《Angels of Acid》


 The New Girl

    Brian Alexson stood outside on his house¡¯s porch and inhaled another puff of his cigarette. He was looking out onto the street and contemplating life. He was currently angry about how corrupt Lyserge City was, and the fact that he wasn¡¯t getting much money from his job, even though he loved it. He didn¡¯t want to peg his money troubles on the city¡¯s corruption, but he was just about to. He rubbed his medium length black spiky upward triangle styled hair, which spanned his entire head and firmly stood upwards, and came back with hair gel residue on his hand, which he wiped onto his sleeveless black pleather shirt and black jeans.


    He felt bad that he was polluting the air with smoke, but kicking the habit of eating meat and dairy products was easier to him than quitting smoking. The environmental thinking approach wouldn¡¯t have gotten him to stop smoking all that much either, his brain needed it, and he didn¡¯t know how to quit. He sighed and flicked the cigarette into the trash can.


    He was worried how he was going to pay the bills that month. He dreaded doing concerts, because even though he was supposed to, as he was the band leader of his band Angels of Acid, he would drink himself into a stupor, and he wanted to avoid doing such a thing. He was angry at himself for not being able to control himself properly, and wished he could still do concerts without risking destroying his liver. He went inside, and Owen was there, just moving some old studio gear out of the recording room.


    ¡°Hey Owen, I¡¯m low on pills, I¡¯m going to need money for more.¡± He adjusted his long black coat.


    ¡°Hey Hex! You aren¡¯t going to buy cigs with it are you?¡± Owen looked at him, his brown eyes reflecting how little he was amused.


    Hex was his band name, and what he preferred to be called, but assuming that he¡¯d just buy cigarettes with it made him almost as annoyed as when Owen would call him by his real name.


    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine on cigarettes. You want me to die from vitamin deficiency or something?¡± Hex folded his arms.


    ¡°I still don¡¯t believe the vegan thing will last long, not after you caved last time.¡± Owen shook his head, put the box on the floor and took out his wallet.


    ¡°Just because I caved doesn¡¯t mean I¡¯m not still dedicated to it. I¡¯m back on the horse already, also don¡¯t call it a ¡®vegan thing¡¯, that pisses me off.¡± He snatched the money out of Owen¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Sorry, sorry. I didn¡¯t think it was that serious.¡± Owen shrugged and moved his short brown hair out of his face.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I¡¯m just¡­ In a really bad fucking mood today, I really should have put on music or something while I was out there, instead of stewing in my own thoughts.¡± He frowned. Owen was his best friend, and his only band mate. He had pushed away his parents and had a falling out with most of his friends. Sometimes he was scared that one day Owen would just leave, leaving him alone.


    ¡°I get it, the breakup was nasty and you¡¯re still in a bad mood, I don¡¯t blame you for being in a stink about it. You don¡¯t need to apologize.¡± Owen frowned ¡°But I do, you¡¯re my best friend, I shouldn¡¯t be acting like that towards you.¡± He was still very broken up from his nasty breakup with his girlfriend, and wished he could forget her name as he constantly tried to scratch out her name in his head. It lasted only a year, but he was very invested in it, and wanted her to be happy. He didn¡¯t think she would suddenly say that he wasn¡¯t good enough and break up with him, it made him feel extremely inadequate, how she treated him like trash, like he was being thrown away after not being useful anymore.


    There was a knock at the door, and Hex slowly turned around, confused as to why someone would be knocking at that time of day.


    ¡°Who the¡­?¡± He almost cursed again.


    He walked up to the door and opened it. There was a thin and lanky woman who was brushing her bang-less neon blue hair out of her face with her hand. It was long but there was a good amount of hair gel keeping it from going over her shoulders, it disappeared behind her neck. The woman was young, and Hex¡¯s height, which was pretty short, as he was five foot nothing. She blinked shyly, her blue eyes seeming almost puppy-dog-like, and pursed her full lips slightly, the cherry colored lipstick she had on glistened in the light. She had on a black and gray striped shirt that resembled prison wear, and black pants. He looked down and noticed a travel suitcase with a pull-out handle. He tried not to frown. This wasn¡¯t what he thought it was, was it?If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, you have the wrong place.¡± He tried to act polite despite the anger.


    ¡°This isn¡¯t Forty Five North Eighteenth Street?¡± The young woman looked around, a blank expression on her face.


    ¡°Ah shit,¡± he whispered, he felt anger show itself briefly in his ocean blue eyes. She did have the right place.


    ¡°What did you say?¡± The woman asked, no anger or resentment in her voice, she genuinely did not hear him.


    ¡°Nothing, nothing. I gotta make a phone call.¡± He gave a fake smile, he was burning hot with rage on the inside. He wasn¡¯t a sexist, it was the fact that his producer added a new band member without his permission, her being a female did make it worse, it was too soon after he had an ugly breakup with his ex at the time. Did his emotions not matter to his producer?


    He went into his room, angrily took off his coat, threw it with as much force as he could at the floor, and picked up his phone. He clenched his jaw and air hissed as it went in and out through the gaps in his teeth as he went to the contacts menu. The woman¡¯s voice along with Owen¡¯s drifted into his open door. Owen was taking it a lot better than he was, typical friendly Owen. He heard a few rings then someone picked up.


    ¡°What in the ever loving fuck is your problem?! I told you, I don¡¯t need anyone else helping me! I don¡¯t want to be reminded of she who must not be named every time I see or think about whoever the fuck you sent here!¡± He shouted into the phone.


    ¡°Is this about Diana?¡± The producer on the other end asked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know who that is,¡± Hex sighed.


    ¡°The new band member I brought over. There was a room free so I didn¡¯t think you would mind, and last I heard, you and your girlfriend were doing fine,¡± the producer said.


    ¡°No, we broke up, and it was nasty, and I don¡¯t want to see or even think about the opposite gender for a while,¡± he spat.


    ¡°Well, it¡¯s a bit late, she had already paid rent for the month last I heard,¡± the producer said.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t you go to me first?¡± He whined.


    ¡°I thought Owen would have already told you,¡± the producer said.


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t told shit! And don¡¯t try to pin this on my best friend! You have a direct line to me, use it next time!¡± He raised his voice again.


    ¡°Alright, bye.¡± the producer said nonchalantly.


    ¡°Hey, wai-!¡± He squeaked.


    It was too late, he had already hung up. He growled and threw his phone onto the bed.


    ¡°Your door is open, Hex.¡± Owen stood in the doorway, his hand on the doorknob.


    ¡°I know.¡± He felt a lot better after yelling at his producer, most if not all of his anger was gone, there was only a small bit of resentment left.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I was going to tell you today, but I didn¡¯t want to bother you. You seemed broken up about¡­ You know¡­ Her.¡± Owen lowered his head.


    ¡°I am. I only stopped crying yesterday and he springs this shit on me. Why can I never catch a fucking break?¡± He sat on the bed next to his phone.


    ¡°Is everything okay in there?¡± Diana peeked into his room.


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, just¡­ give me a minute.¡± He sniffled.


    ¡°Are you gonna be okay?¡± Owen walked up to him.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m just remembering shit is all. Thought I was over it, I guess not.¡± He wiped his eyes.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± She walked up to Hex.


    ¡°Please don¡¯t come any closer,¡± he said with a wobbly voice.


    ¡°He had a really bad breakup, he¡¯s not very happy you¡¯re here most likely, because he probably remembers her when he looks at or thinks of you.¡± Owen shook his head and adjusted the cuff of his outfit, which was dark gray and looked similar to a school uniform.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯m sorry, if I had known, I¡¯d have waited to come here.¡± She looked to Owen and back at Hex.


    ¡°Emotions aren¡¯t logical, and even though I know it¡¯s all over, I just¡­ I¡¯m just having so much trouble, more trouble than she¡¯s worth.¡± Hex gave a sad smile.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure you can get past it eventually, but you¡¯ve got to let yourself grieve.¡± She reached out for Hex, but he slapped her hand away.


    ¡°I said don¡¯t come any closer, I mean it. I¡¯m sorry, I just¡­ I can¡¯t right now.¡± His hand shook a little as he lowered it to his side.


    ¡°It¡¯s alright.¡± She held her hand.


    ¡°Come on, the moving truck is probably outside by now.¡± Owen patted Diana on the shoulder.


    ¡°By the way, you can call me Din. That goes for you, too.¡± She looked up at Owen again and then back down at Hex again.


    ¡°Whatever, just leave me, please.¡± Hex laid down on his side, his legs dangling off the side of the bed.


    ¡°Let¡¯s give him some time to himself, come on.¡± Owen pointed to the doorway.


    ¡°Alright, see you later.¡± She waved and the two of them walked out, leaving Hex to himself.


    He lay there, contemplating if he wanted to cry or not. He was mentally over her, but emotionally it still hurt. He remembered Din saying that he needed to let himself grieve, and the tears came pouring out. He took off his shoes and buried his face in his pillow as he sobbed softly.

 The Strange Box

    Hex went to the flea market to see what he could buy. He only had a ten in his pocket, but he just wanted to get out of the house and away from the bad memories. He walked around the stalls selling all kinds of things, and spotted fake Animonite card boxes. They were fake because they were too cheap and had Animonite that weren¡¯t even out yet in sets.


    He left the cards where they were, even though the nice man behind the counter talked with him about Animonite for a bit. He went over to the stall next to it, which looked like a bunch of junk a hoarder was trying to sell off. He noticed the animal furs, which made him grit his teeth a little. He decided not to bother the person behind the counter about it, even though it made him angry. He was working on trying not to be preachy to everyone he met.


    He skimmed over the straw baskets and other knick knacks, and came across a normal looking wooden jewelry box that had strange purple markings on it. He picked it up and opened it, it was empty. He decided that he should at least come back with something.


    ¡°Hey, how much for this?¡± He raised the jewelry box and pointed to it.


    ¡°Five bucks, take it or leave it.¡± The aging lady behind the counter pointed to it as well.


    ¡°Alright, deal.¡± He went into his pocket and pulled out a five dollar bill and handed it to the lady.


    ¡°Have a good day.¡± The lady smiled.


    ¡°Bye.¡± He waved and left, he was still pissed about the animal furs but didn¡¯t want to say anything, so he became passive aggressive about it.


    He went home and locked the door behind himself.


    ¡°What¡¯s that you got there?¡± Owen smiled and looked at the box.


    ¡°Some weird jewelry box thing, maybe I¡¯ll put some pins in it or something, I dunno.¡± He shrugged, he didn¡¯t think that far ahead.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s a real cute jewelry box.¡± Din walked in as she tore open an empty cardboard box.


    ¡°I dunno about cute, it¡¯s interesting though, never seen any markings like the one on this thing before.¡± He raised it up to his face and looked at it.


    ¡°Sorry, purple is my second favorite color,¡± Din said.


    ¡°Well if it¡¯s your second favorite, you won¡¯t mind me keeping it for myself then.¡± He put it behind his back and walked to the door to his room.


    ¡°Oh yeah, you going to do anything in the studio today?¡± Owen asked.


