I couldn 't have killed her . First of all , she was alive . Secondly , I would have remembered something like that . No , those points weren 't valid . Crystal came back after she 'd died and I was very young . There 's a chance I blocked it out . Maybe I 'm just denying the truth . I 'm a murderer . I pulled myself from my bed and rushed to the bookcase where I kept Wilson 's book . I had to find something to prove I didn 't do it . Something solid . I had to . I slowly felt the panic settle in as I flicked through the pages . The only thing I found was this page that mentioned a protégé doing something horrible , but it doesn 't say what or who . I shut the book and sat on my bed looking at the wall . All this time I had thought that I wasn 't dark on the inside . That I wasn 't tainted by the actions of my family . It seems during this entire time the voice had been right . I was evil . A child - killer to my core . The softness of the bed muffled my punch of frustration . Was it just this one that I 'd killed , or was there more ? Had my Father stopped me before I had gone too far ? Why was I still alive ? A knock on the door pulled me from my thoughts , " Come in . " I fought to regain composure as the opening door revealed Crystal . Her troubled look increased my motivation to put my problems aside , " What 's wrong ? " Crystal looked very concerned , something was really bothering her , " I 'm afraid that John is going to do something rash . " Posted by I 'm standing at the top of those God damned stairs again and looking down at the body at the bottom . My body ; his body . I feel his murderous urges within me as I walk down the stairs . " This is who you are . You know it , I know it . You just don 't remember . " The voices again . I shook my head to get rid of them and when I opened my eyes , I was in a large yard with a massive fountain in the middle . I 'd been here before . I was far away from my home . There were people standing in a circle a distance away . " Who did it ? " , one of them whispered to another . " It was the boy that man brought here . " " Oh my God ! " I pushed through the crowd till I found myself staring at someone I had forgotten , until just now . I realized how I knew Saba , but this brought up more questions than answers . How could I know Saba if she 's dead ? " I told you . " The voice couldn 't mask its glee . All I want to do is get out of this cage and cut them all into small strips of steaming flesh . The tall one ignored my offers which pissed me off . Who wouldn 't want this ? Alex was on most of their minds . Some kind of savior who gave his life to let them all live . The only people who didn 't think about him was Ben and the stupid skinny girl . I shivered as I thought about the girl . Something about her ; she was more dangerous to me than anyone here . She gives off this signature of magic so strong that I can feel it all the way down here in the basement . It was sapping me of my strength constantly , making me lose control . Funny thing about her is that she 's not thinking about me , almost as if she doesn 't think of me as a danger . I don 't know if that should make me more scared . It didn 't matter . If I escape , I 'll tear her head off while she sleeps . Shaking the cage did nothing except put it on its side . I couldn 't reach any kind of implement to help me escape , and the bars on this dog cage were unusually strong . The more I fought , the more enraged I 'd get . Ben . I felt my body calm down . No . No ! I 'm in control . Ben . Ben will help me . He will save me . I can 't lose the body now , not while that girl is close . I just had to be patient and wait in this cage till they knew what to do . They probably were bars that protected me from the monsters . Ben was so thoughtful . I smiled and buttoned my top as I whistled a tune . I was getting hungry , but I 'm sure they would bring me some food soon . I did take a five hour long flight to get here after all . When I had last seen Wilson Ashford I was small enough to sit on his shoulders . He was so fun and full of smiles . Not like William Ashford . He was creepy and my Daddy never allowed him in the house . Just before Wilson left the last time , he told me that if I ever needed help , that I was to go look for his son Ben . So when I found out I was being hunted , that 's what I did . My stomach growled and I frowned . I don 't like being hungry . Posted by The children in front of me giggle wildly as I flip the stick , causing it to change colors . I 've been doing this same routine every Thursday for the past twenty years . The nurse brings me out of my room and the children gather round , and I show them small magic tricks . If these youngsters knew what I was capable of ; I could give these kids such nightmares . Luckily , I like them . They 've kept me sane for a long time . " Now for my best act ! " , I give them a wide , toothless smile , " I will make myself disappear ! " I was tired . I got tired easily lately . Especially since I 've been doing a lot of real spells lately . I felt my chair spin around as the nurse rolled me back to my room . I shivered as cool air hit me from an open window . With an unnoticeable flick of my wrist the window was closed . Something was in the air . Something bad . Something big . While my human senses had dulled over the years , my sixth sense had only gotten stronger . That 's how I knew about Crystal and the others . Maybe I 'd done too much . Maybe I 'd gotten myself noticed and dragged in to another cataclysm . Just like the one that had taken my legs . I had to get out of this place . People were going to get hurt . Badly hurt . In my mind 's eye , I watched all these innocent people be consumed as they searched for me . James and that girl , Saba . They 'd both be coming for me soon . One for help and the other for murder . I 'd be ready . I 'd be gone . I just need to get out of this damn old persons home . If only I wasn 't 79 . Posted by " James Banks . History expert and firearms specialist . I think it 's about time to wake up . " My eyes opened to the harsh hospital lights . Sitting up only resulted in pain . " It 's going to hurt but you can do it . " I successfully tried again , and found that at the end of the bed sat a man . Everything about him was intimidating . From his brown dress shoes to his five o - clock shadow , wearing a clean and pressed suit ; he looked to be a man of wealth and importance . " Who are you ? " " You tried too hard and ended up failing . Now your friends want nothing to do with you . They don 't even come to visit while you are injured . You 're lucky I showed up with just the right antidote . " The man smiled . " You came here to tell me how much of a failure I am ? " " Actually , I 'm here to hire you . I need someone with your skills and I pay well . " This guy was right , very right . At the same time , something about him told me he was dangerous . Maybe it was his smile that said only what he wanted . " Why me ? " " You know your friends the best . They may not know you , but I bet that over the years you 've learned their quirks . The things I need done are things I don 't want to be interrupted . You will need to keep your friends at bay . " " I won 't hurt them . " " You need not worry , you won 't be doing any of that , at least not to them . I do need you to go after someone though , and you may have to hurt them . " He laughed a fake practiced laugh . " Who ? " " He is a fly . A warlock by the name of Nick Brown . He holds knowledge of powerful magic . I need that knowledge . " " What do I call you ? " " Patrick Bernauw . Now get dressed , you have a big day ahead of you . " Posted by Unexpected ? Yes . Allowed ? No . I can deal with her calling me a butler . I don 't even care about that , but attacking my brother ; that isn 't allowed . " YOU WILL NOT TALK TO ME LIKE THAT YOU USELESS PIECE OF FLESH ! " If Saba had been foaming at the mouth , it would have looked more normal . My tea glass hit her head faster than I could think . Everyone visibly relaxed as she hit the floor . " She is one CRAZY . . . " " She just needs help . " , Ben interrupted . " Guys , before she wakes up and begins her rampage again , we need to find a place for her . " I lifted her up over my shoulders . " The basement has an old dog cage in it . You can put her in there until we can find a more comfortable place for her . " The basement light didn 't do much to the darkness of the basement , but I found the cage pretty easy . " Mmmmmm , so strong . You work out . " , her hands found my bicep and she pushed her chest into my back , " We could . . . have some fun maybe , sometime . I know this neat little trick with a razor and a whip that will drive you wild . " Damn it . " Not interested . " , I tossed her in the cage and slammed the door shut , pulling the padlock closed . As I turned she was opening her top , " You don 't want this ? Come on ! Let me out , we 'll have fun . " I shut the light off and closed the door . Posted by From the moment I saw her , this girl got under my skin . She didn 't seem like a bad person , but something about her was off . She was hanging all over Ben like an extra shirt . That wasn 't it though . Something else was bothering me . " What do you mean you can 't help me ? " Saba had the whole sadness act down to an art . It even made me feel bad . This was going to be difficult . Ben shifted uncomfortably , " Well , you did come here at four in the morning . How ever , that isn 't why we 're saying no . " Saba began to cry , " It 's because I offended your cook , isn 't it ? " Yes . " No , no it 's not . " , Ben was trying to calm her down . " Then why ? " Miraculously , her crying stopped and she looked at Ben with wide and curious eyes . I was slowly tiring of this act . " Recently a friend of ours was admitted to the hospital . " , Ben said . After he tried to kill us . " So we 'd like to make sure he gets better before we do any more cases . " I just want him to wake up so I can knock him out again for being a moron . What he did was unacceptable . If he wanted to bring Alex back , he should have at least pulled me and Carl in to the fold . I would have gladly sacrificed my life so that he could be brought back . The noise of glasses clinking together told me that Crystal was coming with tea . She was nice enough , but it is a little weird that just a few days ago she was a seven year old zombie that was out for our heads . She seemed nice enough regardless ; one of the guys . She fits the group like a glove . It was my turn , " Besides , what 's after you sounds completely ridiculous . How could you be hunted by yourself ? " She cuddled against Ben again , " It 's me but not . She 's different , mean , and has almost no inhibitions . Totally not royalty , like me . I 've got a lot of money AND more polite cooks . " Does she not realize that we 're not the servants ? Really ? " So how much are you paying us ? " " I 'm not paying the cook . I 'm paying Ben . I 'd be willing to pay almost any amount as long as he helps me . " I had had enough . It was time to stake my ground , " Okay , you listen here . I am not the cook and Timothy Dumont My doorbell rang at four in the morning . After the events of the past three days , I enjoyed my sleep and having it interrupted put me in a grumpy mood . The darkness in the hallway caused my foot to catch itself on the rug and for me to yell out in pain . The person outside switched from the doorbell to pounding on the door . The sound riveted through my skull like a jackhammer . I heard the others waking up as I opened the door . No sooner had I opened it , when a young , dark haired woman came rushing in . Her olive colored skin and dark eyes gave away her Arabic ancestry . Her movements showed hints of royalty while containing a kind of forced cuteness . She pushed the door shut with her back and then leaped into my arms . " Finally ! " , she pushed herself closer against me ; successfully making me feel even more uncomfortable . " Um - " , I tried to