Life was never going to be the same. Even before Lana escaped the FAYZ with a dozen other children and teenagers, she knew her life was going to be different. Lana was sick in the head from her confrontation with the darkness but there were also the other nightmares from when she had been injured or healed badly injured kids, as well as her new addictions. Lana's parents had taken her to different clinics and rehab since she had gotten back where she had been taught to live without cigarettes and alcohol. But even two years later after these clinics and rehabilitation events, when she had a bad nightmare, Lana had a stash of cigarette's under her mattress. Though she no longer had to hide them, she just like to have them close at hand in different places easy for reach.
After only a few months of living with her parents, Lana knew she could not handle it any longer and moved out. Ever since the FAYZ she couldn't be around people, not even her own parents. As soon as Lana could, she moved into a small apartment with the money given to her by different charities and interviews and now lived alone. She only called her parents once every two or three weeks and even then they only spoke quietly and shortly to see how one another was doing before hanging up. She had actually moved three times before settling. The first apartment was too well known and so people were always calling for her much like when people came for her because she was 'The Healer'. The second was just too busy and too loud for her to rest. Finally she was settled in a run down, quiet, secluded apartment on the border of Las Vegas. It was perfect. Three tries the charm. It was similar to how long it took to find a home in the FAYZ.
Now she was lying on her bed, smoking a cigarette, yawning and stretching her body. It was weird how much different yet similar life was. She was living alone, smoking cigarette's and hiding from people in a run down apartment. The only difference really was that she was now being forced to go out and work in order to keep this apartment now she was no longer a charity case for people to give money to.
Instead Lana spent most days lying around and spent her nights working at a strip club. She wasn't a stripper. Lana was not going to let men slap her half naked ass and hoot and wolf whistle for her, but she did dress in a skirt and a tank top to serve drinks behind the bar with a man named Ben who watched her back and made sure no one reached over to give her any unwanted touches. Ben was nice. Good looking too. But Lana hadn't had good luck with men. Quinn was amazing but she had scared him away. And Sanjit had been nice but maybe a little too nice and a little too persistent for her liking. Honestly... if Lana had to pick a guy she wanted to spend her nights with it would have been Quinn.
Don't get her wrong! Lana didn't want to work there! Her life's aspiration was not to be serving drinks to men drooling in more ways than one. But she didn't have much other choice. There were no places lining up for jobs to offer her and she didn't exactly have many skills that made people want her any more than normal. One thing she did have, was the body of a super model (in other words she was half starved from her days in the FAYZ) and she could serve drinks. It didn't matter that she couldn't smile or be nice to the customer because other girls did that plenty enough for her. The other girls were not friendly either, so it meant Lana didn't have to try and be friendly back, and because she didn't strip they didn't see her as any kind of threat and so didn't attack her either. It wasn't the best job but it certainly wasn't her career choice.
Lana sighed and threw her cigarette down onto the ground like she normally did. It was getting late and her shift was going to be starting soon. She would need to dress. Her uniform was simple. Any short skirt and any tank top. She could change while she was there but it was easier to just head out in what she was wearing, especially as she knew how to defend herself. Already she had kicked several guys in the crotch, scratched three eyes out and used her gun to threaten off five other men. Her gun wasn't actually registered... But no one had yet reported her.
Lana moaned and stood up, stepping on the cigarette and heading towards the bathroom. She would take a quick shower before getting dressed.
Her mind went back to Ben. Ben was nice, he smiled at her and made sure she was okay. She liked Ben. But did she really like him? If he asked her out then would she say yes? Maybe, maybe not. Ben was nice and, to be honest, he was attractive! But... So was Quinn. Quinn had been amazingly nice and everyone agreed he was good looking in a weird surfer kind of way. Even Sanjit had been nice and kind of attractive. But she hadn't seen Quinn or Sanjit in almost two years and Ben was always around and he was clearly protective.
