Child of Earth

12

It stung like poison. (probably because it was poison) but I crawled under the next cubicle and the next just as the man broke free and charged into the cubicle I was in before.

I gathered all the mud and dirt again and shoved it against the door of where he was hiding, trapping him completely.

I held my upper arm and tried not to cry because then I wouldn't be able to see.

He was trying to bash his way through the wood and mud, and he would have if Ebony and Krystal hadn't woken up at that moment.

Ebony turned the hand dryer on with a flick of her wrist and sent the hot air against the mud solidifying the clumps like bricks then Krystal started singing and roots started growing out of the tiles and vents to tangle around the monster's legs.

I jumped on top of the toilet in the cubicle I was in and peered into the one we had the monster in.

I remembered once in science I heard that all water had a percentage of dust in it, so I called for power deep inside my gut like I was literally reaching down my throat to grasp something from my stomach, and all the toilets dried up immediately and instead of filling with water again, dust started trickling through the pipes. I whirled all of that dust above my head and it formed a tornado. I grabbed Ebony's hand and held my forehead against hers.

I felt a heat rise from my stomach and up my throat and once it reached my mouth, Ebony and I both screamed at the same time and the dust above me turned into brick like blocks. I splayed my fingers and the clumps fell into the cubicle with the monster in it.

I felt all the power drain from me, and Ebony and I both collapsed against the wall. Krystal stood over us looking slightly green and held out a hand for each of us.

Ebony and I both took her hand and were soon standing again, looking around at the mess we had made.

The tiles were all dirty and slightly green from plant juice, the air ducts were full of roots and broken completely, three of the toilet cubicles were rubble, the sink had exploded and all the other cubicles were stuffed with spikes like wooden pin cushions.

The room was probably beyond our ability to repair but I had an idea.

I straightened my clothing and fixed my hair and make-up, before I walked out of the bathroom and found a sign saying Out of Order and put it outside the door to the bathrooms. I told my friends it was safe to come out now so we could discuss what to do now.

"What was that thing?" I whisper yelled at Krystal and Ebony

"I think that's a Manticore, which is like... Greek I think." Said Ebony, looking to Krystal for confirmation.

"Yeah." Said Krystal uncertainly "I think so, but... What happened?" both girls looked to me.

"Well when I got out of the toilet, I saw you two lying against the wall and I tried to scream but the Manticore thing stopped me and shoved me against the wall.

I couldn't reach the watch Lloyd gave me because he took it off me, so I hit him in the nuts and it did pretty much nothing! So then I wacked him with my purse and then bashed him against the sink.

Then I blocked him in a cubicle and you guys woke up... But he got me with one of the poisonous spikes he had on his tail and I think it was poison."

I stopped talking and realised most of our shopping was still in the bathroom.

I rushed back in to pick it all up and I realised the Manticore wasn't in the cubicle.

It was either dead or it had escaped, wounded and angry. I rushed back outside with the shopping and told the girls about what I saw.

"We have to get back to Lloyd to warn him and the others." Said Ebony. "There could be more than just one monster here you know."

"You're right." I said heading for the middle of the shopping mall. "We have to tell him now!"

Krystal, Ebony and I speed walked to the middle of the floor where we saw Lloyd playing his phone. From here it sounded like he was playing Tetris.

So when Krystal tapped his shoulder he put away his phone as quickly as possible.

I was about to tell him what happened, when my ankle buckled and I almost fell over.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked staring very seriously at Krystal and Ebony.

"There was an old man who was following us and we didn't notice and when we went to the bathroom." said Krystal. "He attacked Ebony and I by knocking us out. (Turned out he was a Manticore) and when Thalia got out of the toilet he shot her with a poison dart from his tail. We killed him or made him run away but the poison isn't sitting to well with Thai."

I was feeling really ill and my limbs were going numb. "We need to go now!" I said "There could be other monsters here and my vision is slowly turning green and is already really blurry." I was leaning heavily on Ebony and Krystal had all my shopping.

Lloyd called Clare on his phone and told her to find everyone and meet at the car.

Ebony helped me walk and made sure I didn't bump into anything but I hated having to rely on someone to support me, because I knew that they wouldn't be there forever.

I first started feeling like this when Hazel was captured and I was left alone. She had made me a promise and then unwillingly broken it.

That day I felt like everything knew was a lie but I had no idea what to do about it.

Ever since then I hadn't really trusted people. That's why I made sure nobody knew me and I never tried to find myself a new family.

I was worried they would let me down too.

I realised that these people I knew now were my friends but ever since Hazel and Lloyd accused me of being a spy I didn't want to trust anyone else.

I'm still a child of the forest at heart and I think that part of me will always be here.