[madrilenial]

Lilly Chase's POV

I am about to stand, when a newspaper blows onto my lap. I pick it up.
"What does it say?" Hestia asks curiously, peering over my shoulder.
"It says..." I scan over it with my deep blue eyes, and they widen, and almost spill over with tears. I keep them in, and reply to Hestia. "It.. It says on the front that everyone must hide in their homes and be extremely cautious of the Shadows."
Everybody is silent, and Tallis breaks the silence. "What the heck is a Shadow?" He demands.
"I don't know, but I sure don't want to find out." Hestia says, shuddering.
"Wait.. I think that the thing in the restaurant might have been one." I say, suddenly realizing. I shoot straight up from the bench.
"I think it came back in time to were we where and tried to kill us, naturally, and by the more that came and us not going back to fight them in fright, they are still around. Maybe that's what happened." I exclaim, mindblown.
Thalia gasps. "Guys.. What's that.."
I turn around, to see a black... thing. It is small and oval-shaped, rolling over to us. I stand up, on high alert, and already feel saltwater coursing through my veins to my hands. We all back up in unison, and then the thing suddenly starts bending in all these different shapes and long tendrils pull from it's body, and one grabs my ankle, pulling me too it. I yelp, and try to whack at it with my knife, but it is too strong. The others seem to occupied with fighting the thing to help, and I look down. A mistake.
I see a huge mouth open in the creature, with razor-sharp teeth lining it's throat all the way down the long, bottomless tunnel. I scream, and feel a sharp pain in my ankle, and see teeth grinding into it. I'm done for.
Then I feel a hand pulling me from the Shadow's grasp, Tallis. I smile quickly at him. "Thanks." I say, breathlessly. He nods to me, with that sort of crooked smile that would make any body melt. "You'd do it for me." Then he goes back to fighting, and I ignore the blood from my ankle soaking into my blue socks beneath my now torn leather boot. I feel the rush of water, but this time it's hot, scalding actually. The burning water shoots from my palms and the monster screeches as boiling hot saltwater goes down it's throat.
Hestia glances at me, as if to jokingly say: No, heat is my thing. I smile back and stick out my tongue. (#GirlStuff)

Cover
Page Three

WOW THIS TOOK A LONG TIME