Chapter-1
A New Batch of Victi- Er, I mean Heroes.
Where to start...
I guess with Me.
The names McDwyer, Delvin McDwyer. My friends call me Del, like the computer. You've probably heard this story before, kid realises they have powers, become the mary/gary sue of the camp and save the day.
Except for me...
I'd try to explain, but I think it's better if I show you.
I was thirteen when it happened, and honestly I'm not sure if it was a blessing or a curse. I missed so much school the first time I went there...
But it got me out of math, so that's a plus.
I could do about as well as expected for kids like me. I had always been a smart kid, got decent grades, but was never really a good student.
I got picked on a lot, couldn't pay attention in class, talked back to teachers. I caused a lot of incidents when I snapped at whoever was picking on me, but I always seemed to be the one in trouble.
Though I was never formally diagnosed, the symptoms of ADHD were there. I think my mom wasn't too fond of being the parent of an ADHD kid so she skipped that part. She decided I didn't have it, even when my teachers brought it up.
I'm getting off track.
The point is, I, much like many of you, started seeing and hearing a few things that weren't quite normal.
After a few near death experiences and "maliciously" attacking a kid who I thought attacked me first, my mom started homeschooling me.
It was probably smart on her end, she took me out of the public eye at about twelve, right when monsters start smelling you.
That's how I met my friend Nicholas.
He was a good guy, but a bit of an outcast, which is probably why we got along so well. He was a tall, skinny kid with a dirty-blonde, mini-afro on his head. He always walked a little funny, so he sat out most of recess, but I tried to talk to him as often as I could.
I went to this place called a Co-op, basically just a smaller, public school for homeschooled kids. We had pretty much everything they did, except we only had about a hundred kids total.
During lunch one afternoon, I found Nick sitting on the stage, staring aimlessly into the crowd of first graders at the front of the gym.
"Hey man, you okay?"
He jumped in surprise and zeroed in on me.
"Oh uh, yeah! Yeah, yep. I'm good."
I resisted the urge to laugh, Nick was always jumpy but today he looked... worried. Like something had spooked him and he was still recovering.
I did my best to put the thought aside, no reason to freak him out more. "You still have chess after this?" I asked, rummaging around in my lunch for a gogurt. I was eighty percent sure I saw mom throw one in my box today, and I definitely wasn't gonna pass that up.
"Oh yeah, y-you know me!"
He looked like he was sweating, and his eyes kept flitting around the room like he was looking for someone.
"Dude."
"W-what?"
"Something's up."
He pretended to be surprised, but the poor guy couldn't lie to save his life.
"N-no it's not! I'm just hungry is all!"
I pointed at his lunch bag, which was sitting next to him, unopened.
"You mean for the food you haven't touched?"
His big, brown eyes went wide.
"Uh."
"C'mon man, you can tell me."
I thought maybe I had pulled through, he looked around for moment, seemingly pondering his options.
"Okay but... Listen, it's only beca-!"
He never got the chance to finish. As he leaned in to tell me about whatever he was freaking out about, the big, roll-up doors to the gym rattled.
Loud.
All the activity stopped, and everyone in the room stared at them in silence. No one moved, and no one breathed.
*BOOM*BOOM*
The group of little kids burst into chaos, screaming and running around. The few parents and staff we had milling about flew into a panic and tried to herd the little ones away from the doors.
I turned back to Nick but he was already up, shoving things into his backpack.
"Dude! What are you doing?"
He didn't even look up, but responded.
"We have to go!! Get your stuff and let's go!"
"But we have dodgeball today!"
"COME ON DEL!"
He grabbed my arm and yanked me along. He wasn't very big, but he was tall, and his reach extended a few inches past mine.
He pulled me along the edge of the gymnasium, past rows of plastic seats and tables. Everyone was focusing on the screaming kids and paranormal door activity, so Nick somehow lead me past the lot of them, unnoticed. We ducked into a side hallway, lined with doors that lead to an EXIT sign at the far end. I stopped him as we turned into the space "Bro! Tell me what's going on!"
He was starting to freak me out, and I didn't like being lead around like a lost puppy.
Nick bounced from foot to foot frantically, "I don't have time to explain! We need to get out of here before they find you!"
My skin crawled at that last line. "They?!" I sputtered, "Who's they?!"
As if on cue, the door at the end of the hallway burst open like it had been hit with a cannon. Shards of metal and wood flew everywhere and the door itself skidded to a stop on the floor. Where the door used to be, a layer of smoke obscured what was standing in its place.
My heart pounded as the looming figure stepped through the frame, and I could just barely see glowing, yellow eyes through the haze.
Nick shoved me into a side room and closed the door, breathing heavy.
"Oh no, oh gods, they're here..." He hissed, bracing his back against the doorway.
I was about to lose my mind, I was so nervous my hands were shaking. Something was after us, something bad, and now Nick was talking like a video game character.
"Nick... w-what is that?"
His eyes were wide as he shook his head, like he wouldn't dare speak of it. What I thought was the sound of water running came closer to our door, something dragging itself along the carpet in tandem.
Slithering.
I swallowed as we cowered behind the door, sweating nervously and listening.
A raspy, female voice broke the sound of muffled panic.
"Hmm... They mussssst be here, the ssscent isss ssstrong." A second, nearly identical one joined it.
"Keep looking sssister, the massster will not be pleasssed..."
Nick was shaking, and covered his mouth. Whatever was out there was looking for someone, and they weren't keen on giving up either.
The voices moved off towards the sound of people a few rooms over, and I finally let my breath go. "Uh, do we have a plan?" I asked, turning to Nick.
He looked like he was gonna have a heart attack, pale, sweating and shaking. "I-I don't kn-know..."
