STAINED GLASS - P. Jackson¹

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○- A PILE OF STRANGERS -○

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Bridget Cory had always wondered when the Manticore that ran her school would try to kill her.

Turns out today was the day. It was rotten luck honestly, just before Christmas. She had been doing her best to enjoy the school dance, although the second Jesse McCartney had started playing it had proved impossible, when Surfer Superman, his badass girl friends had dragged her into getting kidnapped.
Dr Thorn, the Manticore teacher who happened to have a french accent, had taken two kids Bridget didn’t know and on Surfer Superman’s way to go and find them he had dragged her along. I mean seriously what happened to, Hello, how are you? Manti-thorn had herded the group of them outside and marched them in the snow-covered woods. But it was hard to appreciate the beauty of winter when you were concentrating on staring daggers in the back of a stranger’s head. The warm glow of old-fashioned lamp lights lit the narrow snowy path they walked down. There were uglier places to die.

“There is a clearing ahead.” Manti-thorn said. It was really distracting when you could see the beast he really was, but Bridget had learned a long time ago she was the only one who could see these things. “We will summon your ride.”
Ride! Bridget was really glaring now.

“What ride? Where are you taking us?” One of the kids Manti-thorn had taken, the girl, demanded.

She definitely looked younger than Bridget, that was obvious. She had silky dark hair, pale olive skin and wore a green floppy beret. She had a kind angelic face, that was now contorted into what could only be described as fury. She held the hand of a boy that looked younger still. He had similar features and looked to be tucking himself into the girls side. Both of them looked like they could use a meal. Am I the only one here who doesn’t know anyone?

“Silence! You insufferable girl.” Manti-thorn bellowed.

Bridget twisted her face in disgust. The angel girl quieted quickly but it appeared her small companion didn’t get the memo.

“Don’t talk to my sister that way!” His voice shook slightly, but credit where credit is due, Bridget didn’t have the guts to say anything. Manti-thorn growled in a way that alerted the rest of them that he definitely was not human. Of course, Bridget was out here seeing a dude's face stuck on a lion’s body and a scorpion’s tail, so she was exactly surprised. She could see the others were taken aback though, everyone kept walking, she wondered if they knew they were dealing with a mythological beast. She saw a shiver run down one of the girls’ backs.

“Halt!” The monster yelled.

Bridget did not need to be told twice. Just ahead of them the woods opened up, the pale moonlight danced on top of the steadily falling snow. Bridget took note of how cold she actually was, it was her turn to shiver. It was then that she noticed that they were heading to the top of a cliff. I mean, who builds a school on top of a cliff? She took in the sound of the thrashing winter waves that must have hundreds of feet below them. The air was salty and cold and hurt Bridget’s nose as she tried to take a deep breath, all she could see was darkness, the moon, and the monster right beside them.

Bridget let out a grunt as Manti-thorn pushed them harshly towards the edge. Her heart was beating out of her chest. She ended up right in the back of one of Surfer Superman’s friends. She was an inch or two shorter than Bridget, She wore her thick, dark hair in a tight braid then ran down her back. She had flawless deep copper skin and the most gorgeous brown, doe eyes Bridget had ever seen. She was wearing a pair of dark trousers and a long sleeve green shirt as well a pair of small gold hoops in her ears.