push her back with my palms , " mind telling me who you are ? " John , Carl , and Crystal 's gasped as they conveniently entered the room at that moment . " Good for you Ben ! " , Carl said , looking the young female up and down . " No , no . . . this isn 't . . . " Worst . Night . Ever . " He needs a woman 's touch . " , John smiled as he noticed Crystal 's scowl , " What ? You 're one of the guys . We can barely call you a woman . " To my relief , the young lady stepped back and looked at the group of people standing there . " That must be your maid ? " , she pointed to Crystal , " And your cook and . . . one of the ugliest butlers I have ever seen . " She pointed at John and Carl successively . Crystal got an offensive look , and both John and Carl stepped forward menacingly ; ready to disprove her words . To avoid any kind of problems I had to interrupt fast , " So what are you here for ? " She turned to me and got a wide eyed look , " My name is Saba Zahid and I need your help , Benjamin Ashford . I 'm being hunted by a terrible beast . " Posted by Only a few weeks ago , I was here at this schoolyard . This new me was taking some time to get used to , along with the new knowledge and intelligence . My thoughts seemed more clear , but there was so much to sift through . I was still grateful though . Nick had given me another chance at life ; a new beginning . The others were completely surprised that I had returned . More surprised by the age I returned as . It took a while to explain to them who I was and how I came back , but I left Nick out of it . Unexplained rebirth was my excuse . Nick had disappeared soon after I had started administering first aid to the person who I now know is Jay . The others realized Jay was alive and quickly assisted me to help him . They didn 't even ask who I was until we had made sure that Jay would be all right . We had to bring him to the hospital , and that is where he has been for the past two days . The zombie children had turned into dust and winds during the night had swept the remains away , leaving only our blood splatters and Vincent . As I walked toward the bushes , I reached into my pocket and squeezed my still favorite bear . " So , it 's over here somewhere ? " , John jogged ahead a little bit . " Yeah , somewhere in the bushes . " My words faded off as I fell deep into thought . How would I explain this to my Daddy ? What would I say ? " Hey , Daddy . " " Oh , I 've aged a bit since you last saw me . " " You wouldn 't believe what I 've been through . " What would he say ? He 'd be unbelieving . I 'm having trouble believing it myself . John emerged from the bushes , his hat on his head . We began walking back out of the schoolyard in silence . It seemed as though John wanted to ask me something . " What is it ? " John looked at the moon , " So , your dad . . . " " I 'm not sure . I 've been given this life and now I don 't know what to do with it . I have no direction . I have no family . I 'm unable to understand my purpose , because I didn 't have one before . " One of the things I enjoy about having this extra knowledge is the ability to express my thoughts easier . John was silent for almost five minuTimothy Dumont The world blurred in to focus and I fell to the cold stone floor . The cave was lit up by the orb behind me and this scene formed before me . Crazy Hat Guy was swinging an axe at the Goddess . The other guy was blocking the only exit . I glanced over to my left and saw another person laying still on the floor . " That person needs help , Crystal . " I glanced to my right and saw that Nick was standing next to the glowing orb . " This isn 't another one of your suicide missions , is it ? " I was surprised at my own voice . It came out more mature and it sounded good . I looked down at my self and saw that I was much taller . I had grown older . " What ? " This was unexpected . " The human spirit is ageless . I could not return your body , so I asked your soul what it would prefer . It chose this . Now help him . " My body was skinny and my hair very long . I ran over to the person and ripped at his shirt . He reached up to me , " Help . . . please . . . " " You aren 't dieing yet , sir . I 'm gonna help you . " I had to hurry . His blood was running out fast and I had to stop the bleeding . How did I know that ? Posted by Jay fell on top of me , his body limp and unmoving . His eyes were glazed over and the wound was bleeding profusely . My mind went blank and the world pulled away . Pain in the depth of my chest exploded , flowing over my entire body , leaving it numb . Jay was gone . The sound of his blood hitting the floor was the only sound I heard . I laid Jay on to the ground and stood , gripping my axe tighter , the wood biting into my hand . Sadness mixed with anger , forming hate . The deepest hate I 'd felt since Alex died . This was the second friend I 'd lost because of these damn creatures . They had both tried to save me . They had both succeeded but the price was too high . My mind had broken . There was nothing left but the anger . The furious hate that seethed from every inch of my being . The world came rushing back as I slammed my axe into the belly of the very confused snake . It cried out in pain and slithered backwards . It wasn 't moving fast enough . My axe found flesh again and another cry was made . It was headed for the entrance , but Carl was too fast for it . He slid in the way and landed a spin kick in its face . I leaped , raising the axe above my head and brought it down with such righteous anger , that the Snake Goddess was no longer a Snake Goddess . She was a corpse . Posted by I was free . Now I could just slink out of here while they 're in the heat of battle . I was just turning when I saw John run forward . The snake 's speed was incredible as it whipped around , ready to protect itself . The fangs extended but John didn 't stop . He couldn 't stop . Time seemed to slow as I ran over the choices in my head . This was my fault . They wouldn 't be in this situation