The Land Of No Return

Chapter 5

My First Battle with Monsters

"Thanks for the info. I guess." I said. I didn't know what I was supposed to say. If I knew Ruby was a vampire when I met her I probably would've ran screaming at the top of my lungs. "Your welcome." I realized I would miss school on the second day. That's bad for my reputation. Now everyone's going to think I'm going to miss school a lot. Then again two thirds of these people were zombies. "I wish we could go to school, but my mom said that this was a matter of life and death," I told C.J. Just then he turned to the house one block away from mine. "It's cool, dude. I don't even want to go to school," He replied. "Oh, okay. So whose house is this? Where's camp?" I asked. "This is Casey's house. Camp's at Fisher Island," He said. We were walking up the steps when the door opened. Casey was coming out the door. She jumped when she saw C.J. and me there. "Uh...Hi," she said searching for words. "Hi. Seth knows about camp. We have to take him there," C.J. told her. She looked at me, "Okay, but we should probably tell Rick." "No! You know how I feel about Rick! We can't tell him. We have to go straight there." I was looking back and forth, from one to another. Why was it that I was the only one who didn't know about camp? She kept staring at me. "What is he?" she asked. "Can't you tell by his energy? He's a wizard," C.J. replied. "That energy could radiate from anything powerful. I know he's not a sorcerer. I don't sense that much power," She said. "What are you two?" I asked. I thought I was so smart for asking that. Nobody ever thought of asking what I am. They both looked at me. "I'm a sorcerer. Sorcerer's are the most powerful things alive. Sorcerers are some of the most smartest things alive. We're also the most beautiful. You're lucky I have manners, or else I'd be reading your mind," said Casey. "I'm a G.I.G. A giant in growing. Humans think that we're some kind of dumb monster, who's brain doesn't work very well, so we sound like Hulk. Well, HA, the joke's on them," was C.J's answer. That's when I took back my "so smart for asking that question." "So what's Rick?"I asked. C.J. was about to state the answer but then Casey did. "Rick's a werewolf. So is his sister, Heather. They're incredibly fast, and strong. They connect with anything, with their mind, when they're in animal form," Casey smiled. She was proud for knowing everything about Rick's type. I didn't know why but it hurt me inside to know that she knew everything about Rick. It was obvious that she liked him, more than just a friend. "Okay, well, we better get going,"C.J. said. We were walking to the bus station. We sat down on the bench and waited. "Who has the apples?"I asked, as we sat down. They looked at me for awhile. "Oh! The apples for Reena! I totally forgot that we needed to get those. Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry! I haven't been to camp for a few months. We're going to have to stop by a store," Casey told us. We waited for a silent moment. Fortunately, the bus was only a few blocks away. The bus driver looked at us as we walked on. "You, kids, running away from home?" he asked. He had a toothpick in his mouth, he was a bit chubby, and his: I'M A BUS DRIVER hat was to small for his head. "Of course not sir," We all said together. "Okay, then I suppose you can get on the bus," he said, pointing the top of his head to the seats. That meant we needed to get a move on into the seat. His voice was raspy and sounded like it would hurt talking with that voice. I'm no expert, but I think that guy was a smoker. As we walked to the seat I whispered,"Aren't we supposed to pay?" They both looked at each other than at me. They started laughing like crazy. "Are you kidding me? On this bus you don't pay a penny." they yelled. I had to sit alone because there were only to seats together. C.J. and Casey across from me. I looked at my reflection in the window. My cheeks were turning bright red. I sat there staring at the window, watching buildings pass by. When the bus hit the next stop an old lady came waddling towards the seats. Behind her was a man that looked like Arnold Schwarzenegger. The man came up to me. "Excuse me, but my poor old mum is going to need a seat. May she sit here?" he asked me. Unfortunately, he had a New England accent, and not a Austrian accent. "Um. Yeah. Sure," I replied. the old lady came in between me and the window. The guy walked to the back of the bus. The lady smelled like prune juice. She had gray and white hair, that was in a bun. Her face was all crinkled like paper that's been in someones pocket for a long time. She was about four feet tall. You couldn't see the eye color because her wrinkled face was hiding it. She was wearing a pink, with little flowers as a pattern, dress. Her wrinkly old hand came to my face. Then she pinched my cheek. "Oh, such a good little boy letting me sit here," she said. Her voice was like fingernails scraping against the chalk board. "Thanks. That's not usually what you hear every day," I said back. I tried to make it not obvious that I was trying to get her hand off my face, but every time I flinched her grip would just get tighter. My friends looked at me, with worried eyes. They acted like statues. They wouldn't move. The old lady sighed, "Such a handsome young man. Too bad all that beauty will go to waste. I mean, honestly, the fates should have made you the most ugly thing on earth." I stopped moving. "Let me guess, you want to kill me too. Probably, because you're some kind of monster," I said with a wisp. I had one because she was stretching my cheeks! She made this clacking noise into her purse. Just then the man comes and blocks the exit away from the crazy old lady. The lady lets go of my cheek. The bus has stopped. I thought it was because we were at a bus stop, but then I realize that time was frozen. Nothing was moving, except C.J, Casey, me, then the man and the monster lady. All of a sudden Casey yells, "Seth, cover your eyes!"

Right after I cover my eyes there's a bright light all around me. I hear this shrilling noise. After the shrilling was gone I dared to look up. As I looked up, replacing the man was a minotaur. And next to me wasn't an old lady anymore it was one of the Furies. "If you find us the orb, boy, we'll give you your mom and dad," She hissed. Now her voice sounded like nails against the chalkboard while a rattle snake tries to protect itself. My eyes widened. "What have you done with them?" I yelled. It was hard to hear me when the Fury's wings kept flapping up and down. She was leathery and had a crinkled face. "Captured them of course," she cackled. Casey whispered in my mind, "Don't do it, Seth." C.J. tossed me a black thing. As I got it. I examined it. It was a knife with a black blade. I stabbed the Fury. She screamed with agony. Then as fast as she started screaming she disappeared, leaving back some dust. The minotaur whacked the blade away. The knife went to the back of the bus. I was getting sick of these monsters. I could feel my anger stacking up inside me. I yelled, then punched the minotaur. It hurt my knuckles, but I didn't care. I wanted this monster gone. He hit me in the stomach and my body flew to the front of the bus. I coughed. I grabbed a pen from the bus driver's chest pocket. Then jumped on the Minotaurs back. I clicked the pen. I stabbed the Minotaur in the eye. It wailed. While he was confused I ran to the back of the bus, found the knife, then ran back to the Minotaur just in time. It's pain was over. I had only made it angry. I stabbed the Minotaur, then poof. He was gone. The only thing left of him was his horns. I fell to the ground.