Taken

Unpleasant Surprise

     'No, this isn't happening. This isn't happening!' I stared into the mirror, not believing my eyes. A tribal tattoo covered my entire left shoulder-blade and shoulder. It came up to my collarbone in the front and crawled up part of the left side of my neck. The tattoo was made of black ink and of intricate design that looked far too advanced for even the most experienced tattooist. But at the same time, the tattoo seemed to have a feminine feel to the lines, swirls, and curls. When I turned to the right, I got another surprise. On my right shoulder was a dragon tattoo.  It was black with blue outlines on the wings and eye. Its wings were spread half way, and the head was turned to the side. It didn't show any legs, and the tail curved at the end. Waking up on a nice Saturday morning to find out that I somehow got tattoos was not how I had wanted to start my day.

***

     "Hey, Claire, come with us to Styx River." I turned my head as my art group waved me over. It was Monday, and so far I had been able to my tattoos pretty well so far. I had to put some makeup foundation on my neck to cover the one part but otherwise my clothes hid them well enough. It was even working on the 'all seeing' Damon. That was the nickname I had given him in my head, because wherever I went he was always about five feet behind me. He never tried to make any friends with anyone, guys and girls alike. All the girls looked at him like they were lost puppies, waiting for him to take one of them home. Once, when I went to the bathroom, a group of populars came in and backed me against the wall, demanding that I stop keeping Damon to myself. As a warning, their leader slapped me across the face. I left shortly after them. My right cheek had a nice blossoming red to it by then.

     It was like the only one he talked to freely was me. It was kind of weird, but I couldn't do a lot to stop him, so I had learned to live with it. "So, Claire, you coming or what?" "Yeah, I'm coming. Just a second Jenna." I finished packing my things and ran to catch up. My skin needed some sun anyway. With my flame red hair and sky blue eyes, my short, slim figure needed to catch up to my colorful hair. I never had been considered dateable because I lacked in both the chest & height department. I looked fragile with my slim arms and legs, but I was kind of strong. I had fought off a mugger before. I also practiced kickboxing and a tiny amount of martial arts. "So, what are you guys going to do when we get to Styx?" I asked. "Well, Josh and I are going to explore. Ella and Tina are going swimming, and I don't know what you're going to do." Jenna answered. "I think I might sketch or write for a while." I replied.

            Five minutes later, I was sitting under my favorite shade tree, sketching my friends while they played in the cool water. A slight wind stirred, and with it came a dead animal smell. As I wrinkled my nose against it, recognition hit me; I knew this smell and what it meant. I dropped my things and ran towards the others yelling, "Code Black! Code Black!" They stopped dead and started towards me when Ella paled and pointed behind me. "Look out, Claire!" But her warning was too late. I felt claws grab my middle and then I was up in the air. The smell was overpowering. I twisted and struggled as hard as I could, but it wasn't till I kicked it in a soft spot that it dropped me. The only problem was that I was a good ten feet in the air. I screamed as I fell, then I was able to grab a branch on an overhanging weeping willow tree to break my fall. I lost my grip, landing in the shallow water with a splash. As the others brought a blanket for me to dry off, I saw a familiar shape coming over the top of the hill. 'Damon'. But something was wrong; he had several other boys on either side of him. That alone gave me the chills because Damon never did anything with anyone from school, ever. He did something with his hand, like a type of gesture, and all of the guys ran towards us. They were really fast, but it wasn't till they turned into giant wolves that the message hit home. 'They're demons too!'

     "Crap! Scatter guys!" I heard Josh yell. All at once I was standing alone with about four demons heading straight for me. I broke into a run, heading for my supplies. After grabbing that, I went on the other side of the tree and started climbing. I didn't even make it to the first branch when a pair of hands dragged me down to the ground. I started screaming and kicking, but it didn't do any good. I was brought to my feet, my things taken from me. The demons had switched back to young men except for one, which they then put me on before changing back. I started to get off, but was stopped by several pairs of very sharp teeth. 'Might as well hog tie me and put me in a sack.'