Lana took a quick shower, drying herself off with a towel and slipping into her uniform. She still wondered if she should be giving off some signals, either to say no or say yes to Ben. Maybe she would give a go at flirting. Lana wasn't very good at that... Maybe if she just tried to smile a little more rather than scowling all the time. She would still scowl at customers, but Ben might get a smile every now and then.
Lana opened her apartment door and went to step out when something stopped her.
It was a woman. Or at least Lana thought it was a woman. They were dressed up like it was Halloween. She had on a strange lion/cat mask on her head with long dark blue hair and a sort of round ball balanced on her head. Her eyes were red and wide and her skin was almost yellow. The woman wore a bright red dress that reached the ankles of her bare feet and had red straps over her shoulders. In one hand she had a plain wooden staff and in the other she had a small cross on a rosary like a Priest. The woman stood with a blank expression, her eyes fixed on Lana as she stood in front of her doorway, almost as big as the doorway entrance and keeping Lana from leaving.
"Excuse me." Lana said. She wanted to hurry up and get to work before the rush started. "Can I help you?" She asked when the woman did not move.
The woman stared at her. Her eyes were frighteningly wide and Lana felt the sudden erge to shut the door and climb out the window just to avoid her. Instead she forced herself to stare the woman down. Why was she dressed like some kind of Egyptian Goddess. Lana knew what this woman was supposed to be. They learnt about her in school. She was a... Oh damn, what was the name? She was a Egyptian Goddess that was the goddess of war and healing. She had a certain name, Lana knew it clearly. She had written a whole report on the Goddess and now she couldn't even remember what her bloody name was.
"Nice costume." Lana snorted and went to push passed. She stopped and the name came to her. A Sekhmet! That was the name.
Lana, happy she had remembered the name, was about to continue to push passed when the Sekhmet placed the staff in her way and used her free hand to push Lana back into her apartment. Something hurt. Her hand against Lana's shoulder hurt like she had been punched hard and when she looked down she saw a bruise had appeared under her tank top right where the Sekhmet had touched her.
"Ow! What did you do?!" Lana shouted.
The Sekhmet stepped into the room and slammed the door shut behind her. Instantly Lana pulled out her gun, now feeling threatened. She pointed the gun right at the Sekhmet's chest and scowling at her. No way was she being pushed around and she was not going to lose her apartment to a freak in a Halloween costume!
"Get the hell out of my home!" Lana shouted.
The Sekhmet stared at her and took a step forward. She reached for Lana, moving slowly and stiffly like a penguin and heading towards her arm.
Lana let out a shout of anger and pulled the trigger. She hadn't actually had to use it ever before. Normally they ran away and maybe she would get in trouble but she was so used to using it when needed Lana didn't think twice about getting in trouble for having it. The bullets clearly hit Sekhmet in the torso, her body was hit and she took a step back but... But she didn't fall. She stood up, brushed her torso down as if she had been hit with dust and took another step forward. There were no wounds, no marks whats-so-ever to show that she had just been hit with a gun at point blank range.
"No... No way..." Lana whispered.
Sekhmet reached over where Lana was frozen and placed a hand on Lana's arm...
It cracked and broke in her skin. Lana screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground in shock. She clutched her arm and looked down. Immediately she regretted it and screamed even louder as she stared down at her arm. It was bent at a V shape with bone sticking out through the skin. Her horror tightened her chest and she screamed even louder and tried to crawl away. The wound was horribly familiar. It was the exact wound she had when she had been in that car crash on the first day of the FAYZ. Her arm had been broken and it had been rotting before she had healed it with her powers and now it was back.
Lana screamed louder and dragged herself away from Sekhmet that was still hovering over her and watching her with blank wide eyes. She reached down again and touched Lana's head. It was more like a tear now and blood began to seep down over Lana's face, blinding her in one eye. She screamed again and threw herself back in an attempt to get away from her. Her head smacked against the wall hard and she fell to the floor, trying to clutch her arm and her face at the same time. The pain was no where near the fear.