    ¡°Maybe, I was thinking about taking the day off today, I need a break. I already recorded the vocals, I just need to finish the rest of it.¡± He sighed. He really didn¡¯t want to make music at the moment, he was pushing himself to make a sad song about the breakup, but it was too hard. He started to cry again in the studio when he was recording the vocals, but he had done that before. It was therapeutic to him, but it was so hard listening to the vocals over and over again to make sure that the song was good enough.This narrative has been purloined without the author''s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.


    ¡°Alright, you do sometimes need a break, you do most of the work anyways. I¡¯m just the drummer.¡± Owen nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be in my room if you need me.¡± He opened the door and went through.


    ¡°I¡¯ll call for you when dinner¡¯s ready,¡± Owen shouted after him.


    Hex went onto his computer, and checked his email to see if Owen had sent him any news that day. Owen always sent him curated news because news media would constantly make him angry, so unless it was really important, he told Owen to not send him anything political. The entirety of it was just cute dog videos. He huffed, Owen had been curating his news weirdly the past few days, he was going to have to tell him to chill on the dog videos.


    He checked his band¡¯s social media group, and he smiled as he found a post where one of his fans, who was also a ten dollar patron on his band¡¯s crowdfunding page, had bought another shirt. That made three for her, he was keeping count. He remembered that the fan wanted him to remaster a really old Acid Overdose song, and wondered why. All that song was was him, Owen, and another one of his old friends making funny voices while rattling off The Curse lyrics.


    He continued to surf the internet until he was called into the kitchen for dinner. He was surprised that Owen was making vegan meals for him, even though he said that he thought it wouldn¡¯t last long. He still felt bad about the WhamDonalds burger he had, and decided to say nothing but thank you to him as he picked up his food. It was teriyaki tofu on rice that night. He ate in front of the computer, while watching another episode of Neon Alien, which he had made a song about before.


    He got up from his computer desk after binge watching the first season, it was late at night, he decided to grab the jewelry box and take another look at the markings. He sat on the couch in the living room, tiredly fiddling with the lid of the box, flipping it open and closed. He decided to get a drink, and there was a warm tea left out for him, Owen sometimes did leave out drinks for him.


    He took a sip, then went back and continued to fiddle with the box. He looked to the clock, it was a minute to midnight. He shrugged, he always seemed to stay up late, so he didn¡¯t give it much thought. He looked at the strange markings as he played with it, and wondered what language it was. He decided that in the morning he would try to translate whatever was on the box with his phone.


    He flipped open the box again, and a purple mist came out of it. He gasped, and opened the box all the way to see inside. There was the purple mist inside and nothing else. A blue humanoid polygonal figure with solid red eyes came out of the mist.


    ¡°I have never seen a Zoranian with skin, eyes and hair such as yours and your friends, but it seems that you have met the requirements of the sun cycles you need to come of age. May the queen guide your path,¡± it spoke with no mouth. It raised it¡¯s sharp three fingered hand and disappeared back into the purple mist.


    He felt strange, and went to scratch his back. There was something in the way, something soft, with a feathery texture. He grabbed it and felt nerves where there weren¡¯t any nerves before. He turned to look, and a feathery black wing was sprouting from his back.


    He found that he had sharp claws on the ends of his fingers as well, which perplexed him. That wasn¡¯t something that happened every day, he thought. He chocked it up to Owen putting acid in his drink, which happened before, even though it seemed more real to him than usual. He took the sign of strange things happening as a hint to go to sleep. He continued on with his nightly routine as if nothing had happened, and decided to sleep the acid off. He went to bed, and even though the fact that he had wings made it hard for him to find a good position to sleep in, he found one eventually and drifted off to sleep.

 A Strange Visitor

    Hex rolled over in his bed, his wings still made it uncomfortable to sleep. Wait, wings? He sat up, checked if the wings were gone, and checked the clock. It was almost noon, he had slept for over ten hours, and the effects of what he thought to be acid still didn¡¯t wear off? He started to freak out and hyperventilate, he was terrified that it wasn¡¯t the drugs, because he was so used to things like that being not real.


    He contemplated leaving his room, but he was afraid Owen would see him in the state he was in and freak out as well. He heard a knock at the door. Oh no, he thought, that was the worst possible time to have a visitor.


    ¡°Fuck,¡± he whispered as he slipped out of bed. Wait, he thought. It said something about friends.


    ¡°Oh shit.¡± He put a hand to his face and left his room.


    He got to the door, there was still knocking every fifteen seconds or so.


    ¡°Sorry, we¡¯re busy, come back later,¡± he boomed.


    ¡°I know you have my box, it was activated, somebody in there has magical powers right now, right? Please let me in,¡± a woman¡¯s voice responded.


    ¡°Wait, what? Shit, okay.¡± He shook his head and opened the door.


    There stood a tall woman with long dark purple hair, purple eyes and pale white skin. She wore a purple tank top with a purple tear shaped gem on her necklace. The woman brushed dust off the back of her black jeans.


    ¡°Ah, I was right. Do you want to know how to retract your wings and claws?¡± She smiled at him.


    ¡°You can see them too?¡± A pang of hot fear hit him in the chest, but sizzled away once he realized that the woman could fix his problem.


    ¡°Yes, do you want to get rid of them for now?¡± The woman nodded.


    ¡°Yes, we can worry about the box later.¡± He nodded heavily.


    The woman went through the procedure with him. He followed her instructions, and he was able to retract both his wings and his claws into himself, and look like a normal person again.


    ¡°Thank fuck, I thought I was stuck like that forever.¡± He breathed a sigh of relief.


    ¡°I can sense that more people in this building have gone through the coming of age ritual.¡± She pointed behind him.


    ¡°Oh god damn it, I actually do remember whatever that thing was saying something about friends.¡± He put a hand to his forehead.


    ¡°We will have to help them as well.¡± The woman folded her arms.


    ¡°What¡¯s your name, by the way?¡± He closed the door behind her.


    ¡°Zlyena,¡± she said.


    ¡°That¡¯s a weird name. And I¡¯m guessing you aren¡¯t from here.¡± He locked the door and looked to her.


    ¡°I¡¯m not, I lost the box you opened on accident as I was traversing the universes trying to find my daughter.¡± Zlyena frowned.


    ¡°Why didn¡¯t she wait for you?¡± He was confused, was there bad blood in the family? He also had a ¡®this is fine¡¯ switch he had when he would use hallucinogenic drugs that he had just flipped as a coping mechanism.


    ¡°She was trapped in a prison and flung through space, she landed on Earth, so I had to come through here first.¡± She made a gesture with her finger signaling that she jumped from universe to universe.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.


    ¡°That¡¯s so strange, why would anyone do that? Did she do something bad?¡± He was still confused.


    ¡°No, the only thing that they saw was bad was her bloodline, her father is a demon, and they didn¡¯t want any half demons walking around.¡± She shook her head slowly.


    ¡°That sucks, I hope you find her soon.¡± He was genuinely being nice to her, because she helped him without asking for much in return besides the box, which she didn¡¯t ask back for yet even.


    ¡°I have, she¡¯s on Earth, she¡¯s fine now. I came here to retrieve something of mine and help you and the others out.¡± She gave a small smile.


    ¡°That¡¯s good. We should probably help Owen and¡­ Din...¡± He went silent. He just remembered her. He tried to keep her as an amorphous blob or a bubble in his head so he wouldn¡¯t assign a gender to her, but the bubble was popped, and what she really looked like popped into his head.


    ¡°Something wrong?¡± Zlyena asked.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s nothing. Let¡¯s go.¡± He turned around and tried to hide the very dissatisfied look on his face from her.


    ¡°Hex, what the hell is going on?¡± Owen came out of his room, he had brown wings.


    Very fitting, he thought, since everything about him was brown. He and Zlyena helped him learn how to retract his wings and claws.


    ¡°And you just have to focus, try to feel and imagine them going back in.¡± Hex balled his fists and closed his eyes as an example.


    ¡°Alright.¡± Owen nodded, and performed it. It was successful, and he smiled while looking at his then normal hands.


    ¡°See?¡± He relaxed his hands and opened his eyes.


    ¡°There¡¯s one more person left, then we can talk about what comes after.¡± Zlyena walked to Din¡¯s room, which was next to Hex¡¯s ¡°You two can do it for me, right?¡± He looked to the both of them.


    ¡°I thought she was your friend, why will you not help her?¡± Zlyena stared at him and her brow furrowed.


    ¡°She¡¯s not my friend, I¡¯ve only known her for about a week, she¡¯s more of an¡­¡± He made a hissing sound as air was sucked in through the gaps in his teeth. ¡°Acquaintance.¡± ¡°Ah, I see.¡± she nodded, and patted Owen on the back, gesturing him forward.


    They went into Din¡¯s room. He waited outside until they were done. A bit of time passed, and Hex was wondering if she was having trouble with the procedure. He was just about to go check up on her when the three of them left the room. Din smiled and waved, her hands were normal, and no wings could be seen.


    ¡°Thank god, I was just about to go in to check up on you,¡± Hex groaned.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t need to worry about me, I¡¯m fine. Still tired, though.¡± Din rubbed the sand from her eyes and tiredly turned in a circle. Her hair was gelled in a peculiar manner, it went to the right and then curled to the left in one big, singular curl. Her shirt also had angel slits, just like his and Owen¡¯s, that were a fashion statement, they reached from the top of her shoulder blade to halfway down her back.


    ¡°You guys sleep in way too late.¡± Owen shook his head.


    ¡°That happens when you stay up, don¡¯t know about her though.¡± Hex pointed to Din.


    ¡°I was on my laptop until morning.¡± Din shrugged.


    ¡°Ah, alright.¡± Hex nodded again, but softer that time.


    ¡°Where is the box?¡± Zlyena looked around.


    ¡°It¡¯s on the couch, where I left it,¡± Hex said, then yawned and stretched.


    He went over to the couch and retrieved the box. He brought it to Zlyena and handed it to her.


    ¡°Thank you, I will be back soon.¡± She turned around.


    ¡°Wait, why do you have to come back?¡± Hex piped up.


    ¡°For your training, of course.¡± She turned back, box still in hand.


    ¡°Training? Why? Can¡¯t you just leave us like we are?¡± He raised his hands in front of himself.


    ¡°And let the Demon Hunters slaughter you? Not likely.¡± She scoffed.


    ¡°Demon Hunters? I thought that meant they only hunted demons?¡± He was dumbfounded, it said demon in the name, why them?


    ¡°The name is a cover, they will kill any magical creature they see, and you three are magical creatures now, so I must help you learn to defend yourselves,¡± she said with a sigh.


    ¡°That¡¯s fucked up, how did I never know about this?¡± Hex was always the activist type, and if anything bad was going on like that, even Owen knew he¡¯d want to know about it.


    ¡°It is, and they like to be secretive. If you see any people with a beige long coat and a DH logo stitched onto one of the sides, run, at least for now.¡± She lowered her head and unlocked the door.


    ¡°That seems to be in plain sight though, pretty much.¡± He wondered why they would wear identifying clothing if they wanted to be secretive.


    ¡°It¡¯s so other Demon Hunters can recognize each other,¡± she said.


