The only thoughts I had as the police cruiser sped down the street were about the accident. The memories replayed in my head over and over, and even the mantra of 'it was just a fire' couldn't keep them away.

I couldn't have hallucinated the same thing twice, could I?

The first time I had been the only one to see it and survive, but this time, there had been other spectators. But they hadn't seen what I saw. They thought the sword in my hand had been a knife. What else had I been wrong about?

Maybe I wasn't wrong. Maybe they were. Maybe it hadn't been a fire after all. Stop it, I thought. You're going crazy.

I reached towards my neck to fidget with my necklace, a nervous habit, before remembering the charm was supersized and laying in the streets somewhere. I settled for playing with the chain, but when my fingers found it, the charm was back on it, as if it never left.

"How—?"

The cruiser stopped before I could panic more, and as the officer opened the door, I nearly fell out. My mind was spinning with too many thoughts to focus on anything as he pushed me through the precinct and sat me down in a chair.

"Why'd you do it?"

His rough voice was enough to bring me out of my trance. That, and the fact that police officers normally didn't appreciate you ignoring them.

"Do what?" I asked, forcing a cocky smile as I put my feet up on the table.

He drew his baton and pushed my feet down while saying, "Attack that woman."

I spluttered, my fake smirk falling. "Attack?" I finally spit out.

"Yeah. That woman with a stroller. You pulled a knife on her and her cute little dog."

"Cute. Little. Dog?"

"Yeah," he smirked. "Unless you can prove otherwise?" Did he know? Had he seen what had really happened?

My heart was racing almost as fast as my thoughts, so I took a deep breath. Blowing up at him would only get me thrown in a jail cell faster. I needed to come up with an excuse that wouldn't wind me up in an insane asylum.

"Well?"

"The dog was…" My fingers tapped nervously on the table, trying to find an answer. "Rabid!"

"Rabid?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yes!" I was in too deep now. "It was rabid and attacking the woman."

He began to nod, slowly, as if it were against his will. "Yes. The dog was rabid. You're free to go." His eyes were glazed over, and he'd gone stiff.

"I–I am?"

"Yes." His neck twitched. "You are free to…stay here." Another twitch. "Forever!" He lunged towards me. I screamed and dove under the table.

When I turned to look back at him, he was changing. He grew until his head brushed against the ceiling. His eyes merged into one giant iris. As he grew, his clothes ripped, causing his keys to fall out of his pocket.

My eyes took in all these details in the split-second it happened. He picked up the table and threw it across the room. "Princess Celeste. You will pay for your father's crimes!"

I yelped as he moved his fists down to smash me, and I dove to the side, snatching the keys off the floor and bursting out the door.

I heard him trying to break down the door as I franticly jumped in the cruiser parked in front, thrust the keys in the ignition, and stepped on the gas, speeding far away from the monster behind me.

I pulled to the side of the road when I head voices over the radio. They only mentioned the destruction of the precinct and a stolen vehicle. There was nothing about a one-eyed monster.

I left the keys in the ignition before ducking into an alleyway and crouching behind a dumpster. I waited for the sirens to pass before poking my head out of the alley, and after seeing the coast was clear, walking out of it.

I forced my feet to move slowly, to avoid suspicion. It didn't matter. They were bound to have cameras in the police station, and soon enough they would find me.

I made it to the front doors of the Moen's house, and after calmly closing the door behind me, I sprinted upstairs.

"Get in trouble already?" Stephanie called as I rushed to my room, but I was too panicked to even care.

I turned the corner to my room and ran straight into Gavin.

"Celeste!" he said, helping me up. "I heard about what happened with the police. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I pulled away from him and ran into my room, locking the door behind me.

I grabbed my backpack and franticly started shoving things into it. A few days' worth of clothes, a bag of toiletries, a wad of cash. I slung it over my shoulder and rushed back downstairs.

"Have fun in jail!" Stephanie called when I reached the door. I opened the door, but before I could step over the threshold and disappear onto the streets of Manhattan, Gavin's voice stopped me.

"Celeste!"

"What?" I turned, and I knew there were tears in my eyes. I didn't want to leave, not again, but it was my only option. I had to run away. Away from Connecticut, and the monsters, and the crazy hallucinations. What other choice did I have?

"I don't know what happened with the police, or what you're about to do, but I do know you can stay here. You have a place here. You always will."

I smiled sadly at him. "No I don't." I stepped over the threshold, away from the life I had begun to consider normal. "I never have."

I collapsed in the back seat of a taxi I had managed to hail, fighting back tears.

"Hey, kid," the driver called from the front. "I need a direction."

Right. "Montauk." If I got a cabin under a fake name, that would buy me a day or two to come up with a plan.

"You got it."

The cab took off, and as the scenery blurred out the window, my thoughts raced almost as fast.