Lana shrieked and tried to kick at the Sekhmet but nothing seemed to affect her. The Sekhmet reached down and grabbed Lana's ankle when she tried to kick her and there was another snapping sound that left Lana shrieking and sobbing in pain, trying to pull free as her leg twisted around itself. Lana sobbed and screamed as the Sekhmet touched her lower chin and her lip split open, blood filling her mouth as a tooth was ripped from her gum and she nearly choked on it. Then she touched her back and her lower back burned. Lana continued to scream and shriek as loud as she could but by then Sekhmet was done. She turned and began to walk for the door.
The Sekhmet opened the door and stepped outside. Lana continued to scream and cry. But the apartment was nearly empty. Patrick was at the vet's after he had an accident and had been hit by a car just a few days earlier. He hadn't died but he was badly hurt and wouldn't be home for at least a few days. Even then Lana was supposed to be the one to pick him up.
As the door slammed shut Lana opened her mouth and screamed until her vocal cords felt like they were ripping apart.
G*O*N*E
The next morning Caine was the first person to wake but he didn't do anything but lay there for two reasons. One was that his side was still hurting him pretty badly, but the second was the dream he had left him thinking. He remembered it clearly now and it left him shaking because he didn't understand it and he wasn't even sure if it was complete. Caine turned to look down at Diana who had rolled away from him in her sleep and now lay facing away, stretched out and looking beautiful even in her sleep. Caine shut his eyes, wishing he could have a dreamless sleep. He was sick of these dreams.
The phone ringing from the silence made Caine jump so badly that he hissed and clutched his side. Diana startled awake for a moment. Her hair was falling in front of her face and her body stretched out. She blinked a few times, lifting her head before she turned, yawning and rested back on Caine's chest.
"Sam! Astrid!" Diana shouted. "Get the phone!"
"What time is it?!" Sam shouted back through a yawn.
Astrid hurried to her feet, running for the phone in the hallway still fully dressed from the night before. She grabbed it and pressed it to her ear.
"Hello?" Astrid asked, struggling to avoid a yawn.
"Mr Temple?" A voice came.
"Uh, no, this is his roommate. Who is this?" Astrid blinked the last of the sleep from her eyes.
"My name's Tony Hart." The voice said.
"Oh!" Astrid blushed. She pulled the phone away and hissed, covering the speaker with her hand, "Damn! Sam! Sam! It's your boss! I forgot to give you a message he wants you in early today!" She saw the time and took a moment to resist swearing. "It's half twelve!" Sam's normal work schedule had him in by ten.
Sam had no problem out right swearing and there was a bang as he scrambled from the bedroom and towards the phone. Astrid held the phone out for him and he snatched it from her grip as she hurried to make him something to eat so he could run to work.
"Hello? Sir? Sorry! Something came up!" Sam gasped down the phone. "I... I uh... I'm sorry! I really am sorry! I-I don't think I can come in."
Astrid shot him an angry look but he just gave her a half glare back. What else could he do? He couldn't just leave now.
"Sam, I left you a message saying I need you in early and now you're saying you can't come in at all?" Tony demanded.
Tony was a nice guy but he was fair too.
"I am so sorry!" Sam begged. "I just can't come in today."
As Sam and Tony argued, Diana had pushed herself up onto her knees, pushing her dark hair from her face. She straightened her night clothes and yawned, reaching for the mobile on the side of the counter by their bed. Caine watched her in silence. This scene would be so much better if they couldn't hear Astrid and Sam banging and shouting around in the main room.
"Shit." Diana moaned, not really annoyed. She didn't care about her job but she did need the money. "I need to call in..."
"Call in where?" Caine asked.
"My job." Diana yawned.
"You have a job?" Caine snorted.
Diana turned and raised an eyebrow at him. "Why does that surprise you? I have grown up, remember."
"What do you do?" Caine asked casually.
"Just a waitress." Diana sighed. "Pretty boring."
"Call in sick." Caine shrugged, winced and slowly turned to sit up. Everything he did still hurt but at least small things like shrugging his shoulders didn't leave him frozen in pain anymore.
