The Beginning

Chapter 1

Riley woke up with a splitting headache. She covered her eyes with her hands and rolled around in her bed, trying to get rid of the headache. When that didn't work, she started massaging her temples, sighing with relief when she felt the headache slowly going away. She sat up in bed and stayed there, thinking for a bit.
It was the weekend, so no schoolwork or school in general. She had that chess club meeting after school on Monday, so she can worry about that when the time comes. She could visit Carlos, since Sam is on a vacation to Hawaii to see her cousins and would be back later.
She hopped out of bed and slid on her slippers. The left cat ear flopped over due to a loose string, so Riley decided to fix it. She grabbed a hair tie from her bedside table and tied it around the little loop.
She shuffled to the kitchen, where her mom was making a croissanwich. Rachel put the sandwich on a plate and gave it to Riley, who sat down and began eating.
"Are Penelope and Elijah awake?" her mom asked.
Riley shook her head. "Nope, they're still sleeping. They should be, 'cause yesterday was wild."
The twins walked into the kitchen just as Riley said this. Their brown hair and blue eyes made them identical. Although they're boy and girl, it can be hard to tell them apart since they are the same height and often wear matching clothes. But, Penelope has a birthmark that is the shape of a cat, while Elijah doesn't.

Riley set the plate in the open dishwasher and went to her room to change. She picked out a red t-shirt that said "Four Corners" on it. She then chose a symboless black hoodie with strings because she found it particularly comfy and soft. She chose some Nike pants just because they were the only pants she saw first.

She ran out of her room and put on her shoes. Penelope looked up from her phone and smirked at her. "Gonna go see Carlos again?"
Riley glared at her. "Shut up. We're just gonna plan what we're doing tomorrow."
"We know that you liiiike him," Elijah chimed in.
"No, I don't!" Riley exclaimed, feeling her ears heat up. It was true. Although they've known each other since preschool, Riley has always found Carlos as her best friend and loyal companion. But she did NOT have feelings for him, despite the twins' teasing comments.
She ran out of the door, yelling "Love you!" to her mom. She walked the 5-minute journey to Carlos's house. She knocked on the door and stood there, waiting. A moment later, Carlos opened the door and beamed at her. "Hey! Glad you're here. I have something ready."
Riley grinned back. "Great! Where is it?" she said, walking into the living room.
Carlos led her to the dining table. "Right here," he said.
Riley gasped. The paper was covered in drawings. One of Riley, Carlos, and Sam-their other friend- hanging out on their school's courtyard. Them hanging out in Sam's house, telling horror stories about mythical creatures called Catwings. And there was so much more that Riley couldn't even decipher all of it.
"I know, right? It's pretty cool. I'm still putting some finishing touches to it," Carlos said with a proud smile.
Riley nodded, still in awe. "Yeah, it is. And how long did it take you to plan this out?"
"Hmm. I think it took, like, three hours? The ideas just started spilling out onto the paper," he said.
"Three hours?!" she exclaimed. "How?? It always takes me so long to come up with an idea, if I can at all."
He laughed. "I guess I'm built differently." He glanced at Riley. "It's easy to come up with ideas when your siblings are visiting your grandparents."
Riley nodded. She could relate with that. While the twins went to go visit their grandparents, she was at either Sam's or Carlos's house, having a sleepover. Although they're in eighth grade, they try to remain as close as possible so they don't separate in the future. So they try to have as many sleepovers as possible.
She was about to respond when Sam came rushing in, her blond hair bouncing wildly as she gasped for breath. There was a haunted look in her eyes as she looked at Carlos and Riley. "Huge... footprint... in... backyard," she finally said.
Riley frowned. "When we're talking 'huge', how big are we talking here?"
Sam shook her head. "That's the thing. It's MASSIVE. The footprint is so big that I can't even compare it to anything else. But, I think what I saw was only half of it."
Riley felt a chill travel from the floor up to her spine. "That can't be right. How can something be so big that it can't be compared to anything else?"
Carlos shrugged. "I honestly don't know, but it's worth checking out. Lead the way."
Sam led them to her backyard, where the footprint could be seen clearly on the grass. It wasn't an infinite size, but it seemed like it. The footprint took an impossibly big amount of space, and Riley couldn't even think what creature could leave an imprint that big.
Sam shook her head. "See? I told you. It takes up the entire backyard. You know what the strange thing is, though?"
"What?"
She hesitated. "I tried to show my mom, but she said she couldn't see it. It seems like this footprint was intended for only us to see it."
As she finished, a roar shook the sky. Sam turned around. "Hide! We don't know if it's dangerous or not."
The three of them climbed up the little playground in the backyard that was used by Sam's little sister and brother. Riley peeked out and glimpsed a flash of silver as an airplane flew by. She breathed a sigh of relief. "It was just an airplane," she said, sliding down the slide.
Sam rubbed her forehead. "That sounded so much like a Catwing from the myths. I really can't believe they were real for a second."
"If they aren't, then how would you explain the giant footprint that's on the ground in front of us?"
Carlos tensed. "Riley has a point. This isn't human made. Something was here, standing in the backyard." He shook his head. "Why don't we go to the nearest field and go to the treehouse? We can talk about it there."
Sam shivered. "Good idea. I strangely don't feel safe out here."
Riley nodded. "Me neither. Let's go."
They walked to their treehouse, unaware of three large, shadowy beings watching them with narrowed eyes. They growled to each other and took off, leaving a stain of a meal on the ground behind them.