    ¡°Oh, right. I guess that would be useful,¡± he said.


    ¡°Well, goodbye for now.¡± She turned and waved.


    ¡°Bye, see you soon.¡± he waved back.


    He went the rest of the day wondering if that was all a fever dream or if it was real. He had never felt nerves like the ones on his wings before, so he decided it was real. He didn¡¯t think he could make up an entire person from his imagination and have Owen and Din play along. He decided to ask Zlyena herself what the box was originally supposed to do when he saw her again.

 A Tiny Enemy

    Hex was out walking the city at night, which was dangerous but hey, he had magical powers now, what random mugger or freak would mess with him and his flesh rending claws? He needed a break from the studio, he was working hard on his new song, and hated how depressed it made him, so he decided to walk the empty streets of Lyserge City, He had just come out of the border, which was a large metal wall that spanned the floating rock he walked on. The entirety of the city was a floating rock, as were the other bits of land that was left of the planet. His planet was widely lost to a vortex that sucked up what wasn¡¯t able to escape its pull. He remembered seeing the wings of the hovering machine from where he looked. There were many like it all along the bottom of the city.


    Everything was man made now, from the atmosphere, to the ozone layer, there were even backup machines that switched on at the slightest sign of problems. He recalled looking over the edge again, the shimmering water that covered the barrier where the vortex was trapped was beautiful as always, in the late evening especially He almost walked past a sign, but he decided to turn and look at it. It was a sign recruiting for another space mining project, to find soil that was similar enough to the sea floor that could be used to cover the barrier and restore marine wildlife habitats. He smiled, if he wasn¡¯t so scared of going to space, he would be right there with them.


    The distinct sound of a car slowing down and braking. He turned his head back to see a black hearse stopped just behind him. Oh shit, he thought, he was warned about hearses, there was a vigilante group going around killing random people, on top of political figures, that used black hearses as a cover for their operations.


    Someone got out of the passenger seat. It was a girl that was ever so slightly smaller than him, with long blonde hair. Her knee length black dress blew in the wind she pressed against the skirt of her dress with her arms that had gloves going up to her elbow, and she adjusted the rim of her mourning bonnet with no sides with a fishnet funeral veil that went halfway down her neck so it sat square on top of her head. The girl opened her eyes, which were a solid red.


    ¡°Holy fuck,¡± he whispered under his breath. Was this a Demon Hunter? No, Zlyena said something about a beige coat, and he didn¡¯t see any stitching on her dress.


    ¡°Surprised, new friend?¡± The girl bobbed a curtsy, the claws on her hands slightly hidden, which didn¡¯t make him any less worried.


    ¡°New friend? What do you mean by that? I¡¯ve never seen you before.¡± He was kicking himself on the inside after he said those words, she was terrifying, and what he just said could have very well made her angry.


    ¡°Ah, but you are a magical creature too! Even though you are hiding your true form, I can sense it. Us magical creatures should stick together, you know.¡± The girl smiled, revealing sharp, vampire-like fangs.


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you the ones who are killing random people, on top of political figures? I¡¯ll pass.¡± He had just remembered, and even though it would have pissed her off even more, he wanted to stay true to his beliefs that violence doesn¡¯t solve anything.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Ah, so you¡¯ve heard of my vigilante group? The people I kill are all criminals and corrupt politicians. I¡¯m making the world a better place, you see.¡± The girl put her sharp index finger to her lower lip.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think violence really solves anything, I believe in prosecuting rather than killing.¡± He wasn¡¯t impressed, he knew the justice system was fucked several ways to Sunday, but he believed in restoring it to its former glory, rather than joining a vigilante group.


    ¡°But the justice system doesn¡¯t do shit, you know that as well as I do, why would you let the worst of the worst pay their way out?¡± The girl grimaced.


    ¡°I¡¯m an activist, I¡¯ll help restore the justice system to its former glory, without killing anybody.¡± He didn¡¯t think killing would help anything, and believed activism was more noble than vigilantism.


    ¡°It¡¯s hopeless, there aren¡¯t that many good people in this world left.¡± The girl¡¯s grimace faded into a frown.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take my chances, you should really stop killing people though.¡± He knew she would keep killing, but he desperately wanted to prevent any further deaths.


    ¡°Not a chance, I¡¯m the best goddamn chance you have at justice right now.¡± The girl smiled again.


    ¡°Then I guess I¡¯m going to have to stop you if you won¡¯t stop yourself.¡± He focused on the tips of his fingers, and surprisingly, it worked, his claws came out.


    ¡°Ha, you still only have your claws, I have a better weapon.¡± The girl put her hand out, and small red sigils sprang from the palm of her hand. A sword with two thin sets of metal demon horns on the cross-guard that curled up like bull horns, materialized. The girl grabbed the sword and brandished it.


    ¡°Oh fuck me.¡± He whispered under his breath again.


    The girl jumped at him and swung her sword. He caught it with the claws on his left hand. He felt an intense burning pain from his fingernails as his claws clashed with the sword.


    ¡°Agh, fuck!¡± he yelped, yet he continued to push back against the sword.


    ¡°They are very sensitive initially, aren¡¯t they? You should try cleaving at someone¡¯s flesh while they are that sensitive, it¡¯s a wonderful feeling.¡± The girl snickered.


    ¡°Don¡¯t make fun of me, this really fucking hurts.¡± He felt his eyes begin to water.


    ¡°Are you sure you can stop me when you are like this?¡± The girl asked.


    ¡°I thought we were going to have a claw fight, I didn¡¯t expect you to bring a fucking sword,¡± he said.


    ¡°Oh, you have one too, I¡¯m sure of it.¡± The girl relented and pulled back her sword.


    She held out her sword as it disappeared, red sigils came back and she summoned a pistol.


    ¡°Oh no,¡± he said silently.


    She pointed the gun at him, still smiling.


    ¡°You underestimated my resourcefulness quite a bit. But you seem interesting, and since I rarely see any magical creatures out here, I will let you live.¡± She lowered the gun and it disappeared in her hand.


    ¡°Jesus, don¡¯t scare me like that.¡± He felt hot electricity running through his body as adrenaline was released into his system.


    ¡°It was to showcase how you are no match for me, at least at the moment. If you were trained enough, you wouldn¡¯t have been scared, and would be able to block a bullet.¡± She shrugged.


    ¡°I¡¯ll find a way to stop you eventually.¡± He huffed.


    ¡°I look forward to it, though I¡¯m sure it won¡¯t happen. On this day you will feel fear when you hear the name Elaine.¡± Elaine laughed and got back into the hearse quickly, and it peeled off, leaving Hex very confused.


    ¡°Who the actual fuck was that?¡± He asked himself, all he knew about Elaine was her name, what she looked like, and how scary strong she was.


    He went home and told Din and Owen about being accosted by a tiny demon girl, at least he thought Elaine was a demon. They didn¡¯t really believe him, and Owen asked if he was on drugs again. He told Owen to look at how his eyes weren¡¯t dilated. Sure enough, they weren¡¯t. He told him he still didn¡¯t completely believe him, but he said he¡¯d decided to give Hex the benefit of the doubt at the moment.

 Return of the Queen

    Hex was finishing up his dinner at the computer again when he heard a knock on the door. He swallowed his food and got up. He felt relieved that he was more comfortable around Din as of late, being able to hold small talk with her after he cooled down from his breakup enough was a step in the right direction.


    Back then it wasn¡¯t that he didn¡¯t like her or that he didn¡¯t actually want her there, it was his nasty breakup with his then ex girlfriend that made him put up a giant wall in between himself and Din. Only recently had he found that he didn¡¯t need to protect himself anymore, and let the wall fall to the wayside.


    He went to the door and opened it, Zlyena was there, and she waved at him.


    ¡°It¡¯s about time you and your two friends, I mean- you, your friend, and the girl, started training.¡± She must have forgotten for a second that, back then, Din and Hex were not on good terms.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, she and I are friends now, I had to make up with her though.¡± He sighed. He had to apologize for his previous behavior before they were able to start again.


    ¡°Oh, that¡¯s good. Anyways, you should get your friends, we are going.¡± She gestured for him to hurry.


    Hex got everyone together, and met Zlyena at the front door.


    ¡°I need to be let inside for a bit, may I come in?¡± She pointed inside.


    ¡°Alright, come on in.¡± He opened the door wider so she could walk through.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± She walked inside and pulled out a purple flip phone. She opened it and started to press some buttons.


    ¡°What are you doing? Are you trying to call somebody?¡± Hex asked, confused.


    She pointed the phone outwards, and a beam of purple light came out of the screen. A purple portal opened up, and she put the phone away.


    ¡°Through here, please.¡± She gestured towards the portal.


    Everyone looked at each other with wide eyes.


    ¡°How did you get your phone to do that?¡± Din piped up.


    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s pretty neat, can I have one?¡± Owen smiled and gave a small laugh.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give each of you one after we¡¯re done, but first, you need to go through here.¡± She pointed towards the portal.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll go first.¡± Hex lightly pushed the other two aside and walked up to the portal.


    He looked at it closely first, then poked it. He shrugged, and put a leg through. He felt solid ground on the other side. He poked his head through, and saw a large room with red walls. He got the rest of himself through and looked back at the portal. He waited a bit, then Din¡¯s lanky hand popped out. He grabbed it and pulled her in.


    ¡°Whoa!¡± She said as she was pulled in.


    ¡°Welcome to wherever the fuck this is.¡± He smiled and let go of her hand.


    Owen fell onto his face as he jumped through. He tried not to laugh and instead tried to help his friend up.


    ¡°Holy shit, are you okay?¡± He stifled a chuckle and lifted him back up.


    ¡°Yeah, my face hurts a bit but I¡¯m fine.¡± Owen held onto his face.


    ¡°I can imagine,¡± Hex said.


    Zlyena came through and waved again.


    ¡°Hey everyone, now that you¡¯re all here, you should probably get your claws and wings back out as practice.¡± She put her hands together.


    ¡°You¡¯re lucky that Lyserge¡¯s new fashion trend is angel slits.¡± Hex looked to his back and felt the corner of the angel slit on his shirt. Angel slit shirts became popular two years ago. His was about as long as the shirt Din was wearing had them.


    ¡°Angel slits? What are those?¡± Zlyena was visibly confused.


    ¡°These, they go from the shoulder blade down to the mid back.¡± He turned around and pointed at them.


    ¡°Oh, I see. I¡¯m not in the loop when it comes to human fashion.¡± She lowered her head.


    ¡°I don¡¯t usually follow fashion trends but I liked how they looked.¡± He turned back with a smile.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.


    ¡°Alright, well that saves me time cutting holes in your shirts.¡± She shrugged.


    ¡°Oh, by the way, before we do this, what exactly was that box used for?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Oh, right, the box. It¡¯s used in our coming of age rituals. A Zoranian needs to have magical powers before they can start puberty, so when they reach ten years old at midnight on their birthday, a Zoranian spirit will grant them magical powers,¡± she said.


    ¡°Oh, well I¡¯m way past ten and it wasn¡¯t anybody¡¯s birthday.¡± he said.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, as soon as it¡¯s opened at midnight it will be able to tell if you¡¯ve come of age or not. The spirit will remember your face so you can¡¯t do it a second time.¡± She shook her head.


