/title: Haunted
/chapter 3: The Real Nightmare is When you Wake up.
Irma's eyes shot open. She was lying face down in a swamp.
"ewww." Said Irma wiping the slime off her face.
She looked around at her surroundings. She was in some kind of swamp. Leafless trees as dark as shadows surrounded her. The night was chill and sent a shiver down Irma's spine. The full moon peaked through the trees. The wind blew around her sending a second chill down her spine. Irma struggled and pulled her self into a standing position. Irma hugged herself.
"Where the hell am I?"
Irma's current intellectual moment was broken by a strange noise. A groan, soft at first but then becoming louder and louder brimming with rage and power. The swamp under her started to bubble. Irma began to run but the swamp began to cling to her as if dragging her down the swamp was now up to her ankles and the groan was still getting louder and louder still. The whole swamp was bubbling over. With one roar the swamp burst open reveling a huge creature. Its scaly green and brown body and tiny arms and legs scuttled around nearing Irma. This creature was at least 75 feet high. This blob like creature it's small but beady and bloodshot eyes caught sight of Irma. Irma was frozen she couldn't move, she could barely breath. All of a sudden the creature let out another loud roar reveling its huge teeth five rows of pointy grimy teeth. Its five tongues slithered around in its mouth. Fear seemed to overshadow her.
"Ok I do not want to be blob-chow." Irma thought to herself "I gotta run for it, on the count of three."
"One" Irma clenched her fists
"Two" Irma took a deep breath
"Three"
Irma pulled her left foot out of the muck and lunged forward. She then pulled her right leg out and prepared to lift her left foot out again when she lost her balance and found herself too far forward. Feeling herself falling Irma clenched her teeth and prepared herself. But all of a sudden the mud right under her began to bubble and a huge tentacle came up from the muck and wrapped itself around her left foot. Then in one quick whip-like motion it flung Irma into the air and then with just as much force pounded her into the ground. Body aching, Head throbbing, heart pounding in her throat Irma dug her hands into the muck and pulled her face up so she could see the creature out of the corner of her eye. Suddenly there came a slight scuffling noise like people running. Irma looked over at the creature Irma stared at the creature and found her eyes locked with it's small now bloodshot eyes starting at her paralyzing her with fear. Body aching, Head throbbing, heart pounding in her throat Irma couldn't move. Suddenly the beast made a snorting noise like the sound a bull makes when it's about to charge, the scuffling feet, it was ready to change, at her! All of a sudden the creature sprung itself up into to air finding it's landing point right on Irma. Irma felt the air being suck from her as she felt her bones condemn and the creatures blubbery fat smothering her she tried to breath but the mud and the weight of the creature only cause her to smoother. She tried to pull herself up, she gasped for breath...
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Irma gasped for air pulling her chest in and out so far she felt as if she would explode. Sweat dripped down her face and her body shook from head to toe falling back upon her pillow.
She felt her bones condemn and the smell of blood rushing from her mouth
"AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!"
Irma's tear filled eyes shot open clutching the blankets. Around the infirmary bed stood four paralyzed and worry stricken guardians, Hay Lin, Taranee, Cornelia and Will the most worry stricken of all. Her brown eyes filling over with tears and hands over her mouth. Irma Still shaking waited for someone to say something. Hay Lin was the first to say something, in a meak voice she whimpered
"W-What Happened..."
"Did you have a dream or something, what was it about, what happened?" Taranee said with her hands over her mouth.
Irma catching her breath spoke of what had happened.
"...and it seemed I couldn't wake up..."
"...it was even worse than last night well/"
"WAIT " said Will you had a dream like that last night?"
"yeah..."
"And YOU DIDN'T TELL US."
"chill Will, I'm sure it's just a bad dream." Said Taranee, "I guess as guardians weird things happen like super freaky nightmares."
"It could be something bad, Irma could die next time."
"Will does have a point Irma, you should have told us instead of flirting with that guy... Ray or whatever." Said Cornelia
Irma tried to interject.
"You never take your job seriously Irma, sometimes I don't think you were cut out for this job."
Irma's eyes were no longer filled with tears, but with rage.
"We are always carrying around you're dead weight whenever we go to Meridan have the time you totally blow our cover."
Irma bit her lip
"Maybe this is your punishment for being a complete pain."
