So, Chapter 3 is here.

I planned to combine this chapter with the next, but it was getting too long lol. I also plan on introducing Luna's twin brother Archer soon, I'm hoping for chapter 5.

If you find any spelling or grammar errors please feel free to inform me.

Chapter 3 - This Is Where The Fun Begins:

Dove

I had just left the dining hall after dinner, puzzled over the fact that I hadn't seen Luna or Dylan for a couple of hours now. It honestly was worrying.

See, Luna and I shared a dorm room.

Perhaps not the best arrangement. Since Luna wasn't a morning person and I was easy to aggravate before I had a cup of coffee.

Yes, I'm aware that a twelve-year-old shouldn't be drinking coffee. But unfortunately, since I first tried it the year before, I've been hooked on the drink.

Luna and I had quickly realized that we shouldn't interact with one another in the first week of school. At least not until either I had my coffee or she had already been up for an hour. It had taken us a month before we figured this out and actually could stand one another. We became friends shortly after and quickly grew very close.

We had each other's backs. And Dylan, of course, was Luna's little tag along.

I don't think I started to view Dylan as a friend until after the first quarter of school. Of course, I still call him her tag along so I could get on his nerves.

It was fun to try and annoy him.

Anyways, I had just left the dining hall when it happened.

And by it. I mean the typical occurrence that happened at the very least, once a day.

"Hey, midget!"

I barely had time to register the owner of the voice before I felt my hair getting yanked.

"Ow! Cut it out!"

My pleas, as per usual, fell on deaf ears. I was dragged by my hair away from the route I was taking and back towards the gym.

In hindsight, it was kinda cliche.

I was forced into the girls' locker room and thrown headfirst into the wall of lockers.

I had put one hand out to try and catch myself but still ended up hitting my head. Of course, the trio behind me thought it was hilarious.

"A clutz now, are we Dovey?"

Tears welled in my eyes, and I breathed in two deep breaths before I turned to face the demon and her two followers.

...Actually...that's an insult to demons.

Sorry.

"What do you want?" My tone was devoid of emotion.

"Just saying hello."

The way Stacy said it was so fake and innocent that I nearly laughed.

"Where's you bodyguard, Dovey?" The dark-skinned girl - Jada - asked mockingly. "Did she finally figure out how useless you are?"

I stayed quiet.

Sticking up for myself would have been pointless. I would just get myself so worked up I would start crying, and if it got to the point where I needed to start throwing punches in self-defense?

It would come back to bite me.

I would be the one who started the fight. I would be the monster who attacked a girl who was minding her own business. And when her two 'friends' came to her aid?

I was the one who attacked them in a mindless rage.

Stacy had the teachers wrapped around her fingers.

...And had the bonus of being the principal's granddaughter.

Cliche, right?

It didn't matter that I was shorter than them. It didn't matter that I was alone and there were three against me.

And it wouldn't have mattered if I were to act in self-defense.

It only mattered that the principles 'precious' granddaughter had a black eye and was crying about how she and her friends were attacked by the insane girl.

Trust me.

I knew how this would play out because that's what happened earlier in the year.

Stacy has been out for me since I 'injured her pride' during the first two weeks of school. She had approached me all friendly and asked if I wanted to join her group.

I declined. So, Stacy made a threat or two.

...or three...

I still refused because she's a fake piece of...

Nevermind.

Anyway, I refused and made a side comment that she happened to take offense to. And my comment may have been made in a crowded area that several people overheard.

And several people may have laughed.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" Savannah - the Latina of the group- pouted mockingly.

"No more than it did your face," I mumbled under my breath.

The backhand that greeted my face told me that was the wrong thing to say.

"Didn't mommy teach you any manners?" Stacy asked in that fake innocent tone of hers.

But the tilted head and innocent smile she wore soon morphed into a glare and a smirk.

"Oh, wait."

The sinking feeling in my stomach made me realize what was coming next.

Stacy lived in the wealthier part of town, and due to her grandfather's job, she always attended Edgewood Academy. I lived at the edge of that area but have been in the public schools since pre-k.

We still have lived in the same town our whole lives, though. So it would have been difficult for Stacy not to know. It was in the town paper, after all.

I'm just amazed that she remembered the incident three years later. In fact, I'm even more surprised that she figured out I was her daughter.

...Granted, Derosiers wasn't the most common name in town. However, Stacy wasn't the brightest light on the Christmas tree, so I felt justified in my surprise.

I guess some stereotypes ring true, at least in Stacy's case.

I felt Savannah grab the top of my hair. She forced me to look at the group and had the bonus of hitting the back of my head on the locker behind me.

