Redwood, Maine.

A living shadow traversed the dark halls of Hades. Abigoth had descended through the Nine Circles and arrived at the final passageway. It was dark and insidious; illuminating an aura of malice, terror, and woe. Skull torches, burning with a black flame, lined the walls. At the end of the gothic hall a great door was located.

The door was charcoal black and circular. Surrounding a large pentagram were patterns of skulls, bones, and flame. As Abigoth rested a gauntleted hand against the ice cold metal, he light out a sigh. He never enjoyed entering the Inner Circle.

His hand gripped the handle on the door and slowly turned it. Ancient gears, after not stirring for millennia, gradually awoke with new life. The door opened to reveal a dark cave; the darkest cave. A sea of bitter cold ice lay before him. Arctic wind that bit into flesh and bone like razor sharp daggers roared in powerful gales. Abigoth stepped into the eternal blizzard, heading to the center, where darkness gave birth.

As the dark spirit trudged through the snow, who’s flakes sliced through skin like soggy paper, he saw the remains of the tortured souls who were sent the bottom most level; into the very presence of the master they chose. They were naked but for a small torn loincloth. Countless scars, cuts, and bruises covered their body. What hair wasn’t pulled from the roots by the merciless wind was matted across their faces. Blood soaked their bodies as they drudged aimlessly for all eternity through the endless storm.

Under his dark hood, Abigoth smiled.

Finally Abigoth came to the Eye of the Hurricane of Everlasting Shadow. An enormous block of ice sat before him. Cold. Lifeless. No, asleep. Waiting. He fell onto all fours and knelt before his master.

“My lord,” he said in a dark, deep, sinister voice, “I have come at your summoning.”

Suddenly, deep within the ice, awoken two fiery slits. Eyes, resonating with rage, hatred, malice, jealousy, and suffering, stared into the once-mortal demon. The eerie light illuminated the vague shape locked within. Abigoth was never able to tell what it was however, for even looking at his master caused his very soul to burn.

“It is time, my servant.” He said. “It is time that we unite this realm. Gather your legions and bring the entire Underworld under my banner! They will either join us or be destroyed. We must unite, for the time of my liberation is drawing near…”

“I will do as you command, my lord…”

“Now go forth, Abigoth, and bring darkness, death, and despair to the world!” The voice trailed off as the glow of the eyes began to fade.

Abigoth rose and made his journey out of the Inner Circle. He never enjoyed the cold there. Though, it was what he wanted was it not, to dwell in the master’s shadow of evil for all eternity?

“That is what they wanted as well…” he thought as he glanced at the tortured souls wandering through the wasteland. “Pathetic fools. Now… where are my lieutenants?”

Abigoth took another step and vanished in a cloud of smoke. It was time to gather the legions…

Amelia Lethera - The Witch


The morning was new; with the crisp calm cool air rolling in as the sun was rising over the trees, and the cloud scattered skies shined over the town of Redwood. The sound of boots crunching on leaves could be heard in the field behind a few houses; just before the edge of the dark woods, and the sound of a camera taking a photo clicked throughout the area. Red hair blew in the breeze softly, and two chocolate brown eyes rose from behind the large camera. These were the eyes of Amelia Lethera.

She had just taken some beautiful shots of a deer grazing through the frost bitten grass that was still edible; but it soon ran away once she had moved, but she still had been able to capture it's stillness and beauty. She smiled and put the strap around her neck, before checking her watch and seeing it was now 6 am. She looked towards the town of Redwood; deciding it was probably time to head back to the house before her Aunt started to worry.

She didn't really know what she was going to do until 7; when Ali met her at the coffee shop and they walked to school after having some coffee and breakfast but she decided it wouldn't be long until 7 rolled around the corner. She could only take out her cell phone, the Droid 2, and scrolled down. No new messages; people usually didn't wake up till about 6:30 or 7 but Amelia could be a morning person and a night person. She continued to walk until she reached the sidewalk and made her way down to AppleStock street, the nice clean middle class housing she lived in. Her Aunt was part witch; and had lived in Redwood all her life without being detected as a witch, and that's one reason Amelia came to Redwood.

Amelia walked inside her house; setting her camera down in it's box on the kitchen counter and sitting down on the couch. She was wearing her black fuzzy winter coat with large buttons down the front, and she was wearing dark skinny jeans with a striped sweater of gray and black underneath. Her bright red hair laid on her shoulders and back peacefully; as her boots rested on the floor as she watched the morning news. She would wait for Ali to knock on the door; and they would be off to the coffee shop.

Alex sighed. He still wasn't quite used to getting up so early. It seemed like ages ago that he finished the final for his last class when he attended high school. Alex had heard that there was something going on at the high school here between certain students and the underworld creatures. His face wore the expression of rage when he thought about it. Humans, whom he swore to protect from this filth, interacting with them!? He let out a long breath and shut his eyes. His mind drifted back to how he found this out.

