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The plump figure of a rather large-looking creature was framed on top of Mum's old bedstead. Two beady eyes stared intently at me, the flickering light of my lantern reflecting in it's yellow orbs.

"Gee-whiz!" I yelped. "What in the name of...?"

With a hiss of annoyance, the sly animal leaped off of the bed and ventured forward into the light.

"Oh my god," I breathed out a sigh of relief when I realised that it was only a matted, tabby cat.

I watched as the cat hissed at me again before darted around me and out the door.

I huffed and shook my head. "Alright Hayley, it's time to get down to business."

I set the lantern on the rickety bedside table sitting nearby and set to work. Firstly, I rummaged through the overturned contents of Mum's old cabinets and drawers, but all I managed to find was some moth-eaten clothes and a bunch of powder-caked face cloths.

I jumped in surprise as a flash of lighting streaked across the sky, brightening up the room for a moment. Rain began to pelt heavily against the bedroom window. The storm was closing in. I had to hurry.

With a determined look on my face, I got down on the ground to examine the items that had been carelessly thrown under Mum's old bed.

When my parents died, I was instantly evicted from the ranch and hadn't had a lot of time to collect the old relics they'd left behind. Obviously I was trespassing right now, but it was absolutely necessary. In fact, if anyone knew how important this mission was, they'd probably agree.

"A moth-eaten pillow-case, an old guitar, a pair of smelly shoes," I muttered to myself as I pulled out item after item from beneath the bed. "No, no, no. What is that? Ewww. A milk-stained nightie, a dead cockroach, an old useless chest, two hole-tattered mittens ... Wait! A chest?"

Hurriedly, I grasped one of the intricately carved handles and tugged the heavy chest towards myself.

"Wherein the sealed chest hides, the blackest of magic, the cruelest of tricks, the merchant's scroll will tell you why," I repeated the lines to myself for about the fiftieth time that evening. "This is it! This is the chest! Geez, I don't even know what I'm supposed to be looking for. Well ... here goes."

With a flourish, I unsnapped the locks holding the chest's lid in place, and flung it open, coughing at the cloud of dust that I'd disturbed in the process.

Eyes wide and questioning, I peeked inside the chest. It was half-way full, most of it's contents being old photographs, letters and notebooks. Tears sprung to my eyes as I caught sight of one black-and-white photo in particular. It had been taken two weeks before Mum and Dad disappeared. It showed them and me standing out in our back garden picking vegetables during the harvesting season. Mum had her head titled back and her lips parted in a laugh. Dad was smirking and leaning against his shovel that he'd stuck into the ground. And me, being the absolute dumb-ass that I was, was ruining the photo by my ridiculous screwed-up face and weird body posture. I was definitely not a photogenic person at all. I smiled through my tears, slowly reaching into the chest and picking up the photograph.

These were the times I missed the most. Having a family.

A loud clap of thunder sounded overhead and I nearly shrieked in fright. Quickly, I stuffed the photo into my back pants' pocket before diving into the chest and rummaging through everything that'd been placed in there. The chest didn't seem that big from the outside, but it could definitely hold a heap of stuff on the inside. It took me about ten minutes to get to the bottom of that thing. By that time, everything that'd once been inside the chest was strewn out across the floor. Also, a strong wind, accompanied by louder rattles of thunder and brighter flashes of lightning, had started to rock the house.

"Damn it!" I exclaimed once I reached the bottom of the chest with no luck whatsoever. "There's nothing in this stupid thing that's gonna help me! And as if I have time to read through all these bloody letters!"

With an angry grunt, I flung down a handful of envelopes that I'd been holding. As they made contact with the floor, a small tinkle of metal sounded. I snapped my head around just in time to see a tiny gold capsule escape from one of the envelopes and roll across the floor.

Without a second thought, I dove after it, luckily catching it before it fell into one of the many cracks lining the floorboards. I stood up and brought the mysterious object over to where the lantern was sitting so I could see it better.

The capsule was tiny, only about the size of my thumb. A leather necklace was attached to it via one end and a mini metal lid was clamped down on the other.

I bit my lip in concentration as I popped off the top and peered inside. A squeal of delight escaped me when I saw it. It was small, but it was there: a rolled-up piece of parchment.

"Well, aren't I a good detective?" I chuckled as I pulled the little scroll out of the capsule and unfolded it.

I rolled my eyes as I realised the lettering was written in the same Chinese code as the previous clue had been.

"Great! Now I've gotta wait all bloody night before I can find out what this says!" I swore under my breath. "This is getting beyond a joke."

With a sigh of frustration, I slipped the parchment back into the capsule, clamped on the lid and shoved it into my tee's front pocket.

BOOM. BOOM. CLASH.

The storm was upon me.

Having now retrieved what I'd come for, I decided I'd better make my exit snappy if I was to get home in one piece. I snatched the lantern off of the bedside table and hurried towards the bedroom door, almost tripping over the doorsill.

Inwardly groaning at my clumsiness, I clattered my way loudly down the stairs and began weaving my way through all the junk that blocked my path towards the front door.

However, in the very midst of this mind-focusing process, I heard a sinister sound come from the kitchen nearby. I froze, slowly swivelling my head around to carefully scan my surroundings.

