The Gift of Chaos

17 - Setback

Scott and I stood rooted to the spot, unable to move. We could hear heavy footsteps outside, but they were moving away from us. When we were able to move again, we rushed to the window. It seemed all the monsters were awake, now.

"They could be going to the school!"I gasped in alarm.

We exchanged a look as we realised what that meant.

"The kids!" we cried as one.

Without pausing to think, we raced down the stairs and bolted out the door, our hearts hammering against our chests. The monsters were there, turning their backs to us.

"Hey!" I yelled. "Uglies! Over here!"

Some of them turned their heads towards us.

"Yes! That's it, look over here! We're right here!" Scott called, catching on. "Come on! Come and get us!"

We kept waving and jumping up and down to attract their attention. After a moment, they glanced at one another, as though trying to come to an understanding on what to do. Seconds later, they all marched towards us.

"Uh oh... here they come," Scott said as we took a couple steps back.

"We're crazy," I told him as the monsters continued to come closer.

"Probably," he agreed, not taking his eyes off the Icemen, Treefoots and Reinbulls before us. "But we have to keep them safe."

"Absolutely," I nodded.

With that, we spun around and took off in the other direction. With a furious growl, the monsters chased after us. But fortunately for us, they were much heavier, making them somewhat slower. They were still managing to stay uncomfortably close behind us, however.

"So we got them away from the school," Scott gasped as we ran. "Now, what?"

I looked around for a hiding place.

"There!" I said.

Quick as a flash, we swerved to the right and hid behind a bin. The monsters charged past, but didn't see us. They would probably come back soon, but I was hoping we had a few minutes.

"If my writing is what brought them out..." I mused, not sure if I was speaking to Scott or myself, "maybe... my writing can put them back in! Or at least get them out of the village..."

I pulled out the pen I'd grabbed in the house with the book and quickly opened it to the last page. I wrote:

"The monsters suddenly disappeared and left the people in peace."

We waited for a moment to see if anything happened. I didn't sense anything. Looking down at the page again, I saw to my horror that the sentence I'd just written was disappearing!

"Oh, no, it's not working!" I groaned.

"What d'you mean, it's not working?!" Scott demanded in alarm.

"I don't know... it's..."

Then, it hit me. The story wasn't finished. Which meant I needed to do that if I was to end this... Just then, the wall on our left came crashing to the floor as a large Reinbull broke through it.

"Is it me, or does it look rather grumpy?" I asked.

"It's grumpy. Come on!"

Scott grabbed my hand and pulled me after him.

"If the book isn't the solution, what do we do now?" Scott asked.

"It is the solution," I said. "But it can't work yet."

"Why not?"

"I'm only halfway through the story!"

"Well, then finish it, and fast!" Scott replied, pulling me round a bend to the right.

"That's not as easy as it sounds! I haven't... I don't know what the ending is."

"What do you mean you mean, you don't know what the ending is, you wrote it!" Scott commented incredulously.

"You think I just wake up with the whole story in my head?!" I retorted. "I only just got the idea of the monsters a couple days ago!"

"Then make something up, we're in a bit of a hurry!"

I rolled my eyes. Scott had clearly never tried to write a story.

"Yes, I noticed, thank you!" I replied. "But being chased by monsters makes it kind of difficult to concentrate, for some reason!"

I let out a scream as an ice shard struck the corner of the building we were running past, knocking a large chunk of stone to the ground. I gulped as I realised how close it had been. A few inches lower and it would have hit me... then, I remembered how I'd managed to lock the door just by thinking about it... I grabbed a lump of snow from the ground, held it in my hands, and said:

"Rock!"

As I'd hoped, it turned to dull, grey stone. I immediately spun around and flung it at the first monster I saw. A Reinbull. The rock hit its eye, and it let out a howl. Rearing in pain, he stopped abruptly, blocking the other creatures behind him.

"Nice shot!" Scott commented approvingly. "I didn't really think snow could hurt that much, though... I know it was hit in the eye, but..."

"It wasn't snow," I said. "I turned some snow to stone."

"You turned what into what?!" he exclaimed.

"I don't know how, but when I think about something then say what it I want, it happens..." I explained. "Wait... that's it!"

I spun around and dropped to my knees.

"Riley, what are you doing?!" Scott called after me.

I had no time to answer, so I didn't. I stared ahead, dug my hands into the snow and focused all my thoughts on what I wanted.

"Stone wall!" I shouted.

I looked up expectantly, but to my utmost horror, nothing happened. I stared ahead, unable to move despite seeing the Reinbulls, Treefoots and Icemen catching up to us. It hadn't worked.

"Riley, move!" Scott shouted.

I tried to, but I couldn't. Then, desperately, I flung my hands into the snow again and yelled:

"Stone wall!"

This time, there was a definite tremor in the ground. I heard a thump as Scott stumbled and fell over. Just then, a large grey stone wall shot up from the ground, blocking the monsters' path to us. Gasping, I moved back. My head spun, and my arms were numb. I would have fallen backwards if Scott's arms hadn't caught me.

"Riley! Easy... I've got you. Are you okay?" he asked anxiously.

I took a few deep breaths and closed my eyes to fight off the dizziness. I was so exhausted I barely noticed his arms were wrapped around me and he was holding me against his chest.

"Yes, I'm all right... I guess this new-found ability is just taking its toll..."

Judging by the snarls and thuds we could hear, the monsters weren't happy. The Reinbulls would most likely try and smash their way through this wall the way one had earlier. Which meant we didn't have much time.

Scott was silent a moment, then said:

"We'll go back to the school to check on the others and think of our next move there."

"Okay," I agreed and let him pull me to my feet.

Trying to ignore the groans and thrashing sounds behind us, I followed his lead. When we reached the school a couple of minutes later, however, we were facing a horrific sight. An Iceman had broken through the barrier. And he wasn't alone.

"LUCAS!" I screamed.