Irma could hold in her anger no longer.
"Well if guardians got punished for being bad like small children do when they steal from the cookie jar then you'd be dead! Or maybe they don't give punishment for complete and total bitches. Maybe they feel sorry for you with all your 'boy troubles'" Irma's rage built up. even more in a high pitched voice she yelled, "Oh I'm Cornelia! I'm so mopey because my dear little boy-toy Caleb turned into a flower" Irma's voice then turned back into her own. "I bet he's happy to be away from you!"
"STOP IT Irma!" yelled Will. "Cornelia may have gotten a bit out of hand but you should take your guardianship more seriously."
Irma was not ready to be proved as a dead weight.
"Oh I'm sorry Will course everything's MY fault. Sorry with all you're angst-fests with you Mom make Everything so hard so I'll blame everyone else for MY slip-ups" again using a mocking high pitched voice, "But oh no! What will Matt think of me? Even though I have no chance with him I still believe in HOPLESS THINGS THAT WILL NEVER EVER HAPPEN!"
"would you guys just stop it?" said Hay Lin who had been silent for all of the argument until now. "I know it's hard but it's not anyone's fault, and no one's caused this and Irma is an essential part of the team."
"yeah" said Cornelia under her breath, "until she sees a hot-dog vender."
"WHAT WAS THAT?" said Irma. "was that a comment about my WIEGHT?"
"Gee Maybe this term will make you understand better you're a FAT-ASS BUMP-ON-A-LOG, COUCH-POTATO WHO GLUES HER BIG FAT BUTT TO THE COUCH AND WATCHS BOY-COMET AND HAS WET-DREAMS ABOUT CHAD! But I'm sure RON will replace him in that fantasy."
"OH GO FUCK YOUR FLOWER!" yelled Irma!
"STOP IT!" said Hay Lin, tears in her eyes "Cornelia that's was not nice."
"oh go consult you're dear old grandmother lying dead in her coffin, I bet that last cup of tea tasted funny, you ARE A HORRIBLE COOK "
"CORNELIA!" yelled Will
"so I killed my grandmother!" screeched Hay Lin "Caleb got beaten pretty easily by Phobos that day I think Caleb liked it."
"WELL AT LEAST I LIKE BOYS. OR BOYS LIKE ME." Placing her hands on her hips and digging her nails into her sides, "OF COURSE I SEE NO REASON WHY ANYONE, OR ANYTHING, EVEN ARNOLD WOULD LIKE ANYONE LIKE YOU!"
"GET AWAY!" yelled Hay Lin summoning up a gust of air and knocking Cornelia against the opposite wall.
"SHOVE THIS UP YOUR SKINNY ASS!" yelled Cornelia summoning up the floor throwing Hay Lin up near the ceiling corner.
"STOP IT!" yelled Irma taking the water that was in the vase of flowers and surrounding Cornelia preventing her from breathing.
Will without saying a word released a bolt of energy sending Irma fling back onto the bed and releasing Cornelia.
"COME ON SHE DESERSES IT WILL!" throwing a fireball at Will sending her aback and she crashed into the medicine cabinet.
Blood dripped down Will's face and her eyes closed.
"Now that was something she deserved." Said Cornelia smiling.
Hay Lin standing up from the shock ran over to Will and held her hand for a pulse.
"we do need a new leader, all for the better."
"WELL" said Irma "YOU CAN BE THE LEADER OF A GROUP CALLED C, AS IN C MY FIST BITCH!"
running over to Cornelia and throwing her fist right into her nose. She fell to the ground. Getting up and wiping the blood from her nose Cornelia stared at unconscious Will being comforted by Hay Lin, Taranee staring at her shaking hands and Irma with her fists still clenched,
"You disgust me. Especially YOU Taranee and you're juvie boyfriend."
"Zzzzzz" imitating the noise of an electric chair she walked out the door and turned to the left towards the girls bathroom.
Taranee lunged at her but was held back, by Irma
"come on Taranee." Said Irma, "let's Take a walk, I don't mean to rain on anyone's parade."
Irma and Taranee walked up the door and turned to the left.
Irma stuck up both middle fingers as a double 'fuck you' to Cornelia then they both turned away to the right.
Hay Lin just stood there, hand still on Will's wrist.