"I know. But he's a bit of an ass." Diana sighed. "My boss. He's probably gonna give me a load of shit." She hesitated and grinned. "I'll text him."
Caine grinned at her and, moving slowly so as not to injure himself while she texted, he moved around until he was sitting beside of her. Then, as soon as she was done, Caine kissed her cheek. She turned and raised an eyebrow as he smirked but even now, after all the time had passed and after they had done so much together, he still had a look in his eye that suggested he was nervous and unsure.
Diana stared at him. She was not going to move. Not for any reason, just because she wanted to see what Caine would do next.
The answer was go for it. Caine leaned forward and kissed her gently, reaching up and running his hand over her bare leg. Diana let him kiss her for a few moments before she placed her hand over his and pushed it off her leg, then reached up and pushed him away, smirking.
"You're injured." Diana smirked.
"I'm fine." Caine shrugged and kissed her again, only to be pushed away.
"Really?" Diana asked. She reached over and, gently, put pressure on his side. Not enough to hurt him, just enough to make him wince slightly. "You don't seem fine."
Caine scowled and tried to kiss her again. She let him kiss the corner of her mouth before she stood up and went to the chest of draws. Caine once again watched the show as Diana stripped, this time she let him see the whole of her naked back as she changed her underwear but Caine was not given the chance to see her front. Soon she was dressed in a nice pair of ankle length light blue denim jeans and a white shirt with a black top over the top, both the sleeves ended at the elbow. The top had a band name on it but Caine didn't recognise the name. He wasn't even sure he could read it properly because it was badly slanted and mixed together.
Diana turned, smoothing her top down as she began to comb through her hair with a thick black brush, watching Caine. She frowned and smiled. "You need new clothes. You need a lot of stuff actually. You're trousers barely held up when we were bringing you home. And you're feet and scraped raw."
"You're suggesting we go shopping?" Caine laughed.
"No. I'm suggesting I go shopping." Diana said, she finished her hair and gathered it into a messy bun on her head, clipping it up. Then she rummaged around and, after searching the rooms, came back with her back and her purse. "I'm going to go into town and get you some clothes."
"Then what am I supposed to do?" Caine scowled.
"Wait here. By the sounds, Sam and Astrid aren't going in. Maybe they'll stay and talk with you." Diana shrugged. "Either way, you're staying."
"I got out before!" Caine snapped. He didn't like being told he was being stuck inside.
"Yeah and now you're injured. Good luck running from Sam now." Diana smirked. She turned and headed for the door.
"I wasn't running!" Caine snapped.
He could hear her laughing as the door slammed shut. Caine angrily dragged himself onto his feet. He really should be lying down and resting so he would heal quicker but Caine was stubborn and his body needed to move around a bit.
In the kitchen area, Sam had convinced Astrid that it was better for him to stay home so they could work out what was happening together. Astrid still was not happy but she accepted it. The two were making bacon and toast as they bickered while Caine stumbled from the bedroom, clinging to the wall in order to walk and somehow throwing himself down on the soft chair. It instantly brought a yelp of pain and he clutched his side, gasping.
"Hey, you okay?" Sam called.
Caine responded with a glare.
"He's fine." Astrid said, rolling her eyes.
"You want something to eat?" Sam suggested.
"I want Lana here with her healing powers." Caine grumbled. "I really miss her and her power."
"You can say that again." Sam laughed and nudged Astrid. "Remember when I broke my arm after the surfing accident? You were begging Lana and her powers to come back just because I was so much trouble."
Astrid let out a giggle and Caine felt like gagging. These two were sickening sweet. Diana had ditched him here, and in a twisted way that was what made her so lovely. Staring at Astrid and Caine really did feel like throwing something at her stupid smiley face.
"Can someone just turn on the bloody TV?" Caine snapped. Anything to drown out their voices.
"Sure." Sam sighed.
