It was a warm summers day, on the afternoon of the second of July when it happened again.

The sun was shining, there were no clouds in the sky and all the world seemed happy and content, so there was no reason to suspect that there was something evil getting closer. The place where this black force was descending upon was a large school building in the heart of London. It was a large Victorian building that still held the old-fashioned desks with their lids and inkwells and the dusty black chalkboards from the far past. It was a rugged and hardy place, easily lasting through two world wars and a fire that had nearly torn the building down to its base almost twenty years ago, but it couldn't last against what was getting closer and the students inside were blissfully unaware about the danger that was growing nearer and nearer by the second.

One of these students was a girl named Rose. She was fifteen, small, slender with a bob of strawberry blond hair and a personality that made you love her instantly. She was the most popular girl in her year, she was part of the school council, head of the netball team, the prom committee and head girl, so when a stranger had a good look at her you would have no idea that past the warm smile and forest green eyes that this girl had a secret, would you? But that secret was why she was in terrible danger.

Rose was sat in her biology class, absentmindedly examining plants to study their cells under a microscope when a bee flew into the classroom. On a warm summer day, you'd expect a few insects to be buzzing around, so the sight of a bee zipping into the hot stuffy room wouldn't be much of a cause for concern but if anyone had taken a good look at the insect they would have noticed something distinctly odd.

For starters, it was flying alarmingly quickly. In fact, it seemed to be almost frantic, dipping and diving around the room at breakneck speed but that dipping, and diving may not have been deliberate. The poor creature was practically flying sideways, one wing beating so quickly it was blurred, the other was hardly beating at all. It didn't stop for a moment as it scanned the heads bent over their work, desperately trying to find its target before it fell out of the air from exhaustion. At last the bee lost all power it had managed to build up and found itself hurtling towards the earth but with one quick change of direction it managed to make an emergency landing on the shoulder of Rose's blazer. It sat there panting for a few seconds before managing to crawl its way up to Rose's ear.

"They're here..." it wheezed before collapsing onto the girl's shoulder.

Rose, who hadn't felt the insect land on her, jumped about a foot in the air, scaring her classmates on either side of her to quite a degree. She quickly apologised before sticking her hand in the air, asking the teacher if she could go to the loo. The teacher, who had also been a little startled by Rose's attempt at the high jump, told her she could go, watching her as she ran from the room, down the corridor and then barred herself in the toilet. She tugged on the pull cord and light instantly flooded the little cube she was standing in, making white spots dance in front of her eyes as she very carefully pulled the little bee from her shoulder and cradled it in her hands.

"Oh Flower..." she whispered as she gently stroked the poor animal. "What happened to you?"

The bee perched on the end of her finger and looked up at her friend. "They're here, they're at the school, they just walked in the front gates." Flower was becoming increasingly agitated, buzzing angrily and marching up and down Rose's hands in frustration.

Rose was more concerned about her friend though and instantly turned her attention to Flower's injury. "What happened to your wing?" she asked.

Flower stopped marching for a second and looked at her bent wing. "That bloody frog got me," she spat. "Sat right on top of the gates and stuck its beastly tongue out at me! The nerve... The nerve of all of them! The freak show sat right outside in broad daylight for everyone to see!"

"They're definitely getting more confident..." muttered Rose as she gently straightened out Flower's bent wing.

"Without a doubt," agreed Flower, "it was all of them as well, everyone that the Harpy mentioned was there, even that Frankenstein thing." She shuddered, "I'm surprised people don't run away screaming."

Rose directed the conversation to a topic that was going to be a bit more useful. "What are we going to do? Should we go and try to make it to camp or stay here where we know we can hide?"

Flower sat still for a moment and pondered. "Well..." she said after a little while, "I personally think we should try to make a break for it. We can hide here but they're willing to just walk in they could turn on someone, possibly even kill them, and that's a factor that we can't risk." Rose nodded in agreement while Flower continued, "if we make a run for it now we have a chance of getting to camp and we know for a fact they can't follow us there." Flower looked up at Rose. She was nibbling her lip and trembling slightly, she was scared, they both were but it was Flower's job to keep her friend calm. She gently placed her foreleg on her friend's finger. "It's all or nothing now."