    ¡°I see, well, let¡¯s try what worked last time.¡± he mumbled, and got his claws out.


    ¡°Did you say last time? Did you get accosted by demon hunters?¡± she said.


    ¡°No, I got accosted by a small demon girl, I think her name was Elaine or something.¡± he said.


    ¡°Oh¡­ Oh my, I uh¡­ I have something to tell you, then.¡± She fidgeted.


    ¡°What is it?¡± He perked up.


    ¡°You¡¯re not gonna like this but, I¡¯d rather you two wouldn¡¯t fight. I am responsible for her as much as you.¡± She sighed.


    ¡°What do you mean? You know her?¡± He felt like he should be angry, but he was more confused than anything.


    ¡°I was the one who adopted her after her adopted parents died and she became a demon, I felt guilty because I put her up for adoption instead of raising her myself, her mother wasn¡¯t able to raise her, she wasn¡¯t really all there after what happened to her. It¡¯s my fault she¡¯s a demon, because I wouldn¡¯t take responsibility.¡± She frowned.


    ¡°So you¡¯re her stepmother? Why would I be mad, I never knew her parents were dead.¡± He felt a slight pang of regret for being so mean to her.


    ¡°It¡¯s complicated, the same thing happened to her sister, the demon part, but I haven¡¯t been able to find her sister yet,¡± she said.


    ¡°Also I was right that she was a demon, I half thought that she was some kind of weird vampire, what with the fangs and all.¡± He didn¡¯t exactly know she was a demon before, but he had a hunch because of the solid red eyes that she was.


    ¡°I may be training you, but I will still be training her as well, I¡¯m not taking sides,¡± she said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t support her, but I realized when I was fighting her that I did need to be able to defend myself,¡± he said.


    ¡°Well, what are you waiting for? Get out your wings, then.¡± She motioned for him to hurry up.


    He focused on remembering where the nerves were, and recalling how it felt to have wings. He felt the nerves come back as his wings sprouted from his back. He looked to Din and Owen, who already had theirs out. Din¡¯s wings were light blue, like her hair.


    ¡°How did you do it faster than me?¡± He pouted.


    They both shrugged, and he sighed. He thought he was ahead of them but in reality he was behind.


    ¡°Alright, first you need to work on your weapon summoning skills. Let me get the book, it¡¯ll be easier for you to understand that way.¡± She went over to a small bookcase and took a book off the shelf. She opened it and flipped through the pages. She showed a page full of small markings that were in an alien language. She tapped the page and the words sprang from the book and morphed into English.


    ¡°I guess there¡¯s a spell for everything.¡± He looked at the page, it was instructions on how to summon a weapon. He read through it, and nodded.


    He decided to try, he said the alien words in his head and outstretched his hands. Dark purple sigils sprung from his writing hand, which was his left, and a sword materialized in his hands.


    ¡°How did you do that?¡± Din piped up.


    ¡°I said the words in my head, and it just happened.¡± He took a closer look at the sword, it was more normal than he thought it would be.


    ¡°Let me try.¡± She looked at the book for a bit, outstretched her right hand, and closed her eyes. The same thing happened, only a blue fan with light blue teardrop gems appeared instead of a sword.


    ¡°What about you, Owen?¡± Hex turned to Owen, who walked over and looked at the page too.


    Owen did the same thing, and a giant wooden mallet materialized. He caught it before it could fall.


    ¡°I guess everyone¡¯s weapon is different? That¡¯s pretty weird, I thought everyone would get a sword, Elaine told me of mine, did she sense what I would get?¡± Hex turned back to Zlyena.


    ¡°I guess she did, she¡¯s good at sensing other people¡¯s powers,¡± Zlyena said.


    ¡°By the way, sorry for not believing you, I thought you were just tired and fell asleep while walking.¡± Owen frowned.


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, I¡¯ve already forgiven you, you¡¯re my best friend after all.¡± Hex smiled


    ¡°You¡¯ll need to train your sword wielding skills if you want to beat her, though.¡± Zlyena folded her arms.


    ¡°How am I supposed to beat her anyways? She has a fucking gun!¡± He pouted again.


    ¡°She doesn¡¯t usually use guns, she¡¯s more the spell caster type, maybe she got into guns more recently, I¡¯m not sure.¡± She put her thumb and index finger to her face.


    ¡°She said I could block a bullet, but isn¡¯t that hard to do with magic?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Not really, rudimentary spells can block bullets, but not magical weapons, like the one that Elaine has. I¡¯m sure the gun was a regular gun with regular bullets though,¡± she said.


    ¡°There¡¯s non-regular bullets?¡± Din piped up.


    ¡°Demon Hunters have special bullets infused with magic that can break through magical barriers of certain types. Right now they only know of Elaine, so they¡¯ll be caught off-guard when you three show up. You¡¯ll definitely be able to block their bullets, at least at the start, because they¡¯d be taken by surprise,¡± Zlyena said.


    ¡°How do you know so much? How old are you?¡± Hex asked.


    ¡°Well, Zoranian royalty like me are immortal, so I¡¯m pretty old.¡± She pointed to herself.


    ¡°You¡¯re royalty? Like a queen?¡± he questioned.


    ¡°Yes, I am the queen of the Zoranians.¡± She smiled.


    ¡°Neat, didn¡¯t know aliens had monarchies,¡± he said.


    ¡°Now, I think we should get Din started with using spells, since her fan is magic, and your other weapons aren¡¯t really magic based.¡± She pointed to Din.


    ¡°Oh, alright, what kind should I use?¡± Din looked up at her.


    ¡°Hmm, possibly light magic,¡± Zlyena said.


    ¡°Sounds good to me.¡± Din nodded.


    They spent the rest of their time that day training, Hex and Owen were told to keep summoning and de-summoning their weapons, while Din practiced using her weapon for light magic. They eventually went home and headed to bed, but not before Hex had to throw away the scraps that were left from dinner. They all talked about their worries of being ambushed by Demon Hunters, and agreed to install a security system so they¡¯d feel safer.

 In the Studio

    Hex was teaching Din how to use the studio room and how to work the microphone.


    ¡°Don¡¯t touch any of the instruments without my permission though. One twist of a dial or push of a button could mean disaster. Also I don¡¯t want you to accidentally break anything.¡± He put the microphone down. It wasn¡¯t because she was a girl, it was because she was inexperienced with a real musician¡¯s studio, at least that¡¯s what he thought.


    ¡°Understood, I won¡¯t touch anything but the mic without asking,¡± Din said.


    ¡°You already know how to work the mic, right? I mean, you had singing work before, at least that¡¯s what you told me,¡± he said.


    ¡°Yes, I can handle the mic, have you finished the lyrics yet?¡± She asked.


    ¡°Yeah, this is going to be the first song in a good long time that has had female vocals. The last one was a while ago.¡± He laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head with the new elbow length gloves Zlyena gave him, the ones that morph when his claws come out and share the same sharpness. Din was given a pair as well.


    ¡°Oh, I¡¯ve listened to your discography, I know it¡¯s been a while.¡± Din smiled and nodded.


    He felt a bit awkward around her, she was beautiful, and almost looked like a ball jointed doll, her facial features were very similar.


    ¡°Heh, yeah, last one was Whore.¡± He sighed, and let his arm fall back down to his side.


    ¡°Do you have them with you? The lyrics, I mean,¡± she said.


    ¡°Oh, yeah. I also put notes with it, so you don¡¯t have to ad-lib. You can read treble clef, right?¡± He blushed and put a hand to his head as soon as the words left his mouth, it was a stupid question to ask. Anyone who has ever done choir that had her range would be able to read treble clef.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine. I can read it.¡± She giggled.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go get them, then.¡± He walked out and went into his room, where he had previously printed the lyrics.


    It was a breath of fresh air to be out of the room she was in, he was getting increasingly nervous around her, probably because she was pretty, he thought. He took a second before looking through the stacks of paper of his most recent lyrics. He pulled out the song sheet for her, it was Garden of Razor Blades. He had been working on it for the past few weeks begrudgingly after she showed up, but after getting over his ex, it changed quite a bit.


    He took it and went back to her, and handed her the song sheet.


    ¡°Thanks, now let¡¯s set things up so I can get to it.¡± She grabbed the microphone and started to set it up.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll get to it as well.¡± He went to the mixer and set it up.


    ¡°You ready yet?¡± He turned back to Din, who was putting on headphones.


    ¡°Yeah, let¡¯s check the audio first before we begin.¡± She nodded.


    He was surprised to know that she knew his band was in the Industrial genre, and didn¡¯t think she knew before he found out. He was convinced that she didn¡¯t know about it before, but knowing she was a fan made his heart beat fast every time he thought about it.


    They checked the audio, and she began recording her vocals. She sounded beautiful, he was floored. Her voice was perfect, and he was mesmerized by it. He stared at her the entire time, but she didn¡¯t notice because she had her eyes closed. She finished singing and looked at him.


    ¡°Was it good? Do I need to go again?¡± She asked.


    He stood there dumbfounded for a second.


    ¡°Are you alright?¡± She started to walk up to him.


    ¡°Yeah¡­ Yeah, I think it¡¯s good. We don¡¯t need another take.¡± He nodded, still slack jawed.


    ¡°Okay, let me know if you need another take later.¡± She took off the headphones she was wearing and placed them back where they were.


    ¡°Alright, thanks.¡± He gave another, singular nod.


    He was pleasantly surprised by the quality of her voice. He initially thought he didn¡¯t need a female vocalist, but after that, he was determined to write her in. He found himself zoning out to her voice sometimes instead of listening to her vocals while making sure that they fit the song.

 Break In

    A few weeks later, Hex, Owen and Din were all having dinner.


    ¡°It¡¯s been months since you sat at the table with us.¡± Owen smiled.


    ¡°I thought it would bring us closer together.¡± Hex nodded, and stabbed another fork-full of tofu turkey.


    ¡°You really don¡¯t mind me eating this?¡± Din pointed to her plate of turkey.


    ¡°I won¡¯t be preachy about it, it¡¯s a personal thing, I can only control myself, nobody else.¡± He shook his head.


    ¡°Alright, I was just wondering.¡± She sighed, and took a bite.


    ¡°You were asking for his permission before you started to eat? It¡¯s your meal¡± Owen giggled.


    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m not going to control what you eat, just what I eat,¡± he piped up after swallowing another bit of food.


    ¡°That¡¯s a relief.¡± she said.


    They finished up dinner and cleaned up, then parted ways. A few hours later everyone was getting ready for bed. Hex turned on the alarms before everyone went to sleep. He was paranoid about what Zlyena said, yes, but it was better safe than sorry. Everyone said their good nights and went to bed.


    Hex was asleep, but a crashing noise stirred him from his slumber. He was a light sleeper, so he didn¡¯t think anything of it, until the alarms started going off.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get them before the police get here!¡± Someone shouted.


    He was fully awake right then, and he summoned his sword. He opened his door and, in Din¡¯s doorway, he saw a man wearing a coat that Zlyena said to watch out for.