Moments later Sam had handed him the controls and he was flicking through. There was nothing on but hearing a mixture of TV shows, action movies and music videos was better than anything Astrid or Sam could say. After a while he did find a film he hadn't seen before that was interesting enough. Fast and Furious 6 had only recently be released from cinema's on the TV. It was a whole car chase film, a real one, not the kind they had in the FAYZ, with explosions and screaming. All perfect to drown out annoying voices of roommates. How Diana could stand them, Caine didn't know.
He had only been watching it for a few minutes when the adverts came on. Caine watch about five seconds of an avert for reclining chairs before he switched over again. Someone placed a bacon sandwich on his lap and he absent-mindedly ate it while flicking through the channels until he landed on the news. Might as well find out what was happening in the world around him.
At first it was mostly boring politics. Then it was something about a kidnapped baby being returned by unknown circumstances. Then there was mention of the FAYZ anomaly with attempts at recreating it. Caine had to do a double take but from the looks on Sam and Astrid's face it wasn't a first. Caine snorted and was about to turn when a shocked female reporters face appeared appeared on live news.
"... events have happened here in the streets of New York. Houses and buildings have been collapsed from tunnels under the grounds that have given way. There is no explanation yet as to what had created these tunnels, but they had caused much damage. Many citizens have been relocated after their homes have been destroyed. These strange tunnels are repeatedly showing and the worst case was under Maxwell's Company building that caused the death of several employees who were crushed from the walls and floor of the building or were thrown from the building during it's collapse." The woman explained.
"Holy crap!" Caine said, blinking his eyes.
"A total of injuries and deaths have not yet been accounted for but..." The woman paused and her body seemed to shake. She blinked and continued with the live report. "But they are being recused as we speak and we should know soon enough." Another shake that nearly knocked her off her feet. "I, uh, cannot be sure but it feels like-"
The woman and the cameraman were knocked off of their feet. The world around them rose as the two collapsed into the ground and wall fell around them. They heard the woman shrieking and there were shouts from around before the shaking camera finally fell still. There was only a little bit of light but just enough to see concrete still falling around them and a twisted leg that didn't belong to the female reported. For a moment there was no movement.
"Oh my..." Astrid croaked.
"Are they okay?" Sam asked.
"Of course not, stupid!" Caine snapped. "God knows how long they fell!"
"What's that?" Astrid blinked.
The three of them frowned and looked closely as a shape appeared from the darkness of under the remaining concrete floor. It was a small animal, crawling forward towards the cameraman. There was no movement but this creature that crawled forward before it was in the shine of the sunlight.
"Is that..." Astrid began.
"What? What is it?" Caine snapped.
"It's a Prarie Dog..."
"A what?" Sam blinked.
"It's like a rodent. It digs in the ground." Astrid said slowly. "But it doesn't dig through concrete and it doesn't... It doesn't collapse buildings."
Sam and Caine looked at one another. "Not unless it's a demonic Prarie Dog with a mutant power." Sam whispered.
"But who had the power to dig?" Caine grumbled.
"SAM!" Astrid said, slapping his arm and pointing to the TV screen.
They all looked forward at the screen once more and something strange was happening. The rodent stepped back and was staring at the camera as it slowly began to sink into the ground. It sunk down and kept sinking, never taking it's eyes off of the camera before it's whole little body was completely gone, disappeared under the Earth. Then the camera finally went back to a man giving reassurance that they would be sending someone to help the reporters immediately and it was cut to adverts.
Sam turned and looked at Astrid but her eyes were stuck on the screen in front of them. Caine had slowly slouched down before wincing at the pain. No one could think to say anything and even if they could their mouths were dry as chalk and they couldn't find any words.
Then Astrid was standing, grabbing the plates and taking them out of the room back to the kitchen area. Seconds later she was kneeling down in front of their make shift table her and Sam had just been sitting on and was laying down a thick address book and her computer, opening google maps.
"What are you doing?" Sam asked.
"We're going to find everyone who will help." Astrid said sharply. "Any survives from the FAYZ, we're going to find them and we're going to find these... These things and we're going to stop them before they hurt anymore people."