Rose nodded, took a deep breath and then started to formulate a plan.

After Rose had been in the toilets for about ten minutes one of Rose's friends was sent to see if she was alright. She quietly knocked on the door and asked if Rose was okay and this was where phase one of the plan was initiated. Rose made a gagging noise and then opened the door for her friend, her face pale and a strong smell of vomit wafted out onto the corridor. Stumbling back the friend ordered Rose down to the medical room while she darted inside their class room to tell the teacher that Rose had been sick. Rose slowly walked along the corridor until she turned a corner, looked all around her and then broke into a sprint.

"Not your most convincing performance of all time but it did the trick," said Flower from within the pocket of Rose's blazer. Rose didn't answer, she was too busy looking for an open window.

One thing that she had never criticised before but was now cursing was the fact that the school had working air conditioning in almost every classroom, and on a sweltering day like today, the AC was blaring in every room, but it also meant the all windows were all locked or had jammed shut from many years of disuse.

While running along the third-floor walkway Flower gave a shriek of alarm which caused Rose to turn and see five figures casually strolling into the school leaving the figure of Mr Parker, the head of security, lying either unconscious or dead on the hard, concrete floor. With a sudden surge of terror Rose frantically ran along the corridor, sprinting in and out of every empty classroom, tugging at every window, breaking nails in a desperate attempt to get out, after all it was now five against one and the odds for her getting out of this alive were shrinking exponentially. Out of breath and not daring to head down to the lower floors, Rose stopped to gasp for breath, her lungs roaring with fire and her heart pounding like a drum from within her chest. Flower, sensing the urgency of the situation emerged and peered around for a possible exit, while all the time their combined panic was rising.

"There!" exclaimed Flower pointing at an open window above the staircase. It was far too small for anyone, save contortionists, to squeeze out of and even then, it was too high for Rose to reach, even with a running jump. But the size and distance didn't even matter to Rose, she knew she couldn't fit through the tiny crack, she only hoped it was wide enough for a bee to wiggle through.

She took a few steps back, smiling as she thought that freedom was a few metres away but then a slow, bored voice instantly shattered her elation and sent her plunging into terror once again.

"Where do you think you're going?" said the almost lazy voice as Rose slowly turned, praying that her fear clearly etched onto her face wasn't too visible. Now to someone looking in on the scene they wouldn't know what Rose was so scared about. The voice belonged to a boy, about sixteen, with pale skin, a thin wiry frame and jet-black hair combed into an emo fringe with streaks of gold lining the tips of his hair. His hair was covering one of his eyes, while the other, which had a long red scar running vertically through the centre, stared at Rose intently like a hunter watching his prey. An evil grin began to spread across his lips as he saw Rose begin to tremble and his slow drawl continued. "Do you really think you can get away from us?" he asked her again.

Flower, who had a lot more courage than Rose at this moment, darted out and hovered next to her companion. "Of course, we can," she said, "We're faster than you and a lot smaller so we could run rings around you if we wanted."

The boy smiled that evil and cunning grin again and brought his hand up to on object wrapped around his neck. With a quick swipe of his left hand the object glowed for a split second and then a mass emerged from thin air and stood next to him. "Who's faster now?" he said, teasing them with every syllable.

Flower cursed at the sight of the cheetah that now stood by its master's side ready to pounce. Rose quickly assessed the situation. Running was out of the question now, if she took a single step backwards and that cheetah would be on her faster than she could blink. Attacking would also be hopeless, this boy could be a lot stronger than she was, she could see that clearly, and as for making a break for the window? She wouldn't get two feet without a distraction. The boy could almost sense her desperation.

"You know, you don't have to go out kicking and screaming, struggling hurts," he shrugged.

The cheetah barked out a guttural laugh. "I can agree on that Sparky," said the boy looking down at the cheetah.

