Chapter 52: this year's girl

‘Mom! Help!’

Ally rushed into the room, ready for a fight. She froze, looking around the dark room for a threat. The shadows dancing across the walls were from cars outside, but there was no sign of a monster. The pink bed with Disney ‘Sleeping Beauty’ bedsheets had a child-shaped lump under the covers, shivering.

Ally yanked the covers off. She was tense, certain that a monster must be lurking around the corner. ‘What happened?’ Ally asked.

‘I had a nightmare,’ Esther said. Ally’s thirteen-year-old sister stared at her with wide, tearful golden eyes. Her dark brown hair was messy – sticking up in all directions from being in bed. ‘I want Mom.’

Ally breathed a sigh of relief, climbing onto the bed. She had only been the slayer for a month, but the pressure was nonstop. She loved it – but it could be frightening. Not so much because Ally was worried about herself. She loved the thrill of the fight. The danger of death only made it more exciting.

No – what Ally worried about was that th