The arena

In response to a friend's story - A whole school gets kidnapped by a lab to be experimented on. One group of girls survives the process with special powers and try to protect the other students.

A horn sounded in the arena. The people sleeping in groups throughout the space were startled into waking. Confusion and puzzlement reigned. A group of girls that had been sleeping on one of the tiers started to pack up their things in preparation. “Here we go again.” One of them stood at the edge and closed her eyes. Sweeping her head from one side to the other, she gave the impression of looking for something. Another girl tapped her on the arm, asking her what she was doing, but she didn’t seem to notice. All at once, she appeared to wake from her trance. “It’s something new.” The other girls looked at each other and back at her again. “Are you sure?” “Yes.”

Three girls spoke at once. “Guys…” “I think…” “We should…”. They stopped. The tallest of the three smiled. “I think we should fly up and check it out.” “Good Idea” Clothes fluttering behind them, the three took off. One opened her wings and floated into the air, another crouched, wings spread, to leap into the air, and the other ran to the edge and jumped into the air, spreading her wings to catch the updraft. A second later, two large birds joined them, gliding around the arena. For about ten minutes, nothing changed, and the girls decided to return. As they started to fly back, a screech rent the air. The very next moment, various gates around the edges of the arena opened, and four strange beasts stalked out. They looked to be a mix of different animals, an amalgam of different species, that eerily seemed to fit. Each animal was different to the others, but each looked just as vicious as the others. One of the creatures reared up, opened its mouth and SCREECHED at the top of its lungs. Every person in the arena felt a bolt of fear run through them at the sound.

 

The creatures moved into action. A large group of boys was the first target for the four. They attacked as a team, singling out a boy not quick enough to respond. They each grabbed a limb and pulled, dismembering the screaming human. The others in the arena were galvanized into action, just as the sides of the arena dropped into a smooth slope, banded with strips of grass. The girls sitting there had not been idle however, and all of them were ready for the drop. They had their belongings piled up on their laps, and they were all sitting spaced out on the clear pathways. Sliding down across the grass was at best hazardous. As they hit the bottom, each dropped off their bundles and ran to meet the creatures. The three girls flying above moved in to help as well. All of a sudden, the birds cried out, and one of the girls running stopped. “Guys " there’s another one of them!” The others didn’t hear her, and kept running. She hesitated " should she try again, or go alone? The birds cried out again, and she jumped into action. This creature seemed to be one animal, but larger and more vicious. It ripped at a fleeing girl, tearing her in half in one move, then sniffed the air. It stalked towards a group of boys transfixed on the other beasts and the efforts of the girls to conquer them. One boy on the edge of the pack looked over his shoulder and screamed at the sight, only to have his throat ripped out with an almost negligent flick of the paw. The other boys started running for their lives. As they ran, some of the bigger boys shoved into another group, knocking them over and leaving them as a distraction.

 

One boy ran straight at the creature, obviously trying to distract it from the others struggling to get up. The creature leapt forward to meet him, but the girl, who was gaining on them, yelled out, and the creature checked. It looked at the girl, snarled at her and started back to chase the boy. She yelled again, and the creature turned towards her. The boy had found a discarded spoon, and threw this at the creature now. Again, it turned, to chase him, and again the girl yelled. The creature roared, turned in a complete circle and leapt straight at the boy. Pebbles jumped up from the ground and flew at the creature, knocking it from its path. It again moved for the boy, who promptly hit it in the nose with a bowl. The creature roared again, a heart-chilling sound, and moved in for the kill. The girl cried out, but the beast was intent on its prey.

 

Suddenly, the girl was gone, replaced with another beast, which promptly rammed into the first beast’s side. Both went over, and sprang to their feet. Rocks started to fly at the creatures, but only hit one of them. It ignored them and rushed at the other. They sprang together in the air, hitting the ground hard and rolling over and over, each trying to get a grip on the other’s throat. They fell apart, slowly getting to their feet, blood streaming from both. Both crouched to spring, moving just as the earth trembled. One of the beasts was knocked off balance, falling beneath the onslaught of the other. Finally, it was done. One creature lay dead on the packed earth, its throat ripped out, and the other weaved unsteadily towards the boy, who had frozen to watch the scene. In his hand he held a fork, and this he now raised, as if to ward off the inevitable attack.

 

Their fight finished, and their opponents dead, the other girls now came running up. One of them moved, obviously trying to stop the creature, but stopped as its body and the air around it rippled and solidified again. The creature stopped, within a metre of the boy, and turned back into the girl, who swayed where she stood. The boy jumped forward just in time to stop her falling, and gently lowered her to the ground. One of the other girls ran to her side, trying to elicit a response, the others following her closely. She moaned and blinked up at them, then said quite clearly “Am I dead?” The boy laughed, and replied “If you were dead, you wouldn’t be asking us that.” As the other girls came up, she asked him his name, and then closed her eyes. She smiled and repeated his name in a whisper, and then lightly drifted into sleep.

 

I have recently been employed by one of your colleagues to help her with pre-qualification calls. Thank you for your time.I have recently been employed by one of your colleagues to help her with pre-qualification calls. Thank you for your time.I have recently been employed by one of your colleagues to help her with pre-qualification calls. Thank you for your time.I have recently been employed by one of your colleagues to help her with pre-qualification calls. Thank you for your time.

Author's Note

Unedited.