For February, the evenings were particularly dark, I noted as I attempted to make my way home from Sixth Form.

To be fair, it was at least six, considering I'd lost track of time working in the library after school. That happened more often than I cared to admit, though I did get quite a bit of homework and coursework done, although it left me in a difficult position getting home in the dark in London, and put me in an awkward place at home. The first time I'd stayed late, about a month ago, I was with friends, Annie and Jess both having the same deadlines as me, so the three of us bought snacks and put music on and stayed until the cleaners kicked us out. The next week, my work had piled up, but the two of them didn't have much to do, so I decided to stay alone, and the habit of it stuck.

Jay and Karrie were mortified. For the two of them, it was bad enough knowing that I stayed late at school, but when I refused to let them pick me up or get a bus, they were horrified. Walk through London alone in the dark? Me, a seventeen-year-old girl? Forgetting the fact that I actually had some sort of street sense about me, the two of them were constantly on edge until I got back to the flat.

I wasn't allowed to stop off at the shops on my way home either, I remembered with despair as I walked past a sign for a chip shop, my stomach rumbling. One night I'd headed to Rose's flat straight from school after an accident at her work left the building in flames, and I'd forgotten to let Jay know. It was difficult getting them to trust me on my own after they'd convinced themselves I'd been kidnapped, which was ironic, as that night I saw Rose was the last time for a year, as she was actually 'kidnapped'.

So, it was straight home, to start revision all over again.

Not that there was much purpose to my endless revision. I wasn't going to uni. I'd missed the deadline to apply, and I had no plans for apprenticeships or anything else. It was a strife, talking about my plans or the future, as I had no clue what I was doing. I only decided to do A Levels because I had no other ideas as to what to do, as well as Rose telling me to do them since she had nothing.

Maybe that's what I could do after leaving; move in with Rose, especially now she was back home. Get a part time job and save up for a flat with my cousin. Except this was London where they charged you for breathing it was that expensive. Maybe I could move back up North, go back home? Jay and Karrie would hate that. Not that they could do anything, I'd be out of their care, and they weren't my parents anyway.

My parents would have wanted me to go to university. Dad had told me once no one on his side had gone to Uni, except for him of course, and even then he dropped out after meeting Mum, though he stayed up North. I wanted to go back up North. I'd wanted to apply for Uni of Sheffield, or the Arts Uni in Leeds, but last minute my mind had changed, and now I was stuck with no plan. Not that my idea of a Media or Art degree was a good plan, but it was something, it was a purpose I could give my life after floating around meaninglessly for most of my life.

It wasn't always that way, not when I was younger. It just seemed to be that now I was at a stage where I was just... lost. Unsure, uncertain. Nothing was clear, my future was so blurry, but the one part that seemed so clear was that I was going to do nothing. Nothing of importance, nothing incredible. My life would be meaningless.

Walking home, I kept my head down as I trudged along, lost in my own little bubble of thoughts. I was only broken from my thoughts when I heard a noise like a car crash. I flinched, scrunching my eyes shut, trying not to let the noise throw me back to my nightmares, except my heartrate had already picked up and I was shaking ever so slightly, like I did whenever I even heard a car brake squeal. Taking a deep breath, I forced my eyes open to see an illuminous glow coming from a park amongst the trees just across the road. I frowned, knowing there were no roads over that way for it to have been a car accident.

I don't know what made me cross the road and begin running over to the light, especially considering my hatred of reminders to car accidents, but I was running all the same, my books bouncing up and down in my backpack. As I approached, the trees shielding most of the glowing object, I noticed the smoke pouring from what looked like a rock, the smell filling my nostrils, making me feel sick. Coughing, I realised whatever the smoke was might be toxic, so I lifted my scarf over my nose and mouth, pushing my glasses up my face further.

I bent down in an attempt to examine it closely. It was like a rock, the craters glowing ever so slightly, though much dimmer than it appeared over the road. The darkness coloured it a black, though it had a grey sheen about it, though I wasn't sure if that was just because of the glowing. It was as if the light was a beacon, calling anyone in. Maybe it was a trap somehow, but I didn't understand what would be attempting to set a trap with a glowing rock. That was until I heard a crack and the rock burst open violently, more smoke pouring out.

It was then I realised that it wasn't a rock at all, but an egg. An egg for what I had no clue. The entire thing made sense and was so utterly unreal I thought I must have been dreaming, that I would wake up with my head in my history folder with a dozen missed calls from home. Except, I came to the realisation that maybe, just maybe, I wasn't asleep when something pounced out of the stony shell.

It was a creature that couldn't have possibly been of earth, as ridiculous as that seemed. It had the appearance of a scorpion, but with the size of a large dog. I jumped back, tripping over a tree root I didn't realise was there, falling back onto the floor, my breath catching in the back of my throat. I attempted to scoot back from the thing in fear, taking advantage of the fact it hadn't seemed to notice me just yet.

Just as the thought of escape appeared in my head, it was as if the thing had read my mind, turning to face me, letting out a low snarl that reminded me of a motorbike revving. It moved backwards, then leaped up into the air, landing right on top of me, knocking me back further. With another snarl, I recognised the very real threat of this thing, noting how I had no clue what it was, but yet I seemed to know that it was probably going to be the end of me.

My thoughts were confirmed as I felt a sharp pain in my shoulder where its pincer had gotten hold of me, slicing through my blazer and piercing into my flesh. I let out a shrill scream, my hands flying out to knock it off of me, but its grip was stronger than I ever could have been.

Panic filled me, no matter how much I tried to fight it. I took in deep breaths, fighting the tears that came with the pain, still attempting to push the thing off of me. It all seemed to be futile though and I considered surrender, taking in the fact that I was going to be killed by some weird-ass creature that was probably alien because what else could it possibly be. I was basically the 'basic white girl' of the Horror Genre, stupid enough to follow the light that I'd gotten myself killed for it.

Just as I seemed to accept the inevitable, that was when I heard it. The wheezing groaning noise of that I thought was the wind. Except it wasn't the wind, it was, though I didn't know it at the time, the noise of hope.

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Word count: 1462

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