    ¡°Din! Wake up for fucks sake!¡± He shouted over the beeping that was assaulting his ears, and descended upon the strange man.


    ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± Din got up, visibly confused and still tired.


    Hex caught the Demon Hunter that was going into Din¡¯s room off guard. He slashed wildly, hoping to connect his blade with the Demon Hunter. The sword stuck itself in, but he forced the blade across, and the Demon Hunter cried out in pain and dropped the knife they were holding. A bullet whizzed past Hex¡¯s head. He grimaced and turned his head to look down the barrel of a gun. He slashed again, but harder that time. The strange metal seemed to cut through bone. The Demon Hunter¡¯s arm was cleaved completely through above their elbow, and their upper torso slid off their body and fell to the ground.This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    He turned to the gun wielding Demon Hunter, who was still aiming at him. He reversed his grip, raised it over his head, and threw his sword at the gunman as hard as he could. A gunshot resounded and another bullet came close to connecting with him. The sword flew across the room and stabbed the gun wielding Demon Hunter square in the chest. It forced itself all the way in. The Demon hunter dropped his gun and fell backwards.


    Din came out of her room, and stepped over the dead Demon Hunter. Something weird started to happen to the body, the blood turned into yellow goo and the body started to dissolve.


    ¡°What the hell?¡± Din looked down in disgust.


    ¡°I have no fucking idea,¡± Hex said.


    Owen came out of his room and rubbed his eyes.


    ¡°What the hell is going on? Why is the alarm going off?¡± Owen whined.


    ¡°Some Demon Hunters decided to let themselves in,¡± Hex said as he walked over to the gunman¡¯s body and pulled the goo covered sword out.


    Owen went and turned off the alarm.


    ¡°Lucky we had Hex, who took charge.¡± Din smiled at him.


    ¡°Well luckily for you I always choose fight when fight or flight kicks in.¡± He laughed and wiped the goo off his sword.


    ¡°You doing alright? You¡¯re shaking.¡± Owen pointed to Hex¡¯s hand, which was trembling.


    ¡°It¡¯s the adrenaline, I just need to sit down for a bit.¡± He sighed and looked down at his shaking hands.


    ¡°Go sit, then. That must have freaked you out a lot.¡± Din went up to him and patted him on the back.


    ¡°I just had a bad feeling about the whole thing, now you see why I put alarms up.¡± He turned and went to sit at the dinner table.


    ¡°We know. Besides, you¡¯re the big cheese here, it¡¯s only natural that we¡¯ll follow any reasonable ideas.¡± Owen shrugged.


    ¡°Wow, I haven¡¯t heard the term ¡®big cheese¡¯ in forever.¡± He de-summoned his sword sat down.


    ¡°I guess I was watching too many mob flicks or something.¡± Owen said.


    ¡°Is he going to be okay?¡± Din turned to Owen.


    ¡°Yeah, I think so. You can ask him too, he¡¯s still right there.¡± Owen pointed to Hex.


    ¡°You¡¯ll be alright, right?¡± She turned back to him.


    ¡°I¡¯m alright, I just got a case of the shakes.¡± He rested his trembling hands on the dinner table.


    ¡°Maybe you should go lay down, you know, try to sleep,¡± she said.


    ¡°I¡¯m too wired to sleep right now, but maybe laying down would help.¡± He got up and walked over to his room.


    ¡°We¡¯ll let you lay down while the police are on their way.¡± Owen took out his phone, and dialed for the police.


    ¡°Let me know when they get here so I can give my statement.¡± He opened his door and walked to his bed.


    ¡°How are we going to tell them that the bodies turned to yellow goo?¡± Din piped up.


    ¡°Not sure, but we¡¯ve got to tell them somehow.¡± Owen looked down to a pile of yellow goo, and sighed.


    The police came, and they gave their statements. The police didn¡¯t seem to believe them, but Hex didn¡¯t really care, as long as it was the honest truth. The police took samples of the goo and left. Owen had the broken door replaced the next day. Din later told Hex she had nightmares the next few days because she knew she would have died if Hex wasn¡¯t a light sleeper.

 Velvet Pill

    Hex was on his computer, checking to see if Owen had sent him anything. A worrying link showed up with his band¡¯s name. He clicked it, and it was a gossip website. The headline was about how he was interested in dating Din. How could this happen? Nobody was supposed to know his feelings for her. He was so distraught, he hoped to god that Din didn¡¯t see it. He tried to read through it with tears in his eyes.


    ¡°Fuck!¡± He screamed, and smacked his monitor. Who would do such a horrible thing?


    ¡°I was contemplating not showing you that, but you needed to see it.¡± Owen stood in the doorway.


    ¡°¡­ Does she know?¡± He lowered his head.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure, I never asked her. I think it¡¯d only be fair if you asked her yourself.¡± Owen said.


    ¡°How did it get out? How? I never told anyone, not even you.¡± He pointed to Owen.


    ¡°It was a surprise to me too.¡± Owen said.


    ¡°Is our house bugged? I¡¯ve only ever said it out loud to myself.¡± He started to look for recording devices in his room.


    ¡°That would fucking suck if there was, maybe buy a bug jammer?¡± Owen said.


    ¡°It¡¯s too late now, they know everything. Fuck.¡± He kicked a clothes hamper.


    ¡°Now calm down, maybe there¡¯s a silver lining in all this.¡± Owen said.


    ¡°I don¡¯t see a fucking silver lining, this is a disaster, an absolute shit show.¡± He flopped down onto his bed, defeated.


    ¡°What if she likes you back though?¡± Owen said.


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible, she¡¯s way out of my league, you know that.¡± He lifted his head up.


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, you can¡¯t quantify likes in terms of leagues.¡± Owen said.


    ¡°She¡¯s beautiful, she¡¯s got an amazing singing voice, there¡¯s no way.¡± He flopped his head back down onto the bed and rolled onto his side.


    ¡°Oh, don¡¯t get so down on yourself. There¡¯s always a chance.¡± Owen said.


    ¡°Get out.¡± he said.


    ¡°What?¡± Owen asked.


    ¡°I said get out!¡± he shouted, he got up and slammed and locked the door in Owen¡¯s face.


    It was a few days later, and he still hadn¡¯t left his room. Owen kept emailing him to come out, but he would just delete the messages. It was over, all over. He looked to his wrist, which was bandaged. He couldn¡¯t help it, he felt so helpless, a complete loss of control. The only thing he could control was his body, as always.


    He usually snuck out at night to take his vitamins, eat, and use the bathroom, but only when everyone was asleep. He looked at the blood stain on his slide-out keyboard desk, and felt instant remorse. He regretted what he did in his moment of weakness, but it was already done, and he couldn¡¯t take it back.This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.


    He thought she hated him, since not once did she ever try to talk to him through the door like Owen did, multiple times. Owen tried to convince him to leave his room, but it was no use. He couldn¡¯t continue knowing that his feelings were laid bare for the whole world to see.


    His window unlocked and snapped open by some unknown force, and a familiar gloved hand with familiar claws. He sat up and looked outside. Elaine was there, grinning at him.


    ¡°Get the fuck away from my window, asshole. I don¡¯t have time for you.¡± He tried to close his window, but it was being held open.


    ¡°Now now, friend, you shouldn¡¯t act that way towards a guest.¡± She winked.


    ¡°You¡¯re not a fucking guest, leave already.¡± He went further into his room and started to throw things at her.


    ¡°So rude!¡± she yelled as a can of pistachios bounced off her head.


    ¡°I said fucking leave!¡± he shouted.


    ¡°Wait, what¡¯s that on your wrist?¡± she asked.


    ¡°None of your fucking business.¡± he snapped.


    ¡°Those look suspiciously like bandages. Want me to heal you?¡± She sprouted two black wings and flew up to him. She outstretched a hand, but he slapped it away.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t need healing, Get the fuck away from me.¡± He said.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be silly, of course you do.¡± She managed to grab his wrist after the first slap.


    ¡°Ow, fuck! You¡¯re hurting me, let go!¡± He tried to pull away, but her grip was too strong.


    ¡°I¡¯m grabbing hard because I knew you¡¯d try to pull away. Now, hold still.¡± she said.


    He started to squirm, the last thing he wanted was Elaine to barge into his room. He didn¡¯t need saving, he needed space. Red markings appeared around his wrist, and he felt the wound on his wrist close up. Elaine grabbed the end of his bandage, and unraveled it. A jagged scar was all that was left.


    ¡°Wait, it left a scar? That¡¯s weird.¡± She looked at the red mark on his wrist.


    ¡°I did it with my sword, that¡¯s probably why.¡± he said.


    ¡°You¡­ You did it yourself? Why?¡± She looked up at him, worry etched onto her face.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need to give you a reason, just get out.¡± He had half a mind to push her away, but he was already so rude to her, so he pointed to the open window instead.


    ¡°Fine, but I¡¯ll be back.¡± She turned around and flew out of the window, it shut and locked by itself.


    ¡°Who was that?¡± Din shouted through the door.


    He hadn¡¯t heard her voice in days, just hearing it made him tear up.


    ¡°N-Nobody.¡± he lied.


    ¡°Open the door.¡± She boomed, and knocked on the door.


    He didn¡¯t know why, but he felt he needed to open the door for her, even though he never opened it for Owen. He went up and unlocked the door, and slowly opened it. He knew her seeing him so miserable would be a bad thing, but he couldn¡¯t keep himself locked up anymore, especially if she asked him to open his door again.


    ¡°Are you crying? Oh my-¡± She noticed the bloody scar on his left wrist, and put a hand over her mouth.


    ¡°Is it¡­ Really over?¡± he whimpered, and sniffled.


    ¡°Oh my god, Hex, what did you do?¡± She grabbed his hand.


    ¡°I¡¯m so sorry.¡± he cried, tears rolling down his cheeks.


    ¡°Owen! You need to come see this!¡± Din shouted.


    ¡°N-No. Don¡¯t get Owen. It¡¯s alright, I just...¡± he said, and held his other hand out in front of himself.


    ¡°Never mind!¡± she shouted, and looked back to him.


    ¡°Thank you, I just¡­ I just wanted to apologize, to you. It¡¯s true, but they twisted my words, and, and¡­ I just can¡¯t change how I feel.¡± he sobbed.


    ¡°I know, I¡¯m not mad at you. I thought you needed space, so I didn¡¯t say anything. I didn¡¯t think you¡¯d hurt yourself over it. I should have told you earlier that I feel the same way.¡± She frowned.


    ¡°Wait¡­ You do?¡± He was so relieved, but he also felt even worse about hurting himself.


    ¡°I was guessing that they twisted your words a lot, too. Don¡¯t worry about it.¡± She waved her hand a little.


    ¡°So¡­ Are we¡­ You know¡­ Together, now?¡± He wiped the tears from his eyes again.


    She grabbed his arm, pulled his arm away from his face, and kissed him on the lips.


    ¡°Of course.¡± She smiled.


    ¡°I¡­ I...Love¡­ You...¡± he croaked, tears rolling down his face again.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to cry, it¡¯s alright. I love you too.¡± She hugged him.


