The Monstrous Hunt

are the first ever to cause us such trouble.

  I find that hard to believe.

  So do we.

  Now tell me what happened after that. When did you next encounter the sound?

  Not for over a week. As I told you, I began to run back to the university, hoping to find Amelia because I was worried she was in danger. After the strange encounter, after the sound indicated it was going to go after everyone, I did not want to take any chances. No matter what the Myyga wanted, I needed to leave York.

  As I ran, I noticed the number of crests and points dwindle. By the time I ran by an Italian restaurant, I could see none in the crowds. The sudden lack of them unnerved me more than their abundant presence.

  A fluttering of pale chiffon near the restaurant window caught my eye. I looked and stopped when I saw Amelia about to sit down with her friends at a table by the window. She was wearing the same dress she had worn at the renaissance fair. Seeing visions from that fair had yet to be a good omen.

  I knocked frantically on the window but when she saw it was me, she turned back to the menu that was sitting in front of her. I couldn't let something as trivial as her thinking I was a prat stop me so I went inside and walked right up to her table.

  "Amelia," I said. "I need to speak with you."

  She did not look up but her friends did. The obnoxious friend looked me up and down. Her lips tightened and her eyes narrowed. The other girls just watched as they fidgeted in their seats.

  "Don't make this weirder than it already is," Amelia said. "Just go. I told you everything I thought yesterday."

  "Fair enough, but this is too important," I said. "Please, just give me a few minutes. Please."

  Finally, she set the menu down on the table and looked up at me. I probably looked crazed but she did not react to my appearance. After several more moments, she relented and stood, squeezing out behind the others' chairs at the table. I guided her to the small alcove of the restaurant entrance.

  "Have you noticed anything strange in York lately?" I asked.

  She was sardonic. "You mean aside from you?" she asked.

  "Of course, aside from me," I insisted, refusing to be insulted at such a tense time. "There have been four murders, all strange, that the police can't explain."

  "And?" she asked.

  "And? And I witnessed two of them," I told her.

  This news jolted her and she finally seemed to see why I was so frantic. "Who was it?"

  I didn't dare tell her the truth. She would think I was crazy. "I haven't even told the police everything," I explained. "I was too scared. They don't know I saw the first one too."

  "You need to tell them," she said. "What if this is a serial killer? Was it the same person each time?"

  I couldn't tell her. "Not exactly but they are connected," I said.

  "Is the killer after you? Do they know you saw?" she continued to press me, too smart to let it go.

  "Yes but that isn't my problem," I said. "There is something worse going on because of it. Everyone is in danger."

  She scrunched her nose briefly, almost like a twitch but then her face softened considerably. "Have you told the police this?"

  "No," I said. "They wouldn't believe me."

  She nodded. "Perhaps you should try anyway," she said.

  "They'll lock me up!"

  She glanced around my shoulder back at her friends at the table. "My friends are waiting for me," she said. "I better go."

  As she tried to step around me, I put my arm out to block her way.

  "Please, listen to me," I pleaded. "Maybe I am crazy but I need your help to figure this out and the first thing we need to do is get to safety."

  "I can't go with you," she said.

  She was being so frustrating I wanted to scream, but I knew it wouldn't help. "Let me show you," I said. "I'll show you what I am talking about."

  I had nothing to show her but I just needed her to come with me. If I could get her out of the city, we might be safe.

  She bit her lip. "I don't know, Oliver," she said. "How can I trust you?"

  There she was being candid again. I had nothing to offer her so I begged.

  "Please," I said. "It will only take a half hour."

  She looked back at her friends.

  "It really can't wait," I added.

  She bit her lip again.

  "Please, come with me." I refused to relent until I got the answer I wanted.

  She looked at our feet then back up at me, penetrating my eyes with hers. "Alright, Oliver," she said. "I'll come, but I'm not promising anything."

  That's the best I could hope for. I took her hand. She had instinctively tried to withdraw it at first but did not fight when I finally grasped it in mine. I opened the door of the restaurant and we walked out onto the street.