What ... the ... hell?

SNAP. SNAP. THUD. CLICK.

My heart began to rise up in my throat and a swell of panic started to overwhelm me. Someone, or something, was definitely inside the house ... with me.

It better not be that damn cat again, I gritted my teeth angrily at the thought, thinking up a million different ways I could boot that stupid thing outside.

"Hello."

I screamed.

Whirling around, I thrust my lantern in front of me, straight into the very terrifying, sinister face of ...

"An invader!" I whispered, staring at his half-human, half-creature like appearance. Gnarly root-looking veins curled out around his ears and eyes. His sharpened teeth were bared in a vicious, blood-splattered smile. His balding head was thick with bulging, calloused skin. He had all the human parts, right up to his waist. From there down, his pale, scrawny skin transformed into the blackened, cracked appearance of something similar to a burnt rhino. Huge claws lined his hands and feet. Large chunks of flesh looked like it'd been sawn out of his body, leaving behind his exposed ribcage, a mass of ripped tendons and muscles, and hunks of yellowing, rotting bones.

Invaders were our worst enemies. They didn't need the Author telling them what to do in order to do it. They ravaged, killed, raped, plundered, mass murdered ... anything associated with the word 'bad', well, that's what they did. They were capable of making us characters suffer extremely and now? It looked like I was gonna be this next invader's victim.

The creature seemed to revel in my shocked and horrified reaction. He stepped forward, his crazed, bloodshot eyes sending tingles of terror down my spine.

"You're such a pretty girl," the invader purred, reaching out a finger and running it along my cheekbone. It took every bit of willpower that I had not to cringe away from his touch.

"W-what do you want with me?" I stuttered, inwardly slapping myself. When I was afraid, stuttering was a major weakness of mine. It showed that I, too, was just like the other characters. I was capable of being ... afraid.

"Aren't you the protagonist?" the invader hissed, his eyebrows knotting into a frown. "I would've thought you were invincible."

I took one step backwards, trying to get out of his reach, but he followed me, a cruel smile twisting his mouth.

"This is too easy," he smirked, his finger dropping from my face to my neck. "Say goodbye, sweetie."

"Goodbye!" I yelled, taking advantage of my opportunity and springing forward. Grasping the lantern with both hands, I slammed it down straight onto the invader's head, smashing the glass casing into smithereens.

The invader's eyes bulged in disbelief as he dropped to the ground unconscious.

I stood there, motionless, my entire body having gone numb all over. My breaths were coming out in pants and my heartbeat had increased considerably.

I ran my fingers through my blonde wayward locks. I was so stunned by what I'd just done that my mind hadn't quite registered what'd happened.

Crap! I've gotta get outta here!

I scrambled around desperately for the front door. It was pitch black and I had no way of knowing if more invaders were in the house. If I ran into another one, I might not be so lucky.

I fled right out the front door and leaped onto Opi's back, regardless of the heavy rain that immediately soaked through every inch of clothing I was wearing. I kicked her into a gallop and she raced across the back garden and over the fence. I urged her on, not stopping to look behind me. We cut back across the paddock, sailed down the confusing maze of roads, and eventually arrived back in Auntie Steph's yard. I'd never been so relieved in all of my life.

When we reached the gate, I slid off of Opi's back and guided her to the stable. After I'd finished making sure she was comfortable for the night, I headed back down the garden path, making a beeline straight for the back door.

RATTLE. RATTLE.

It wouldn't budge. I cursed under my breath when I realised the door must've locked behind me when I left earlier.

I stepped back out into the cold, bitter night and circled the house warily, before coming to a stop right below my window that was situated on the top storey.

I hugged myself, tugging my jacket tighter around me. It was absolutely freezing, I was sopping wet and I was locked outside in the dead of night in the middle of a storm.

It wasn't a very pleasant situation to be in ... at all.

Next, I tried all the other doors and windows, eventually managing to find an entry-way through the lounge-room window. I squeezed inside and tumbled across the couch. Taking off my shoes, I grasped them in my hand as I shuffled slowly upstairs, leaving a trail of dirtied water behind me.

I was surprised that no one woke up, but to be honest, the storm was making such a racket, it was probably covering up any noise I was making.

Finally, I pushed open my door and stepped into the safety of my bedroom. I withdrew the capsule from my pocket, tossed my wet clothes and shoes into a pile and slipped a nightie over my head.

Flicking my wet hair out of my face, I flopped down at my desk and took a closer look at the notes I'd managed to glean from the ranch's wreckage. I spread them out in front of me, happy that they'd been protected from the rain and had remained unsoiled.

I face-palmed myself in frustration as I tried to decipher the Chinese code, but it was useless. I didn't know a thing about Chinese, reading, writing or otherwise.

"There are way too many languages," I groaned, trying to fight the sleep that was starting to envelop me. "Oh dear ..."

Completely worn out and utterly exhausted, my head drooped lower and lower until it finally rested on the desk in front of me. With a deep sigh, I closed my heavy eyes and let sleep take over.

A/N: I hope u readers enjoyed this & if so please do comment & vote, I'd love it so much! It makes my day! Thank you so much for reading.

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