    He spent the rest of the day trying to get the blood stain off of his desk. He had already cleaned the blood off of his wrist, and picked up the bloody bandages from the floor. He was so relieved that she felt the same way. He spent the night in a dreamlike state. He was so happy. He had written lyrics when he was locked in his room, and decided to change them at the end of it.

 Silver Demon

    Hex, Din, and Owen were walking through the city at night, Hex coaxed them into going because he wanted them to see Elaine, but no matter how far they walked, they never saw a hearse.


    ¡°This is bullshit, last time I was out at this time of night she definitely showed up,¡± Hex grumbled.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really feel safe, there¡¯s a killer on the loose remember? Haven¡¯t you seen the news?¡± Din asked.


    ¡°Nope, Owen never sent me that link. Why didn¡¯t you tell me?¡± He turned to Din.


    ¡°I thought you would have known, or Owen would have sent you one of the many articles about it. I¡¯ll have to ask Owen to send you it then.¡± Din frowned and folded her arms.


    ¡°Yeah, my bad, and the killings happen at night especially.¡± Owen laughed nervously.


    ¡°Oh well that fucking sucks, we should head home then.¡± Hex turned around and started to walk the other direction.


    ¡°You¡¯re not going anywhere,¡± a voice said.


    ¡°Huh? Who¡¯s that?¡± Hex turned, he saw a young boy who stepped out from a back alley.


    The boy had metallic red eyes and vertical silver streaks in his black hair. He had no nose on his pale face and his mouth was distorted and took up most of the lower half of his face, leaving only a half inch of cheek on either side. His mouth was small with shark-like teeth on his right side, but got increasingly longer and sharper to the left side of his face. He had no lips and the corners of his mouth were sharp. He had a knife in his gloved hands, his black gloves went up to his elbows.


    ¡°What the fuck? What¡¯s wrong with your face?¡± Hex grimaced.


    ¡°None of your god damned business.¡± the boy growled.


    ¡°Uh, Hex? He has a knife.¡± Owen pointed to the boy¡¯s knife.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°He picked a fight with the wrong fucking person then.¡± Hex made his claws come out, and his black wings sprouted from his back. He summoned his sword, and brandished it.


    ¡°What the fuck? You¡¯re a magical creature too?¡± The boy looked at Hex, his eyes wide.


    ¡°That seems pretty dangerous Hex, he still has a knife,¡± Owen piped up.


    ¡°I don¡¯t fucking care, he¡¯s going down.¡± Hex pointed his sword at the boy.


    ¡°Bring it on, motherfucker.¡± the boy boomed.


    ¡°Hey, wai-,¡± Din tried to interject, but was cut off as the boy started to run towards them.


    The boy ran at Hex, and their blades clanged together. The boy pulled away his knife and tried to stab at him, but he blocked every stab with his sword. The boy pushed against his sword, and he was forced back a little.


    ¡°You¡¯re really strong, god damn,¡± Hex said.


    ¡°Hex, don¡¯t. He looks really young, just call the police already,¡± Din said.


    ¡°Did you see how fast he ran? I don¡¯t think the police could ever catch this guy.¡± Hex tried to push back, but only gained a little ground.


    ¡°I agree with Din, this really is too dangerous, we should get out of here,¡± Owen said.


    ¡°Did you not fucking see how fast this guy is? There¡¯s no use running, now help me out for fucks sake!¡± Hex shouted at Owen.


    ¡°Alright alright.¡± Owen summoned his large wooden mallet and raised it over his head.


    ¡°What the-,¡± the boy pulled his blade back and stabbed at the mallet, barely dodging Hex as he swung his sword down. It connected, and went halfway in. He tried to yank it free, but it was stuck.


    ¡°Stuck, huh?¡± Owen smiled.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll let you three live for now, but I¡¯ll be back.¡± The boy let go of his blade and started to run away.


    ¡°Wait, I never heard you say your name.¡± Hex held his hand out in front of himself.


    The boy stopped, and turned around .


    ¡°Glitch, it¡¯s Glitch.¡± Glitch said, then turned around and continued to run away.


    ¡°That¡¯s a relief, he looked super young, it wouldn¡¯t be right to hurt him.¡± Din shook her head.


    ¡°He was trying to stab me, I don¡¯t care how young a person is, if they are trying to stab me, I¡¯m going to fight back,¡± Hex huffed.


    ¡°I wonder.¡± Owen de-summoned his mallet, and the knife fell to the ground.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go home, I don¡¯t feel comfortable hanging around here,¡± Din whined.


    ¡°Alright, yeah, let¡¯s go home, I don¡¯t want to meet any more freaky people today.¡± Hex returned his hands to normal and his wings went back into himself.


    They went back home, and Hex wondered if that Glitch was the killer that was all over the news, and if so, why someone so young would kill so many people? What happened to Glitch to make his mouth look like that? Was he a demon too? He settled on the decision to consider Glitch a demon, what with the red eyes and creepy mouth.

 Hunting the Hunters

    Hex, Owen and Din were called by Zlyena to take out a building full of Demon Hunters, and Elaine went with them. Din and Owen were surprised to find that Elaine was real, and that she really looked like Hex described.


    ¡°So, I see that you¡¯ve been talking about me,¡± Elaine said, a large crow perching on her shoulder.


    ¡°What¡¯s the crow for, anyways? And why is it almost twice the size of a normal crow?¡± Hex looked at the crow, who had red eyes.


    ¡°This is my familiar, Kalan. Say hi Kalan.¡± She gestured towards the three of them.


    ¡°Hello,¡± A low, velvety voice spoke in Hex¡¯s head, he guessed that was probably Kalan.


    ¡°So your crow knows telepathy?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Yeah, he also knows a good amount of spells.¡± She giggled.


    ¡°It is true, I do.¡± Kalan nodded.


    ¡°So I¡¯m guessing he¡¯s a crow demon or something,¡± he said.


    ¡°Actually, yes, he is.¡± She nodded.


    ¡°Part of the old crow demon clan, Elaine loves crows, she usually spends her time in the park feeding the crows, that is how we found each other. She is actually called The Maiden of the Crows by my clan.¡± Kalan nodded in agreement.


    ¡°So that¡¯s where you¡¯ve been. I was looking for you a couple days ago, Din and Owen didn¡¯t believe that you were real, or just thought I was high and was imaging that you had solid red eyes, fangs, and claws.¡± He made a creepy gesture with his hands.


    ¡°You were looking for me? Really?¡± She seemed excited.


    ¡°Yeah, so when do we get there?¡± he asked.


    ¡°We¡¯re almost there, look, that¡¯s the building.¡± she pointed to a building in the distance.


    ¡°Oh, alright.¡± He nodded.


    They went up to the building, and there suspiciously were no guards.


    ¡°Kalan, you might want to use your human form for this.¡± she patted Kalan.


    ¡°You may be right about that.¡± Kalan flew up into the air, and a red light enveloped him, and he fell back down. He was tall and muscular looking in his human form, and he wore a black suit with a cape. He brushed his long wavy black hair from his face.


    ¡°Wow, he looks more like the warlock instead of the familiar,¡± Owen piped up.


    ¡°Don¡¯t judge me by my appearance, I¡¯m actually more powerful than he is.¡± she pointed to herself.


    Kalan summoned a giant sword that was almost as big as he was that had a gargoyle head on the cross-guard. He rested it on his shoulder.


    ¡°Oh, right. I should summon my blade as well.¡± She held out her hands, and red sigils sprang from them, and her sword materialized.


    ¡°Yeah, we should too.¡± he got his claws and wings out and summoned his sword, and then looked to Owen and Din.


    ¡°On it,¡± Din said, and did the same, and started to play with her fan.


    ¡°Alright, I haven¡¯t tried to bring my wings out yet but I¡¯ll try.¡± Owen nodded, and brought his claws and wings out as well, and summoned his mallet.


    ¡°Oh right, my wings.¡± Elaine smiled, and brought her wings out.


    ¡°Are we all ready?¡± Hex asked.


    Everyone nodded, and they went inside. The front room was completely empty.


    ¡°Is there nobody here?¡± Owen asked.


    ¡°They shouldn¡¯t have cleared out with so little time, we only got the call this morning.¡± Hex shook his head.


    Elaine walked over to the back of the room and swung open the door. She put her hands up and a large pentagram sigil with a four horned demon materialized, opened its mouth, and fired a laser. A few screams came from the room she fired into.


    ¡°I guess she found them,¡± Hex chuffed.


    They went into the room after her, and a few Demon Hunters were already turning into yellow goo and dissolving.


    ¡°Getting a head start on us I see,¡± Kalan said nonchalantly.


    ¡°There should be more, even though there¡¯s only three floors in this building.¡± Elaine nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get a head start in the next room.¡± Hex walked past Elaine, and went straight for the door. He opened it, and there was nothing.


    ¡°Well, at least you tried.¡± Owen patted Hex¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°I think I should get another chance, at the very least,¡± Hex grumbled.


    ¡°Go on, open another one.¡± Owen pointed to the next door.


    ¡°Fine, I will. And this time, there¡¯ll be some Demon Hunters.¡± he went over and opened the door. There was a Demon Hunter pointing a gun at him. He turned back and closed the door, with a blank look on his face.


    ¡°Come on, you found one, go back in.¡± Owen pointed again.


    ¡°Why is it always guns?¡± Hex whined.


    ¡°You wanted to kill some Demon Hunters, now¡¯s your chance.¡± Owen laughed.


    ¡°I would have thought I was fine for a good week after what happened before. I can¡¯t believe I¡¯m doing this but alright. Let¡¯s see if I¡¯m good enough with the Zoriyan magic.¡± He opened the door back up, and used a Zoriyan spell, knocking the Demon Hunter back and making them drop their gun. He went up and kicked the gun away, then stabbed the Demon Hunter.Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.


    ¡°Good, only a few more floors of this.¡± Owen smiled.


    ¡°I hope we don¡¯t see any little kid Demon Hunters,¡± Din said.


    ¡°They¡¯re mass produced to be pretty much exactly the same, like clones. I¡¯ve rarely seen a human Demon Hunter, usually they just make them.¡± Elaine shrugged.


    ¡°I guess that one was the only one in this room.¡± Hex looked around.


    ¡°We¡¯re here to rescue some Zoriyans, so let¡¯s hurry up. They most likely are at the top floor.¡± She gestured everyone forward.


    ¡°I never heard about that, did Zlyena tell you that?¡± Hex turned to Elaine.


    ¡°I thought she told you that too. Guess not.¡± She put a hand to her mouth.


    ¡°Nope, I¡¯ll have to talk to her about this later.¡± Hex turned back around and opened another door. There was a young looking Demon Hunter with blonde hair that was gelled into a single spike in the front, who was cleaning his gun.


    ¡°Wait.¡± Elaine stepped past Hex.


    ¡°What is it?¡± Hex looked at her, confused.


    ¡°That¡¯s not a regular Demon Hunter, what are you doing here, boy?¡± She asked the young Demon Hunter.


    The boy dropped the pieces of his gun in fear, and pulled a dagger from his coat.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going to hurt you. You¡¯re human. You should leave this place, it¡¯s not safe.¡± She shook her head.


