Two days later and we are at my house. We sit in silence for a bit. I take slow sips of hot lemon tea, my favourite drink. Mei-Mei sips her hot chocolate and we glance at each other for a while. But, Mei has plans. “Seriously Layla, you must help me.” Here we go again. “I know where it lives.”

It turns out Mei-Mei had spent hours in the freezing cold analysing the claw marks and footprints at the pier. But she also had been wandering the buildings there at night trying to find out if the monster lived near.

As I left the mansion the servants locked up the doors so no one could get in and shut all the windows. I get my fluffy jacket and give one to Mei for her to wear for the trip. The clouds covered the moon and we set off to find the monster. We follow the muddy trails into the beach and we take for the rain. It will be dangerous. I could tell. I tried to tell her but she wouldn’t listen she wanted to go on. As we reached the cliffs we couldn’t go any further until we spotted some foot prints.

I hadn’t believed her but now I see that the footprints are very clear and new. It looked like the monster just left. We looked around for a bit until we didn’t find much. But I have a good feeling Mei’s leading me into trouble.

We stumble into a cave. A very dark one. Dirty water drips down from the roof and plops onto the ground. It smells damp and dirty. But I had brought a flashlight. I shine it at a weird object. It was an egg. The Illusimander’s egg. It was shiny with glitter and blue, purple and pink colours. We stare at the egg in awe.

It was at that moment I felt a stab of guilt. We should not be here.. “Let’s go” I say grabbing Mei-Mei’s sleeve but she wouldn’t budge. “Turn off the flashlight.” I turn it off and there. We see the glowing eyes of the Illusimander. Mei steps forward; I step back.