"Mommy can't teach you anything anymore, can she?"

"Left you all alone, did she, Dovey?" Savannah followed.

Savannah had let go of my hair, so I was looking at the ground now, trying to fight back the tears and reign in my temper.

But of course, Jada had to drive it home.

"She probably crashed on purpose."

I snapped.

I let out a scream, tears streaming down my face, and started charging at the laughing trio. I felt some wicked sense of joy when they shrieked in fear.

I was about to tackle Stacy to the ground when I was grabbed by my right arm. I tried to break free, but the grip only tightened.

I heard speaking but couldn't make out what they were saying or who the voice belonged to.

Stacy, Savannah, and Jada all turned around and ran out of the room. The person who had a death grip on my bicep attempted to get me to look at them. I wouldn't do so though, I was still trying to chase after Stacy, to smash her face in.

Eventually, the person gave up trying to get my attention and pulled me close to them. Hugging me from behind.

I don't know how long it took me to stop trying to escape. But eventually, I just stood there crying.

The person tentatively let go of me, moving slowly in case I tried to chase my tormenters.

I turned to face whoever had been hugging me, wiping my eyes, and an apology and word of thanks ready to leave my mouth. But when I saw who it was, the sentence died on my tongue.

I had stepped into a Twilight Zone.

That was the only explanation. Because the light blue eyes that were staring into mine belonged to Charlotte Rose.

"You're supposed to be gone for the day."

It was rude, but the only thing I could think of saying.

My words caused her to twitch with annoyance.

"I forgot something in my locker."

She then leveled me with a deadpan.

"You should be grateful that I did. I just saved you a one-way ticket to juvie."

I crossed my arms over my chest and scowled at her.

"I didn't ask for your help."

Then I blinked at her in surprise.

"Why did you help me anyway?"

Charlotte didn't answer. Instead, she walked past me and to her gym locker. Opening it and pulling out a mini silver duffel bag. I vaguely recognized its design as similar to the World War 2 military duffel bag my grandfather inherited from my great-grandfather.

I also then realized that she was no longer wearing the blue jeans and black t-shirt with a picture of a rose that I had seen her wearing earlier in the day. Charlotte was now wearing a pair of camo pants and a silver fleece jacket.

"I didn't ask for your help." I reminded her.

She ignored me as she opened the drawstring on the top and placed something inside.

"As a matter of fact, you don't even talk to me. Why stop me?"

She closed the bag, swung it over her shoulder, and walked up to me, looking at me emotionlessly.

"I'm walking you to your dorm." The tone left no room for argument.

So reluctantly, I found myself being escorted to my room. By one of the last people, I would have ever guessed.

We had just reached room 318 in the girl's dorm when the teacher in charge of the dorm, a home-ec teacher by the name of Ms. Swan, rounded the corner.

Ms. Swan was in her late twenties or early thirties. She had ivory skin, lightly curled blonde hair that went to her mid-back, and her eyes often switched between different shades of blue and green.

"Dove, perfect timing. I was just coming to find you."

Her voice reminded me of a bell. It was a bit high-pitched but crystal clear and harmonious.

Ms. Swan turned her attention to Charlotte, her eyes narrowing but her mouth twisting into an amused grin. The look itself wasn't very flattering, but somehow it didn't alter Ms. Swan's beauty.

"Miss Rose, how...intriguing...to find you here."

Ms. Swan and Charlotte then proceeded to begin a staring contest- or perhaps glaring would have been the better term. I was moving my gaze between the two. It was almost like I was watching a silent tennis match.

Did they not like each other?

I was getting a weird feeling from them. It felt like a strange mix of anger, betrayal, annoyance, and several others I couldn't place.

It was then that I noticed that the two of them had similar facial features. They had the same eye shape and sharp cheekbones, but Charlotte's cheekbones were less defined due to her young age.

They could easily pass for sisters.

Both were very pretty, though Charlotte seemed more like she wasn't trying. In fact, when I thought back to every time I saw her, it seemed more like she was trying to downplay her looks. She often wore lazy day clothes or clothes that were a bit more loose-fitting.

Ms. Swan wore clothes a bit more form-fitting, nothing inappropriate. But she obviously was aware of how gorgeous she was and had no problems embracing it.

"Umm...you were looking for me, Ms. Swan?"

I pulled the teacher's attention away from Charlotte, and her strange expression melted into a softer one.

"Yes. You see, I just received word from the head nurse. It seems your roommate will be spending the night in her office."

Her attention shifted back to Charlotte, her face taking on the strange look again.

"It seems Luna had gotten a migraine."

A migraine?