Blood. That's all it wanted. The vampire snarled at Alex as he approached the foul creature. "Don't. That expression just makes your face look deformed and even more ugly than it already is." He drew a Tanto. One would suffice. The vampire hissed in response. "You think you can take me with that....? You mortals are dumber than I thought." Alex drew closer. "Not to mention hypocrites, too. You say you protect them from us.....but what about the ones that love us....? What about them?"

Alex stopped dead in his tracks. "What do you mean?"

The vampire chuckled. "There are those among your ranks who are intimate with us....who....give us their hearts."

Alex growled. "Liar!" he lunged at the creature, taking it by surprise. It manged to catch the blade in it's hand, which made blood pour down the vampire's arm. It grunted.

"Wrong move." Alex said, smiling. with his other hand, he had already unholdstered his pistol, and fired it into the vampire's heart cavity. The creature screamed, then died. Moving quickly, Alex carried the body away from the area, knowing people would be drawn to the scream. He burned it, and it's possessions that it was carrying.

The world faded to the present. Alex opened his eyes. After previous extensive research, Alex deduced that the interactions involved students. He just didn't know which ones. Alex was determined to try and talk some sense into them.

Since he doubted that he could just enroll, he faked an FBI ID, something which was NOT done easily. He had to pull some strings. Alex had gone earlier before school started to talk to the principal. After explaining the situation, the principal still wasn't quite sure what to do. Alex didn't tell him why he was going "Undercover", just that it was important. Finally, the man gave in. He told the staff that he was a transfer student, and that was the end of it.

All he had to do now was show up.

Evie sat up quickly in her oversized king bed, panting, her hand coming to her sweat soaked forehead, her bangs sticking to her head, she wiped them aside. Her blankets entangled her and she threw them on the floor, not knowing why she slept with them anyway, she always got too hot. Another nightmare, she shook her head clear, trying to forget the terror in the eyes of the person she had dreamt of. It had been of Derek, a nightmare of killing him again. She hated it, she always had this dream around a full moon, it scared her. Although she knew she would never hurt him, it reminded her of what she was and what she could do. Derek was the only constant in her life, the only thing that could make her consistently happy and calm, and she loved him with all of her abnormal heart.

Looking over at her clock the red lights showed that it was 6:12am. Too early she thought to herself, she threw herself back onto her pillow and closed her eyes, thinking about trying to go back to sleep, but it was of no use, she knew once she was up, she was up for good. It was too hot anyway, even in basket ball shorts and a t-shirt. Slowly getting out of her bed, stretching, she grabbed a pair of socks and tennis shoes and headed outside. It was still dark, but the sun was rising, slowly. She could still see the moon and she glared at it with a sense of hatred. A large, warm hand fell onto her shoulder, it didn’t startle her, but she wasn’t prepared for it and she looked to see who it belonged to. “Hey kiddo.” It had been her dad, Charlie, he squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. He must have seen her look at the moon in a less than happy manner. “I can’t say that it will get easier, but, you will learn how to cope with it and get used to it. It’s hard, and I’m sorry that I brought you into this world as this, it was selfish.” He shook his head and took a sip of coffee, the sun was already higher in the sky, and she could tell that he hadn’t meant to have such a deep conversation so early in the morning. He was already in his suit and was about to head to work and he dropped his hand off her shoulder, kissed her on the cheek and went to his car. He gave her a crooked, sad smile and a small wave before he climbed in, then drove away.

That was the hardest part for her. Seeing her dad have to deal with it. He wasn’t old, only 38, and his short red hair and goatee was already getting grays in it. His blue eyes were deep and knowing, but they looked old and tired. It killed her to see this. She had planned to go running but after the conversation with her dad, she decided to just head back inside and hop in the shower. When she walked past her room again she looked at the clock, it was already 6:30, she normally met Derek right outside of her house at 7:10 and they walked to school together. She could have driven but walking was much nicer except in severe weather, and she liked spending the extra time alone with him. If nothing else could clear her mind, talking with Derek always fixed everything.

Lance's eyes opened as a single ray of brilliant sunlight poked him in the eyes. At least, Lance thought it was Sunlight. Lance's eyes opened as a harsh breeze blasted through his window, sending goosebumps across his chiseled abs and sending a chill down his spine. Lance moved his arm over to the table beside his bed, where his alarm, phone and book was. Yeah, Lance keeps a book beside his bed in case he gets bored while sleeping. Even though that isn't possible, he still has it as a habit.

