The hair on the back of neck stood on end and my back tingled like it always did when I felt like I was being backed into a wall or a corner. I hated that feeling. It made me incredibly uneasy. I put my hands in front of me. Thankfully, Colin didn’t come any closer. My cab had to be close. Enough time had passed since I’d ordered it. I should go. Leave this person under the awning and head home. I didn’t owe him anything.

“Have a good night.”

Or at least that was what I planned to say. The moment I looked at him though, something shot through me. Some aching pang that hit me straight in the heart. He had bags under his dusty gray eyes. He looked so tired. I had no idea why I cared so much. Why I wanted to stop and listen to him despite the fact that he sounded like a basket case. Instead of leaving him standing in the rain like a normal person, I said, “You have approximately ten seconds and then I’m going home.”

He breathed a sigh of evident relief. “Let’s try this again. My name is Colin Jareu. We knew each other a long time ago but now you’re…”

I never heard whatever it was he said next because a deafening roar followed by a high, ear splitting scream rose up over the sound of the rain. My heart jumped into my throat. I knew that scream. “Tasha…” I whispered in horror.

“Gen! Wait!” Colin yelled after me.

I hadn’t even realized I was moving until rain hit me in the face. More screaming broke out from the small courtyard that stretched between the academic buildings and the dorms. I turned the corner and ran headlong into chaos. People rushed towards me, away from the bellowing monster. Someone crashed into me. We went down with a hard splash in a puddle. It was Tasha. She landed on her arm awkwardly while my back hit the pavement first into the puddle, soaking my clothes completely. There was more screaming as other students walking home from class saw what Tasha had seen.

“T...T...Tr…” she stammered incoherently. I wriggled my way out from under her and tossed her arm over my shoulder. With a great amount of effort, I managed to hoist Tasha to her feet. I staggered, however, under her dead weight.

“Tasha did you forget how your legs work or something?” I grunted, “I could use a little help…”

My voice trailed off as I felt the ground shake beneath my feet. My ears rang from the sound of another roar. The smell of rotting meat assaulted my nose and my stomach rolled violently. Swallowing my nausea, I looked up slowly from Tasha to face her attacker. She continued to stammer, “T...Tr…”

“Troll,” I finished for her.

Cold dread filled me as I stared at the creature lumbering towards us. The newspapers really didn’t do Trolls justice. The pictures were always blurry, taken at a safe distance and from behind police barricades. However, this Troll was in no way, shape, or form blurry. It stood in front of me with the perfect clarity of a high definition camera lens. Thanks to the bright lights that surrounded the campus buildings, I could see where the Troll’s ugly mottled skin blended from one color to another. I could counts the lumps and bumps on its flesh. Every roll of fat and every heave of its broad chest drawing breath was captured flawlessly. Too bad I wasn’t really looking at a picture. Funny, I’d always pictured Trolls being taller and not around my own height. Not that it’s short stature made it any less intimidating. That was not the case at all.

Roger had warned me about Trolls wandering close to the city. I should’ve listen to him. How had this thing even made it on to campus? Shouldn’t it have been seen and reported to the police? I clutched Tasha’s arm tighter. All I could do was stand, frozen, in my spot.

The Troll roared again. It raised its heavy wooden club above its head and leered down at me stupidly. I really, really, really should’ve moved. The Troll brought its club down. I covered Tasha’s head with my arms and braced for the crushing blow.

There was a ‘twang.’

The Troll roared and reared backwards, an arrow lodged in its arm. Another arrow flew through the air and struck the Troll in the eye. The Troll howled in pain and clawed at the arrow. I turned to look behind me. Standing there, still in her shooting stance, was a short girl. She wore a white hoodie with a simple snowflake design printed on the front and the hood pulled down over her face. My mouth dropped. “Snow White?” I gasped, “The Snow White!”

“Get them out of my shot!” she called as she went for another arrow in her quiver. I pulled Tasha up, or at least I tried to. It was a little difficult when the girl was completely dead weight and was hanging off of me like a sack of flour. Colin rushed to our side. I hadn’t even seen him follow me. He pulled Tasha’s other arm over his shoulder.