Sure, Luna got them often enough during the school year, but never bad enough to spend the night in the Nurse's Office.

I thanked Ms. Swan for the information and absent-mindedly said good night to both of them, disappearing into my room.

"What are you doing here, Cali?"

I vaguely heard Charlotte as she asked, but I wasn't paying attention to anything else.

Luna

I had a weird dream.

Or at least I think I did.

I couldn't remember seeing what was in it, only that I was hearing people screaming and crying. Most were begging for help.

One, in particular, a males voice, was calling my name. He was telling me to run, to getaway.

That they were coming.

But I had no idea who they were.

I opened my eyes with a grunt. The lights were off, only the light from the moon and a flashlight to my left. I glanced towards the artificial light and saw Dylan lying on top of the sheets of a bed. Dylan was in his boxers and a sleep shirt, holding a flashlight nestled between his right shoulder and neck.

It must have been uncomfortable.

He was reading a comic, from the looks of it: Aquaman.

"This isn't my dorm."

My voice was hoarse, so there was a crack or two when I spoke.

Dylan's head turned to me so fash, I was sure he got whiplash. He dropped the comic and flashlight, practically lept over the entire distance between the two beds.

He was standing at my bedside, face lit up like- you guessed it- a puppy.

"Your up!"

I swear if he had a tail, it would be wagging.

I slowly pushed myself up from the bed, my right hand going immediately to hold my head. I hissed at the pain.

"Here."

Two pills were pushed into my face. I grabbed them and popped them into my mouth, immediately followed by half the glass of water Dylan handed me next.

"Thanks. Now, where are we?"

"Nurses' office."

He proceeded to fill me in on what I had missed. His face scrunched in disgust when he said Mr. Jacobs' name and took on a worried look when he told me what he overheard between Mr. Nilsen and Ms. Barbara.

"For starters, I wanna watch them kill the creep. Secondly, are you sure I have anything to do with this 'mission'? Third, why do I have a protector? Forth, if what you said is true, remind me to thank Mr. Nilsen for knocking me out."

"Luna, take this seriously. How do we know we can trust them?"

"Have they ever given us reason to doubt them?"

"No. But that doesn't mean Mr. Nilsen or Ms. Barbara isn't dangerous!"

I knocked my head back and sighed. I changed my gaze to look out the window. I could see the moon in the corner of the window.

It looked like a full moon tonight.

"Dylan, have I ever been wrong about people?"

"Well, no. But-"

"Mr. Snyder in the apartment above you."

"Luna-"

"That random guy at the park in fourth grade."

"Yea, but-"

"Mr. and Mrs. Fuller from across the hall."

"I don't know how you knew that."

"The Campos brothers from P.S. 34."

"True. Still-"

"The pig your mom-"

"Ok! Ok! You made your point."

"May I remind you I only passed by him once. And I still pulled you aside the next day."

Now Dylan looked annoyed.

"I said you made your point," he grumbled.

I was still looking out the window, this time at the forest.

I don't know what those things were, but I never wanna see them again.

I doubt Dylan could read my mind. But either way, the air in the room still got heavy. From the corner of my eye, I saw his face shift from annoyance to fear.

"We could have died."

I didn't respond. My mind immediately took me back to the forest, and the face of the creature inches from my own. I could still smell both the creature and its breath. Rotten. Like a dead animal left decaying in the summer sun, during the hottest day. Its breath was putrid. Thinking back, I'm surprised I didn't vomit or gag.

My senses have always been sharp. I could hear things slightly further than others. Could smell stuff Dylan and Percy couldn't, to the point I was sensitive to the littlest foul smell.

"Why did you jump in front of me?"

I thought back to the look on Dylan's face. His constant beach tan had disappeared completely. The pupils of his eyes had become so engulfed in fear, he looked like a terrified animal.

Why did I jump in front of him?

It's not like I have a death wish. It's not like it would have changed anything.

Sure the wolf had shown up, but that would have happened anyway, right? That arrow would have still been fired, right?

I don't know why. But for some reason, I doubted it.

'Run Pup!'

I remembered the voice that had jumped into my head.

If I wasn't in front...

Would I have seen Dylan mauled to death?

"I don't know. My body moved on its own."

Liar

Dylan was studying my face, searching for something. I had no idea what, but I wasn't looking at him. My eyes were still trained out the window.

An uneasy feeling settled in my chest.

I was watching the forest. My eyes, scanning the trees with such concentration and intensity that I never felt before. I humorlessly thought that if I had this much concentration in class, I could jump to an A or B. Easily.

Danger

What?

Run

This was new. Words were popping into my head now. Did this near-death experience make me insane?

