I stare at the leathery wings unfolding from the headmistress' back. This was supposed to be a nice day, not like this, with my headmistress turning into a monster! It's my tenth birthday, for God's sake!

"ELEANOR VINCENT! COME HERE NOW AND I WILL DO YOU NO HARM!" screams the monster (I refuse to call that thing the headmistress) snapping me out of my reverie. I turn and run, faster than I ever have before, even before that horrible day, the day my father died, started plaguing my thoughts, and not just my dreams. Even now, as I run for my life from the monster, my mind starts going through the day, starting when he kissed me goodbye when he was dropping me off at the daycare.

"Goodbye sweetie!" He said cheerfully. "Have fun!"

"Bye-bye Daddy!" I said. "See you later!" (If only I had known)

I remember my last glimpse of him, all brown hair and wiry glasses, to the last detail (the small brown coffee stain on his shirt, the tiniest crack in the left lens of his glasses, etc.), maybe more than is natural, but I have no idea how, or why.

The rest of the day is just normal 3-year-old stuff, which my mind skips quickly over, until-

"—is dead." I heard as a police officer walked into the room."It was a car crash, he was killed instantly. We just found out that he had a child here, she's three."

"Yes. Eleanor," said the counselor. "Eleanor, come here please!"

I walked up to the counselor — and run right into someone. He's about sixteen, with wildly curly brown hair, and a grin that's probably on his face at my expense.

"Hi there," he says, laughing. "Going somewhere important?"

I glance back. The monster is there, and closing fast.

"Oh, that," he says, looking over my shoulder. "Well I can take you somewhere you'll be safe from things like that, but you'll have to trust me."

"Trust you? I just met you!" I say incredulously. "In fact, I don't even know your name!"

"Well it's me or him, so I suggest you choose quickly," he says, nodding towards where I imagine it is.

"Fine," I say, glaring at him for dodging my question. "Take me with you."

Without a word he grabs my hand and we make a mad dash through the city.

*—————*—————*—————*—————*—————*

Three and a half hours of running, resting, and running again later, we stop for a rest, me hoping desperately that we lost it, him glancing up and down the street in between sips of water. He passes me the water, and I finish it quickly, then stare at the bottom of the bottle, wishing it was still full.

"I think the monster's gone, for now, at least. we should find a place to stay the night," he says. "And-"

"Wait a second!" I say, glaring at him. "You still haven't told me your name!"

He smiles at me like he knows something I don't and says "Dale."

"Where are we going to stay?" I ask, almost growling with frustration.

He just smiles irritatingly, not saying anything.

"You don't even know, do you." I say, a statement, not a question.

"Nope," he says, more irritating than ever. "Not a clue!"

Ugh, boys, I think. "We need to find a place to stay!"

"Alright, alright!" he says, looking around. "How about there?"

The place he points to is far from ideal, looking like no one's stayed in it for years, much less taken care of it. Why me? I think at the sky. It's not fair!

The sky does not respond.

"Fine."

*—————*—————*—————*—————*—————*

This morning, after a night of tossing and turning on a wooden bed that was clearly not made to be comfortable, and a pillow that's just a pillowcase stuffed with newspapers, only to be woken up at the break of dawn, I am not happy with Dale.

"What were you thinking?" I demand. "Oh wait, you probably weren't!"

"Come on, we've got an hour of running ahead of us, and it won't be long before that monster—"

Suddenly, we hear the sound of tearing wood and crumbling plaster.

"We need to go! Now!" he says, suddenly all business. "Come on!"

We take off down the hall, pausing for precious minutes to grab his supplies, thankfully still packed up, almost as though he knew this was going to happen.

We manage to get out the door mere seconds before the monster — a different one this time — tears through the wall beside it.

 "It's a minotaur!" he says. "Let's go! We've got to get to an allyway! Otherwise we'll be caught in minutes!"

I don't even bother answering. We're already running, him leading the way, me following.

I hate being the follower.

*—————*—————*—————*—————*—————*

Another painful hour or so of running, jumping, dodging, boating, and taxiing later, we stop to rest. It's not long before an argument starts.

"Long Island?" I say incredulously. "Seriosly? Not funny!"

"Hey," he says, all innocent. "No jokes, This is really it."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

"Oh, you will, don't you worry," he says. I'm about to roll my eyes at him when I stand up to have a look around, and see over the hill we were sitting behind.

—————————————————————————

A/N:

YAY!!! It's finally out! Sorry it took so long, but I was having some major  writers' block, and couldn't think of anything to write!