He turned back to Rose and continued speaking. "Come with me quietly and I might be able to convince the boss to make it painless for you, it doesn't have to hurt but it is a bit more fun to watch." He cackled with the memories of peoples screams. "But I must admit we don't want the authorities descending on us, even coming to find you today was a bit risky. Lots of eyes in a school," he sighed. "But then again we'd just deal with them like that poor sod who's lying with his brain leaking out of his ears outside."

Rose had to bite the insides of her cheek to stop herself from screaming. The boy ignored her wide-eyed look of terror as he continued his murderous speech. "But I don't want to do that to you. You're a pretty thing and personally I'd see killing you as a bit of a waste, Mollie won't of course, but I might and that's something, don't you agree?" Rose didn't move. "Now if I were you I'd want to avoid a grisly and painful death so just follow me downstairs we'll all go off somewhere nice and private where no one's going to see us, and you'll join us in our glorious mission of world domination. Now what do you say sweetheart? Stay and die or follow and live, it's your choice."

For a minute Rose said nothing, she just stood there with her fists clenched by her sides her head bent against her chest, similarly to a toddler having a tantrum when her favourite toy had been taken away from her, but this was no tantrum, this was terror. Finally, after what seemed like an age Rose looked up, her eyes wet with tears, Flower quietly perched on her shoulder hoping that her friend knew what she was doing, and nodded.

The boy's grin spread wider than ever, nodding happily as he knew that he had successfully caught his prey while the cheetah licked its lips hungrily. "Well done, very good choice." He rummaged around in the pocket of his hoodie and removed a pair of what seemed to be handcuffs, just much bulkier and glowing a vivid green from cracks in the metal. The boy stepped forwards brandishing the handcuffs, "Now we'll just put these on you to make sure you don't try anything and then you can come downstairs and meet the boss."

Rose nodded, holding out her wrists her hands still clenched and trembling. In fact, her hands almost seemed to be vibrating. The boy didn't notice this but the cheetah, with two eyes in working order, did. He snarled a warning to his master, but Rose was quicker.

Rose snapped her palms sending a wave of high force wind straight at the boy's chest, sending him flying a good ten metres down the corridor. The cheetah growled, launching itself at Rose only to be struck down by Flower who had cloned herself to form a lethal swarm of stingers and let it rain down on the cat who began to screech in agony. Now the boy was back on his feet and sprinting towards Rose, slamming his hands together, rippling the air and producing a compressed jet of thunder spiralling towards Rose's head. She dropped to her belly and rolled as the thunderclap whizzed over the top of her head, brushing her hairs as the office wall where Rose had been standing in front of a second earlier now had a hole the size of a car torn out of its wall.

The boy dragged Rose to her feet and slammed her against the wall. Gritting her teeth and with the muscles in her back straining against his weight, Rose pushed off the wall using her feet sending the two of them crashing to the ground. Rose was up instantly and with another flick of her wrist sent a coil of poison laced stinging nettles his way, the rope curling around his neck, winding tighter and tighter the more he struggled.

Flower was still dealing with the cheetah and was now trying to blind it by injecting stinging venom around its eyes, but she was having to work fast and was pulling out every trick and aerial manoeuvre she knew to avoid the animals swatting paws and razor-sharp fangs and at the same time she was keeping an eye on Rose, ready to dart in if anything started to go wrong.

Rose now had two whips of thorns in her hands and was lashing them at the boy's arms and face with deep gashes being formed with every contact. The boy was far from helpless though. Quick as lightning he grabbed a hold of the row of thorns and tore then from Rose's grasp, slamming his foot into her stomach and ramming her into the side of railing, one hand on her throat. Rose gasped as she looked down at the thirty feet drop that could be awaiting her.

"You dare to think that you can do that to me?!" the boy screamed. Rose forced herself to look at him and into his cold blue eye that was blazing with fury. "I gave you the option of the easy way or the hard way, but it's clear that you little goody-two-shoes can't go out without a fight, can you?"