if I hadn 't have stolen the herbs . Alex died to protect them and I insulted that sacrifice for my own gain . Now , one of my closest friends was going to take the fall . I was selfish ; too selfish . So blinded by my own problems , that I didn 't see exactly what Alex was doing when he died . This was wrong . All wrong . All wrong . Everything was wrong . It was all my fault . Before I knew it I had covered the distance between me , John , and the snake . I threw my body between them , knocking John back . I felt the fangs sink into my flesh , and I felt the burning venom flowing into my body . The world became blurred and color lost its meaning . Was I upset ? No . I felt relieved . I felt peace . Posted by I didn 't know how deep we were , but that yell had come from nearby . Darkness was all around us and with out a flashlight we couldn 't see much . I stepped through an arch of rock and felt the walls move out from us . We were in a cavern now . I could hear Jay 's breathing as well as the Snake Goddess ' hiss . I ran toward the sound and pulled back my fist . Snake Goddess or not , I 'm the only one that can hurt my friend . At that moment , the cavern erupted in light . From three feet above the ground an orb of light shone , its bright light splashing over the room . Jay was underneath the body of the Snake Goddess , who was moving toward the wall because of the sudden light . The Snake Goddess was almost completely snake , besides the arms just below her head . On each finger rested a gold ring and around her neck a long beaded necklace . Jay was all ready working to get free using the distraction . I was not going to let this moment pass either . I ran toward the Snake Goddess and lifted my axe . I was too late , the Snake Goddess regained its composure and whipped its tail in to my side , sending me sprawled on the ground . The orb of light began to pulsate and slowly change shape . The light played over everything , releasing periodic flashes . Carl ran toward the Snake Goddess and side stepped the first tail swipe , only to be hit by the Snake 's fist . Carl fell back , dropping his knife . The snake took this time to knock Carl 's legs out from underneath him . By this time I was on my feet again , and so was Jay . I ran toward the beast , the axe raised above my head . Swiftly the snake spun and opened her great jaws . My own momentum was carrying me toward it . There was no way to dodge out of the way . The foot long fangs were going to go in me , and what ever venom this creature had was going to end me . Posted by This is just great . My day can 't get any worse . First , I realize that my actions had been a mistake . Now , I 'm struggling to get out of the grip of a powerful Snake Goddess . Why doesn 't fate just let my friends show up suddenly and make it a complete failure ? That would be when I heard my name yelled . It was John . They knew . They knew . They knew . They were going to kill me . Wait , why were they here ? The snake squeezed a bit which brought my mind to more urgent matters . We had entered its lair and I could smell dead flesh everywhere . It kind of reminded me of a warm meat locker . The Goddess lifted me above her head and tossed me to the ground . I slid a bit and then stood . I couldn 't see anything . I swung wildly but only hit air . The Goddess was moving ; I could hear it . I was hit from behind and fell on my face . This was bad . The snake could see while I could not . I was alone , fighting an old Goddess with my bare hands , and had backup that probably wanted me dead . I tried to set my thoughts on survival ; fight the snake , it 's all you can do . Fight the snake , John is going to be pissed . I decided that was good enough and I kicked out toward the sound . I must have done something right , because I connected hard with the Goddess and heard a surprised hiss . I moved closer and got another hit with my fist on rock . Pain coursed up my arms and I yelled out . To my dismay , Carl returned my yell . They were getting closer . I had to hurry . The Goddess took advantage of my distraction to push me to the floor and press her weight on me . I was going to die . I could feel her head getting closer and smell her awful breath . Damn it , Alex . I couldn 't get you back and I neglected your friends lives . Please don 't hurt me ? Our feet pounded the ground as we ran toward the sound . We jumped through bushes and the branches cut my face , but I didn 't notice . My mind was trapped in memories . I had broken my leg in an accident . Jay was the first one there and the last one to leave . Someone twice my size was picking on Jay . I couldn 't allow that . The guy never did it again . It was late and I couldn 't sleep because I had things on my mind . Jay was sleeping when I called . We walked for hours talking about the latest video game we 'd played . The whole group walking together , Jay making wild assumptions that was ceremoniously shot down by everyone . So he 'd planned all this and almost got us killed . I could understand why he would ; Alex was one of the closest friends we 'd had . I would have done almost anything to get him back . He messed up . We 'd definitely give him Hell for that . . . after we saved his ass . He was still screaming when we got to the railroad tunnel . We didn 't even hesitate . This snake was not going to hurt one of our friends , no matter how much of an evil jerk he is sometimes . Posted by When I saw her fall I got really mad . She had fought against her own kind just to save my life . I don 't know why she 'd done it , but this was not how she was supposed to go . My anger exploded in the form of an axe in to a zombie 's head . We were losing but we were taking as many of them down as we could . Carl was to my left , cutting anything that wasn 't me and moved . I knew she was going to die all ready , but any death would have been better than the one she 'd had . I would fight until my last breath and I 'd take as many of these little creeps as I could . If I survived , I 'd find that snake . The zombies were slowing down , weary of being batted back with the blade of an axe . I watched her pull those creatures off me . I saw the recognition in her face . I saw the steely bravery in her eyes as she turned to protect me . I saw the axe rip through her like butter . " HARRRAAAUUUGH ! " , I yelled at the zombie I had just cut in half ; and I 'm not meaning horizontally . Carl was fighting the zombie with equal fervor , but we both knew we were losing . Our last stand . At least Jay and Ben would survive . " HEY ! " , Ben yelled out the window , " Jay has the herbs and is escaping ! The herbs will stop all this ! He planned this whole thing to resurrect Alex ! " Stupid Jay . Stupid zombies . Stupid snake . I fought off more zombies with my axe to release all of my pent up aggression . It was at that moment when we all heard the scream , and at that moment everything froze . Jay . Carl stopped . I stopped . Surprisingly , the zombies stopped . Carl and I looked at each other , " Jay . " We ran toward the sound . Posted by I was filled with confusion . I knew I was doing the right thing , but what Ben was saying made a little sense . Having lost the verbal argument I went in for the physical . So there Ben was , on the floor in front of me , completely unconscious . The zombie children had left . I opened the door and walked into the bedroom . Nothing I could say would make me right ; I 'd just leave . I 'd find some place that would accept me for what I can do . I grabbed my bag and the little of my clothes I had , put them in a bag , and continued downstairs . Ben was right . I couldn 't sacrifice my friends to bring Alex back . I 'll find someone else to sacrifice . Someone who deserves it . I made my way downstairs and stopped to look at the living room , and remembered some of the surprisingly good times I had had there , even if my skills were ignored . I didn 't belong here anymore . Ben would tell the others and I 'd be finished . They 'd hate me forever . I guess I 'm going to have to find another place for me . I shut the back door behind me and slipped into the bushes behind the house . I had only made it a few yards when a loud hissing to my left caused me to stop . Shit . I 'm betting my scream could be heard by anyone nearby . Posted by " I 'm sorry . " I was floating in blackness , completely alone . " Really . But it had to be this way . " Well , maybe not completely alone . Nick was floating nearby , apologizing . " I 'm dead ? " " I 'm sorry . " I felt the tears come . Could the dead cry ? I knew this would happen eventually , but I 'm not ready . I 'm only seven . I haven 't done things that I 've always wanted . Stupid disease , stupid zombie with an axe ; stupid Nick . " It 's your fault ! All your fault ! " , I swung at him with my foot , but it swiped straight through him . I was bawling now . I wasn 't ready . I wanted to make a splash . I wanted to grow up . " You can not rest yet , Crystal . " , Nick looked incredibly sad , " Your life is going to be very difficult from here on . How ever , you must remember some things . Remember your youth , remember your innocence and please , don 't think I wanted things this way . " I was now very , very confused , " What ? What are you talking about ? " Nick smiled , " You 're going back . They need you down there now and they need your humanity later . You will keep them straight when they would go astray . " " Who are you ? Are you dead ? " Nick laughed and smiled , " You will meet me again soon . No , I 'm not dead . " " And neither - " , The blackness slowly faded away , " are you . " Posted by I was busy with several of my own zombies when I saw her fall . Her head was completely lobbed off her neck . A zombie caught me by surprise and pushed me to the ground . I hadn 't known her long but she was a brave little tyke . I won 't deny sadness when I saw her die . John to my left was completely distracted by it . He stood for several seconds and then ran at the zombie who had found an axe somewhere . The zombie was taken down in one hit and as John stood holding the axe , I could see sadness and anger in his eyes . I pulled myself to my feet , throwing off preschoolers . I picked up a stray knife and looked at the hundreds of zombies as they flowed in to us . Posted by Months had passed since I realized that I was dying . I 'm here only because of the Goddess . Another being to give me something because I didn 't have much time . I flipped a zombie on its back to allow the tall guy to stomp on its face . Watching him , I was beginning to get the hang of this fighting thing . I 'm still not good at it though . Crazy Hat Guy was badly injured , so he couldn 't do much to help , but he was on his feet and swinging . So many children attacking us , and some of them had even found the kitchen and were using utensils as weapons . My thoughts returned to my Daddy as I pushed Soup head to the ground . His smile . I worked so hard for that in the last couple of weeks . Every time I saw a smile it was followed with tears and sadness . How I wanted him to smile . My Mommy used to smile a lot and her smile made my Daddy smile . After she went to sleep , Daddy rarely smiled unless he was with me . Smiles tell a lot about someone 's thoughts , I think . Smiles of love between my Mommy and Daddy . Smiles of happiness because I was still with him . Smiles of protection when you want to keep someone from knowing something horrible ; and smiles of sadness when something you can 't stop is going to come to pass , and you know it . Smiles of deception when you want someone to do something for you . I smiled when my Daddy told me I couldn 't bring Vincent to school with me . I had smiled to hide my disappointment . My mind went back to the fray as I felt a sharp pain in my head , and everything went dark . John had pulled himself to his feet and Carl had gotten over to them . All three of them were barely holding back the horde of zombies as they piled forward . I glanced away from the