There was no way this was happening. I was hallucinating. It was just a fire. Just a fire.

I took a deep breath. One thing at a time. I just had to get to the beach and then—Then what? Where would I go? Would I keep running?

My thoughts were interrupted by the taxi screeching to a stop. I looked out the window, but all I could see was inky black.

Something had found me.

The taxi jerked to the side, and suddenly, we were airborne. The air bags exploded when it hit the ground, landing on its side. I tried to move but my ankle was stuck between the seat and the door. I yanked my foot out, but I felt something snap in the process. I forced myself to crawl to the other side anyway. I managed to open the door and drag myself to the pavement.

I crumpled to the ground the second I escaped from the taxi, my leg refusing to hold my weight. I knew the beast was looming over me, and I felt a drop of drool hit the back of my neck.

That brought me back.

Through the haze of pain, I reached for my necklace. If whatever was chasing me was real enough to flip over a car, then hopefully my necklace being magic was real too.

I pulled down like I had on that corner, there was a flash of light, and I was holding the sword. I flipped over, my ankle screaming in protest, and swung the weapon towards the monster.

The blade cut through it like butter, and it disintegrated into yellow dust.

Silence.

The only thing I could hear was my pounding heartbeat and my ragged breathing. I lay there for what felt like hours, trying to work up the strength to move.

Then I heard the howls.

They came, one after the other, and I knew exactly what they were. It sounded like there was a whole pack of them. Monsters.

I dragged myself back to the taxi, using it to pull myself up, ignoring the searing pain from my leg. I saw a ghostly pale face in the window. The driver.

I wrenched open the door and managed to haul him out. He had a trickle of blood running down the side of his face. He must've hit his head on the dashboard. I pulled him over to the side of the road, the howls getting closer and closer.

I couldn't let them find him. That was the one clear thought I had. The driver had done nothing wrong, but the monsters would show him no mercy. I had to lead them away.

I grabbed my backpack and began to limp toward the beach. If I was going to die, I would do it somewhere beautiful.

As I stumbled away from the road, I felt it begin to drizzle. The drops dampened my hair and soaked my clothes, but I didn't care. I couldn't feel anything except the piercing pain in my leg.

Once I reached the beach, my ankle buckled the second it touched the loose sand. I didn't bother trying to get up again.

A shadow stood over me, and I slowed my breathing and closed my eyes, praying it would think I'm dead.

"Are you okay?"

My eyes flickered open, blinking away the raindrops that had landed on my face. "No, no, no, no, no. You have to leave! There's something coming." I said, clamoring to my feet.

"What is it?" the girl asked.

"You don't understand. You have to go!" I pushed her down the beach, the opposite direction the howls were coming from. She stumbled, trying to regain her footing, but she crashed to the sand anyway.

"GO!" I screamed, seeing a shadow coming towards us. She tried to rise, but the sands shifted, and she hit the ground again.

The shadow got closer and formed into another monster, but instead of bounding towards me, it leaped on top of the girl.

"Jason!" she screamed, her voice desperate.

Electricity crackled in the air and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. A lightning bolt burst from the sky and hit the monster, instantly vaporizing it.

"Pipes!" a blonde boy cried, running up to us. He had an orange T-shirt, matching the girls, and a golden sword in his hand. When he saw me standing next to her, he pointed it at me.

"Wait," the girl turned to face him. "She's a half-blood. We need to get her to the boarder."

"No! You have it all wrong. I'm not anything. You need to leave."

"It's okay," she walked towards me with her palms out, like she was trying to calm a scared animal. "We'll explain everything. Just come with me." She turned towards Jason. "Can you handle patrol while I get her to the barrier?"

He opened his mouth to respond, but his eyes widened, focusing on something behind us. "Piper, don't move."

"There's one behind me, isn't there?"

"Three actually."

She sighed, like this happened every day, and reached for a knife sheathed in her belt. She turned and sliced through one, and while fighting the others, she yelled out instructions. "Run the direction Jason came from. People there will help you!"

"What about you?"

"I'll be fine." She grunted as a claw raked across her side. "Though a little help would be nice, Sparky."

Jason shook his head and dove into battle next to her. "Go!"

I turned and hobbled along the beach, my bad ankle sinking into the sand and making me stumble. I heard a growl from behind me, and a paw against my back pushed me to the ground.

It stood there, snarling over me, cutting off my air supply, but I had lost the will to fight back. The pain in my ankle had become unbearable, and there was no way I could defeat this thing.

I still refused to look at it. I would not die staring at a monster. The beautiful Long Island Sound would be the last thing I saw before I died. Not this beast.

It hovered over me, about to strike, when it froze. The monster crumpled into yellow dust, and Piper stood above me, panting, knife in hand.

I could breath again. I sucked in as much air as I could, but it was to late. My vision began to dim, and the last thing I heard was Piper calling for help before my vision faded to black.