Lincoln College Preparatory Academy was my fifth school so far. It was pretty old, but still in good shape. You could tell where the crumbling bricks had been occasionally replaced by newer ones, to the point where the exterior of the building looked like a patchwork quilt covered in thick ivy. May 14th, just another day in another school that I would only stay in for a year, maybe two if I'm lucky. When I arrived, my baseball-obsessed (always wearing a baseball cap for some reason..?) friend Zack Lloyd was waiting for me, just like any other day. He had some sort of muscle problem as a baby, so his stride is a bit odd, but other than that, he can run pretty fast, especially when he hears the word "tacos".
"Anaisa, you need to come with me, NOW," said Zack, an urgent expression on his normally cheerful face.
"Zack," I began to say. "What are you talki-" Before I could finish he grabbed me by the arm with a surprisingly firm grip and pulled me around the corner of the sidewalk.
"This is going to sound crazy, but you need to skip school and come with me," he said, with no sign of halting his persistent urgency.
"Zack, you know how I feel about skipping scho-" I was interrupted by an shattering noise coming from the main building, and then an explosion.
I turned and looked to see smoke pouring out of the window on the first floor, followed by screaming and yelling, and then the fire alarm.
"Does this have anything to do with 'You need to come with me, NOW'?" I asked, in my best impression of Zack's voice.
"You know what, I'll tell you later," said Zack.
As if I'm some silent cue, we both bolted into the flaming building to gather as many people as possible and being them outside. Before we could get much closer to the main building, a window on the upper floor shattered, and from it came something that would sound make-believe, but I swear, I saw it with my own eyes.
At first I thought it was a lion, but my basic common sense immediately put that thought aside (think about it: how would a lion get into a high school?). When the "lion" stuck it's head out further, I realized that no, it was NOT a lion. There was a GOAT FACE coming out of the lion's BACK. For a few moments, I forgot my sense of urgency and stared at the creature. It leaned completely out of the window, front and back paws on the windowsill, and it had a FREAKIN' SNAKE FOR A TAIL.
Before I could stare in disbelief even longer, Zack grabbed me by the arm again and dragged me toward the building.
"WHAT THE ACTUAL-"
"You know what, it's too dangerous," he interrupted. "One of us is going to be killed. I need to send you off, NOW."
"Not until you explain whatever that THING is," I began to protest.
"Look, we don't have time right now, but I PROMISE that I'll explain later," he said.
I don't believe in magic, or at least I didn't until now. Zack reached into his backpack and grabbed some sort of gold coin from it. He dipped his hand in a nearby puddle and sprayed it into the air, creating a rainbow (...?). Before I could ask how this could help our situation, he threw the coin INTO the rainbow and started chanting! I couldn't hear exactly what he said, but i heard bits and pieces: ...Iris...show me...Chase.
Like I said, this probably sounds like some sort of hocus-pocus voodoo stuff. Anyway, an image ripples across the rainbow, and in it was a blonde girl that had the most vivid grey eyes I had ever seen. They conversed a little bit, but I couldn't hear much over the roaring flames and screaming.
Oh crap, the fire!
I rushed into the building to try and find people to help out of the building (and maybe find whatever that THING was). Among the smoke and debris, I saw the THING again, darting between the flames. Zack interrupted my staring once again by pulling me out of the flamingo building and back onto the sidewalk where, I KID YOU NOT, a FLYING FREAKIN' CHARIOT came out of the SKY. I turned to Zack's face, where I expected to see the same flabbergasted expression that I had, but he was totally cool. It was if he was saying Oh well, just another flying chariot. No big deal.
The same blonde girl from the rainbow hologram was driving the chariot, and told both of us to climb in. She flew away as I saw my fifth school go up in flames, along with the THING.