Written by Amelia O., Nic L., Don C., Chris O., Cara L., Val O., M.L., Merf, Stu B.
The rain fell in warm, misty waves as Geraldine disembarked from the commuter train in Riviera Beach. An hour north from the station in Miami, and here she was in what might as well have been another universe. The station was tucked away next to an industrial plant with a long driveway leading out to the main road.
Geraldine took her bicycled down off the train, adjusted her backpack straps, and started riding. She had been given directions to her aunt's house next to the lake, but she'd never actually been there before.
In her mind, she went over the rules again. She was to knock exactly three times, firmly, and then wait. If no response was forth coming, she was to immediatly get back on her bike and leave in as calm a manner as possible. Most importantly, under no circumstances was she to try to look in the windows, or to go around back. Geraldine wasn't certain she could follow those rules.
She failed before she even knocked. The motion in her peripheral vision caused her to react without thinking. What she saw through the basement window made her blood run cold. She locked eyes with man with the syringe, and she knew he was coming. She got back on her bike and raced away
She was out of breath. She couldn't breath. Geraldine was sure she was going to die. She looked over her shoulder, trying to see if she was being followed, desperately hoping she was not.
"Hey!" was all she heard. She whipped around but didn't even get time to looked. The bike stopped without warning. Geraldine would have flown over the handlebars except for the young man she hit first. Down they both went in a flurry of peticoats, jackets, backpacks and bike.
The boy winced and sat up, carefully untangling his legs from hers without doing too much damage to her skirts.
"Hey, where's the fire?" he asked bitterly.
"Fire? No..." Geraldine looked over her shoulder towards the house, frantically looking for the man she was sure had followed her.
The boy followed her gaze, and when she looked back at him she saw his eyes go wide.
"Did you look?" he whispered.
She nodded, trembling, unable to voice what she saw. The boy scrambled to her feet, grabbed her by the hand, and hissed, "Run!"
They flew down the trail, leaving her bike in the road. It would take far too long to straighten it out, and they both knew there was no time for that. They knew it in the cold pit of their stomachs, that ancient fear. Death, or worse, was coming for them. They ran faster than they had ever run before. Faster than either of them could ever have imagined they could. the girle crid because People wer triying to kill her. but the boy was to fast for them she thought. then she herd it wind blowing, crows screching,
A block behind them, pedaling for all he was worth was a mad scientist on a tricycle. Blood-stained lab coat flapping in the wind, stringy white hair sticking out to the sides, he looked like an aged Boys the deadly clown (?) as he huffed and puffed after them, honking his little horn as he pedalled.
"What the Hell is going on?" Geraldine screamed as they boy pulled her along.
"Well, ma'am, it appears you made a slight miscalculation," the boy replied. "You disembarked at slightly the wrong platform. It seems that the Riviera Beach station has a certain platform that's a little...special."
"You mean...?"
"Yes, Geraldine! You are being pursued by a headmaster from the dreaded house of Slytherheel! Embrace your destiny! Embrace the magic!"
And with that, the flaming chariot approached for her, spiriting her to her final destination: Steertuman School of Sorcery! (?)
TO BE CONTINUED