Chapter Two- Two years later

I walked home from school slowing my pace as to get to home slower. Had it been four years ago, I would have been jogging as to get home quicker. This year however I would probably be beaten for getting home so slowly but I used this time to think. Thankfully I could walk without a brace now. A doctor had broken it and set it right so now I didn't need a brace.

My stepdads' name was Maurice and he would administer the beating probably I reasoned. I sure hoped that he wouldn't have company over. My stepdad had been nice for the first minute he had been married. Then his true colors had showed through. He was a smoker and the acrid smoke always drove me outside in the summer.

He was also as he put it "the best poker player in the world" the first time he had mentioned this fact I have a fuzzy memory of laughing so hard I nearly fell off the deck of the second floor, then having something hit me in the back of the head and me actually falling off the deck. I was in the hospital for a month or two.

I got home and was able to slip inside without him noticing. I was in my room reading when my mom called me to come dump the garbage. I walked out of my room and was about to tie the top of the bag closed when I saw something glimmer in the bag. I pulled it out and saw that it was the ring my mom usually wore. The golden band with a crystal and a snowflake embedded into it.

I took the garbage out while hiding the ring in my pocket. After that was done I walked inside and asked my mom why she had thrown away her ring. "Oh that worthless piece of metal you can have it. I don't want it I have this instead." She told me while flaunting a bland golden ring. My blood boiled and I stomped back to my room. I threw all my school books out of my backpack and ran to my dresser, tears blurring everything.

I threw some clothes in my backpack along with a jar full of my life's savings and a bike lock. I belted on my sheath knife, and sneaked out into the kitchen and stole some food and water bottles and filled them with water. I was about to go outside when a hand grabbed my shoulder.

I spun around and stared into my step dads eyes "Where are you going" he asked taking a step closer rubbing me with his pot belly. I decided to do something I had never done before. I hit him with everything had in me. He flopped over onto the floor rubbing his jaw barely conscious.

I opened the door and ran outside into the fresh summer air. I took the tarp off of my motorcycle and started it up I grabbed a can of gas, strapped it to the end of the motorcycle put on a helmet on and rode off.

I tried not to attract the attention of people but a motorcycle isn't really a stealth machine I tried to look older and it seemed to work. But I have to admit navigating the streets of Chicago was tricky. I nearly ran over multiple people and thankfully most of them seemed to take me nearly running them over as normality.

After an hour my fingers were numb and I was about to pull into an alley when I heard the scream of a police car and I immediately pulled over into an alley as was my plan before I heard the siren.

I cut the motor and got off the bike and had my helmet on the handle bars as a cop car rolled past. I took out my moms ring now mine and slipped it onto my left hand ring finger. The gold felt cold as if it had been in a fridge for the past two hours.

I relaxed and got out the jar that held my life's savings. I opened the jar and gazed into it. My savings must have held at least two hundred dollars in cash and at lest ten more in coin. I set the jar into my backpack. Then wheeled my motorcycle to one of the bike racks and chained it to the bike rack.

I shouldered my backpack and walked away from the bike rack after grabbing a map from one of those tourist places that was near the bike rack. I took a short cut through an alley to get to a Winco food department when I became conscious of footsteps behind me.

I turned around and found a knife at my throat. "Give me your money" a scrawny kid that looked a couple years older than me said while pointing the knife at my throat. I grabbed my backpack down from my shoulders and made as if to give him something when I swung my backpack at his head and hit him solidly on the head.

A crack erupted from my backpack and I guessed that the jar had broken. The kid woozily took a few steps backwards then fell heavily onto what would have been cement had I not thrown my backpack under his head. I stepped forward and took my backpack from under his head.

I zipped open my backpack and was met by a backpack full of glass shards, after I had removed the glass shards, by emptying the backpack, then shaking it around. I filled it back up with the money from the jar. Finally my backpack was clean.

I heard a groan. I spun around the kid held his knife ready. But his other hand was clutching his skull where the jar had hit him. I could see a blotchy bruise starting. I winced not from the knife now poking me in the neck but from a close up picture of the now bleeding blotchy bruise on this kid's skull right above his ear.

"You just don't give up kid do you?" I asked him while backing out of the alley. Quick as a cat something flashed down behind me. I ducked as the kid jabbed at my neck and was clubbed by a brass ball.

I spun around as two lithe forms dropped down from the rooftops. I faced them but when swords appeared in their hands I started backing up. These weren't odds I liked. "Good you found him." A voice said from the roof tops. Another shape hurtled down from the rooftops.

I had no choice but to put my back to the wall and face all three of them. "If it is money you guys want I'll give you money." I said while trying to go chameleon watching all three of the people, one girl and two boys.

"What will we do with the mortal Gracie" asked one of the boys while fingering his sword. I glanced over at the girl now kneeling by the first kid who tried to kill me. "Don't call me Gracie Chris ok its' Grace and how am I suppose to know what to do he can obviously see through the fogg it's not like I have a book that tells me how to act in every situation in fact you two decide" Grace said exasperated.

"If it's all right with you people I'll be going." I made a dash for the way I got into this mess. A sword blocked my path. "Not so fast mortal, we got to decide what to do with you. I vote we kill him" the one that's name wasn't Chris said taking an experimental swing with his sword. "I'm not sure" Chris said unconsciously chewing his lip. I slowly reached for my knife to find that it wasn't there.

