Alone

Chapter 1

                                  1.Questions and Death Ice Cream

       Questions. That was my whole entire life. Questions about my father, who was currently 'missing', questions about my life with dyslexia and ADHD, and questions about who I am as a person. For 11 years, I was Julie Ling, the girl with questions but no answers.

         But on a fateful August day, my life was about to change. All because of a day in the park when my friend, Derek, wasn't acting like himself.

        He seemed nervous, always looking behind his shoulder and biting his fingernails. Usually he would be goofing off or sniffing flowers and picking up litter. Once, I saw him eat a soda can. Weird. Anyway, as we were walking around the park, I asked, "Still scared that Mrs.Dodds would show up right now and force us to redo our whole entire math journal?"

        He jumped at the sound of my voice as if he forgot that I was there. "Whaatt? Pfft...no! Maybe. A little." he whimpered. I laughed, but I was scared myself. A few months ago, I had a wild dream of Mrs. Dodds turning into an old hag with wings and a whip. She was chasing me and Derek around the school and was about to devour us, when I punched her in the stomach and I kicked her in the "spot". She leaned over in pain, causing her to drop her firery whip. I grabbed it, but it was gone. In it's place was a red sword.

        Mrs. Dodds was back to her feet in a flash and swipped at me with her claws, but I was quicker. I ducked and swipped at her feet. They exploded into dust, but reformed. She grinned wickedly. "You see, child, you can't use my own whip against me. It's a part of me and it can never hurt me! You'll never win now!" she said, laughing like a mad man.

        "But it's no longer your whip anymore," I said, dodging her attacks. "It's now a sword, my sword in fact. And its  name is not "whip". Its Σκιά θηρίο!" Mrs.Dodds sliced my arm, but I thrust the sword into her neck. I slid it down to her heart and pulled it out. She cursed and yelled and spat, but that didn't change her from disintegrating into golden dust. That was the last thing I remembered before blacking out.

        I woke up the next day thinking it was a dream, Mrs.Dodds was in her classroom the next morning (though she seemed angrier with me than usual) and my injuries had vanished. The only thing that unsettled me was Derek. He kept staring at me all day, like he was expecting something to happen. Every time I asked what was wrong, he would stare of into space and say, "Oh it's nothing, the sky is just so symmetrical. It's so beautiful, symmetry!" He was a big nut case. I really considered bringing in a psychologist, a nurse, or a sledgehammer.

        "Hey," Derek said, breaking up my thoughts. "Isn't that Mr.Brunner, our Latin teacher?" I turned to see our teacher sitting on his wheelchair in the middle of the park. He seemed absorbed in a thick novel that I could probably not read, thanks to my dyslexia.

        Derek frowned and started talking to himself, a habit he has when he was nervous. "Why would he be here, doesn't he have to run cam? He'd only be here if...oh gods we are dead!" I couldn't help but point out that he said, "Gods," But before I could, he rushed to Mr.Brunner's side and left me covered in dust. Typical. I ran toward them, man he was fast for a guy in crutches. When I finally caught up to Derek, he and Mr.Brunner were in a deep discussion.

        "They're here," Mr.Brunner whispered. Derek's eyes widened.

        "What?! All three of them? She can't be that powerful! Where are they?" My eyes narrowed. What girl were they talking about? Was it me? Who was "they"? And why were there three of them? "Should we take her to camp?" What?! I'm not going anywhere!

        "No, I don't believe we should bring her just yet, she might think we're kidnapping her.  As for the other question, the Kindly Ones exact location is uncertain. All I know is that they are in this park." I frowned. The Kindly Ones? What kind of name is that? It seemed like they were talking about a group of gangsters, but who would name a group, 'The Kindly Ones'? I would name it "Smashing Skulls" or something.

        "Uh...hey, Mr.Brunner! What are you guys talking about?" I croaked, nervously playing with my hands. Mr.Brunner and Derek slowly turned around.

        "Hello, Julie. Glad you could join us!" Mr.Brunner said, ignoring my question. I opened my mouth to demand answers, when suddenly Derek leaped over and dragged me away.

        "So glad to see you again, Mr.Brunner! Me and Julie have to go get some ice cream now, so see you later!" he quickly said, waving good-bye. Mr.Brunner seemed surprised at first, but nodded and returned to his book. I, on the other hand, squirmed out of his death grip and marched back to my teacher. Two steps later, Derek tackled me, causing me to collapse under his weight.

        "G-get off me, y-you idiot!" I managed to say from underneath him. "I need to know who the Kindly Ones are!" I pushed him off me and started my way back to Mr.Brunner. Derek grabbed my hand and twirled me around so I would face him.

        "Now listen, Julie! It's not good to eavesdrop on other peoples conversations. What we talk about does not concern you!"he scolded. "But...." Derek grinned. "It's time for some ice cream! Come on, I'm starving!" Wow, what a great way to avoid a subject. He let go of my hand and sprinted of to a ice cream truck that seemed to appear in midair when he said, 'ice cream'.

        "Derek wait!" I screamed. I had a bad feeling about the truck, it seemed to give off an evil vibe. When I caught up he was holding two ice cream cones, about to devour them both. For some crazy reason, I thought I saw the ice cream bubble and steam as if it was infused with acid. Without even thinking, I grabbed the cones from his hands and threw them on the ground. He stared at his hands, his mouth still open, like he was waiting for the ice cream to dive into his belly. It took him a minute to process what just happened.

        "WHY DID YOU DO THAT!?" Derek shouted. "I really wanted to eat that!" He pouted. Glaring, I pointed at the now melted ice cream. It was burning the sidewalk, forming a big hole full of strawberry goodness and dangerous acid. "Oh my gods, this is b-bah-bad! Julie, you got to get out of here!" He started to pace in circles, another habit he has when he's nervous and afraid.

        "W-why?" I asked, already knowing the answer. Derek gave me a nervous glance.

        "They're here."