“Less gawking, more moving!” he told me urgently. He was struggling under Tasha’s weight. I scrambled to help him hold Tasha. Together we dragged her out of harm’s way. Just in time too because Snow White shot off another arrow. The Troll roared angrily in response and swiped its club wildly. Several people who had been brave enough to hang back and watch Snow White take on a Troll cried out as the club narrowly missed them.

“What are you all waiting for? Run!” Snow White growled as she drew back a few paces to realign her shot. Somebody had the guts to snap a picture with their phone. I saw the flash go off. Snow White whipped about. “I said run!” she yelled, “You all need to get out of here before…”

The troll threw back its head, opened its mouth, and let out a short, rasping call. Snow White groaned and yanked another arrow from her quiver. “Before it does that.” she grumbled.

“What is it doing?” I asked in confusion. Colin’s hand tightened around my wrist. A gesture meant to be protective but it wasn’t appreciated. I threw the harshest glare I could muster at him to get my point across.

“Calling for reinforcements.” he said grimly. I paled.

“More of these things...here?” I gasped. Colin nodded. Not good! Not good! One Troll was bad. A pack of Trolls was even worse. They’d trample and club anyone in their way. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked around for some kind of weapon. I didn’t find a weapon but I did see something that would make the Troll stop calling. “Hold her!” I told Colin as I threw Tasha’s arm off my shoulder.

Colin stumbled a little bit but caught Tasha. “Gen! What are you doing?” he yelled out.

I wasn’t listening. I was sprinting as fast as my legs could carry me to the far wall of the building closest to the community fire pits and barbecues. My fingers fell on exactly what I wanted. The fire extinguisher. I pulled it off the wall and ran, yanking the pin out as I went. I ducked under the Troll’s extended arms and planted myself square in front of it. I took aim, pressed the trigger, and the let the suffocating foam hit the Troll head on. With a gasping choke, the Troll stopped making any sort of noise. However, it hauled its arm back and threw its club at my head. I gasped and dropped to the ground at the last second. The club hit the wall several feet behind me but completely still in line with where my head had been seconds before. In a knee jerk reaction, I returned the favor. I raised the now empty fire extinguisher and threw it at the Troll with all my might.

I think the Troll’s head must have been made out of metal with the sound that the fire extinguisher made as it collided into it. The Troll blinked stupidly at me, as if it were trying to figure out if I had actually chucked a fire extinguisher at its face. Before it had a chance to do anything, Snow White fired another arrow. My jaw dropped. The arrow was engulfed in light.

The arrow struck home on the Troll’s chest. It howled in pain as the light surrounded it. I turned my head and threw my arm in front of my face to block out the blinding brightness. There was a final flash, I saw it from the corner of my eye, and then the light was gone. The Troll was left swaying on its feet, dazed. It moaned one pitiful final moan and fell over like a log on to the asphalt.

“Holy crap!” I gasped, clutching my chest. It was as though I’d just been hit with a ton of bricks. I was staring at the body of a fallen Troll with Queensmen member Snow White a mere feet away from me. The club the Troll had thrown at me had left a large crater in the side of a building. Had it hit my head, I’d have been dead. I sunk down to the ground. I didn’t care that it was raining. I didn’t care that there were puddles everywhere. I didn’t care that there were people still running around screaming. I couldn’t stand anymore. My legs had no feeling. My hands were shaking uncontrollably. Snow White and Colin quickly came to my side. Snow White threw her bow over her back before bending down and pulling me back to my feet.

“We can’t stay here.” she told me, almost apologetically. She looked around her.

“Come on Gen.” Colin added, insistently, as he positioned himself on my other side. Panic flushed through me and I pulled away from him. I didn’t care if he’d just saved my ass from being flattened by a Troll. I didn’t want not one, but two, complete strangers trapping me. Snow White must have shot Colin a warning look and Colin backed off. I let Snow White pull me away from the quad and towards the street.