Chapter 4- I didn't know that monsters from my nightmares provided travel service!
Alia's internal compass started going wild, and her vision started to darken. When she came to, there seemed to be moist sand under her feet. The sound of lapping waves came from behind her. She opened her eyes to find herself on a beach. It was beautiful, the pink and orange sky reflecting on the cool blue water, smooth as glass. The sand was fine and felt cold on her toes. She looked to her right to see a sign. It said: "Welcome to Kirk Park Beach: Montauk, Long Island". It actually worked. Alia had never intentionally transported until then. All she had to do was find the strawberry farm that might be nearby. Having nothing else to do, she trotted off.
As Alia wandered on the streets, anticipation bubbled within her. She couldn't tell whether she was scared or excited. There was no telling what was waiting for her if she ever found the strawberry farm. Would it be a dragon that could spit out fire? Would it be a ghost that could tell the future? Having no social life had given Alia plenty of time to expand her imagination. Maybe it didn't have to be imagination though. After all that had happened, she wouldn't be surprised if she saw an elf casually strolling down the road.
Maybe this whole thing was a prank. In school, all the kids picked on her and played jokes on her. Alia had never thought teachers could be so cruel though. She supposed it was possible. Over time, she had learned not to trust the saying that implied that adults were noble. They indeed were not.
There was no better option. It was either this or go home and be smacked by her mom. At least there was a chance for excitement and escape. Besides, she still had bruises from the last encounter with Mrs. Lee.
All right. Alia thought. Let's go.
She hadn't been walking for long, when she had heard a low growl behind her. Startled, Alia glanced back. After scanning the area, she couldn't find anything suspicious. It was probably a trick of the mind. She was about to turn her head back, when a large figure appeared out of thin air.
The tail was thin with a bunch of fur at the end. Muscle made up the back legs. It's body was covered in golden fur, glistening under the orange of the sunset. At first, Alia thought it was a lion. She was about 50% correct. The only reason it wasn't a lion was because it had talons instead of claws, long and skinny twigs instead of regular upper arms, and huge white wings extending from it's back. Oh yeah, and it had the head of an eagle. How did she know? Maybe the sharp beak and feathers gave it away.
Alia stared at it in horror for a few seconds, trying to process it all. She was too shocked to scream.
Oh great. She thought. More weirdness. As if I hadn't had enough of that for one day. As strange as it was, the thing looked familiar to Alia. She could figure that out later. At that moment, running away was wiser that gaping at the creature, mouth wide open. So that's exactly what she did.
Still staring at the… thing, she took off as quick as lightning. It started running after her, running with incredible speed. As Alia sprinted as quickly as she could away from the beast, she couldn't help noticing that the people around her didn't seem frightened at all. In fact, they were just rolling their eyes and pointing. Maybe they were thinking,
Look at this girl. Being chased around by a lion-eagle freak thing. So irresponsible.
Alia knew she shouldn't have been thinking about that, but her ADHD always caused her to notice the little things instead of the big picture. Also, she had learned over the years that the big picture is not always pretty.
She was staring at the massive creature running after her and everyone else on the street, not paying attention on the road in front of her. Her foot caught on a crevice in the road, and the wind was whisked from her lungs as she fell onto the pavement. Her body slammed against the ground with a painful thud. A sharp pang of pain traveled throughout her side. Frantically, she turned on her back, panting hard. The eagle-lion freak thing bent over her, it's mouth wide open. It's beak was razor sharp, and it's breath smelled like… pickles? Getting slaughtered by this beast wasn't the last thing one would want to experience.
Idiot! Use your teleportation powers!
Alia forgot that she could use her power for intentional purposes since it had only happened once. She wanted to go back home, even if it meant getting beaten by her mom. With all her might, Alia concentrated and tried to go back to her house, but her power seemed worn out. Trying to teleport again made her more tired than she already was. The beast was getting closer, closer still. Alia was already thinking about how lonely her funeral service would be. Her mom would probably just dig her up in the backyard. Alia squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the worst, when the creature nudged her with its beak. Slowly, Alia opened her eyes. The thing had its head lowered. Alia reached out tentatively and pat it's head. It started… purring. The beast turned around and flapped its wings a bit. Still shell-shocked and completely freaked out, the gears in Alia's head managed to turn. Did it… want to give her a ride? It's wing flapped again. Alia thought,
You know? Things couldn't be worse than they already are. Might as well hop onto the back of a winged half-eagle half-lion freak show that was chasing me earlier, and let it take me wherever it wants, completely blind of the destination. Ugh… What has my life come to?
She stood up and hopped on the thing, a pang in her side where she fell. Sweat was wetting her face and her breaths came in short, shallow puffs.
"Please don't take me to a cave and have me for dinner, ok Mr. Beast Thingy?" Alia whimpered.
Obviously, no response from Mr. Beast Thingy. It just stomped it's back paws and took off, soaring into the pink sky.