We were all in shock. I don't know who started crying first. I think we all shed tears at some point, but I do remember Sophie sobbing louder than the rest of us.

'Shut up, sissy, you're gonna give us away!' Abiona scolded her.

But that was no use, she just couldn't help it, as any of us hardly could. I could swear even the tough Abiona had shiny eyes while uttering these words. A couple of Saurians were roaming close to us, and we did our best to hold our breath. I remember trembling heavily – which I didn't like at all since I was so used to controlling every last part of my body. Luckily the creatures soon walked away, and there were sighs of relief.

'We need to get out of here, fast,' Phoebe whispered. 'Why don't they go away now?'

No sooner had she spoken, that we overheard a conversation between two infested humans.

'They said we are to search the area. The Pegasian must have left something behind – some kind of cube, they said...'

We all looked down at the small glowing cube Prince Erlan had used to give us the Pegasian power, my hands tightly clenched around it.

'Throw it away,' Abiona urged me.

I shook my head.

'I can't!'

'Do it! We're never making it out of here alive otherwise!'

'I believe Annabel is right,' Lynn pondered. 'Who knows what they can do with it...'

'If a Pegasian can pass this power on to anyone using that cube, there's no way Variscite Three lays his hands on it,' Phoebe further insisted.

Abiona scowled.

'What do we do then?'

We stared helplessly at the schoolyard, still crawling with monstrous aliens and Infested people. The gates were not very far away, but anyone would see us if we were to go through it, and they could easily track us down. We could hide in the building, but once again they would see us enter it and all they would need to do would be to search the entire school until they would find us. And we could not sit behind the bushes for much longer, for they were going to have a look there sooner or later. I desperately looked around, trying to focus.

Think, Annabel. What are you strong at?

A row of trees stood not far from us. I raised my eyes, absentmindedly gazing at their trunk and branches. One of them was so tall you could practically reach the school's roof from it. And then, it hit me.

'I know. I'm going to create a diversion,' I suddenly announced.

'A diversion? How so?'

'I'm going to lure them to the other side of the building.'

'But you can't go round it without exposing yourself!' Sophie objected, her eyes wide open. 'The only way to the other side is right through those... monsters!'

'Exactly. That's why I'm going to go over it. You guys run away as soon as they're going after me.'

'This is crazy! Who could climb their way over a huge thing like that?!'

'If anyone in the school, I'd say the top gymnastics student.'

My classmates fell silent and stared at me for a while. We all knew that was risky, but on the other hand, it was our only way out. Lynn reached for my hand.

'Be careful.'

I gave a faint smile.

'I will.'

I think I managed to make that line sound convincing to the others, but deep down I must say I wasn't overconfident, to say the least. I stuffed the Pegasian cube into my backpack hastily and crawled a few feet away. I took a deep breath while waiting for the signal, trying to keep my cool, saying to myself it was just like a competition, with everyone staring at you and making your heart race – except this time, the point was for nobody to see me, of course. As soon as I heard Abiona's quiet whistling, I darted to the nearest tree and hid behind it, away from the Infested. I stood there motionless for a while, carefully listening. As I decided I was clear to proceed, I looked up at the lowest branches. They were a bit high for me but I knew I should be able to catch them. I bent my knees slightly and mentally counted to three. I leaped up and grasped on to a branch. I threw my feet up to give my body momentum, and used it to pull myself up, pretty much like a bar kip. Peace of cake so far.

I quickly climbed one branch after another. I was not as perfect as I could be with uneven bars, but then again aesthetics weren't my primary concern at that time. I merely tried my best to enjoy the moment, as it felt nice to be in my element amid the crisis. Playing with my secret friend gravity ten feet over those horrendous creatures helped me feel safer, unreachable. My school uniform felt more uncomfortable than ever, though. I couldn't make movements as broad as I was used to. At some point, I even ripped my skirt.

Oh no, mom's gonna be furious! a small voice in my head whined.

Oh, for god's sake, Annabel! another voice answered right away. You're in the middle of a courtyard crowded with creepy alien invaders who're looking for you and you're worried about your uniform?

'Well, this allows me to move freely, anyway,' I muttered to myself.

I was soon on top of the tree, with a clear view on the courtyard – though I remained careful not to show myself. The horde of Saurians and Myriapods was spread out, still searching tirelessly. As it seemed like I had plenty of time, I made a pause and stared at the nearby tree. I was to cross the gap between the two as quietly as possible, and then once again in order to get to the highest tree, the one which would allow me to access the roof. As I was trying to figure out which branch would be the best bet to avoid being heard and seen, some shouting below caught my attention. And suddenly, my eyes widened. A group of Infested men and women were waving at the monsters and calling out for them. And they were standing dangerously close to the bushes where my classmates were hiding.