    ¡°W-What are you? A demon?¡± the boy asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s correct. I may be a demon, but I¡¯m no monster. You need to leave.¡± she said.


    ¡°You¡¯re¡­ Not going to kill me?¡± The boy looked confused.


    ¡°Of course not. I can tell if you¡¯re one of the clone Demon Hunters or not, I have vision that shows me if you have the yellow goo in your veins or not. I¡¯m not killing a young human. I won¡¯t tell anyone about this, your secret is safe with me.¡± She gestured to herself.


    ¡°But if he¡¯s a Demon Hunter, isn¡¯t he out to kill us?¡± Hex asked.


    ¡°Fear makes people do irrational things, he¡¯s probably afraid of magical creatures, and doesn¡¯t hate them.¡± she sighed.


    ¡°I¡¯ll¡­ I¡¯ll be going now.¡± The boy tried to slip past, but Elaine grabbed his arm.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tell the others, or the next time I see you, I won¡¯t hesitate.¡± She looked him dead in the eyes, and let him go.


    The boy ran away, stepping over the piles of goo that used to be his brethren.


    ¡°I guess I was wrong about you.¡± Hex looked back at Elaine.


    ¡°My lady, we do not have much time. Every second counts.¡± Kalan tapped Elaine¡¯s shoulder.


    ¡°They¡¯re planning on killing the Zoriyans that were captured, we need to hurry.¡± She ran over and opened the door. She summoned the same pentagram as before and fired it into the room. Screams resounded but were subsequently cut off as the laser made its way across the room.


    ¡°My lady, may I handle the rest of this floor?¡± Kalan walked up to her.


    ¡°Sure, but make quick work of them, and let me know if you spot any other humans.¡± She patted him and pointed forward.


    Everyone followed behind Kalan as he went into the next few rooms. He swung his giant sword like it was nothing, One of them almost got away, but Din used her fan¡¯s light magic powers to knock the Demon Hunter back towards Kalan.


    ¡°Thank you, miss.¡± Kalan rested his yellow goo covered blade on his shoulder and gave a single nod to Din.


    ¡°You¡¯re welcome.¡± Din smiled at him.


    Kalan turned and walked up the stairs, and everyone followed behind him. They reached the second floor, and Kalan turned back to Elaine.


    ¡°Do you want to handle this floor, my lady?¡± He bowed respectfully.


    ¡°I did enough for now, how about you, Hex?¡± Elaine turned to Hex


    ¡°I¡¯ll take a crack at it.¡± Hex cracked his knuckles.


    ¡°After you.¡± Kalan stepped aside and gestured Hex forward.


    Hex went up and kicked the door, the four clawed toes on the front his feet, which he was wearing shoe-socks on, made scratch marks, the fifth toe¡¯s claw on the back of his foot almost got caught on the metal of the door.


    ¡°Still getting used to having your fifth toe on the back of your foot I see.¡± Elaine smiled and giggled.


    ¡°It still feels weird, lay off.¡± Hex frowned, and walked in.


    ¡°Hey, my feet are like that too, we can talk about it,¡± she said.


    He walked in, inside the floor there were cages all along the walls, with purple skin humanoid creatures with silver hair and purple eyes with claws on their hands and feet, like him.


    ¡°Wow, I¡¯ve never seen anything like this before.¡± he said as he looked at one of the creatures that had silver cat ears, short fur all over their body, and a dark purple tail.


    ¡°These are the Zoriyans, I¡¯ll open up a portal to get them out, you take on any Demon Hunters that try to stop us,¡± Elaine said, and opened up a portal.


    Kalan walked up to one of the cages, and his hand morphed and grew feathery claws. He took one swing at the lock, and it fell to the floor. He continued to walk to the rest of the cages and cut the locks off all of them. All the Zoriyans emptied out of the cages and surprisingly made a single file line to the portal.


    ¡°I would have thought they¡¯d stampede or something, that¡¯s weird,¡± Hex said.


    ¡°They are much too polite to do such a thing.¡± Elaine laughed.


    Hex stared at one of the Zoriyans with long, spindly fingers and light purple arms. Their face hidden by long silver hair, a cowlick next to their ear.


    ¡°That¡¯s a Sanoday, they are almost extinct. It¡¯s sad to see one had been captured, although their escape will be celebrated. She¡¯s waiting in line because she doesn¡¯t put herself above others.¡± Elaine pointed to the Zoriyan Hex was staring at.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never actually seen a magical creature before I became one so this is a little surreal for me,¡± he said.


    ¡°That pair of Zoriyans next to each other are Chronoloids, they are the type of Zoriyan that Zlyena is.¡± She pointed to the two near the back of the line that had bat wings on their backs and sharp cone-like horns sticking out from their short silver hair on the upper sides of their heads.


    ¡°What are the cat ones called?¡± Hex pointed to one of the Zoriyans that he saw earlier.


    ¡°They are called Kala, their body is covered with very soft fur, and they love getting petted on the head.¡± Elaine smiled as she pointed in the same direction.


    ¡°So they¡¯re part animal? Did they evolve from cats?¡± he asked.


    ¡°They were created with the leftover energy Zlyena had after she helped create the cosmos in the far away galaxy she is from,¡± she said.


    ¡°Did they have cats there?¡± he questioned even further.


    ¡°Something similar to them, yes.¡± She nodded.


    ¡°I¡¯m glad there aren¡¯t any children among the captured,¡± Din piped up, visibly distraught.


    ¡°They¡¯re gonna be okay Din, just be prepared to protect them if any Demon Hunters come.¡± Owen turned to her, and brandished his mallet.


    ¡°Why is this happening? What were they going to do to them?¡± Din asked.


    ¡°You won¡¯t like the answer,¡± Elaine said.


    ¡°I need to know what happens if I fail,¡± Din said.


    ¡°Either slavery or death, Zoriyans fetch a high price at auctions, since they are so rare. If they didn¡¯t, there would be no survivors.¡± Elaine slowly shook her head.


    ¡°Nobody deserves to live like that. I either win or I die,¡± Din said.


    ¡°Whoa, hey, Din, it¡¯s alright. We have Elaine here, we can¡¯t lose,¡± Owen said.


    ¡°I may be immortal, but I can still die,¡± Elaine said.


    ¡°Let¡¯s hope that doesn¡¯t happen,¡± he said.


    ¡°How do you know you can still die?¡± Hex asked


    ¡°Not dying wasn¡¯t in my contract.¡± She shrugged.


    ¡°Well, no Demon Hunters have come yet, and almost all of the Zoriyans are through the portal, we should be good,¡± Owen said.


    ¡°I hope so,¡± Din said.


    They watched the rest of the Zoriyans escape through the portal, and everyone sighed in relief when the last one went through. Elaine closed the portal and looked back at the rest of them.


    ¡°Sorry you weren¡¯t able to use your mallet, friend.¡± Elaine frowned, looking at Owen.


    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s fine, I don¡¯t really like fighting anyways.¡± He laughed.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get out of here,¡± Hex said, pointing towards the open door.


    ¡°I wonder why there were no rooms on this floor.¡± Din looked up to the stairs going up to the third floor.


    ¡°This is probably the holding area,¡± Elaine said.


    ¡°Are there more kinds of Zoriyans than what I saw?¡± Hex asked


    ¡°Yes, two more, but they are even rarer than the Sanoday. My mother is actually half-Zoriyan, which is why in her Zoriyan form she has lighter skin.¡± She smiled.


    ¡°That¡¯s cool, we can talk more about it on the way out.¡± He started to walk out.


    ¡°Thank god we didn¡¯t need to go to the top floor, the Demon Hunter boy made me too uncomfortable.¡± Din shivered as she walked behind Hex.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure he¡¯s fine, let¡¯s get going,¡± Elaine followed Din and Hex


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Owen nodded and walked with them.


    ¡°Yes, my lady.¡± Kalan bowed and followed his master.


    They left the building while Elaine talked about her mother¡¯s exploits. She had heard that her mother was a great warrior from Zlyena and had been told stories of her incredible feats. Her mother had wasted entire buildings of Demon Hunters back in the day. They thanked her for her story and parted ways, heading home.

 The Demons Maze

    Hex and Din were out walking during the evening, it wasn¡¯t dark out yet, they knew bad things happened when night would fall. They walked through the shopping district, talking while taking glances at the windows at the wares inside.


    ¡°I¡¯ve been working on a new song for you,¡± Hex said.


    ¡°Really? That¡¯s nice of you, I hope I don¡¯t take up most of the new album.¡± Din smiled.


    ¡°You¡¯re important to the band, so it would be too surprising.¡± He laughed.


    A red portal opened up in front of them, and Elaine came through.


    ¡°I have a test for you two, to see if you can really beat me, it¡¯s a maze, I¡¯m sure you¡¯ll like it.¡± Elaine smiled.


    ¡°I don¡¯t really want to, she and I were just talking, I¡¯d rather not devote my free time to petty squabbles.¡± He frowned at her.


    ¡°It wasn¡¯t a request.¡± She raised her hand and the scenery changed from street to a maze made out of a light blueish-green glass-like substance, with Greek statues lining the halls.


    ¡°What the fuck? Why would you bring us here? Can¡¯t you get it through your thick skull that I just want to be left alone?¡± he said angrily.


    She laughed and dissolved into a murder of crows, the crows flew away, leaving Hex and Din alone in the maze.


    ¡°She¡¯s acting more like a villain as of late,¡± he said.


    They started to walk, and stared at the statues, afraid they would start moving. His rage built up every step he walked, eventually it boiled over and he summoned his sword and cut down one of the statues in anger.


    ¡°I wish she would just fucking leave me alone!¡± He kicked the fallen statue.


    ¡°We¡¯ve gotta be calm and think about how to get of here, she¡¯s probably set up a lot of traps for us.¡± Din walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder.


    ¡°Alright, fine, but I swear she¡¯s getting a piece of my mind once we get out,¡± he said as he de-summoned his sword.


    They went into the next hallway, and he started to walk forward, but Din stopped him.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± He looked at her worriedly.


    ¡°Look closer at the floor.¡± She pointed down.


    He surveyed the floor in front of himself, and sharp shapes could be seen if he moved his head, they were invisible, whatever they were. Din walked up to one and poked it, and it snapped shut.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!


    ¡°Bear traps, but invisible.¡± She stood up, and summoned her fan. She turned around and used a spell on the floor, hail fell from the ceiling, and all of the invisible bear traps snapped shut.


    ¡°Do you think that¡¯s all of them?¡± he asked.


    ¡°It should be, I covered the entire area, I made sure of it.¡± She nodded.


    They walked through, making sure to keep an eye out for an invisible bear trap that hadn¡¯t been tripped just in case. They got to the next hallway, and as soon as they turned towards it, there were pendulums that activated and started to swing. They only swung to the left and right, which made the two of them breathe a sigh of relief.


    ¡°We got this.¡± He walked up to the pendulums.


    ¡°I know.¡± She followed him.


