"Remember," said Melanie Howard's French teacher, Mrs. Harper in a clear voice. Melly's elbow slipped off the edge of her desk, startled. She had just finished her homework not too long ago and was casually waiting for the final school bell to ring, signalling the end of another day. "You have a French quiz tomorrow. I expect each of you to study hard tonight. I don't want to see anyone getting anything below a D tomorrow afternoon. Study hard. Y'all understand me?"

Several students groaned. The bell rang, and Melly immediately got to her feet. She was the only student who did not groan, thinking that a sudden French quiz was torture. In fact, she was probably the only student at Windsor Forest High School who actually enjoyed the casual subject. A.J. seemed to notice this as she turned to face Melly, a scowl on her face.

"What, Melly? Are you actually thrilled that Mrs. Harper is springing a French quiz on us at the last minute?"

Melly held her head up as she and A.J. began to leave the classroom with everyone else. Several unruly boys shoved past them, making Melly roll her eyes at their childish behavior.

"Actually, I am," Melly answered rather calmly.

A.J. groaned. "You are crazy, you know."

Melly shrugged. "Maybe. Who knows — maybe one day I'll move to France to test my French skills."

A.J. wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I think that I'd rather stay in America, thank you very much."

"You're no fun. Why don't you want to become more adventurous?"

"By adventurous, do you mean going on hikes in the Appalachian Mountains kinda adventurous? Or jumping down a fifty-foot cliff into a lake kinda adventurous?"

Melly rolled her eyes. "Neither. I mean, traveling to different countries."

"Neither. C'mon, Melly! You've already been to England last summer!"

"And Malaysia the year before that," Melly

answered calmly. "C'mon, A.J. you're spoiling the fun."

"You're unbelievable sometimes. You know that, right?"

"So I've been told," Melly answered, giving her a tight-lipped, wry smile.

A.J. rolled her eyes. "C'mon. Let's go find Brayden so that we can leave."

Melly had been quite disappointed when Brayden told the two girls that he would rather study science rather than French. That was, perhaps, the only class that the three of them did not have together. It had been odd at the beginning of the school year when Brayden told them that he was going to be studying in the other side of the building for science. Both girls were heartbroken when they heard that he would not be joining them. But when they heard his reasons, as he wanted to become an engineer when he went to college, they respected his choices.

Brayden dropped A.J. and Melly off at the Chambers' household. Melly stayed with A.J. for a bit, listening to Chris and Andrew talking loudly to each other, before she began to leave, herself, so that she could get home before her parents, sisters, and brother got too worried about her.

Melly found herself jogging down familiar streets as she made her way down Habersham Street where she lived. As she looked around herself, Melly could tell that Savannah, Georgia was already making Halloween a big deal, despite it being only a one-day thing.

One of the many things that Melly loved about her home city of Savannah, Georgia is that they make Halloween such a big deal. She could see that there were Halloween decorations in nearly every window of various shops and in front yards. Ghost tour buses were already getting prepared for their biggest night of the year.

She turned on a familiar alleyway that she used as a shortcut and suddenly stopped. The hairs on the back of her neck and arms began to prickle as they usually did when she knew that something was about to go wrong. She tried to push the feeling into the back of her head, knowing that this could just be her imagination and that she didn't need to worry.

Still, she decided that she needed to be careful, just in case something did happen. Per-usual, Melly knew that Servants of the Fallen Ones, creatures who roamed the streets of every major city at night, did not come out during the day. They usually like to terrorize unsuspecting people at night if they're out of their house after curfew. Melly knew this, as she hears about these kinds of disappearances every other week or so on the news.

So far, she knew that she wasn't dumb enough to go outside after the government's designated curfew. But still, there was something off about this alleyway, despite being familiar with this particular route she took nearly every day as a shortcut to get home. Nevertheless, she began to carefully make her way through the alleyway, making sure to be alert and at the ready. It wasn't until she was halfway across that she noticed the large, green garbage can shifting slightly from the corner of her eye. Her heart stopped momentarily and she came to a complete halt, terrified.

A creature loomed out from the shadows, towering over her head. She took a step back, horrified. The creature had the body of what looked like a minotaur and the neck and head of an alligator, showing razor-sharp teeth when its lips were barred. It had a ten-foot wingspan that seemed to tower over its head, looking more menacing and taller than before.

It glared down at her in a threatening manner. Melly took another step back, almost tripping over her own feet, just as the creature began to open its jaws. Melly quickly scurried out of the way on her hands and knees before going flat on her stomach to avoid a column of flames that burst from the creature's jaws. The only thing she could feel from the creature was the slight, hot breath that came from the creature's mouth.

Luckily, it didn't give her any injuries. She shakily got to her feet. A low rumble of thunder seemed to fill the air and the clouds began to close in on each other, gradually becoming darker with each second. Melly turned and faced the creature again, her eyes trying to find the other end of the alleyway. Unfortunately, the creature was too big and blocked her from seeing the other end.

It opened its jaws again. Melly prepared to sprint out of the way, but it seemed to be much quicker this time. Melly let out a gasp of pain as burning heat covered her upper bicep. The smell of singed hair burned her nostrils, making her feel faint.

Her arm burned, pulsating with every throbbing feeling. She glanced down at her arm and immediately wished that she hadn't. The sight made her want to vomit. It looked like a third-degree burn, with blistering skin that seemed to sizzle as the burning sensation still lingered. A numbing sensation shot down her arm, taking out any sort of pain for a brief moment of relief.

She wanted to faint at the excruciating sight. This was not how she had expected to spend her afternoon, the afternoon before her sixteenth birthday. She reached for her hair with her good arm and realized that several inches had been seared off by the column of flames.

Melly didn't know what happened next. The creature began to open its jaws again, a menacing look in its red, cat-like eyes. It was then that Melly began to feel rather hopeless, unsure of what to do or how to protect herself. But then, something happened that she did not expect.

The creature made a noise of confusion in the back of its throat. Melly, who had her eyes closed and body flinched in preparation, opened her eyes to see what the confusion was for the monster. She looked down to see that both of her hands were clenched into fists. But what was even more startling was that the fists were surrounded by a soft, golden, pulsating light. The light made her hands feel warm but nothing like what she had felt from the fire the monster had created earlier.

Without hesitation, Melly aimed both of her fists at the creature. She somehow managed to stand her ground as the light coming from her fists trapped the creature. It howled, writhing in agony.

Melly didn't want to watch. She forced herself to not watch until everything was over. Until there was silence. And she eventually got her wish.

With a noise that sounded like an explosion, Melly carefully looked up and saw that the monster was gone. The only thing that she could hear was the gentle rumbles of thunder and the sound of rain as it began to fall, coating her throbbing wound like a soothing, temporary balm.

Before anyone could witness what had just happened, Melly turned on her heel and fled the scene, taking the slightly long way home to avoid any more trouble instead.