window and at Jay who hadn 't spoken . " Jay , our friends are not going to make it unless you help me . " " Do you know Alex ? " What a weird question . " I 've heard some about him . He 's your friend who died . " Jay pushed himself up , " He 's my friend who died to save a whole town of people . He 's the only person to treat me like a person . He didn 't like me , but he never got needlessly anger or completely ignored me . " Jay stood and walked over to the window and pointed outside , " Them , they completely act as though I don 't contribute anything . I try so hard to get them to , but it works almost never . When Alex died it only got worse . They threw themselves into their work . Used my skills and then completely ignored me over and over . Whenever something bad happens , I 'm the one they choose to blame . " " What does this have to do with the situation ? " " Alex needs to come back . If Alex came back then maybe everything would be okay . I wouldn 't be ignored . I took the herbs because I can use them to get Alex back . I 'm still going to . Nothing would change my mind . " I 'd had enough . I was beginning to understand why everyone got mad at Jay . He was so thick headed , " You stupid - little - whiny - baby . " I walked over to him and put my face close to his , " Right now , Carl and John are out there fighting for us ! They are working as hard as they can to end this all , and you are up here with the key to end this all , whining about how they ignore you , and don 't care about what you contribute ! " Jay was silent , but I wasn 't done . " Alex gave his life to save everyone who he cared about , including you and the others . How can you insult his sacrifice by not helping them survive ? If I were Alex and I came back at the cost of the people I had tried to save , I would kill you ! Look . Look outside ! " I grabbed Jay and pulled him to the window to look outside . " There you go . The people Alex saved . In Timothy Dumont They had tried to keep it from me , but I knew . When he looked at me I could see the sadness , and first I couldn 't understand it but eventually I realized . I was sick inside and I wasn 't getting better . As I ran toward the Crazy Hat Guy , these are the thoughts that ran through my head . Everyone had done things for me , because I wasn 't going to last ; because I was sick and my Daddy knew . Nick was mean . The tears that streaked down my face soaked into my pink shirt . How could he threaten Vincent ? I had done nothing to him . I had done nothing to anyone . I had tried to keep it that way ; no reason to cause a splash if there was going to be no ripples . Now Nick is forcing me to jump into the water . I didn 't like him . They were dragging Hat Guy away , which I couldn 't allow ; lest Vincent take the retribution . The Goddess had given me strength , I 'd better use it . I gripped the first boy by the collar and tossed him off . I smiled inwardly as I watch Soup head fly over my shoulder . Crazy Hat Guy was struggling to get them off , but I all ready knew he wouldn 't succeed with out my help . They were too strong and there were too many . No one knew that I knew . Everyone had given me everything they could , except for Nick . Posted by Turning to Carl , I pretended to look at my book as though deeply engrossed in to what it had to say . For dramatic effect , I stopped and stared for a few moments at the words on the page . " I know what we need to do . " , I tried to sound sincere . Carl was instantly interested . He stood and walked over to read the page over my shoulder . Now all I had to do was sell my lie . " These herbs it refers to , I think - I think I may have picked them off the cave floor . If we could get these and return them - " " Tell me you have them on you , Ben . " Carl sounded desperate . " They 're in my bag downstairs in the living room . " Before I had finished , Carl had started out the window . " Save your brother first . That little girl is going to need help . " Carl nodded as he disappeared out of sight . I turned to Jay and frowned , " So where are the herbs , really ? " Jay face took on an angry look but he remained silent . Posted by ( The events in this post happened before Crystal was kidnapped by the Snake Goddess and were discovered after the relatively successful escape plan hatched by Ben . Ben was the person who decided to place it here . ) " Before we found out about her sickness we were working on building her skills so she could be successful when she grows up . " My Daddy was talking to a guy with a really crazy hat . " And now that she won 't live for more than a few more months , you want to give her a life that she will enjoy . . . so you 're trying to buy my hat , why ? " Crazy Hat Guy seemed very hesitant to sell his hat . I kind of liked him . He was nice and you should have seen his hair ! ( He - he . ) I was peeking around the corner of the doorway , watching my Daddy as he spoke . I love my Daddy , he always wants to give me the best of everything . About four weeks ago I had seen that guy in the newspaper and knew instantly that I wanted his hat . I think I got my Daddy mad at me with how many times I asked him . He always said no . He said that it wasn 't a " productive " buy . I don 't even know what productive means . I guess my pestering finally got through because he 's rushing to buy it now . " I was not born rich . I was born poor and had to work for my money . The best and most memorable moments of my life was when I was poor . Before she . . . I just want her to have a taste of what living truly is . I want her to have friends and build connections with things around her . I can 't do that if I have enough money to just buy another one for her . " " I know what you mean . So you 're giving me 3 million dollars so that you can give your daughter a real life , and you chose me because this hat caught her eye ? Sounds - like you have the money to choose another option . " I smiled at the Crazy Hat Guy . He smiled back . " What I do with my money