Chapter 3- Bloodstruck
You know how some people go through shock? Now I can truly say that I know what it means now.
I stood before an enormous wolf, that looked quite a bit like Fenrir, a wolf the size of a pickup truck that our History professor, Dr. Martinez told us about. He had an awkward fascination over mythology, namely Norse. A bone-rattling growl came from the beast, along with a McDonald’s Happy meal toy. Mental note: never eat at McDonald’s again.
A wall of black slammed into me. It hit me, 5 tons of dog fur knocking me to and fro. I regained my balance, surprisingly untouched, and finally able to move, just to be pummeled to the ground once again, this time not emerging without a scratch this time. I felt a searing pain in my neck as the world closed down around me. Or rather the monster closed down around me. The defiant screams of heroicness that filled my head were drowned out, replaced with shouts and screams of horror. It took me a moment to realize that they were coming from my own mouth.
I was barely conscious and scratched all over, but my sight cleared, and I saw Henry on the monster’s neck, whacking it ineffectively with the hammer. I sort of doubted plastic and duct tape would do much to the wolf though.I screamed as Henry was thrown to the ground. Blood splattered his chest, and a brand new gash lined his cheek (Or was that ketchup?). But Henry’s failed act had only delayed the beast’s attention to me. It turned my way, expectantly, as if it thought I was just going to run off into the night, screaming. Well, I can’t lie. That wolf was as close as any other.
I heroically darted away, yelling for help that was never to come. After all, the monster was sure to catch up to me over time, so I shouted a crude war cry, and charged. As you might expect, when charging a giant wolf with so much as plastic knives, there is but a hint of success.Maybe I was lucky; maybe I was extremely lucky, in fact. As I turned around to face the beast, I swung my knives in an arc, forcing the wolf to back up. I couldn’t tell if it I was just hallucinating, because when I picked up the knives, they glowed and turned golden.It seemed to have some effect, however. The gleam the sword was giving off seemed to distract the wolf, if not even scare it. He backed up slowly, growling. As he howled into the night, and his claws glowed red, flaming just as hot as sharp.
One strike from those and I would be incinerated through sheer heat. New plan: Don’t get hit by the claws. I ran around, trying to sidetrack the wolf by throwing random things from the street at him. Once, I was lucky, and I got a Nike Air Shoe to throw at him. What it was doing on the street, I had no idea. Another time, I threw a basketball, which whacked him square in the snout. Yet I knew it still only deferred the time until my death. While I was stalled using with random junk, I devised my desperate escape plan. When I was close enough, I rolled, hoping to confuse the beast long enough to get to the next step without dying. Miraculously, I survived. I don’t think that wolf had watched any Jackie Chan movies recently; because he didn’t have moves or style, he was just a big, fat beast. As I was on the ground, I pitched one of my daggers and dug it into the thick, slimy fur of the monster.
He wailed, but I didn’t turn to look back. I scraped my knee in the process of the event, so I ripped part of the shirt piece off and wrapped it around my foreleg. I pushed myself up with my arms, taking off as quick as I could, and ran to the barely-conscious body of Henry, lying on the asphalt near a curb. “Henry! Are you okay? Can you hear me?” I screamed, tugging his arm and trying to wake him up. “Yeah, I just can’t get up!” Henry said, smiling faintly, though he was clearly not okay. I took out a piece of paper, which appeared to be a comic from my pillow sack, and unfolded it, using it to bandage up Henry’s wounds, then stuffed a York Bar into my mouth, crushing one up to feed to Henry.
It should’ve tasted wonderful, but instead, it only made my shoulders heavier. Yet, even though the candy didn’t taste quite the same, it seemed to give Henry and I just the energy that we needed. “Let’s go,” Henry said feebly, pointing to the wolf with one limp finger. “Yeah, that might be a good idea,” I joked, trying to lift the spirits of the gloomy evening. I helped Henry up. The extra burst of sugary caffeine lasted just long enough to supply us with the energy needed to get away from the beast. We ran down the street in the damp air, barely able to steer clear of the wolf’s jaws. Several times, the monster almost snapped us in half, but we ended up running far enough to get to the corner of the street. There stood our neighbor’s house, gleaming in the pale light. I ran up the lawn desperately, avoiding miscellaneous objects and obstacles that lined the front yard. I tripped on a baseball bat, but only stumbled, thanks to Henry pulling me along.
