~Belle Johnson~
I never thought I would be running for my life through the halls of my school. Yet here I am. I sprint as fast as I can, fleeing from the monster that follows close behind. We're in Magic Physical Education, and we are playing Raid, which is a game in which mages hunt down monsters, and well... eliminate them. More like the other way around.
The monster is a Mino-Tamer, which is a Minotaur that Tames creepy insects like gigantic spiders about six feet tall. I'm not kidding. This Mino-Tamer has a huge spider looking for fresh flesh to feed on. Oh right, did I tell you? They're cannibals. And, Aurora's always its favorite snack. I think she has been "eaten" 14 times this month already. I look over my shoulder, into the spider's cold, blood red eyes flashing in the sunlight. Shivering, I distract myself with the task at hand: RUNNING.
Could the MPE teacher stand to change it up a bit? Hey, maybe he'd make Unicorn Riding a sport and we'd all go Tame them. Then we'd go and find all the pots of gold at the ends of the rainbows they farted. Yay! Not. I'm waiting for the day it happens, and at the rate we're going, it'll be around... 62530982 billion years later. Woo-hoo. I'll be alive then.
"AAAHHHHH!" Aurora's high pitched shriek cuts through the air like knife, stopping the train of my thoughts. I snap back to reality and realize that she needs help, and fast. If she is "eaten" again, she'll be Eliminated and Chastised. And that is bad. To graduate from this school, you have to have at least 3 years of MPE, and this is her third year. I sigh.
"Belle, stop getting off track. Go help Aurora." I mutter to myself. Then, with a boost from my plants, I race off in the direction she'd gone in.
"AUROOORRAAA! I'm coming to help you! I'll be there in a sec!" I listen for a reply, maybe a shout of acknowledgement or something. Maybe thanks? Nope. Well, that's sure nice. As I turn the corner, I come to an abrupt stop as a blast of hot air hits my face. Wait... Heat? That didn't show up so often. Maybe it was a science experiment. I peer into the barred window carefully, but all I saw was an empty room. In the poor excuse for a CubeRoom is a mirror, Aurora, and the Mino-Tamer frozen in its tracks.
"Aurora, come on! Let's go." No response comes. I realize that Aurora is truly frightened and depressed, not just from the Mino-Tamer. She rocks back and forth in a corner, curled up into a ball, her arms hugging her legs to her chest, chin resting on her knee. Glittering tears fall down her pale face, unchecked and unnoticed. It's as if she is in a different world entirely. I step forward, looking into the mirror. I stop in my tracks, fear slowly drawing itself onto my face. The mirror grows foggy, and as if someone is writing on it, three words written in the ancient runes appear.
Καθρέφτης του φόβου. I read them, stunned as I decipher the runes. If I'm right, this reads "Mirror of Fear". Suddenly, the mirror vanishes before my face, melting into the ground, and I sink with it.
"No! I won't! I won't obey!" I yell defiantly. Slowly, I look around, seeing a familiar yet strange place that I had not seen for a few years. "H-home?"
"Darling, you know we can't keep her." My mother holds Dakota, my husky.
"Pets aren't allowed, at least not here in the Society, Belle." My father buts in.
"B-but we had Dakota in the Province!" I stumble on my words, my confidence fading quickly.
"We've had her for four years!"
"She'll die soon anyway." My mother says coldly. "You understand, right, sweetie?"
"I'm sure she does. Get out the knife." My father states matter-of-factly. My mother pulls out a knife from the cabinet.
