I wake up to the blinding flash of yellow lights above me. I try to get up, but metal chains on my wrists hold me down.

The same short, blond haired woman who attacked us in the graveyard-who shockingly is our murderer from the night before-walks over and peers through a glass wall at me. I can only stare back at her in shock and anger. The woman nods at the guard beside her. "I think that she is ready to be tested."

Tested? What the hell does that mean? My cheeks flush with worry, and the woman looks down to me with amusement in her cold blue eyes. Before I can protest, the guard pulls out a needle-a serum-and shoves it into the lock of the glass door. It immediately unlocks, and he walks in, unclasping my handcuffs. Then, he drags me up like I'm a rag doll, an expressionless look on his face, marching me out the door, into a long glass building surrounded by ... flowers?

The plants seem harmless, but who knows? One delicate sniff might send you into hallucinations for weeks, while a sensitive touch may even get you killed. My guard doesn't look too scared though. In fact, he marches right past them without even blinking an eyelash.

Once we get to the entrance of a ginormous black room, the guard snaps, "Get in," his shaggy brown hair slightly fluttering from an air vent above us.

"Why?" I ask. "What's your name?"

"My name is Finn G." He scowls. "Now go." He shoves me in, but just as he does, a sharp needle jabs into my shoulder.

Just as I enter, the floor suddenly jerks to my right, and I find myself tumbling down, down, down, into black nothingness. I'm not scared of heights or falling; in fact, I enjoy the feeling of wind rapidly blowing against me as I go down, and how everything above me shrinks.

I finally land with a thud on ... a marshy patch of grass. Grunting, I stand up and look around my surroundings. There are a few trees to my left, a lake to my right, a ...

I don't get to finish looking, for a low growl interrupts my little sightseeing. Standing in front of me is an eagle. No, a lion. No, an animal with an eagle head and the body of a lion, plus wings. A griffin.

My mom has shown me pictures of these beasts when I was younger, but this creature is way more different. The wings seem to be made of ice, the head a bit too large, the body with silver fur so smooth looking that the strands look to almost be made of water.

The griffin lunges out at me, and I barely duck its wild blow. Think, I scold myself. Become another griffin. I imagine a bird head, wings, and a lion inside my mind, but nothing happens. Is that since I can only turn into regular animals?

Fine, then. I make myself an eagle and swoop towards it, screeching what I think is a friendly hello. No use. It swipes at me with a claw, and leaves a dripping red scar on my neck. Okay then, how about a lion? Again, it still attacks me.

The griffin has now pinned me down, screeching and happily nipping at my body. No. I'm going to die. Then, an idea comes to my mind. Some really crazy idea, but still an idea.

I reach up and stroke the creature's neck.

It pauses as if this never happened to it before, and squawks, confused. Okay, now time to do this,

"You poor thing." I croon. "You don't want to be trapped inside this hell, do you? This place is wild, just horrible people doing horrible things."

To my greater surprise, it lowers its head and I pet it gently. It's way silkier than the neck. Then, I push it further. "Well guess what girl"-I'm just assuming this griffin is a girl-"We will get outta here. Just you wait!"

And with that, the animal rises and I get up as well. I have no idea how I tamed it, this just somehow happened.

Above me, a furious female voice cries, "HOW COULD SHE?" Another voice mumbles back to her, and she replies in a quieter-but still audible-voice, "Very well. Take her out. As well as that horrid thing."

A door opens, letting out the bright afternoon light. Just before I exit, I whisper to the griffin, "Hey girl, I'm gonna call ya Diamond, okay?"

I step out into another hallway, where the same guard with the brown hair, Finn, escorts me back to my little prison. He whispers to me, "How'd you do that?"

"As if I'd tell you." I snort back. He just stares.

Little do I know that the furry creature I just befriended will make a huge dent in my life-or I should say death-forever ...