Leo Marcer May Madeleine was snoozing on my chest once again, when my sister called me. My sister, Alex, was a barista at Starbucks. And honestly, she is the only reason I go there. I answered her face-time with a smile. "Hey, Le' Le'!" She said, her bright smile making me smile. "Shh, someone's asleep, here." I tilted my phone so Alex could see Madeleine sleeping. Alex squinted, and a solemn look swiped across her olive-toned face. She had always been protective of me. And anyone else I came across. "Leo…you actually…?" "Yeah, her name is Madeleine." I said, rubbing Madeleine's back. Alex stared at her for a moment. She smiled, "She is quite beautiful, Leo. You better treat her like a queen, otherwise I'll have to bust your scrawny little butt." Her voice was serious but a hint of kindness crawled out of the depths of her scorn. "I will, Alex. She deserves every amount of happiness that comes her way." "Geek." She said laughing. "Why'd you call anyways? It's like, 10:00 PM." "I just wanted to check on you, see how your last day off went. You had a good week?" "The best." I said, Alex swiped her bright red hair out of her face. Madeleine stretched, "Leo? Who's that?" Her voice was tired but once she twisted onto her back, gazing at my phone, she seemed wide awake. "This is my sister, Maddy. Her name is Alex." "Hi Alex, I like your hair!" Alex laughed, and her girlfriend, Summer, popped up next to her. "Hey, Leo! Ooh! Who is this fine lady?" Alex pushed her away, and I laughed. Madeleine seemed quite amused at their fighting. "This is Leo's new girlfriend, Summer, leave him alone!" Summer laughed, and finally Alex settled down. "Hi! What is your name, lass?" "I'm Madeleine, you can just call me Maddy, though." We were both sitting up, Her hands fiddling with the strings of the hoodie that she had stolen from me. "Well hello, Madeleine! I love your hair, by the way." "Thank you." Madeleine self consciously brushed her hair with her fingers. "Hey, Summer. When are you guys coming over?" I asked. "Uhh, probably next weekend. But it depends on our work." She answered, playing with Alex's long hair. Madeleine poked my cheek, smiling. I poked hers back. "Are you coming to the beach party this weekend, Leo? You could bring Maddy. I'm sure she would love to swim. It's mostly Mrs. Cole's classes anyways." Alex asked. Madeleine perked up, and smiled. "Yeah, probably. As long as Erik doesn't have us work that day." "Awesome! Also Leo, me and Summer want to know if we can come on your first day. We saw on their website that families could come on workers' first day." "Yeah! That would be awesome, Madeleine could get to know you two." Madeleine smiled, and stretched her arms. "Okay, well it was very nice meeting you Madeleine! We can't wait to see you at the party." Alex said, waving. "Yeah, bye Madeleine!" Madeleine thanked them, and I hung up, as she hugged me. We pretty much stayed up the rest of the night, waiting to see Alex and Summer. Madeleine Corstolla-Kelin Everything happened so quickly. I couldn't understand. There was screaming everywhere. I was frozen in the water, just standing there. Watching people running for their lives, people’s lives being taken from them. Blood stained the beach, seeping into the water. Severed arms and legs, torsos, heads, and entrails plastered the beach. All from these tall creatures. Ethan ran over to me, grasping my hand and tried to run. But I resisted. Something pulled me towards the mess on the beach. I found my feet taking me to one of the creatures tearing a corpse to pieces, entrails were thrown, blood pooling around the body. I didn't gag, I didn't retch, I didn't flinch or look away. I just stared at the creature. It looked at me, unmovingly. It looked familiar. It stood about as tall as three of me. It had gills on both sides of its face. Four mouths replaced four eyes. Its ribs were clear as day. It had a long scaly tail. Its claws were dripping with blood. It was from my dreams. My nightmares. The creature opened all four of its’ mouths, and bellowed a screeching yowl. Every creature jerked up their heads. And in a matter of seconds, everything blurred, fading black.