Well... great, I guess it was up to me. The guy with literally no idea what was going on.
Once I was sure I couldn't hear the slithering noises, I peeked my head into the hallway.
Silence.
"C'mon dude..." I whispered, gesturing for him to follow me. Nick seemed reluctant, but sniffled and followed close behind. I crept towards the open door, thinking maybe we could sneak around the side of the building.
Then someone screamed.
My body tingled, and something came over me. I'd never been the kind of guy to get involved in trouble, but I couldn't help myself. Someone needed help, and I felt like they needed it because of me.
I turned to run back down the corridor, but Nick grabbed my arm.
"What are you doing?!" He hissed, glancing around.
"Someone needs our help! I'm not just gonna sit here while those things attack a bunch of little kids!"
Nick wasn't happy about it, I could tell that much. He was too shy to stand up for himself, let alone other students. I know I said I tried to stay out of trouble, but that never really worked out, and I ended up getting into fights because of bullies, Nick or both.
I shrugged him off and sprinted down the hallway, classrooms flying by me.
It felt good to run in the halls.
I hung a hard left, swerving back into the gym and spying what must have been the weirdest thing I'd ever seen.
The thing with the eyes was now fully visible, and that wasn't good. It looked like a wonder-woman knockoff and a snake had a baby, with her grecian armor, scaly skin and snake-trunks for legs.
She stood near the back, cornering a group of kindergartners and a brave but feeble teacher. The woman looked terrified, but had placed herself between the snake-lady and the kids.
The monster hefted her trident and net, speaking in the same voice I heard before.
"Give usss the child mortal, and your death will be ssswift."
She stood her ground, but I knew she wouldn't last long. Her knees were shaking, and she couldn't have been younger than fifty.
Time to do something stupid.
"Hey!"
Well, the good news was, it worked.
But as for bad news, maybe a little too well.
The snake-thing turned, fixing me in her yellow, reptilian gaze.
"Mmm, hello child. Come to play?" She hissed, a forked tongue flicking between her teeth.
"Oh uh, I, not really?"
I started backing away, hoping to at least draw it away from the kids. Anaconda approached me slowly, swinging the trident in one hand. I could see Nick creeping around behind her, carting the others out of the building.
At least I wouldn't die in vain.
Snake lady caught me by surprise, and rushed forward, knocking plastic tables and chairs over as she went. I panicked and darted the other way as the trident impaled itself in the wall, inches from my head.
My scream was more of a girlish squeal as I scrambled into the adjacent hallway, desperately trying to put some distance between me and The Geico Gecko.
I took off down the corridor, stumbling past open doors and shooing other students away. I could hear her coming, hissing and whirling her net.
My only advantage was my size, I was quick for a thirteen year old, years of running from jerks had taught me that. I could duck and dodge where she had to plow through the hallway.
But her weapon didn't.
Something caught my heel and I faceplanted on the hard carpet, both of my legs trapped.
The net was shimmering, like it was made of gold, and was extremely heavy.
I was sure it was the end.
She advanced slowly, hissing in some sort of mock laughter.
"Sssuch a ssstrong boy, a ssshame I have to kill you."
I struggled with the net, but it wouldn't budge, my legs were tangled up and it was weighted down.
She raised her trident, it's prongs pointed right at my chest, as she prepared to strike. I swallowed nervously, and I prayed to whoever would listen.
"Please just help these people get out..."
Snake lady grinned a macabre smile,
"Die Godling!"
I gritted my teeth, waiting for her to turn me into a shishkebab.
It never came.
The door to the hall slammed open, and one of the snake women fell backwards into the hallway. She looked up just in time for a flying spear to hit her in the chest, and she turned into a glitter bomb. Yellow powder exploded across the walls, leaving a pile of the stuff where she used to be.
A girl my age stepped through the door, and I had to focus to make sure I wasn't imagining things.
She was tall for a girl, almost as tall as me, and was built like an Olympic athlete. Strong, fast and fit. Her face was shockingly pretty, with golden blonde hair pulled back into braids that made her look like a viking.
That wasn't the only thing either.
She marched in, hefting her shield and retrieving her spear from the pile of dust. She turned an intimidating glare on Snake Lady number two.
"Stand down reptile."
Her accent was different, maybe German.
I was too in shock to respond, but the monster above me hissed and backed up a few feet.
"Daughter of War, you are thorn in our masssters ssside."
The girl stood strong, pointing her spear over her shield.
"And a thorn I will remain, beast."
I took this as my chance, trying to crawl away from the snake chick, but no such luck. As I crept, I felt a tingle on the back of my neck, and looked up just in time to see the butt of her trident smack me between the eyes.
My head reeled in shock as a wave of pain exploded across my forehead, a hot spike throbbing deep into my brain.
I could barely see, my vision blurred, but I could just make out the mystery girl. Her fuzzy silhouette leapt at the snake woman, stabbing and whirling her spear.
I could feel my consciousness slipping, and my senses were starting to dull, but the blonde girl fought on. She knocked the trident aside with her shield and leapt off the snake trunks like a catapult, kicking the thing in the side of its head. It shrieked and rolled over, both of it's weapons gone. It slowly crawled backward as spear girl approached calmly.
"You cannot win godling!" She roared, "He will best your filthy camp! The universe will be cleansed!"
The girl leveled her spear,
"And I will take them, just as I have taken you."
With a thrust of her spear, the snake was gone, now just a puff of yellow powder.
She turned towards me as my vision started to fade and she snorted.
"This is supposed to be him?"
With that rather rude comment, I blacked out, and I couldn't help but shake the feeling she wasn't here for the monsters.