Rose let herself smile. "Well there's no fun in going quietly," she said as he tightened his grip on her throat. Rose gasped, "you can't win, you'll never win, you're outnumbered."

The boy grinned menacingly. "Not for much longer, we'll soon overpower you all."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Oh, you thought I was talking about the greater situation." Now it was the boys turn to look confused. "You see... I think you've forgotten that I'm not exactly alone."

His eyes widened just as Flower's stinger entered the back of his neck. It was her most powerful sting too, pain wise it felt like getting shot. It did the trick to say the least. So, while the boy was stumbling around screaming in pain, shouting profanities and yelling at his cheetah pet to "GET HER!" Without a second thought Rose vaulted the banister, slammed her hand onto the bee shaped amulet around her own neck and took off through the open window all before the boy and the cheetah could do anything about her.

Rose flew over the streets of London, through gardens and market stalls and streets lined with people going as fast as her little bee wings would allow her to go while frantically speaking to Flower inside her head.

"I can't believe they actually tried that, in broad daylight anyone could have seen them."

"Well they have the hypnotist and the voodoo freak on their side, so I could make a pretty good stab at brainwashing the entire school or they'd just kill anyone that opposed them."

"Do you really think that they killed Mr Parker?" Rose whispered.

"Try not to think about it honey, we just need to get to the woods."

"He's dead..." Rose had never really known the head of security, but she did know that he had a wife and two young kids and now that husband and father was lying dead in the courtyard. "Who do you think did it?"

"Don't"

"They murdered him, they just killed him." Rose said angrily.

"And the sooner we get to the camp and tell the Harpy the quicker we might be able to stop them, so just fly on and fly quickly."

Rose didn't want anyone to die, especially not an innocent man who didn't even know why he'd been killed or what for. She especially didn't want to think about how they'd killed him or how they'd done it. Maybe it was the boy she'd met, or the voodoo kid, or the hypnotist, or the Bride of Frankenstein, or- A dark shadow fell over Rose and in the few seconds she had to process what was going on she silently cursed herself. She'd forgotten the bloody beasts.

Something the size of a door slammed into Rose's side, cracking her wings once again and sent her hurtling towards the ground. She had no way of stopping herself and hit the ground hard, the impact jarring her back into her human form, rolling like she was taught but she still felt her left ankle crack under the suddenly very hard ground. She was in an alleyway of some kind, and from what she had managed to gather from her plummet back to planet earth she was in one of those tower block estates about two miles from her destination. Flower had retreated into the relative safety of the amulet leaving Rose all alone.

"Well, well, well look what we have here." Rose whipped around, not an easy feat on her injured foot and saw a tall boy, presumably the Air she'd heard so much about, sat on a low wall just behind her. At another noise from the opposite direction made Rose whip round again but this time swinging her school bag at the orange bird flapping around behind her. It gave an alarmed squawk before zipping back to the security of its master.

"Watch where you're throwing that thing," it snapped, suitably ruffled, "You could hurt someone with that."

"How do you know that wasn't my intention?" she snapped back.

The boy laughed, "You're a feisty one, aren't you?"

"Don't you laugh about that," growled another voice. It was the one from the school and let's just say he wasn't looking so hot. Dried blood was lining his arms and face, angry red gashes littered his skin, his neck was covered in raised lumps from the nettles and the place where flower had stung his neck had swollen to the size of a tennis ball. The other boy was finding this absolutely hysterical.

"Christ Leo, you got beaten up by a little girl. I bet your pride's pretty sore right now." He cackled between laughs.

Leo scowled. "Well Jack, that girl just happened to be trained by the Harpy and caught me and Spark by surprise." Spark the cheetah was covered in hundreds of the same stinging lumps that erupted on Leo's neck and seemed to be limping with every step, he growled at Rose with malicious intent in his eyes.

"Watch her hands, that's how she got us," he spat. Jack rolled his eyes and advanced on Rose, wind rippling through his fingers. Rose flattened herself against the alley wall one hand in her school bag.

