A/N: AthenaGirl4Ever, Lady Luna, AthenianII, Guest, LoneStorm, Fb-PHE13, froz3nt3rs – thank you all for reviwing :) I know this is short but I promise more is coming soon!

Alex walks around the warehouse, eyeing the exits.

God knows what possessed her to follow these three guys here. She doesn't even know them. She doesn't know anything about this place, about these people. The only place she knows in this country is the way from her house to her school and the grocery store.

Will, Connor and… the other guy (Troy? Travis?) are bent over a table, discussing something in hushed tones.

Alex considers her options.

Option A) This is some huge prank people decided to play on the new kid (but really, who would put in so much effort just to get a few laughs?)

Option B) She hit her head somewhere without noticing and is lying in a ditch somewhere with a concussion, dreaming.

Option C) Magic.

Option B seems to be the most viable option.

But the giant dog? Hmm… maybe somebody messed with her Adderall ? That would suck. She doesn't like her medication anyway, no need to mess it up.

She doesn't like hiding out here. Haven't these people ever seen an action movie or a horror movie? Bad things happen in warehouses.

She takes a step closer to a door that she's fairly sure will lead her back outside. She can't leave through the door they came in through, it would be the obvious choice if these guys decided to follow her.

"Ahem."

Oh. She looks back towards the table the guys are crowded up. All of them have straightened up and are looking at her. Will looks kind of constipated, the Connor guy has an eyebrow raised and Troy (Trey? Taren? Tarzen?)

She can feel a flush rising to her cheeks and mentally wills it back. She's not embarrassed or ashamed of having an escape route close by.

"Well?" She raises an eyebrow at them. It's the only talent she has, except for track.

"I think you should remain here because it's not really your fight but Connor thinks you're weird so he likes you and Travis thinks we should get your opinion," says Will.

"I like Travis best," she says. Travis (she totally know that was his name, shut up) if possible, grins wider and throws his arms dramatically into the air.

"I know, right? I have the best ideas but nobody listens to me," he says.

"I think," Alex stresses, "that I want to know what the hell is going on here."

"Look, the Laelaps' skin is impenetrable so we can't kill it. There's only actually one solution to this which isn't a viable option at this moment. Right now, the only thing we can do is distract her," says Will.

"It's a her?" she can't help but interject.

"Yes, it's a her," Will agrees wryly. "Can we focus on what's important here?"

"We have to find an object that can confuse her, something she might take off after instead of us," he says.

"Like a cat?" Connor interjects.

"Huh?"

"Well, it's a dog, right? A giant monstrous one, but a dog nonetheless? Mrs O'Leary likes to chase cats and so did the one Travis and I have, right bro?" He grins at Travis.

Will furrows his eyebrows. "Have?"

"Forget about that," Connor says hurriedly. "My point is, it's a safe bet that she might like to chase after cats too? If it carried a bit of your scent?"

"That's a bit of gamble, but you may be right," Will says, thoughtfully. "We have to hurry though. She's gonna find us soon. She never fails to catch her target. Except for, you know-"

"Not important," Travis sings. "You can geek out later."

"Whatever," huffs Will. He punches Travis' shoulder lightly.

"So, cat?" asks Alex.

"Cat," Connor confirms with a grin.

They're still petting the cat when the Laelaps turns the corner. Will's holding it while Alex scratches behind its ear. The cat purrs loudly then stills, when it notices the giant dog advancing on them.

It screeches loudly, digs its nails into Will's left forearm and runs off down the left street.

"Holy Hera," Will swears.

Alex tugs on his elbow and they turn around and start running down the right street.

The Laelaps pauses on the split, unsure in which direction it should go.

A loud meow echoes from the other street and the Laelaps turns and bounds off in the direction of the sound.

She stops running, chest heaving, and rests her hands on her knees. Will comes to a stop beside her, panting.

A loud bang! echoes through the streets, followed closely by a thud sound.

Alex instantly feels like crap. They just sentenced a small innocent animal to God knows what. It isn't fair. A glance at Will's face showed that he shared that sentiment.

You're a bloody idiot who's going to end up dead, is Alex's last thought before she begins running back the way they came.

A/N: Reviews encourage faster writing!