"Do you think we really can?" Caine sneered.
Astrid looked up at him. Sam actually felt his heart jump from the look of pure determination back on her face. He found himself grinning at her as she nodded. "Yes we can. Now let's get moving. First let's call Edilio and Quinn. Then Dekka and anyone else who used to be a mutant that we can rely on."
G*O*N*E
The clothes shop was a cheap shop. Wallmart was extremely cheap but Diana couldn't exactly afford to spend out for Caine. She had walked in and grabbed a basket, swinging it onto her arm as she walked down through the line of clothes. She wasn't sure his exact size but she found a few she was sure would fit him. Soon she pulled out two jeans, two plain trousers and a pair of tracksuits, walking along before she picked up two white shirts, a black t-shirt, a green jumper and a white vest. Then she wandered until she found a thick black coat and a loose black leather jacket before finally grabbing a pair of white trainers. Some of might be a bit big but nowhere near as big as the clothes he was wearing. Diana wandered and finally grabbed a pair of cameo shorts before she made her way to the register.
As Diana stood in line she began to shuffle through the clothes in her basket to make sure she had everything. This should be enough for now. They could always wash it more or come back if he needed more. At least it would also give her an idea of the size he needed. Diana fished out her purse and stood patiently. It was a long wait and Diana tapped her foot and repeatedly checked her phone as if hoping Caine would give her a call. Sleeping with him... Being with him... That had erased all doubt from her mind. She was glad to have him back and she wanted him back... What she didn't want was to have to deal with these monsters.
No. She wasn't going to think of that now. She was going to keep thinking of how perfect it had been with Caine again.
And then she heard the giggling.
"Um, excuse me?"
Diana turned and found herself face to face with two teenage bleach blonde, orange bottle tanned girls with tissue paper stuffed breasts and clothes at least three sizes too small. They grinned at her and swung bags casually from the side. Even now Diana could see all their clothes were knock offs otherwise they wouldn't be shopping here.
"What?" Diana scowled.
"You look familiar. Have we seen you before?" The girl with bright blue eyes and a fake tattoo of a fairy on her cheek asked.
"No." Diana turned ahead.
They tapped her shoulder again but she ignored them. "Seriously because I swear I like, totally know you."
"You don't!" Diana snarled.
The line couldn't move fast enough but finally Diana was stepping forward and placing her basket on the side. The girls continued to laugh and giggle as she checked through her items and paid.
Then, just as she was packing her things to leave, the brown eyed girl with the unicorn on her cheek shrieked. "Oh my god! She's from the anomaly! That freaky place with the mutants! I knew I saw her somewhere! She was a freak!"
Diana tensed and felt every eye turn to stare at her. She was embarrassed but tried not to show it as she packed everything into her bags. Diana hurried and ignored all the shouting and calling for her before she was hurrying from the store, the bleach blondes laughing and squealing after her. As the sun hit her face Diana turned and hurried down the streets when she heard the familiar giggles following her.
Turning with angry eyes the girls both froze and giggled as Diana glared at them. No way in hell was she letting these idiots follow her home.
"We just wanted to ask a few question!" Brown eyes grinned.
Diana swore at them in a way that told them to leave her alone but they just laughed and clapped their hands like it was a show.
"I mean it!" Diana snapped.
"So you were a freak! Which one where you?" Blue eyes squealed. "Could you do the light thing? Or was it speedy?"
"What other things were there?" Brown eyes laughed. "All I remember was light, and speed... Oh, wasn't there strength? And stretch... Or am I just remembering The Incredibles?"
More laughter.
Diana grit her teeth, taking slow deep breaths to avoid launching at them. Instead she turned and ran. She had pulled on a pair of trainers before leaving and the blonde idiots were wearing black platform shoes. In seconds they were stumbling and falling behind before they finally gave up. Diana slowed down and was about to enjoy a nice walk when she heard another sound that made her pause. This one was another shriek but it was one of fear.
