sand and salt

monster

     The girl's feet burned from running but she didn't stop. She didn't dare look behind her at the beast that was chasing her. Strands of her hair began to fall into her face, as the wind whipped it around.

If I can only get over that hill I'll be safe to fight this thing, she thought.

The top of the hill was getting closer, but so was the monster. Mustering the rest for her energy, she sprinted up the hill. She made it up to the other side where she stopped for a moment to breathe before looking back at the thing. It looked like a mastiff but much larger. It's blood red eyes shone with murder, it's jowls dripping with drool.

A hellhound; she's messed with these beasts before. It slowly stalked towards her, its breath reeked with the smell of death. As it raised its paw to take her out with one swish, then reached for the hunting knife by her side in one swift motion. The beast raised a paw into the air, as it swung through the air as the girl raised the knife. Before it could give her a fight, the beast disintegrated into nothing more than dust.

The girl raised her eyebrows in surprise. Sheathing the knife backward into its leather holster, her eyes scanned her surroundings. To her relief, the hellhound had truly disappeared. She turned to the other side of the hill behind her, the sight made her eyes widen in amazement. Below her was a field of fat red strawberries. Far off were scattered buildings, houses maybe. Beyond them was an expansive forest near what looked like either the ocean or a very large lake.

   The girl's legs ached and her stomach growled hungrily. Her gaze return back to the field of strawberries. She sauntered down the hill slightly and sat down crisscross, gently picking a strawberry off the stem. Taking a small bite out of the fruit, her tongue filled with the sweet explosion of flavor from the berry. She grabbed another, and another, and another until she had her fill. She continued to look off in the distance where something new was on the horizon: three silhouettes of people. As they got closer, the girl popped up from her spot and reaching for her knife. They were close enough to be observed by the girl.

  The group consisted of teenagers all around her age, two girls and one shorter boy. The first girl leading the trio had blonde hair that was in tight ringlets, her steely gray eyes were cold and unwelcoming. The second one looked kinder, but still as uninviting as the blonde, her brown hair was choppy and had a feather braided into one side. Her skin was a copper color and the irises of her eyes shifted in between colors. Finally the third one, the boy, was shorter than the two girls. He had warm skin as well and his hair was a mess of chocolate brown curls which fell into his grease stained face. His eyes were a deep brown and had a glint of something mischievous.

The blonde approached her calmly asking her in a hard voice, "Who are you and how did you find this place?"

The girl studied the other before speaking, "Who are you?" She traced the ornately carved handle of her knife.

"I am Annabeth Chase. Now answer my question, who are you?" The blonde replied diplomatically.

The girl sighed, "I'm Adeline Hemmes. Would you like to see my photo ID or will my word be enough?" She spoke with a light southern accent. Sarcasm was laced in her voice when she replied which the boy picked up on and snorted a laugh, that earned him a death glare from Annabeth.

Annabeth turned to Adeline and narrowed her eyes, "That still doesn't fully answer my question. Why are you here and how did you find us?" Adeline took a minute to think about what to say, and finally settled on a story.

She pursed her lips, but reluctantly opened them and responded, "This is going to sound nuts —It always does—but I was being chased by a monster: a hellhound. So I ran up this hill thinking maybe I could find somewhere to either hide or hope to beat it. I got to the top, and it tried to paw at me, but turned to dust. Now you can lead me to your nearest mental hospital, because I'm sure that was your next thought of where to take me."