We stood outside of the school, where a wall of monsters, led by the stone man stood. The walls of the school looked awful, claw marks, and burnt out cars crashed into the walkways. The windows had to have been replaced and broken again, because the windows didn't look the same as they had on the last day of school.
We had tried to come up with a decent strategy, maybe lure the monsters away, or find a way to lure Mother herself outside. Nothing seemed all that promising. All we could truly do was approach in the style of a Trojan Horse. We walked into the sight of the monsters and watched them as they circled around us. The stone man stepped in front of the various monsters. There were the usually hell hounds (they seemed to be Mother's favorite design), another Naga, another twin-tailed cat, and a bunny that looked like it had been maimed.
"This is really the best option?" Amber asked, then sniffled.
I watched Kelsey wrap her arm around Amber's shoulder. She truly was the best sister figure.
The stone man stopped just a couple feet in front of us. He looked emotionless at us, then raised his awkwardly jointed fingers and pointed at me. I wished he'd pointed at us as a whole, maybe then I wouldn't feel such heavy pressure. I took 3 steps forward, followed by the others, and stopped when he held up the palm of his hand. He pointed at me again, and the message became clear. I was the only one allowed to pass. I looked at each of the young adults who stood at my side.
"It'll be alright" I promised, in an attempt to encourage the others. I didn't really sound convincing.
"It's do or die" Leo spoke confidently "And I know you can do it."
I nodded at him and turned back to face the dozen or so monsters. I couldn't run away anymore. Not that I'd actually run away, but I certainly wasn't in a hurry. Now, I had no choice. I watched the monsters separate for me to walk by, toward the front door of the school.
The stairs were worn down from claws and blood and I had to watch my step. The walls inside the school had more damage than those outside. Some walls completely gone, showing the remains of metal and fake wood from the desks. Blackboards had scratches that I was grateful for not having been in the room when they were made.
Three rooms away from the entrance, the walls were still intact for one lone classroom. It was obvious that it was the room I was looking for. The door opened before I reached it and I stepped through the opening. The room was dimly light by what looked like a man made of lava.
"Mr. Monroe?" I asked, looking at the lava man.
"He's quite fond of you as well" Mother stepped out of the darkness, next to Mr. Monroe. "A young lady such as yourself and so many men who have taken a fancy to you. I must admit that I'm a bit jealous."
"Do you get off on messing up people's lives?" I asked spitefully.
Her expression changed slightly, but I couldn't be certain of exactly how, due to the darkness.
"My angel, we are all family here. You need not be so volatile." she said quietly.
I reached behind me and unsheathed the knife from my belt. Mr. Monroe stepped between Mother and myself.
"Now, now, we can work this out." She soothed nonchalantly. She didn't even sound like she was serious.
My fingers tightened around the hilt of the knife and, instantly, Mr. Monroe rammed into me. I nearly screamed from the intense pain. I felt him burning through my top and searing my pale flesh that was almost melting. I raised my feet and pushed them against him. The strength within me giving me the force I needed to create the distance. The soles of my boots melted and I had to kick them off before the fire could remove any more of my clothes. It was bad enough not having anything over my torso. I dropped the knife while struggle with my boots, but quickly reclaimed it and was ready once again to attack, to again be rammed into. A hot liquid wrapped around my throat and body and I watched Mr. Monroe step back, leaving a hardened magma case to trap me on the wall.
"You need a time out. We can talk again when you've returned to your senses" she said, definitely smirking.
I struggled against the hard stone. I knew I could break it, I just had to figure out the details. I focused my ice into small areas of the stone that had crevices. Each of my snow crystals embedded in the weaker points, had the stone cracking. At first, neither of them seemed aware. And then the stone shattered, and I landed on my feet. This time I didn't aim for Mother. I aimed at Mr. Monroe. He seemed caught off guard as I jumped at him so we were face to face. I pressed my face against his. I bit back the scream as I kissed him, but I refused to pull away. If this didn't work the first time, it wouldn't work at all.
The heat receded and Mother screamed behind me. I felt her claws wrap around the back of my neck and I was quickly thrown against the wall, just barely missing the black board.
"Why are you ruining everything?!" She screeched.
"I'm saving my true people" I smiled proudly, seeing her plans falling all around her.
"Kim...?" Mr. Monroe looked at me, stepping out of his puppet daze.
I saw Mother look in his direction and took the opening. I cut into my palm and grabbed the crystal as I ran. She looked at me, the shadow fading from a human face for just a second, before the crystal pierced her body. I aimed for the heart, and that was where it landed. Shadow receded completely, showing a girl, not much younger than me, with pale skin and black eyes. She was scared and sad, and I almost regretted what I had done, until I saw Mr. Monroe and what remained of what we'd all been through.
My hand still held the part of the crystal that wasn't within her, and her fingers moved along my hand, possibly looking for some sort of comfort.
"I...I'm...sorry" A tear crept down her cheek and her body began to fall apart.
Her energy was no longer keeping her body mobile. She began to disintegrate into wisps of black smoke. The smoke circled around us for a moment, then began to fade into the window, blowing out the window and out of this life.
"Kim?" Mr. Monroe stepped next to me.
I looked at him, then looked away quickly. His magma must have destroyed his clothes, because he was completely naked. And that was not something I needed to see. Not that I was much better.
"A-are there any clothes around here?" I asked, flushed.
He looked at me for a second, then realized what I was saying, and he pulled back.
"Kim?!" Leo ran into the room, freezing when he saw Mr. Monroe.
"Dude, where are your pants?" He teased.
"Sadie" I yelled "keep the girls in the hall and please find us some clothes."
A squeak told me that I'd spoken too late, and I glimpsed Kelsey guiding Amber away from the door.
"They're all gone?" I asked Leo, keeping my front covered.
"Yep. No more monsters in sight. And the rock guy was actually this nerdy guy named Kyle. He's known for 'Tutoring'. Aka, selling answers."
Justin walked into the room with Ryan. Ryan handed me a shirt that Kelsey had prepared when we first started moving. We'd been smart about preparing clothes from the houses we'd visited. But I was sure that we hadn't planned on bring a pair of men's jeans or boxers, so Justin had had to search in the PE room for anything that would fit him.
"So, now what?" Amber asked, after we were all dressed.
"Well, I guess we have to rebuild. The survivors will see that the monsters are gone, and hopefully there will be a lot of them to help bring the city back to life."