We got to the front door, dripping with sweat and exhausted. Then, out of nowhere, a voice boomed.
“Come in. We don’t have much time.”
Chapter 4- Formal Road Trips
I stood on the lawn, hesitating to go in. Once again, I felt like I knew this person, but it looked better than my other possible fate, getting eaten by a giant dog, so I pulled Henry inside.
I followed lit candles into a parlour with a couch, a desk, a tv, and some sitting chairs. Behind the desk was an old man, who looked as if he was at death’s door, yet smoking a cigar.
“It took you a while,” he scolded, staring at me in my costume. “Well, sir, at least we’re here now. Otherwise, we would’ve been eaten by-” “Fenrir.” he interrupted me. “Do you two have any clue how dangerous that beast is?” He said, pointing out the window.
“First off, I am Odin, the All-father of Norse gods.” “You look more like an all-grandfather,” Henry commented. “Rudeness will not be tolerated,” Odin responded calmly, shaking his head. “Well we don’t have much time to tolerate anything in the first place,” I said, impatient with the old man. “Why are we even here?” “You are here because you would be dead otherwise,” Odin said matter-of-factly.
“If you had stayed out there, Fenrir surely would have torn you to pieces by now.” I gazed out the window , where the giant puppy Fenrir rampaged the countryside. If he continues this, the whole city will get destroyed, I thought nervously. “What stopped him in the myths?” Henry asked the man.
“In the final battle Ragnarok, Fenrir went down fighting Tyr, so practically, we would need Tyr to slay Fenrir once again,” Odin said, as if he personally knew Tyr. “Okay, so what do we do?” I asked skeptically. “We find Tyr, of course!” Odin replied, slipping some shoes on. Henry and I cracked up.
“He’s kidding, right? Henry whispered to me. “I hope so,” I replied, trying to stifle my laughter. “I don’t know where you would find Tyr,” he said, jokingly. “At a bar maybe?” “I don’t know, but I think it’s better than our other option,” I decided. “Which other one?” Henry asked. “Well, now that I think about it, getting eaten by a giant dog doesn’t really seem like a choice.” I replied
“I don’t know, let’s just follow him,” Henry said optimistically. I slipped my shoes back on, and stepped out the door, dragging Henry behind me. Fenrir ran around, ignoring us like we weren't there. “Come!” Odin shouted, waving at us like a crazy man. He hopped in an old rusty car that was parked in the driveway.
The license plate spelled out ASGARD, with a little picture of an icy golden city in the background. I slowly pried open the back door of the car, and smelled...everything. Imagine all of your favorite smells mixed together...then ran over by a car.
It smelled like ice-cream cake from my birthday, the scent of fresh snow at Christmas, all of my favorite holidays and events from the past, but together, they smelled like rotten eggs dipped in ketchup. Dipped in mayonnaise. Yet we had a mission, so I held my breath and climbed in. Henry sat beside me, probably just as woozy as I was.
Odin started up the car, and the ignition popped three or four times before finally letting go. We backed out of the driveway, the engine sputtering. I felt sure that Fenrir was going to pick us up in his mouth and shake the car around forever, but he just slouched around, tearing up the pavement as he went.
As the shaking car hit the road, I began to wonder if I should’ve stepped in that car. The wheels screeched as the car righted itself in the direction of home. When we finally turned onto my street, the weight that had been sitting there came off my shoulders. I hadn’t even noticed that I was holding my breath when I let it go. We drove onto the main street, in the direction of the highway.
When the car bumped into the cement, I noticed extra letters and words that I hadn’t remembered before. Downtown Asgard 1 ¼ miles one said. “Where are we going?” Henry asked the man. “Why Asgard, of course! Where else?” Odin responded dramatically. “Gee, I don’t know, maybe the underworld?” I grumbled under my breath. I was feeling very woozy when I saw golden lights in the distance. As far as I remembered, the only civilization in that direction was Denver, which was another 20 miles out. “I don’t think that’s Denver if I’ve ever been there,” Henry said, gazing at the towers approaching. “Not Denver at all,” Odin said, “What you’re looking at is Asgard.”