is my business , I want to buy your hat to give her a more amazing life ; at least what 's left of it . After she passes , I 'll give you back the hat if you 'd like and you can keep the 3 million , but please ; let me give her something before ITimothy Dumont Being stuck in the bathroom with Jay and Carl is not my idea of fun . Being stuck in the bathroom with them ready to tear out each others throats is horrible . Being stuck in a bathroom with Jay and Carl while hundreds of zombie children try to get in to wreck some grade school vengeance on us just makes me angry . " Just a little research and we would have known that there would be hundreds upon hundreds of little zombie kiddies that would try to kill us if we went into their lair . " Carl just wouldn 't let it die . Even under these circumstances he was letting his anger control him . " The research didn 't say any thing about this . I had no idea . " Jay was sputtering to defend himself . Was I the only one worried about the tykes right outside the door ? I pulled my book out from behind me and began flipping through the pages . Maybe within the book there was some kind of information that would help . What Luck ? ! It appears Wilson delved into supernatural creatures as well . I ignored the words scribbled on the sides and quickly read the page . That 's when it hit me : The thing that Jay had put in his pocket . It had to be the herbs . He must have picked them up as he was trying to escape . I was almost about to mention it when I saw Carl . If I were to mention this now , Carl will kill him . I had to get Carl out of here . I stood and began pacing ; my mind racing . There had to be a way , but right now the only way out was a window that opened to the front of the house , and being two stories up . . . it was going to be difficult getting down . Damn it ! How would I get Carl out of here ? " Carl ? " " Yeah ? " " Your brother is out there somewhere and is definitely in need of some help . If you could climb out this window you could get to him . " " Yeah , no . " " But it 's your brother ! " " Haven 't you seen any Zombie movies ? They 've probably turned him all ready . " " Did they try to bite you ? " " No . Okay , so he might still be alive , but after I get out there to help him , what do I do ? I mean , there 's hundreds of preschool ghouls out there . " He was right . There was no way thaTimothy Dumont Hunting . I could smell the smoke from his cigarette from a hundred feet away . It was an assault . The Goddess says that they stole something of ours . Something we had to get back or we would never be healed . They were tough , but the Goddess had filled us with what we needed . First , stop him from alerting the others . Throat . Then , cripple him . Hair . Finally , drag him away for safekeeping till we have what we came for . Legs ; maybe a blunt object . More than just me . All of us were there . We failed and I ended up on the ground , unable to stand up . I tried but I couldn 't , and that 's when I saw him . " Hello , my name is Nicholas Brown . Most call me Nick . The more brave call me Nick Brown . How are you Crystal ? " Everything left . Every wicked thought and every evil intention . My mind was returned again and all I wanted was my Vincent . The man pulled from behind him my brown teddy wearing a black jacket and I grabbed it , holding it to my chest . " I thought you 'd want that and you can have it , but I need you to do something . " All around us hundreds of the unusual children were trying to break down the door . Where I was , I felt completely safe and protected from everything . " What do you want ? " He seemed nice enough and he did give me my Vincent . The least I could do was help him out . " In a few minutes , those children will break down that door , and a few minutes later they will drag out a young man . Crystal , you must save him . He must not be harmed . Do you understand ? " I nodded . " Good . Also , if he does happen to be harmed and you don 't save him - " Mr . Nick turned and began to walk away , " I 'll give you back to that Snake Goddess , and you will never see Vincent again . " After a few more steps , Nick vanished as though he was never there . I felt the wicked thoughts bubble up , but I forced them down and as my eyes filled with tears I turned to do what I was told . Posted by I was so scared in that cave . In the dark , with that snake and those weird children . It made me think of my favorite Teddy . I named him Vincent when I first got him and I never went anywhere without him . Well , until that first day of school . I had him in my bag to bring with me but my Mother saw it and told me to go put it away . I didn 't want to ! So I tried again , only this time Daddy told me that I was being a bad girl ! I 'm never a bad girl ! I just wanted to bring Vincent with me ! I needed something to make me feel safe . Daddy saw how scared I was and gave me his hat for a day . That helped and I did put Vincent back in my room , but I was still scared . I was so scared . I wonder if this all happened because Vincent wasn 't with me . He always protects me and keeps the monsters away , but he wasn 't there and I was scared . I cried so much . Vincent was always so strong and tough . He always knew right where the monsters hid and exactly how to get rid of them . I wish I was that brave . There was a hissing sound and I could hear Peter nearby crying in the darkness . I knew the snake - thing was going after him , but I couldn 't move . I was so scared . I listened to the noise he made . At least until he fell silent . ( Though this was posted after the Zombie children attack , it was decided that it be moved here . ) Today is a big day . It 's my first day ; my first day in a new school . After my Father spent all our money buying an amazing hat , we had to move . So I said " Bye , Bye " to all of my friends and went off to my new school . I didn 't have any fun . There was this big bully named Peter Campbell who I call Soup head . ( He - he . ) He was mean