I looked over at Grace to find her throwing my knife up and catching it between her fingers. "I mean he could be our link to the world. You haven't done any thing wrong in Chicago have you?" I shook my head and he continued, "We're running low on food right now, and we could offer to spare his life if he will be our link to the outside world" he finished and I spoke up "If we're taking a vote, I'm with him" I nodded toward Chris. "Oh we're taking a vote alright but you aren't a member so you can't vote." "Come on Cam he has a right to vote it's his life" Chris said and grabbed my backpack from where it had been lying and rummaged through it.

I stepped forward and grabbed it as he put a fist up in the air and yelled in exaltation. "Boo-ya" he was about to grab something when I took my backpack from him and took out some food I had packed. Namely a candy bar and ate that. I then took out a water bottle and drank some of it. Meanwhile the gang or however you would put it, were still discussing my fate.

I decided to help fate a little. I took a step towards the entrance of the alley they didn't notice. I took another I then took a series of steps towards the entrance. Nothing, I then ran to the entrance.

One of the gang members Chris noticed me gone and I was still close enough to here the comment. "Well if we're going to do any thing to him we might as well start an exercise program" the two other people looked at where I had been and where I was now. I tripped on a glass bottle and needless to say I was caught and brought back to the alley. I didn't struggle because that person I had knocked out had a knife near my throat.

After they had dragged me back into the alley they continued the heated discussion of what should happen to me. I noticed some clouds were gathering. I took off my backpack and found a hat in it and put it on. Finally the discussion stopped and Chris wasn't looking at me. Cam took his sword out. "I'm going to enjoy this." He said raising his sword above my heart. I noticed that his words echoed mysteriously and that I couldn't hear any normal traffic noises.

He thrust and I jerked to one side. His sword sliced where my heart had been. I swung my right arm then my left as a chilling howl cut through the air. My right arm was blocked but my left collided with his head. Now remember that my ring was on my left hand. So as you would imagine it hurt. The other three however were looking behind me. I was way to busy with a sword wielding maniac who was after me.

"He working for them" Cam shouted "Who are them" I asked dodging around another sword strike. I tripped. Well that's it, I thought someone screamed. It might have been me. Cam glanced up, and was hit by a dog the size of a tank. With Cam distracted I could look at the threat.

Ten dogs the same size as the one that had taken down Cam were galloping or running I don't know which following them was five other giants ten feet tall easily probably closer to eleven or twelve and a quarter of that wide. The weirdest part was that they were blue not the dogs but the giants, their skin was light blue.

The four other people were busy fighting for their lives. I was about to run and forget about them. When a scream came from the small group of people, Chris was caught by a dog and was being dragged out of the knot of people. I felt something that was new, courage. I have always been a small, shy person who never picked a fight or won them when I was caught inside them. "Catch" Grace yelled and threw my knife at me. I barely caught it.

I ran towards the dog that was dragging Chris by the leg. I slashed its back but I might as well been attacking a brick wall with a paper knife. Nothing happened. I clambered up onto the dogs' back and jumped. It got the dog's attention and Chris was able to stab it with his sword.

It started to snow first lightly but it was getting worse every second. A lighting bolt came from the sky and zapped a giant to ash while snow whirled around me. I probably should have felt cold but I didn't. The temperature dropped as well as the light.

A howl echoed from behind me. I turned just in time to see the four weirdoes that had tried to kill me disappear up a gutter. I ran from the alley into one next to it. I yelled "Help" at the top of my lungs, as I came face to face with another dog.

I must have said something or pressed something on the ring because my ring became heavy and expanded into a shield as a sword appeared in my hand except that it had an ice blade. The dog before me had time for a whimper before it turned into an ice statue, by a touch of the sword.

I kept running. I glanced behind me and saw a dog round the corner and charge after me. I spun a 360 and in doing so threw my shield at the dog. The shield plunged a furrow into the now couple of inches of snow and expanded into a wall of ice that filled the alley.

The dog didn't come through for a second, and I breathed a sigh of relief. Then it broke the wall of ice. I dodged a couple of ice shards but one caught me on my cheek. I felt the weight of my ring\shield return. Now that it was in front of me I could see what I looked like the dog looked like a slimy, lizard dog.

The dog crouched down and prepared to jump, it didn't get the chance. A sword appeared in its neck. The dog sank down into the snow. The storm broke up and sunshine streamed onto the fresh snow.

"Whew, for a second I thought my aim was off." Chris said dropping from the roof of a house next to me. I looked at where the dog had slumped into the snow to find instead of the dog a whistle and a black stain. The whistle was black and in the center of the stain and when I picked it up it was frozen and felt like it weighed five pounds.

The three other people who had previously tried to kill me slipped down from the rooftops. I looked at my shield. It had a snowflake that was constantly changing shape emblazoned on it. I pressed the center of the snowflake and my sword disappeared while my shield shrunk into my ring.

They all looked at the ring in wonder. "Where did you get that" asked Grace, Chris and Cam at the same time. "Did you practice that?" I asked impressed. "No, and seriously where did you get that ring" asked Grace "My mom" I called over my shoulder. I walked out of the alley.

I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around "What's with you guys one moment you're trying to kill me the next you goggling over my ring" the three of them looked ashamed\embarrassed. I spun around and got clubbed over the head.