GET OUT OF THERE

It seems my wish wouldn't be granted.

There was a blur in the trees, and my eyes widened in realization.

In hindsight, it was impossible.

I shouldn't have known.

"They're coming." It was said in a whisper, but Dylan still looked alarmed.

"What?"

I heard that harsh guttural sound from earlier in the forest. It was closer than it had been then.

I bolted out of bed, nearly knocking Dylan off balance and onto his butt. My breathing started to pick up again, my eyes frantic in their search through the treeline.

I saw them pour out of the trees.

There were maybe ten or fifteen of them, no question. The things were all the same size, except for one. It seemed to only be a few inches taller.

That's the Alpha

The fact that my heart skipped a beat when I saw it solidified that statement.

...They were heading straight for the door Dylan and I used...

I'm not sure how I knew this, though.

Suddenly another voice blasted into my head. It was so loud that I stumbled forward and clutched my head.

'LUNA, GET OUT OF THERE NOW!'

I knew this voice.

I hadn't heard it in person for nearly four years, but I heard it practically every night when I went to sleep.

"Mama?"

It came out as a pained breath. Dylan looked at me strangely, like I had grown another head.

'RUN!'

My body moved on its own. I spun and grabbed Dylan's wrist again, dragging him out of the room, out of the office, and into the hall.

"What's wrong?"

"The one that was watching us. It's back and brought friends."

A curse escaped Dylan's mouth.

I don't think Dylan froze this time because suddenly, I wasn't dragging him anymore. He was keeping pace with me.

Dove

I stayed up until after lights out and even past the hour-long teacher patrol afterward. I was thankful that my roommate was a constant escape artist. Luna would constantly be out of the dorm past curfew, sometimes not returning until after one in the morning.

Luna was a night owl.

It was a little ironic because she hated the dark.

But she would stay up till odd hours of the night. Doing homework, playing music, playing video games. I try to go to sleep by maybe eleven at the latest, but with Luna still running around by then, I would keep waking up throughout the night.

I never said anything. Didn't have to. Luna suddenly started leaving the room around ten forty or eleven.

I don't think she ever caused trouble, but I never really did find out what she was doing.

She asked once if I wanted to join her. I had refused due to a test in the morning. She understood but told me if I wanted to pull an escape to check the journal in her top right desk drawer.

So that's what I did.

Unfortunately, I was stuck waiting 20 minutes by the exit to the dorms. Turns out Luna's little book didn't account for teachers sneaking into each other's rooms after the students go to sleep.

Lovely.

Luckily everything in the hall was PG-13.

I got out of the dorm foyer as soon as I could, rushing into the music wing and continuing past the auditorium and dining hall.

I was in the common area next to the dining hall, about to turn into the corridor leading to the school entrance, when I ran into them.

Luna crashed into me, practically knocking me over.

"The hell is that for?" I hissed.

I looked up to glare at her, about to go off on a rant, but the words died in my throat when I saw how pale she was.

"Dove?"

Dylan ran past us, stopping suddenly and backtracking to join the two of us. He was bouncing on his feet, looking back and forth between the way they came and Luna and me.

"Why aren't you in your dorm?" Dyan asked, panicking.

I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and I would bet I had a 'what the hell are you on?' look on my face.

"I was worried about Luna, so I snuck out to check on her."

I turned to said girl and narrowed my eyes at her.

"But I doubt if you had such a bad migraine, you would be running around the halls at eleven at night."

Dylan looked back down the hall they just exited from. When he spoke, his voice was laced in fear.

"Luna...we really should get moving..."

I directed my skeptical gaze back to Dylan.

What was wrong with him? He was oozing panic and fear. It was so bad that I started to get a little afraid myself.

He was also currently as white as a clown's makeup.

That thought had made me shiver involuntarily. Let it be known now...

I. Hate. Clowns.

I'm not afraid of them. I just hate clowns.

Pappy took me once to see the circus. The reason it was only once? Six-year-old me decided to run up to a clown and start attacking it.

And I mean full-blown screaming, punching, and biting.

Looking back, it was a miracle the guy didn't try and sue my family.

Getting back on track now.

Dylan was looking more panicked by the minute. Luna seemed to be turning the same the longer I was standing with them talking.

"What the hell is going on? Dil, you look like you've seen a ghost. Luna, why are the two of you running like your trying to escape your execution?"

Luna

I wasn't expecting to see Dove out so late, as she usually was asleep by now.

Dylan kept looking back down the hall we came out of. He was bouncing from leg to leg, obviously wanting to get back to running.

I could hear those things banging on the door, trying to get in the building.

