost Giants with my own eyes! They were real! Was it actually possible that when I fell down those boxes . . . I had passed out and someone had moved me to the couch? That everything I thought had happened was just a dream? There's no way . . . that—that would be impossible!

"No . . . " I whispered. The one interesting thing in my life. My first actual escape . . . . And it was gone; just like that. I was just normal Riley again. A nobody in a school full of more nobodies.

I slumped to my knees and laid back on the dirty carpet, splaying my arms out like a bird. My life suddenly had no meaning. I was a nothing. No, I was worse than a nothing. I was a crazy person for ever believing what I saw. Stupid boxes, stupid key, stupid imagination, and worst of all . . . stupid Riley.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Jared had quietly crept into the room and sat down next to me. I was just too disappointed to notice.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Perfect even. Why do you ask?" I snapped. Jared snorted and pocketed out my crumpled up fifty bucks, placing it carefully on my forehead. "Something tells me you didn't get what you came for," he murmured.

It was my turn to snort. "What gave it away?" I retorted.

"Because you look like someone just came and killed your cat," he mumbled. "I didn't know Riley Carmen could feel disappointment." My throat constricted suddenly, as if I might cry. Why was I acting so touchy? And, could he be any ruder to me?

"Yeah, well, you learn something new every day. Congrats." And just like that, Jared got up and left. He didn't say anything else like a goodbye or a defense or anything. He just left. I heard the door close behind me and I sniffed.

But when I sat back up, fifty dollars fell into my lap. My heart paused for a sec. He had come in to check on me and gave me back my money. Probably thought I was stealing something, but still. For the first time ever, serious gratitude bloomed inside me.

As a half an hour chugged by, I just sat there and turned the key over and over in my hands. It was so small; I could probably swallow it whole if I wanted to. Both of my parents worked during the day, so I could pretty much stay here as long as I liked. It wasn't like anyone came in here anyway. The doorknob had been gathering dust before Mr. Darkwood locked me in there yesterday. Not many kids acted out or anything. Most of them followed the rules and played nice with the rest of the students. I, on the other hand, got along more with myself and Hayley than anyone I could think of. People thought I wasn't pleasant. What the heck did that mean? I'm probably the most pleasantest person they've ever met. I am totally pleasant. I practically radiated pleasantries. Come on. But one thing was for sure; I wasn't a psycho. I didn't just imagine things like that. Besides, I had no idea the word "sagacity" even existed until yesterday, much less know what it meant. Facts couldn't argue with that.

So, on that brief high note, I brushed ginger hair behind my shoulder and stood up, bound and determined. So help me, I was going to make a keyhole.

With new confidence, I sat up and made my way towards the closet. The room was dark, but I couldn't care less. Carefully, I placed a hand on the wall just in case I decided to take another spill today. Those things could happen at any point in time with me.

When I took my hand off the wall to pull the key out of my pocket, I made a surprising realization. Oh my God, my hand was covered in paint. Dark red paint, just like the color of the room. Someone, recently, had painted over the walls! No frickin' way. Now, I was even more convinced.

Making my way to the back of the room, I poked the key into the wall generally where the hole had been earlier. I didn't know exactly where it was, but I knew the general area. That was for sure. When I found it, the key slipped right through the slowly drying paint and turned in the lock. For some reason, my heart was pounding. I couldn't recall a time I felt more excited.

Way cool.

With little force, I pulled open the door and yanked out the box that was inside. When I was greeted with a head ache full of words and meanings, I knew I had touched the wrong book, but eventually, found the right one. It was still there. Still in the little wooden box in a hole in the wall. I let out a sigh of relief. Okay, so I wasn't crazy. That was good. I even had myself worried for a second.

I quickly flipped through the pages until I found the one I wanted. The familiar sensation of stickiness came over me and I started to slowly sink into the liquidly substance as I had before, but this time, I pushed forward instead of pulling backwards. The process was a lot quicker in this instance, I noted. And I wasn't completely terrified as I had been before.

Headfirst, my hands and knees hit the grassy ground with a soft thud and a smile brightened up my face at the view. I seemed to be standing atop a mountain, starring down at a city made of pure gold. Castles and buildings towered over the land like beautiful gold mountains. Just like the picture on the page. I had never felt so amazing in my life. It was so amazing; in fact, I even snapped a picture of it on my back-up cell phone, for kicks. Totally a keeper.

"No . . . frickin' . . . way," I marveled. At that moment, I felt utterly at peace. It wasn't a cold, freezing wasteland as it had been before. I was actually standing on a mountain, staring into the city of Asgard, right where the book told me I'd be. It felt like I had just won the lottery. That was, until a pair of hands grabbed my mouth and waist. I cried out in surprise.

"What kind of maniacal sorcery is this? How did you get through to here? Has Heimdall let you pass?" someone growled.

I struggled and whimpered, unable to even try to escape from the man's iron grip. My eyes widened as I felt myself being squeezed.

"Tyr! You are scaring to poor child! She is obviously lost. Let her be," another man said. This man, who stood in front of me, had a soft look to him, like he couldn't possibly hurt a fly. White blonde hair fell down his shoulders in silky strands and two crystal blue eyes gleamed in the morning light.

The man presumed as "Tyr" spoke up again, under his breath. "Honestly, Balder, you would think even Fenris has good in him," he muttered and dropped me to the grass. I fell like a sack of potatoes.

As I struggled to stand, my eyes widened to saucers. I couldn't believe I was actually standing in front of two Asgardians. I mean, it was unbelievable! I instantly took out my phone and snapped another pic.

"Witch!" Tyr cried. He lunged for my phone and I squealed as he ripped it from my hands. He crushed it like a dead leaf in his strong hands. I was speechless. Balder just laughed a hearty bellow.

"Come, mortal. We shall send you back to your realm immediately," Balder said. He gently placed his hand on my shoulder and started to move me towards the path that led down the mountain side. Okay, I had to admit, losing my backup phone kind of made me sad, because I had taken some freaky awesome pictures, but right now, home was that last place I wanted to go. Minus the place I went last time. So, I guess, home was the second to last place.

"Wait! No! You can't send me back. I—I want to stay here. Please. You don't know how unhappy I am back at my . . . . Realm," I managed to say. Being this close to characters in a book was kind of making me tongue-tied.

Tyr frowned. "You do not belong here. We shall return you back to Midgard at once."

"Lighten up, Tyr. Do you see this girl causing an ounce of harm?" Balder picked me up by the waist and lifted me above his head to prove his point. I winced. These guys could crunch every bone in my body like a tooth pic in five seconds, tops. I didn't want to become road-kill or whatever they called it here.

Tyr was silent, his dark brown eyes untrusting. His silence encouraged Balder to go on. "Flame hair," he addressed me. "What is your title?" My mind went blank. What . . . exactly, was a title? My title? Did I even have a . . . oh. I got it seconds after he had spoken. My name, of course.

"Um, Riley," I answered timidly.

"Um-Riley, it is my pleasure to meet you. Come, we shall take you to the grand tower and send word to our king. He shall determine what is to become of you," he said in a familiar accent much like the man who had rescued me before. I thought about asking Balder about it, but was swung off my feet and carried down the mountain like a plaything instead. I tried not to gawk at the broad sword strapped over Balder's shoulder that appeared to be much wider than my own hand as I was being carried down the mountain side. But it was insanely difficult.

Mostly, I just tried to be calm and not afraid. I silently told myself to relax, asking the worst question I possibly could. What could possibly go wrong?

{Thanks for reading! I'd love a review! :D}