TBD

Orientation Trip

I was running like I had never ran before. The Ukrainian men chasing me, a 14 year old soon to be 15. I knew I wasn't going to die because they weren't shooting but I was still terrified. Finally I made it outside the museum so obviously I went to the officers there and told them some weird and scary guards were chasing me. But once they saw me they stopped running and started walking calmly towards one of the guards in the Campidoglio square. They started talking, until...

Wait! For you to really understand what happened I'm going to have to start from the beginning.

24 Hours Earlier

We just arrived in Rome for the orientation trip and we're staying for 4 days, I think. My first year of High school just started and I can't wait to meet new people and have a fresh start. In my other schools I was considered the odd one and I never really connected because I transferred school five times in three years. Hopefully I can start and finish High school at North High. However, we arrived in Rome at around 5:00 p.m. and we went to the hotel. Once there we stopped in the lobby and were assigned our rooms.
I was assigned with Tatiana, Sofia, and Alasia. We got along pretty well, they are all extremely nice. We were really tired so we ate dinner and went to bed.
The next morning we visited one of the Capitoline museums. It was full of sculptures and art and amazing archeological artifacts. I stopped for a few seconds to observe better an intriguing sculpture of a wolf with two babies underneath. Once I turned around I saw or better not I didn't see my classmates anymore. They were probably who knows where so I started looking for them and I ended up in a restricted area. I knew they weren't there but it was pulling me in so I had to go check it out. There were some really cool sculptures like what looked like a really big phoenix or some interesting paintings like... wait that phoenix just moved! I was really scared. I got closer to get a better look at it and when I touched it sneezed!
"AAAAAAAAAAH!!" I screamed and so did the statue?
"Wait why are you screaming? What is it?" It said.
"W-w-wait... y-you can t-ta-talk?" I stammered.
"You can hear me?!" It asked.
"Yeah. You're talking to me. Aren't you?"
"Yeah... um, how is this happening?"
"Trust me, I'm asking myself the same thing. What are you?"
"I'm a Hippogriff but I'm small for my age."
"How old are you?"
"526 years old"
"How are you 526 when you're like double the size of my backpack?"
"I told you I'm small for my age... you don't have to make fun of me!"
"Sorry."
"Do you have a name?"
"Of course! I'm Alastair, defender of mankind. And you are?"
"Emma, my name is Emma."
His feathers where as white as the snow and in some areas they were grey. They looked as soft as clouds but overall he looked like a big baby bird.
"What are you doing here anyways? You don't work here and that means you're not supposed to be here."
"I was looking for my class and I got lost."
"Are you with the class from North High?"
"Yeah, I am, but how did you know that?"
"The paintings told me about this group of kids walking around the meuseum. It doesn't happen very often so when it does it's the daily gossip."
"Whoa! Slow down! The paintings told you? Daily gossip?"
"Sorry, I forgot that since you're human you can't hear the paintings and yes, daily gossip... how else do you think I stay updated on what happens in the outside world?"       "Do you ever go outside?"
"How do you think people would react to seeing a hippogriff walking on the streets?"
"I guess you're right. Us humans are kind of  weird with change. About 500 years ago men thought women were witches so they burned them... I can't imagine what would happen to you."
"Oh witches are real, they just had to go into hiding."

*Men talking indistincly*

"Hey! Do you hear that too?" I said scared.
"Oh no. I think they've found you. You have to go. Now!"
"Wait! Who's found me? What's happening?!"
"There's no time to explain. Just go! I'll hold them off for you. Don't worry I'll be okay."
"Fine but just be careful please."
"Always." He said as i turned around and started running. I had almost gotten to the end of the restricted area when i heard Alastair grunting and some men yelling at him. I wanted to go back and help him but then I remembered what he had told me so i just kept running until i eventually found a door that lead to some stairs. I was sprinting up the stairs that seemed never ending until i heard no noise. I thought I had lost those men so i started walking and catching my breath... I couldn't have been more wrong. Just a few more steps missing 'till i reached the top when i heard the door downstairs slamming open and the men yelling and running up. From what i heard it wasn't english or italian. It almost sounded Russian or Ukrainian.
As soon as i heard their voices i started running again and my heart was pounding so hard i thought it was going to jump out of my body.
When I reached the top there was another door and since there was no where else to go i opened it and I ended up outside. I saw some officers standing there so I ran towards them. I started to explain what was going on when the Ukrainian men came out of the door and started walking calmly towards us. I was a bit confused when they started talking to an officer but then it hit me... they were working together! I was getting ready to run away when they noticed and everybody pointed their guns at me.
One of the guards fired a shot and it hit me in the chest...