"Luna, what's going on?"

Dove had a look on her face that was a weird mix of confusion, disbelief, and annoyance.

I didn't know what to say. What could I say?

'Hey, yeah, I'm sorry for worrying you. But right now, we're kind of being chased by a hoard of these weird zombie-like things that are trying to eat us.'

No matter how you looked at it, she wouldn't believe me.

And even if she did? I didn't want to drag my best friend into this mess!

Wasn't it bad enough Dylan had to go through this with me? Was I just supposed to let both of my best friends get dragged into this?

I was panicking, and I knew it. I could feel my chest tightening and my heart pounding, and to make things worse, I couldn't think.

Run

The random words didn't help. It only made me more confused, turning my mind into even more of a jumbled mess.

Getaway

I could smell the rotting scent now. It was far away- still by the stairway in the History wing. I wasn't sure how I could tell, but I was certain of it.

I felt my body involuntarily tense, a chill running down my spine.

I was about to finally answer Dove when she screamed.

"What the hell is that!?"

My head snapped to the hallway behind me.

The fog from the forest was now covering the corridor. It was light but gradually getting thicker.

"We need to go." Dylan's voice cracked.

By the nurse's office

My heart dropped into my stomach.

They were fast. Those things would be here any minute now, and we were just standing here like sitting ducks.

RUN

I grabbed Dove's wrist and bolted down the hall in front of me. Dylan was already on my heels, so I wasn't worried.

"Luna, what the hell!?" Dove shrieked.

We needed to get away from here.

The scent was more potent now, and the snarling was closer.

I knew we couldn't hide from those things. We would be sniffed out. I also knew we were on our own. That archer wasn't going to help us, and I was pretty sure that the wolf wasn't going to miraculously appear again.

What are we gonna do?

"WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT!?"

I nearly tripped from Dove's screech.

Have you ever been listening to music through your headphones? You have the volume set pretty low, but then you accidentally hit the volume button, so all of a sudden, the music blasts into your ears?

Yea? Well, multiply that by three, and you have a pretty good understanding of the volume of Dove's screech.

I was so rattled by the volume, that I didn't even bother commenting on the language.

I did, however, turn my head to look behind me.

Dove's face had completely drained of all color, and she had become complete deadweight.

Behind us, just turning into the hall before the commons, we're three of those things.

And Dove's screech caused them to look right at as.

She's slowing you down

I gritted my teeth and looked forward again.

'I'm not gonna leave her behind'

Then you'll die.

I closed my eyes for a second and took a deep breath -or as deep of a breath I could manage considering I was still running for my life.

"Dove," I called. "If you don't start running. The three of us will die. Then I will be kicking your ass for all eternity in whatever afterlife awaits us."

"But I'm too young to die."

I was about to respond that death waits for no one, and doesn't care about age.

But Dylan snapped at her in response.

"THEN RUN!"

That seemed to snap her out of it, as sure enough I was no longer pulling her along.

Up ahead of us three more hallways intersected, but I wasn't sure which way to go.

The one to the left led to another entrance to the dining hall and auditorium. The one straight ahead would lead to the pool, and the one to the right would lead to the sports teams club rooms.

However, all three halls had a branch off leading to the gym.

Go left

We were reaching the intersection. I was about to call out to the other two, but I heard the creatures get closer.

I spared a glance to my left.

One of the three had thrown itself at the wall like the one in the forest did to the tree.

It was probably the fact that I had already seen one use this move before, although it could have been the voice in my head.

DIVE

I reached out with both my arms and grabbed the wrists of my two friends. Jumping forward head first, I brought my friends down with me. We jumped just in time to avoid the ricocheting monster.

I let go of them as soon as we were in the clear, using my arms to cushion my head as I slid across the floor.

Dylan and Dove had both ended up in similar positions as me. Dove was a little bit to my right, almost next to me. But Dylan had fallen a few feet in front of us.

We all immediately rushed to our feet at the sound of more snarling.

The thing that ricocheted off the wall was standing in the center of the three hallways, separating me and my two friends.

The creature's two companions were quickly catching up.

Run

"Split up!" I called, backing up into the hallway behind me. "We'll meet at the front gym."

They didn't need to be told twice.

With one last glance at my friends, I turned around and bolted into the hall.

One line from one of my favorite book series crossed my head.

'May the odds be ever in your favor'

For those of you who are reading my 'Reading The Children Of Artemis: When The Moon Fades.' I'm hoping to get the next chapter for that story out before the next chapter for this story. But I may have a slight delay.

As of right now, the next update is set for 3/2021, I may upload it early 4/2021.

Hope everyone has a good day :)