The Blood of Three

Chapter 22

Kyle was tense as we traveled back across the water. I had asked him if he wanted to walk around the lake, but he insisted he had to work on getting over his fear. We walked to the eating area in the middle of Safe Haven and sat down at a picnic table. A girl walked over to us and told us our options on the food that evening.

"I'd like a few chicken strips and some macaroni and cheese," Kyle told the kind demigod, looking eager to get his hands on the food. The demigod wrote it down on her small notepad and turned her attention toward me.

"Very original." I smiled at Kyle. "I'd like the same thing, but add a sweet tea," I said as politely as possible.

"Hmm," Kyle questioned his order. "I want one, too," he added.

She smiled. "No problem." With that, she walked away.

"I like your taste in food." Kyle grinned.

"I like your taste in beverages." I chuckled.

In mere minutes the demigod returned with our sweet teas. "Thank you," Kyle and I said in unison.

"I'll be right back with your food." She smiled and walked away again.

"Jinx," Kyle spoke quickly.

I rolled my eyes and took a sip of my tea. It was getting late and the moon and stars were visible in the night sky. We talked for a little while as we waited for our food. I laughed as he made jokes one after another over random things like the weather, monsters, and the tea. The demigod brought our food and left without saying a word. For a few minutes, we ate in silence. The food was amazing. The chicken was tender and juicy, and the mac-n-cheese was cooked to perfection, smothered in three different cheeses.

"All this cheese is making me feel grate," he joked. Instead of replying, I just smiled and took a sip of my tea. "Do you get it? Grate, as in a cheese grater," he explained after a moment.

It was then when I lost it. I started laughing so hard I almost had to spit out the tea in my mouth. After he called me immature for laughing at a time like this, I laughed harder. "Me? Immature? I'm not the one cracking jokes every five seconds," I retorted.

Kyle's grin reached his sparkling eyes. After a moment, he glanced over my shoulder as something grabbed his attention. His smile dropped to a line as he stood up from the table. I looked over my shoulder and followed his gaze—there was someone walking toward us. The dark figure was about the average height of a teenage boy, but unfortunately I couldn't make out any features. "Dylan?" I guessed, standing up.

"That's not Dylan," Kyle realized after a quiet minute. That's when I noticed it wasn't a person walking toward us...it wasn't even close to human.

"What in the world?" I blurted the question we were both thinking.

Kyle's eyes suddenly grew wide. "Riley, run!"

"What?" Why would he be telling me to run? Unless...

"Go, Riley! Now!" he yelled, but stupidly, I didn't listen.

Right then I got a better glimpse of what was coming toward us. It had the head of a man, a green monstrous body and a long tail lined with sharp, lime-green spikes. My eyes grew wide. It was a manticore.

I was about to turn and run when something shot into my leg. Crying out in pain, I looked down to see my thigh punctured with a one of the spikes. My leg started to bleed. Who am I kidding? Blood was pouring from my leg. I did the only thing I could think of—I pulled the spike out of my thigh, turned and ran. As fast as I could with an injured leg, I sprinted toward the woods that surrounded Safe Haven.