Ecole des Monstres: Chapter II – Within the Crucifix
Hopping through the thick blanket of brambles, I ignored the sharp thorns stabbing in the bare of my ankle. My breath came in short, sharp gasps as I blundered to a jerking stop. Grabbing into my pocket, my cold fingers searched for my phone. Checking the reception as I pulled it out, I sighed heavily realising it wasn't going to flicker on.
Morning light shone through the crimson leaves, leaving angular shadows over what was left of a crucifix filled cemetery. The black, metal fence had swung off of its rusted hinges and onto the yellow, dying grass. Bugs hindered the daisies sprouting around the unrefined earth. Staring at some of the names engraved into the grave stones, I careened around languishing trees; lost. A raven watching me from a withered branch jumped from its post and into the heavy fog cloaking the forest floor. Shrieking loudly, I fell to the floor in fear as it soared over my quivering figure and into the dark sky.
A black feather fluttered towards the ground and landed beside my head. Stumbling awkwardly to my feet, I began to run. Branches sticking out from the debris cut into my new leather bag.
“What are you doing here, Alyss?” I asked myself, pulling my bag through a bush of clawing twigs.
Had Dad or Rose even thought of the consequences of bringing me here? I couldn't survive from the wild leap from year eight to eleven. I would crumble like dry clay in a violent wind storm. I couldn't even find the darn school! How was I going to pass the year?
“A priestess dropped a scholarship?” I scoffed, aloud. That's the stupidest thing I have ever heard!
A distorted image of Rose and Dad flickered in to my mind. They were probably laughing at me. They both wanted me to fail. Crash and burn like a rally car. Rose with her dashing good looks, and Dad with his witty sense of humour! They had both planned this from the start; probably before I was even born.
“Leave me in the forest to die!” my foot caught in a group of spindling weeds. Hitting the ground hard, I spat out most of the leaves I managed to collect in my mouth.
This was Pinocchio's story coming to life. Soon I'd sprout a donkey tail and ears, ‘eowwing’ my way around a dead end.
Did they both literally believe that I was going to take the role of some Lucy to give me a second chance at graduating? There no way in hell. I would be sent the way I had come. Back to failure and embarrassment. Back to people who had set me up to this stupid task in the first place!
“And the eighth grade,” I muttered; pulling sticks and stones from my hair.
That's if I can even find the school before the day ends.
Huddling my bag to my chest, I pushed back a long lock of brown hair as it fell into my eyes.
Grabbing onto the limb of a tree, I gasped in deep breaths trying to regain the oxygen I had lost in my fretful bout to escape. Wiping the sweat from my hand onto my jacket, I strained to the sound of an over eager bike bell, ringing through the under growth. I began to jog towards the sound. A glimmer of hope spread across my wrinkled brow. The grassy pathway turned into rocky ground as I bolted up the road, my legs burning in pain.
The sound began to grow louder as I rounded the curb. Leaves began to fall across the rocky earth. Stopping, I tensed, searching for the sound. As if signalled by a hiding camera director, a bike broke free of the thinning foliage. Striking me in the back, I felt arms wrap around me, a shoulder digging into my spine.
Tumbling to the floor, I felt a figure land on top of me. I glimpsed the bikes long shadow land a foot away from my head. Pain ran up my legs as I tried to move my body from under the offender.
"Crap! Derek was right; it happened again! Stupid Derek, always being right why I ought’ a…" I looked up to see a blond haired boy with thick goggle glasses askew across his childish face. "You know this is your entire fault!” Craning my neck, I was about to let lose a bunch of curses that may not even be known to man. My fault! You bumped into me, nitwit!
“Stupid things, more trouble then they’re worth.” pulling the glasses off of his nose, he tossed them over his shoulder.
As if mechanically, I threw myself to my feet gawking with horror as the glasses snapped across a nearby rock. I looked from him then to the spectacles, simultaneously. Was he insane!? His deep, sapphire blue eyes glimmered with a childish smirk.
"Your...glasses!" I squeaked, my knees beginning to shake.
"Those things?" he fluttered his hand, a cat like grin covering his features. "They're old and my Poppy has a lot of them anyway." bending over he picked up ‘my’ scholarship.
“Poppy?"
"Yeah, my Grandfathers.” moving the scholarship closer to his face, he practically slapped himself in the nose with my, no, Lucy’s file. Laughing, the boy rubbed at him cheeks with the folder.
“Definitely insane,” I whispered to myself under my breath.
"Does that say Hirviö College?" Ignoring him, I began to pluck at the remainders of his Grandfather’s glasses up from the floor.
“Maybe you shouldn’t have thrown away these things!” I moved them under his nose hoping he’d be remorseful. He wasn’t. His mouth was curled at the side like a playful new born kitten.
"Is your name, Lucy?" I nodded, ignoring the nagging voice in the back of my head begging me to say no. Shut up mind, I can do this. I can lie!
"I’m Finn!" picking up a sheet, Finn pouted his lip thoughtfully. Running his finger down the page, a gust of wind rustled his hair. Lounging against a tree, I tried to make some of the glass stick to each other. To bad I don’t have any glue.
"You're in year eleven!" Finn chorused over the chirping of an annoyed cricket. "So am I!"
"You're in year eleven?" I stared at him in disbelief. He was too small to be my age. Way to small, and young looking!
"Ooh, we can be best friends! I don't know anyone there, except Derek... but he made it pretty clear he didn’t want me being his friend.” he paused, looking guiltily down at the floor. “Okay, I admit it, I did destroy his project. But it wasn’t my fault; he left it lying on the ground! Anyone could’ve easily mistaken it for a racing car.”
I frowned, what the hell was he on about?
“Wait! You know where the school it? I’ve been looking for ages!” I sighed with relief, finally the thought of my dying of starvation swelled away into nothing.
“Actually no, I don’t. I actually can’t remember where it is, I was hoping that if I rode around manically enough I’d find someone…and I did!”
My shoulders instantly slumped. Great, just great! Now what was I going to do? At least I’d have company when the wolves came.
As if on cue, a nagging bell ran through the forest. Pushing himself to his feet, Finn ran towards his bike. The two clumps of hair that stuck out on either side of his head, waggled slightly. I froze. Scratching at my eyes, I watched Finn pull his bike to a stand…It must’ve been a hallucination.
"Hop on," he grinned, flashing his teeth. “Before we lose track of the school bell,”
“Hop onto what? That thing looks like its a hundred years old!” staggering to me feet, I walked towards his bike. This was going to be an uncomfortable ride. Grabbing onto my folder, I pressed it my chest. Just how was I going to get on to it?
“Please God, don’t make it break,” I muttered in a trembling voice.
“You on?” Finn called over his shoulder.
“No!” I shrieked in reply, mounting one of my legs onto the side of the wheel.
“Great! Hold on,” forcing his feet onto the peddles, the bike rocketed forward. Screaming, the unsuspecting crows out from the tree tops and flocking into the air causing a dark shadow of coal black feathers to take over the cloudy sky.
Overall
You have a knack for vivid imagery and, most importantly, a good vocabulary that allows you to describe something simply by adding an interesting verb or something. Be careful with that, though-- look at each image and make sure it makes sense. You want to look at things in a new light, not change the meaning completely.