to all the kids and kept pulling my hair . I didn 't like him one bit ! The teacher was very nice . After we ate lunch , he let us go outside and play all by ourselves ! He said something about a monitor being outside but I didn 't see any . I ran over to play jump rope with the other girls but was stopped by Soup head . He told me to give him my new hat that my Daddy gave me , and when I didn 't he started pushing me and pulling at the hat . I responded by kicking him in the shin . I started to run toward the school , but Peter was just too fast and he got in front of me . Another kick and I spun around to make another escape . I could hear Peter behind me as I jumped into the bushes at the edge of the playground . I was so scared that I couldn 't see where I was going . I tripped over something and fell into a dark , red puddle . I had found the Monitor . That 's when I heard a scream from behind me , and when I turned around I saw the biggest snake EVER ! I turned to run but I didn 't get far before everything went black . Did I ever tell you how stupid Jay is ? If I haven 't . . . I will now . Jay is stupid . He may have the ability to find a person 's history , but when it comes to coherent thought . . . he 's just not able . He 's the reason we went to that snake pit , and he 's the reason that we are now locked in Ben 's bathroom , with no idea what happened to John . I am so tempted to just throw him outside to those lifeless kids . It all started the night after we got back from the Minoan Snake Goddess ' lair . We all were completely exhausted , and all I wanted to do was sit down outside and smoke . I usually do that to calm down and relax . How ever , tonight was less relax and more run . So I was sitting , looking out into the night , when I heard a rustling in the bushes to my right . It startled me a bit but it was probably a stray cat . I had no sooner looked away , and out of the bushes leaped what seemed to be a small child . Not to tarnish my image but that kid looked freaky . It was a blonde haired girl not older than 7 . Her hair was in knots . Her face , arms , and legs were covered with so much dirt that I couldn 't tell what color her skin was . She wore coveralls and a pink T - shirt . Stuck to her shirt was a ripped sticker that read , " Hi , My name is : Crystal Ferguson . " She was making an odd , raspy , growling sound as she stumbled toward me . " Are you all right ? " Of course she wasn 't all right , but now what ? " Do you want to come inside ? Maybe we can call your mother ? " It was then when I noticed some more growling to my left . Another child . This time a young boy was ambling over toward me . This boy had serious injuries ; half of his head was caved in by what looked to be a boot . These weren 't children , they were zombies ; and judging by the new kids name tag . . . his name was Peter Campbell . In a rush I turned and attempted to reach the door , but Crystal leaped and grabbed the back of my hair . ( Sometimes long hair ISN ' T cool . ) She grabbed at my neck with her fingers , her unusual strength stopping me from screaming out . I felt small hands grab my legs aTimothy Dumont They didn 't even see me snatch them because of the dark . The plan worked so smoothly that I got out with out a scratch . Now , I have the herbs , the very thing that 's going to get me Alex back . The herbs of life . Truth is , the Minoan snake is relatively harmless now . It only brings dead things back to life to work as guards to the herbs . You know how effective they are when there is three other people fighting them . They 're not . So all I did was sneak into the Goddess ' lair and snatch the herbs . There 's only a few more ingredients , but that will have to wait for a while . Carl is planning to go back into the snake 's lair tomorrow . I 've got to begin to make a choice . One of those three will have to give the most for Alex to come back . Posted by Today was not a very good day . We barely got out of there alive and it 's all Jay 's fault . If only he 'd told us of its abilities and done some research ; maybe we 'd have been prepared . Getting to the Snake Goddess lair was easy . It was an abandoned railroad tunnel a few miles from my home . It must run all the way underneath my town , because the dark was suffocating and there was no light in the distance . Luckily we all had flashlights , but even with flashlights , we still had trouble making our way to where we needed to be . A hole in the side of the tunnel , big enough for a minivan , lead into a series of caverns . Jay became instantly nervous as we continued to climb through the caverns . Carl got in a fight with John , and all because John wasn 't letting him be the head of the group . If only we had been quieter . At that moment our flashlights went out and noises started filling the area . I heard Carl shout for all of us to get out and I was all too eager to oblige . I heard John 's objection get cut off and a loud thump . Jay was nowhere to be heard . I assumed that he had gotten out all ready ; stupid coward . Small hands grabbed my legs and yanked me down to the dirt . I fought against them and found my foot connecting with a soft resistance . I heard bones snap and felt a cool fluid spill over my leg . More hands grabbed me , some of them slightly warm , but most stone cold . Their grip was extremely strong and restricting . Some distance away I heard Carl yell and a reply from John . They were getting farther away . I panicked and tried to fight my way out , but the arms were too strong . A loud hissing noise filled my ears as I realized that they weren 't leaving me behind . I was being dragged away . I could have sworn I heard footsteps to my right , and I thought I saw the light from a cigarette lighter but I 'm unsure . Just then , the arms were yanked off me and I heard yells in the dark as I was flung over a shoulder . My savior had been John . He had been slightly overwhelmed but had escaped . Realizing that Carl was too busy and that I wasTimothy Dumont