Jack grinned at her, "what have you got in there? Going to try to kill us with you grades, because let's face it you're too far away from nature to give us a run for our money aren't you."

That part was true. The only reason that Rose had managed to get the jump on Leo in the school was because she had managed to stall him long enough to get a good charge up to attack him and that tactic wasn't going to work a second-time round. So, plan B was now on the cards. Rose ripped out the large hunting knife that she had carefully sewed into the lining of her backpack two months ago and swiped it at her attackers who jumped back to avoid the sharp blade.

"I like that you thought I wasn't prepared for this. I knew that you were going to come for me at some point, everyone is on high alert, even the Rookies are being collected by the Veterans," she smirked, "you've lost your element of surprise."

Rose lunged at Jack aiming for the killing blow, when she felt a numbness travel down her arm and into her hand. Puzzled she stared at it when a pool of blood welled up from the centre of her palm. Rightfully terrified Rose screamed as she felt her legs snap shut, bound by some unseen cord.

"Shut her up Marx!" yelled Leo. "Do you want the whole country to hear her?"

"Don't tell me how to do my job," came a strange, eerie voice from the shadows of the alleyway, a voice that suggested that the speaker couldn't get above a whisper.

A few seconds after Rose heard the voice she felt her mouth jam shut, she was physically unable to open her mouth, she couldn't speak, she couldn't scream, she could only cry. Two figures emerged in quick succession, followed by their beasts.
The first was an amalgamate of creatures the top half was a snapping crocodile cut off just below the front legs while the rest of it was a long snakes tail. The two sides had been sewn together but it clearly hadn't been painless, little nicks and cuts and random pieces of thread littered the border between the two sides. It snapped at Rose's ankles enjoying the panic in her eyes.

A small figure who couldn't have been more than eight years old stepped into view followed by another boy who looked equally as startling. The kid that Leo had called Marx was bizarre looking, he had grey eyes, a mass of white hair and was covered in various angry red marks including one on the palm of his hand that looked fresh. He was wearing a lab coat with dozens of extra pockets haphazardly sewn on and each of them was bulging with various objects such as hair, spools of thread, jars of needles and vials in every shape and size, filled with God knows what. In his hand was a little doll that bore a striking resemblance to rose herself down to the hair on its head which Rose was almost sure was her own. The Rose doll had a bloody needle rammed through one hand, a thick line of thread wrapped around its legs and stitches holding its mouth shut. It wasn't nice for Rose to be looking at an eight-year-old and knowing that he was torturing her.

The kid that was stood behind Marx was dressed in all black from his hair to his boots he was cloaked in the single continuous colour, but his eyes were also covered, a pair of completely blacked out sunglasses covered his eyes from view. Close behind him stood a zebra, smoke billowing from its nostrils and its eyes glowing red, like its master it too was standing still as a statue.

The hypnotist she thought, he's younger than I thought he would be.

He was young like Marx but a little older, ten if Rose had to make a guess. These were children and they were already brainwashed into torturing and killing people, it was horrific.

The kid with the glasses took a step towards Rose his hands moving to take them off. "There's no need for that James, she's mine now."

If Rose had the capability to scream she would have, because the cold, dead, emotionless voice that filled the alleyway was as close to the voice of death itself that she was ever going to hear. Rose glanced over, further into the dark alleyway as something from a horror movie lumbered into view. It didn't seem to be alive, its skin was pale and greasy looking, its eyes flat and lifeless like glass, the black stitches lacing its body together seemed to be the only thing from stopping it from falling apart into a jumbled mess of body parts and features that made it look like a girl. Its clothes were ragged, and its hair was a blood red mess that seemed to be half falling out of its scalp, its limbs were different lengths, nothing fit on this unholy creature of death. Rose wasn't religious but at this moment she found herself praying. It hunkered down next to her and examined her closely turning her face this way and that.