Diana turned in time to see one of the girls drop to the ground on her side with wide blank eyes. The other was on the ground crawling backwards. In between the girls - the one on the ground was either dead or unconscious - was a small black lizard. Diana blinked and stared at it before it turned around, stared at her. Opened it's mouth. And breathed fire.
She dropped the bags and her body to the ground, smacking her jaw but avoiding the flames. They soared over her head before disappearing into the air. When she next looked up the lizard had turned and was making it's way towards the girl still trying to crawl backwards away from it in fear.
It took a lot of struggle not to leave them. The girl was a bitch and she didn't have anything she could defend herself with. She knew Caine wouldn't have blamed her for turning her back... But she wasn't the same Diana and she couldn't leave the girl to die, even if she was a bitch. Diana swallowed hard and blinked before she was up and running for them.
The lizard didn't even notice her until she was standing over it, shadow hiding the sun from it's scales. By then when it turned around Diana had lifted her foot and stamped hard on it's head. The creature was pinned down and while it's legs, body and tail all flailed around trying to free from her hold, it didn't breathe fire. Or maybe it couldn't. Maybe it needed it's mouth to be open...
Diana looked up at the blonde girl sobbing and calling the name Becca. Maybe her friend's name.
"Give me your bracelet!" Diana demanded. The girl looked down. There were several bands around her wrist, some chains but a few were made from strings.
"What?" The girl sobbed.
"Give me a bloody bracelet already!" Diana shrieked.
The girl tore off three, two metal but luckily one of them was a black string with little pink beads around it. Diana struggled to stoop down without letting the lizard go and picked up the bracelet. After a few moments where she panicked, sure the longer she took the more time the lizard had to get free, Diana managed to untie the knot and dropped the beads on the floor.
By now the girl was crawling towards Becca, still crying. From the angle Diana couldn't see any burn backs but she did see blood.
Diana swallowed and crouched down, awkwardly keeping her foot in place on it's head. She wasn't sure how she was going to do this but she would need to be fast. She might have asked the girl for help but she was too busy crying over her friend.
"Okay... Here goes nothing." Diana mumbled. 'But my life' she thought.
Diana grabbed the body and squeezed taking her foot off before she wrapped her hand tightly around the lizard's head. She squeezed as hard as she could, hoping maybe she could snap it's neck or crush it's skull but it never stopped struggling in her hand. Diana shut her eyes. Please let this work.
She released the head and pinched it together in between her two fingers, she somehow caught it's body in between her knees and while it scratched and struggled and twisted to break free, it didn't shoot anymore fire out from it's mouth. The lizard's black eyes turned on her and it was glaring but even though it could half pull it's lips apart, it's jaw was held in place by her fingers. Diana swallowed again. It was like each swallow was swallowing fear. She awkwardly looped the black string around the creatures mouth but she couldn't tie it with one hand busy.
"Girl!" Diana snapped. The girl looked up, still sobbing. "I will help your friend but first do me a favour here! Tie this bloody things mouth shut!"
"What..." She squeaked.
"Get your ass over here or it will get free and kill you too!"
That got her moving. She scrambled over and tied a loose knot around it's mouth. Diana still didn't trust it. She gripped her hand around it's head again and ran over to her bags, pulling out the vest and quickly wrapping the lizard up, making sure to apply pressure and tie it up. Then she set it down and waited. And waited. And waited.
Minutes passed but no fire burned the clothes or shot out from the creature in any way. The girl had returned to openly sobbing and a few people passing by had now come to find out what happened. Diana glanced around but the lizard had attacked just when no one else was around. It was much smarter than any lizard Diana had seen before.
Diana hesitated a moment longer, then picked up the vest and shoved it back in the shopping bag. Then she was snatching the bags and running down the street.
No way were they going to believe she actually caught the thing! They just needed to figure out what to do with it next!
24) Who knows about the Sekhmet? (I didn't. My friend told me about it:L)
25) Do you get it in Hard back or paper back? (All my books BUT Hunger are in hardback)
