11 •
T H O M A S J . M I S U R A C A
Gloria told them, but over the roar of the engine, they could
not hear her. Instead of asking her to repeat, the girls smiled and
nodded as if they understood.
“What brings you here?” said Emma.
Gloria shrugged and looked away.
Emma looked at Dawn and shrugged.
Dawn mouthed: “Shy?”
“I guess so,” Emma said out loud. It must be tough being
the new girl in a new school. But she was only making it more
difficult on herself by not talking to those who were making an
effort to speak to her.
As the bus continued on to the museum, Emma noticed
something different about this field trip. The bus ride was not as
noisy as usual. That was because most of the guys on the bus
were staring at Gloria.
“It really must be spring,” Emma said to herself.
The door to the bus opened and the students began filing out
one by one.
“Let’s try to act like adults,” Mr. Rivers shouted after them.
“I would like them to invite us back next year.”
• 12 •
C H A P T E R O N E
The visit was a free-for-all. The students were allowed to
explore the museum at their own pace. The only requirement
was to write a one-page essay on the piece of art they enjoyed
the most.
Emma, Brett and Dawn fell immediately into their clique.
“Would you like to join us?” Emma offered, as they passed
Gloria on their way in.
Gloria shyly shook her head.
“Have fun then,” Emma said, picking up the pace before
Grayson could reach them.
He did catch up to Gloria, however: “ Hey baby, you need a
man to show you around.” But his words appeared to go
unheard as Gloria walked away from him.
“She wants me,” Grayson said to the guy standing next to
him.
“What?” the guy said angrily.
The guy was Mr. Coco.
“She may not be very friendly,” Emma said as they made
their way through the museum, “but at least she doesn’t fall for
Grayson’s lines.”
• 13 •
T H O M A S J . M I S U R A C A
“Does anybody?” said Dawn.
“She is kinda pretty though,” Brett said.
“So you and all the boys on the bus thought,” Emma said.
“It’s like all you guys never saw a girl before.”
“A what?” Brett said.
“You’re gonna see two girls kick your butt in a minute,”
said Dawn.
“Bet you wouldn’t say that if one of them wasn’t a super-
hero,” Brett said.
“We’d still be able to take you,” Emma grinned. “ Now
come on, I want to look at art.”
“Since when did you get so cultured, Em?” Dawn asked.
“Since she left the milk out overnight,” Brett joked. The
girls didn’t get it.
“I’ve always liked art,” Emma said.
“Who’s Art?” said Brett.
“Is he going to be like this all day?” Emma groaned.
There was no need for any response. They knew he proba-
bly would be.
“Let’s go in here,” Brett suggested as they passed one room.
It was marked: ANCIENT GREECE.
• 14 •
C H A P T E R O N E
“Uhm, no,” said Emma. “ I think we’ve had enough of that.”
“Oh yeah,” Brett laughed.
They walked on.
None of them noticed that Gloria was following closely
behind them. But she stopped, and then turned into the room of
ancient Greek artifacts. She slowly walked from object to
object, reading all the place cards that accompanied them.
On one wall hung a sword and shield. The place card only
said: “Ancient Greece: Origins Unknown.” Gloria was
enthralled by the amazing detail carved into both pieces. And
they shone so brightly, reflecting the room’s track lighting.
Gloria caught her reflection in the blade of the sword. For a
moment, it felt as if her own eyes were hypnotizing her. She
reached out to touch the sword, but he blade was surprisingly
sharp and cut her. Her blood dripped onto the blade.
Suddenly Gloria felt as if everything around her was spin-
ning. The last thing she remembered was the reflection of her
eyes in the blade.
Red, glowing eyes.
• 15 •
CHAPTER
2
The Muse leapt from building to building. She was happy to
live in a city like San Francisco where the buildings were
close together. If she lived in a suburb, she’d probably have to
drive from place to place — or to a potential crime scene, where
she was headed now.
On the rooftops, she went unnoticed. People rarely looked
up, especially now, at night. And if anybody did spot her, the
• 16 •
T H O M A S J . M I S U R A C A
Muse would be gone so quickly, they would assume she was a
bird or a squirrel.
Even after the recent press, the world had quickly forgotten
about her. There were one or two articles wondering about the
identity of the woman who’d fought a fury beast on the Golden
Gate Bridge, but the consensus was she’d been killed by the
creature.
Nothing much exciting had happened since then