Oh, shit.

I swear I'm usually a polite girl and you could scarcely hear me cursing, if anytime at all. However, at that very moment, the foul word just came straight to my mind. Just imagine how distressed I must have felt for this to happen. After all, it was a matter of life and death – quite literally.

The adrenaline rush through my veins just reminded me of the familiar sensation I experienced right before performing in competition. My mind went blank, I temporarily set aside my fear and stress, focusing on my jump, mentally rehearsing the sequences of movements just one last time, as I would do with any ordinary gymnastics routines. My limbs stopped shaking, my heart went steady, through inexorably fast, and I knew I was in full control of my body again. And so, I threw myself in the air.

Here I am, gravity. Time to play seriously now.

Since the plan wasn't for me to go unnoticed anymore, I went all-out, moving as fast as I could, grabbing one branch after another, even letting out groans here and there. Looking back at it, I can hardly believe how well I was able to adapt to the uneven shapes and sizes of those natural bars. I remember getting this funny thought, that the monkey nickname seemed to fit me even better than I knew, after all.

No sooner had I started to move, that a huge commotion arose down below. Infested people started to shout orders, sending the monsters at me. I could hear Variscite Three's bloodcurdling mental voice echoing in my head: Bring them to me alive!'

I couldn't help but getting goosebumps at those words. Seeing as how he had ended Prince Erlan's life, getting sliced up by a bunch of Saurians just sounded like a much preferable fate than to be brought to him alive. Fortunately, I was holding tight and didn't lose my balance – plus I was already close to the top of the tallest tree. Then I caught a glimpse of a pack of Saurians trying to go after me and my heart stopped. I had expected those heavily armed creatures to hop helplessly around the trees as they would realize they were stuck to the ground – well, they turned out to be pretty amazing climbers instead. Before I knew it, there were horrendous maws gnawing at me just a few inches away from my legs, and all I could think of was to kick at one of them to take an impulse. I quickly turned back to the starry sky and reached clumsily to the highest branches. Fear had just caught on relentlessly.

When all seemed lost, a slight ray of hope shone as my hand finally reached the rough surface of the building's roof. I grasped it with all my strength and pulled as hard as I could.

Come on!

At that point, I believe that I have a Saurian to thank for pushing me up and giving me enough momentum, so that I was able to rush forward and roll onto the school's roof. I quickly jumped to my feet and dashed breathlessly. Unfortunately, assuming I was able to rival with Saurians at climbing at all, they would totally outmatch me at dashing, and I could soon feel my chasers' heavy breath on my neck. I was also able to hear their claws and blades hissing through the air, closer and closer to my body. Soon, there was a tearing sound, and my back felt lighter all of a sudden. They had ripped my backpack's straps apart. A heap of strangely cold-blooded thoughts suddenly started to pour in my mind.

They can't get my stuff. There's my name written on it, everywhere. They will know who I am. If I let them get it, I'm as good as dead. I have to get it back.

I suddenly went through a series of gymnastics moves. To be able to turn back smoothly. To surprise the enemy. And also, to raise my spirits a bit. I tried to remind myself that they would do their best to keep me alive anyways – I had just met Variscite Three, but I could already tell that's not the kind of boss whose orders you'd want to mess up with. So I stood tall in front of the monsters and glared at them. They stopped and glared back. I clenched my teeth.

'Hey, you!' I shouted at the creature who held my backpack tight between its razor-sharp claws. 'Give that back, at once!'

The Saurian growled and showed its numerous, shining teeth. Apparently, it couldn't understand what I was saying. I immediately saw this as an opportunity to snatch my stuff and make a run for it before it has a chance to react. The creature raised its monstrous claws and prepared to attack. I barely had time to dodge the blow, jumping forward on my hands. From there I could simply have grabbed my backpack and run away, but for some reason it seemed to me like it was a good time to kick the Saurian in the face before leaving. The creature screamed and thrashed about, knocking me away. It was incredibly strong. I did not land just a few feet away like I would have expected to – but rather, I flew through the air. Pretty far from the monsters. Far enough, actually, to go past the edge of the roof. I stared at the open space below in horror, realizing no gymnastics move, however brilliant, could help me out that, this time.

I was just hoping the others had been able to escape.