    They carefully timed their jump past the first pendulum, Din would feint her jumps a little before actually doing it, while Hex would just stare at it intently, waiting for it to pass. The second one was less anxiety inducing than the first, they thankfully jumped past it with only a split second to spare, the pendulum brushed against Din¡¯s face slightly. There was only one more, which made him and probably Din anxious, but they jumped only a little bit after the second and first, because they didn¡¯t want to re-gauge the jump by waiting.


    They went to the next hallway, which just had a bunch of giant spider-like webs. Din walked up to one and touched it, she had visible trouble getting her finger free.


    ¡°It¡¯s extremely sticky.¡± She looked at him.


    ¡°I can just use my sword.¡± He re-summoned his sword, and cut through the web.


    ¡°Won¡¯t our feet get stuck?¡± she asked.


    ¡°We just have to keep walking, it may be slow, but this hallway has to end.¡± He cut through the web behind it.


    He continued to slice through the webs, and as soon as he stepped on the fallen pieces of web, sure enough, his feet got stuck, but he eventually freed himself. He would get constantly stuck and have to free himself every couple yards, Din would step or jump over the webs instead, but even she would accidentally get stuck from time to time.


    ¡°That was very annoying,¡± Din said as she walked over to the next hallway.


    ¡°How did she even get past all that?¡± he asked.


    ¡°Not sure,¡± she said.


    They turned to an empty hallway, which was disconcerting, he walked behind Din with caution.


    ¡°You really shouldn¡¯t be in front, it¡¯s too dangerous, you should be closer to me,¡± he said.


    ¡°I¡¯ll be fine, besides, it¡¯s worked out in our favor the whole way through up to this point.¡± She shrugged.


    A whooshing noise came from the floor in between them. He looked down, and there was a flame coming out of the floor in between them. Before he could tell her, it shot up to the ceiling, centimeters from covering him in flames. The flames spread out and blocked his path, and he heard her scream his name. He covered his ears, tears pooling under his eyes and rolling down his cheeks. There was nothing he could do.


    He felt like the flames were burning for an eternity, and then they were gone. He opened his eyes and wiped them, all that was in front of him was burnt ground and a pile of ash.


    ¡°No!¡± Hex screamed, he ran to the pile of ash and brushed it away, hoping to find her, but there was nothing under it.


    He held a hand full of ash in his hand, and looked at it. He felt all the life inside him leave his body. It felt like someone was hollowing him out like a pumpkin, leaving nothing left. The next thing he knew, he couldn¡¯t see through the tears in his eyes, so he blinked and wiped them away.


    ¡°Let me out,¡± he whispered


    ¡°What was that?¡± Elaine¡¯s voice echoed through the hall.


    ¡°I said let me out! You killed her! Let me go!¡± he screamed, and slammed the floor with his fists. The only thing left inside of him was anger and sadness. He felt like there was something empty inside him, and the emptiness gnawed at him, it was prevalent and painful.


    ¡°Alright, you two can go,¡± she said.


    Hex and the pile of ash were transported back, confirming his suspicions that the pile of ash was all that was left of her.

 Hypoxia

    Hex sat in the interrogation room in the police station.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t kill her, it wasn¡¯t me, I... Had nothing on me that could... Do something like that,¡± Hex said, his head lowered.


    ¡°Then how was she, as you said, reduced to ash?¡± the cop asked.


    ¡°I¡­ Don¡¯t know, it just happened.¡± He shook his head, he would be branded an insane person if he told the cop the real story. He felt the lump in his throat get bigger, and it became harder for him to breathe. He usually was the kind of guy who bottled up his emotions and masked his almost crippling depression and nagging anxiety, but it was all threatening to spill over.


    ¡°So you¡¯re saying that she just turned to ash like that?¡± The cop snapped his fingers.


    ¡°Yes, I don¡¯t care if you... Believe me, that¡¯s what happened,¡± He was lying, he wanted the cop to buy his lies so he could bide his time enough to kill Elaine for what she did.


    ¡°Was there anyone else there?¡± the cop asked.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°No... There was nobody.¡± that was another lie


    ¡°Are you trying to cover for someone?¡± the cop pushed further.


    ¡°No, of course not, I want to find out what happened.¡± He looked up at the cop.


    ¡°Then why does it seem to me like you are hiding something?¡± the cop questioned.


    ¡°I¡¯m not hiding anything, that¡¯s what happened, she just¡­ turned to ash in front of me, why¡­ Why don¡¯t you believe me?¡± he questioned back.


    ¡°Because I¡¯ve never heard of a spontaneous combustion that didn¡¯t leave bones behind.¡± The cop slammed his hands onto the table.


    ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ Know how there weren¡¯t any bones, I only know what I saw,¡± he said.


    ¡°It just doesn¡¯t fit, I don¡¯t know why you¡¯re so adamant about keeping quiet, it¡¯s like you don¡¯t want to find out what really happened.¡± The cop tried to make Hex feel guilty ¡°I¡¯m not¡­ Keeping quiet, I swear.¡± He didn¡¯t know how to tell the cop the truth, so he continued to lie.


    ¡°Alright, you¡¯re free to go, for now.¡± The cop walked him out.


    ¡°Are you gonna be okay?¡± Owen asked him as he walked up to him.


    ¡°No, she¡¯s gone man, she¡¯s gone,¡± he said, his voice wobbling.


    ¡°I know, I¡¯m so sorry.¡± Owen hugged him.


    They went home in silence, and all he could think about was Din and revenge against Elaine, he went straight to his room afterwards, and laid in his bed for the rest of the night. He was in between fits of crying and screaming into his pillow, he hated Elaine for what she had done, she had taken everything from him. He was truly alone at that moment, and no one could touch him.

 Asphyxia

    Hex laid on his bed, all the anger and sadness emptied out of him through hours of crying, all that was left was a deep emptiness that he couldn¡¯t bear. He looked to the acid tabs on his nightstand, and wondered how many it would take to end it all. The emptiness inside of him was overwhelming, it hurt so much, all he felt was pain on the inside. There was nothing left for him now, he held her above everything else, and the fact that she was gone made his world come crashing down. Nothing else mattered but her, she was his big break, he thought he finally found his soul mate, only for them to be ripped away from each other.


    He thought about how he could never tell her his feelings for her again, how he could never dote on her again, no more late nights emptying each other¡¯s souls out onto each other, no more sleepy mornings where they¡¯d just smile at each other, it was all gone.


    The rush of sentimental feelings brought back his sadness for a moment, and he rolled back to put his face on his pillow and sob softly for a little while. She was gone. He was left behind. The nagging emptiness inside himself was soul crushing, He couldn¡¯t take much more of it. His will to continue on living was gone.A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.


    A million things slowly churned in his mind, like his life was flashing before his eyes, like he was weighing his worth to see if it was worth it to continue. All the horrible moments faded in and out, and he cringed, he didn¡¯t have that much will to live in the first place. All the moments he had with her poured slowly into his head, and he waded through it over and over again, the good things about his life that he could never re-live.


    He thought about her and the time they spent together constantly, he was gripped with a fear of evanescence, like he would lose her completely eventually if he continued on. So he decided he would join her instead. He got up and walked over to the nightstand, stared at the tabs, and mindlessly counted them in his head. Twenty, he thought that¡¯d be enough for him to never worry about losing her ever again. He missed Din so much, she was an angel to him, he couldn¡¯t bear to be without her anymore. He ripped them all off and took them one by one. He laid back down and waited for the tabs to take effect.

 Hallucinogene

    Hex was falling through the sky, he didn¡¯t scream, and just went with the flow. He wondered when he would hit the ground, and if it would hurt. He looked up at the passing clouds and just listened to the wind blowing into his ears. The clouds eventually fell away from him, He turned over and looked down. There was an island shaped like an egg, with neon green water around it. His descent slowed down until he was floating down very softly.


    He landed on the egg shaped island. He turned around, and the neon green waves sloshed behind him lazily. He went into the tropical forest, and through the ferns, found a pot bellied pig.


    ¡°You know, usually the one who has a relationship with the victim is the first on the police¡¯s interrogation list,¡± the pig said.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t come here to get lectured by a pig,¡± he said, and closed the ferns in front of himself.


    He continued on until he came to a sandy clearing that had a unicorn with a banana for a horn in the center.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t here to lecture me too, are you?¡± He warily stepped into the clearing.


    ¡°It¡¯s not your time yet, she¡¯s alive, you have to go back soon.¡± the unicorn said in his head.


    ¡°No, you¡¯re wrong. I¡¯m not going back this time. She¡¯s dead, I have nothing now.¡± He shook his head.


    ¡°You will find out soon enough.¡± The unicorn shook its head.


    ¡°You better get used to me, because I¡¯m staying.¡± He pointed down.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.


    ¡°Whatever you say.¡± The unicorn chuffed.


    ¡°Don¡¯t get bitchy with me, you¡¯re almost as bad as the pig.¡± He folded his arms.


    ¡°Go to the meat, then, and leave me.¡± The unicorn gestured with its head towards ferns made of uncooked bacon.


    ¡°Oh well this is a fucking nightmare.¡± His stomach churned at the sight of the meat.


    ¡°Face your fear,¡± the unicorn said.


    ¡°Fucking meat of all things, why is this happening to me?¡± He walked over to the bacon ferns.


    They made a disgusting noise as he waded through them.


    ¡°I might just puke,¡± he said to himself.


    Everything went green, and his vision wobbled.


    ¡°Poison meat ferns, fucking astounding,¡± he grumbled.


    He got to the other side, and a beautiful array of rainbow colored shells littered the shore. The green color faded, and so did the wobbling. A crab popped itself out of one of the rainbow shells.


    ¡°The end is not nigh! The world will go on, with or without us!¡± the crab squeaked in a high pitched voice.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, Earth and Cluster still exists, and won¡¯t stop existing when I¡¯m gone.¡± He nodded ¡°See, you don¡¯t need explaining! Nothing does! Everything exists for a reason! With or without god!¡± The crab made clicking noises with its claws and started to dance.


    ¡°That¡¯s right, existential crab.¡± He smiled and nodded, finally, someone that wasn¡¯t lecturing or bitchy.


    ¡°I¡¯m just a blip on the radar! I¡¯m just a blip on the radar!¡± the crab started to sing.


    ¡°Sing it, crab buddy.¡± He sat down on the sand, the little crab had some good lungs on her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t wanna grow up, I¡¯m a Toy Trove kid!¡± the crab started singing jingles from commercials.


    ¡°Oh god, I remember that,¡± he giggled, and laid down on the sand.


    ¡°Abuse is never a good thing! Don¡¯t spank your kids!¡± the crab squeaked.


    ¡°I don¡¯t have kids, but okay.¡± He nodded again.


    ¡°There¡¯s confetti in my eyes! Get it out!¡± the crab went back into its shell.


    ¡°Wait! Come back!¡± He sat up and grabbed the shell, but it was empty. The only thing left inside it was the sounds of the ocean, and a few bits of glitter.


    The shell sucked him in, and the next thing he knew he was waking up on a hospital bed. His eyelids felt like they weighed a thousand pounds, and the emptiness was back. He was pissed that the tabs he took wasn¡¯t enough to kill himself.