Saving the Princess

And So It Begins

Carlin's POV

I awkwardly crossed my legs and scooted a little closer to the side of the carriage. Next to me sat this redhead who looked like she wanted to chop my head off. Next to her sat another redhead who wouldn't stop grinning. Across from me were two gorgeous girls, one with dark brown hair and one with lighter brown hair. They were chatting quietly with each other.

I guess these were the girls I would be saving the Princess with. The queen sent a guard to retrieve the five people who would be attending this journey. Of course I was the last stop.

"Stop bumping into me!" Snapped the intolerable redhead. "Honestly, I need my personal space!"

It took me a couple of seconds to realize she was talking to me. How rude.

"Well I'm squished up in this corner! And the carriage is bumping around so it's not my fault!" I shot back. Gosh she was annoying as hell.

"Audrey, calm down!" Giggled her sister punching her arm lightly. "It's not that big of a deal."

Audrey grunted. An awkward silence filled the carriage. The only sounds were the horses clopping down the cobblestone path, and the carriage creaking slightly as it hit some nooks and crannies in the road.

"Um...so what's everyone's names?" The darker brunette piped up. When nobody answered she continued. "I'm Scarlet and um...I'm seventeen years old and uh this is my girlfriend Indie. She's also seventeen! We're light angels."

Indie waved shyly.

"Big whoop!" Audrey exclaimed obnoxiously. She stretched out and put her feet on the seat in front of her. Scarlet and Indie awkwardly moved to the sides.

"I'm Rae!" The bubbly girl broke the silence. "That's my grumpy twin sister Audrey and we're both sixteen. Oh! And we're werewolves." She flashed everyone a grin.

Great, just great. I hated werewolves. No wonder this Audrey girl was so obnoxious. All werewolves were disagreeable and insufferable. Also overly happy.

I noticed all eyes on me. "I'm Carlin." I said causally. "I'm almost seventeen and I'm a vampire!" I flashed everyone a warning look. Don't mess with me.

"Ugh," I heard Audrey mutter under her breath. Well to be fair, I wasn't very happy to be with her either.

"Look guys, we're at the castle!" Squealed Indie. We peeped out of the window. There it was. The magnificent silver mansion with the heavenly gardens and the horses and the moat that snaked it's way around. My mouth dropped open. It was even better up close.

*********
In a matter of ten minutes, we found ourselves in a huge office standing before the queen who slouched on a maroon chair.

"Aah yes. Five beautiful girls. You have chosen to go on this journey to save my daughter." With long manicured fingers, she stroked a ginormous Persian cat. "Now I must warn you," the queen continued. "That this journey is incredibly dangerous. There are many unusual potentially life threatening creatures out there. If one of you are to die, the rest must continue on. There is no going back from here on out. Understand?"

I gulped. To my right, I saw Audrey visibly shaking. A bead of sweat ran down her forehead. The other girls were wide eyed and frozen to the ground. Indie grabbed Scarlet's hand and squeezed it. I thought of Maggie. Audrey kind looked like her.

The queen stood up, snapping me out of my thoughts. She held up a wrinkled map.

"This," she informed us, pointing to an X on the map. It was surrounded by an over abundance of trees. "..is where the first clue is. In a little house in the middle of the Aspen Woods. My useless guards couldn't even make it passed this step. Whoever goes into this woods, never usually makes it out. So I trust that you've trained for this?" She raised one eyebrow.

"We had to TRAIN for this?" Yelped Rae. "We only found out about this.....yesterday!"

The other girls nodded vigorously, too afraid to speak.

The queen thrusted the map into Rae's hands. "I am afraid that is not my problem, missy. In the print below the flyer, it said you needed to be trained. Oh well. Guards! Take them to the forest!"

"Oh my god," Audrey squeaked as the guards grabbed our arms. "Oh my god oh my god oh my god...."

"It'll be fine," I murmured to her. "We just have to work together.

Audrey flashed me a weak smile. It was the first time I've ever seen this girl not cranky. What an accomplishment.

"You have three months!" The queen called as we were herded out of the room. "Each location has a different clue. Bring back my daughter! And beware of the......"

We didn't hear her because she guards shoved us out the door.

"Hey!" I hollered. "Beware of the what?"

No one answered and before I knew it, we were standing in front of the Aspen Woods. The trees were dark and thick, looming over us like lurking monsters.

Audrey grabbed my hand. I whipped around to look at her. Realizing what she had done, Audrey yanked her hand away and looked down.

"Have fun!" One of the guards smirked. They chuckled and tramped back to the castle. We were on our own. Five teenagers standing in front of the forest where no one had survived.

"Well," Scarlet said shakily. "I guess we gotta do this. Lead the way, Rae, you have the map."

Rae squeaked and took a tentative step in. We followed cautiously. An owl screeched over head. Rae screamed.

"It's okay, keep going," Indie whispered. "We're all behind you."

And with that final sentence, we took our first steps into the unknown abyss before us.