  I stopped so suddenly that Amelia ran into my back. In contrast to when I had gone into the restaurant, the entire crowd was now made up of crests and Myyga, and both were now approaching like riot police in solid lines from either direction down the main road.

  I clutched her hand even more tightly and ran, pulling her behind me.

  "Oliver!" she yelled. "What's going on?"

  "You wouldn't believe me," I yelled back without taking my eyes off the entrance to a small back street across the road. I could see the sunlight sparkling off the Ouse on the other end. It was our only chance.

  "Then you know what those things were?" she yelled.

  I stumbled. I had nearly stopped but when I turned my head to look at her, I saw both the Myyga and the crests pursuing us and I had the presence of mind to continue.

  I was not sure if I should find her ability to see them comforting or terrifying as it confirmed I wasn't losing my mind.

  "No one else has ever seen them before except me," I replied, unable to explain further under the circumstances.

  The crests had begun to run as they chased us. I tried to run faster but I had never been very good at such things. I gained little speed but we were almost at the river.

  I had no idea what would happen but it seemed the only logical escape. I tightened my grip around Amelia's hand and when we got to the edge of the paving, I jumped, bringing her with me as we fell the several feet into the water.

  Why did you fear the Myyga? They had never harmed you before and you had said you even though they wanted your help.

  Which is exactly why I thought they wouldn't let me leave York. Their pursuit kind of proved that for me, didn't it? I didn't care about them when I needed to get Amelia out. I wasn't about to let whatever that vibration was kill her.

  You really are a selfish boy.

  How can you call me selfish? I was panicked. I was just trying to stay alive. I was just trying to keep Amelia alive.

  When you remember it, you will know what I say is true. Continue. What happened in the water?

  Despite the summer heat, the water was freezing. I tried my best to keep my mouth shut so I didn't swallow. Though Amelia had choked out some water after first surfacing, she was now responding well to the situation. We were still holding hands somehow though I was genuinely surprised by that. I think it was more her doing than mine as she was squeezing my hand very tightly.

  As the currents carried us, we both looked around at the adjoining streets. It appeared that the points and crests had all congregated around that restaurant. There were no people downstream but I knew that wouldn't last long. We had to get out of the water. They had not followed us in but it was too cold for us to hide in it for long.

  Amelia started pulling me towards the eastern banks where there were several wharfs and steps leading up to the streets downstream. With both of us kicking, we managed to reach the wharfs before the currents had carried us too far. We scrambled out of the water, breathing heavily.

  "We need to find a way out of the city," I said. "They wouldn't let me leave last time. They stopped the trains somehow. Do you have a car?"

  She was doubled over, bracing her hands on her knees
as she wheezed. All the fabric of her dress was now sopping and clinging to her legs. I couldn't figure out how she had managed to swim so well.

  She shook her head at my question but lifted her head slightly so that she could look around even while trying to get her breath back.

  I followed her gaze and saw streets and paths everywhere. We were not in a safe position.

  There were several cars parked along the driveway overlooking the river but I didn't have any keys and despite my father's opinion of me, I had never stolen a car in my life.

  To my surprise, Amelia started walking towards the nearest vehicle, a yellow hatchback.

  "We need to get to The Dales," she said. "But we can't run there. It's too far."

  "I don't know how to start a care without keys," I said as I tried to keep up with her.

  As I followed her to the car, she said, "Go to that one," and she gestured toward the black SUV parked in front of it. "Check the wheel well," she instructed.

  I had no idea what she was talking about but she knelt down, reached her hand under the yellow car and began groping around.

  When I stupidly hadn't moved, she said, "We're looking for a spare key."

  "What?"

  She was losing her patience with me. "We are looking for one of those stupid magnetic things that holds a key. My dad used to use one right up until he got his car stolen."

  She finished with the hatchback and began moving towards the SUV, not waiting for me. "Hurry up," she said. "Try that one." She pointed at the blue coupé further down the road.

  I trotted up and copied her searching movements. Aside from dirty and greasy hands, I had found nothing. She hadn't found anything either.

  We