Flower suddenly burst from the amulet and instantly hurtled towards the threat, stinger pointed straight at the attacker's chest. A hideous frog version of the girl pounced on Flower and began to tear at her wings. Rose tried to cry out but found that only a whimper past her lips. It cackled but told the frog to leave Flower alone. "Pretty thing, isn't she?" No one answered. "We don't tend to get ones as lovely as you, you'll be a wonderful addition to my collection. Marx let her speak." Rose gasped for air as soon as she felt her mouth open but then her full attention turned to the thing sitting next to her.

"Please... do whatever you want to me, just don't hurt Flower."

The whole group laughed like it was the best joke that they'd heard in years. The girl was particularly manic, practically screaming out each note until she stopped as suddenly as she started, pinching Rose's face between her fingers. "Frankly my dear, I don't think that it's going to matter in the end. You're both going to be sailing on the same boat by the time I'm through with you."

"Just don't make it worse-"

"How very intriguing," it said, cocking its head to one side. "It seems that the fire has been extinguished." Suddenly she slapped Rose across the face, a searing pain following quickly. She seized the front of Rose's shirt and pulled her horribly close to her face. The scent of decay clung to her like a toxic cloud. "Given up already? You're a coward. You're weak! It seems that all that your precious camp is producing nowadays is pathetic, weak, yellow bellied scum. You all stopped fighting, you all give up." She threw Rose back down to the ground, her head smacking against the wall.

"We're not weak," yelled Flower. She was still in the hands of that hideous frog, blood from her torn wings oozing through its fingers, but she had managed to poke her head out from between its slimy grip. "We're stronger than you will ever be, and you know it that's why you're so desperate to build your numbers, you need more soldiers to defeat the light."

It didn't say anything, it just stared at Flower for the longest time before flicking her hand as the frog once again began to pull at her wings.

"Stop! STOP!" yelled Rose but to no avail, they weren't even listening to her anymore.

It turned to her and gave a sick yellow grin, "Scream all you want my darling, screams are music to my ears. And if you want throw in a little begging, I like it when you plead." It snapped its fingers and Marx darted forwards with syringe in his hands. It waved it in front of Rose's face. "Do you know what this is?"

Rose shuddered, her eyes not moving from the syringe. It was filled with some black liquid that Rose had never seen before. The putrid ooze seemed to be alive, pulsing and wriggling, fighting to get out. "It's going to turn me into a freak like you," she said in a strong, brave voice, barely hiding the fear.

It shrugged. "Well not exactly like me, but you certainly will belong to me. You will serve me blindly, follow my every command, you will only exist for my orders. I say jump, you say how high." It gave Rose a long hard look. "It's funny, everything you stand for can be reversed by a little injection of my magic medicine. It's amazing how the mind works isn't it?" She turned to the rest of the group who pounced upon Rose, one to each limb pinning her to the cold, dark floor. "Any last words?" it asked.

Rose felt like she should be screaming, crying out for help, hoping someone would hear her. But she knew that there was no point. If that voodoo kid was worth his salt he would have already set up a barrier around the alleyway, no one was going to hear her even if they were standing right outside. She craned her head up to look at Flower who had been unceremoniously dumped on Roses chest. The two friends looked at each other, and without saying a single word to each other, accepted what was going to happen. Rose then looked at the monster directly in the eye, the glee of another victim being taken clear in her eyes. Rose took a deep breath and steeled herself, her voice was brave, her nerve steady and she prepared to have nothing to lose. "You are never going to win this war, we pushed you back once and we will do it again, one day someone will come to push you back. And when that warrior comes to strike you down I hope that they bring down everything that you have ever built and makes you watch it come crashing down. The light will always triumph over the dark and I look forward to the day you meet your match."

Its cold smile spreads wide across its face, satisfied in its preys dying breath. "When I meet my maker, I'll be sure to tell you myself." It held the syringe to Rose's neck. "Oh, and by the way, this will hurt." And then it rammed the syringe deep into Rose's neck, the liquid inside clawing its way through her veins and ripping her mind apart as it tore away everything this girl was. The student, the friend, the daughter all gone as Rose's muffled screams rang out, only covered by the maniacal sounds of laughter.