Pandora's Box: Maenads (Book 2)

Battle Lines

Introduction:

Everybody knows the story of Pandora's Box. A girl was given a box and she was told not to open it. The Box spoke to her, tempting her to... well you know the rest... or do you? Because the thing that no one ever asks is... what happened next?

The answer, is me. My name is Pandora and I thought I was just an ordinary girl, but my parents recently told me that my name is not an accident. I'm a descendant of my namesake and because of that, I have a destiny to fulfill. I have to protect the box from people and other things that might want to open it and unleash the spirits inside it.

But it turns out that I'm not any better at it then my ancestor. I opened it and my friends and classmates were possessed by what escaped. So now I have to find a way to help them before the spirits cause chaos and someone gets hurt.

Chapter 1:

Tensions are on a knife's edge.

Two sides, neither of which wants to budge, are staring each other down. Bitter rivals do their best not to show fear as the clock ticks down and time is running out for one of them to win the day.

"It all comes down to this..." the announcer exclaims over the radio system.

The crowd cheers from the sidelines, egging them on.

"This isn't going to go well for you." Sarah almost growls at her opponent.

"Funny, I was just going to say the same thing to you." says Victoria, "I mean, we do usually win these things."

Sarah shoots back with "Not today you won't."

Sarah turns to her squad "Let's do this girls." and then turns to the sound system operator, "Hit it!"

The chorus of the song 'thank u, next' by Ariana Grande comes on and Sarah and her squad start an elaborate dance routine. They turn to the crowd of the football team they are cheering for to rile up the crowd. As the teams start moving on the field into their starting positions, on the game clock, there are only a few seconds left.

Sarah and her team kick the routine into high gear while David, the quarterback for the team Sarah's cheering for, starts calling out the play they're about to execute. The crowd starts cheering even louder as the wide receivers start moving in coordination with the call David is making.

It's as if time slows down almost as soon as David snaps the ball, putting in action the play they'd decided on. Sarah and her team turn to cheer on the team as the wide receivers take off down the field and the defense follows after them. David rushes back from the front line, watching as his receivers run down field as he instructed while also keeping an eye in front of him for any signs of a tackle coming his way.

On the sidelines, both Sarah's team and Victoria's team cheer their players on the field, hoping against hope that they'll be right. The action plays out before them, making every second count.

David sees that one of his wide receivers is where he sent them and is open enough to make it work. He throws the ball down field right before a defense player is in tackling distance and lunges for him. The ball goes hurtling down field in the air with every ounce of strength and precision that David could put behind it.

Sarah and her team watch as the ball keeps going to its destination, everything about it looking like it'll hit on target to the wide receiver. As the football and the receiver get closer and closer, the receiver reaches out and the defensive player tries to get in the way. When they get so very close, the receiver jumps out to try and catch it, extending his arms out so they're almost touching.