Lance pulled himself up from the groove he'd left in his bed and twirled himself around, letting his feet lightly brush the floor. He stood, feeling the cool wood underneath his feet. Lance proceeded to look around, trying to shake the dream from his head, but it didn't budge. Lance proceeded to walk over to the Bathroom door, which is where hew paused. His hand was on the doorknob, but it felt hot. Too hot, like someone had put it in an over and let it bake for an hour. Lance closed his eyes, he wasn't bothered by the fact that the doorknob was probably burning him. Well, it would have burned him if he was a Human, but he wasn't.

Lance turned the knob, feeling the door fall back under his command. He pushed the door fully open and stepped inside the room. It was colder in here than it was outside, that's for sure. It always had been the coldest room in the House. Lance stepped forward as the coolness embraced him, as if he was a close friend. He didn't know what it was, but something seemed to compel him to look in the mirror.

Lance turned, seeing himself in the mirror for the first time in twelve hours. He walked over to the mirror and touched it. His hand immediately withdrew from the glass, as it was frozen to touch. Lance moved away, and opened the shower door. He turned the hot knob on, followed by the cold knob. He stepped inside, after taking his clothes off, obviously.

The shower was warm, and it washed away almost everything from Lance's mind. The only thing he could really think about was Rikki, how beautiful she was, how lucky he was to have her. Lance drifted away into thought, and enjoyed his shower to almost no end.

All that could be seen inside Derek's dark room at the brink of twilight was the glowing orange butt of his cigarette in hand. It had been another long and sleepless night for him; staying up was nothing new. He had been tossing and turning for hours; he read a book, listened to music; nothing could soothe his insomnia. A throaty sigh escaped his pomegranate red lips, exhaling the last plume of smoke that his shrinking cigarette would allow. Then he mashed it against his ashtray and sank back into his tobacco scented bedsheets, his eyes briefly scanning his alarm clock.

It was almost a quarter past five in the morning. He closed his eyes temporarily, gnawing on his bottom lip and interlacing his fingers over his head. His alarm would ring in less than an hour- he could almost hear the seconds of his last chance at sleep ticking away - but on the brighter side, it meant he would be seeing Evie quite soon. He laid there, still as a corpse with his eyes tightly shut, his mind whirling with nightmarish memories of his father. Before he knew it, he was immersed in a cold state of pseudosleep and his alarm began to shriek.

He rolled over and slapped it, bringing himself to sit up, then proceeding to dragging himself toward the bathroom. He washed up, and once he was finished threw on the gray v-neck sweater Evie had gotten him as a gift one Christmas over blue jeans. He pulled on his favorite Doc Martens, wrapped a scarf around his neck and slipped into his leather jacket. His dark hair was wild and still damp from his shower, but a few fingers run through it slicked it into place. He was out the door by 6:30; he mounted his motorcycle, started it and drove off toward the suburbs.

When he arrived at Evie's, his unwavering demeanor altered drastically. The apples of his cheeks turned pink despite the nip of the cold, and his full lips curled into a handsome grin as he approached her front door. Like the gentleman his mother trained him to be, he rang the doorbell and waited for his lovely girlfriend to answer. He hoped her night went much better than his had, but having bonded with Evie in a way that only a handful of people, is any, experienced, something told him otherwise.

Ali opened his eyes lazily at six-thirty, a bit of sunlight peaking through his thick curtains as something by Katy Perry blasted from his radio...His mom had been messing with it again, awesome. She always said something about how teenagers were supposed to like loud, crazy music and force their parents to turn it down...Not listen to classical music at a reasonable volume. Actually, he was constantly teased by his parents for supposedly being an old man in a teenager's body. Yeah, whatever.

He sat up and yawned, not yet wanting to get out of bed, but at the same time wanting to get ready to go see Amelia. He smiled as he thought about her. So, climbing out of bed, he turned his alarm off and headed to take a shower, he could hear his dad downstairs doing...Whatever it was he did in the mornings. He didn't do much of the work in his business, so he didn't know why the man bothered to get up so early. Ten minutes later he was wearing a pair of jeans, a dark blue tee-shirt and nothing yet on his feet, he'd get to that, though.

He walked back into his room and grabbed his phone off it's charger, nothing new. Awesome, he wasn't much of a texter, anyway. After pulling on some socks and a pair of steel-toed boots, he grabbed one of his grey zip-up hooded sweatshirts and after running his fingers through his curly hair one last time decided to just put on the company hat his dad always made him wear when he worked. It was dark green, had the company logo on it and kind of made him a walking billboard, but, hey, it was better than nothing.

Then he was off, headed to Amelia's house with nothing more than a simple, "Bye!" To offer his father as he walked out the door. As he neared his girlfriend's house he realized he'd be a little early, oh well. He ran up the steps and knocked on the door, grinning rather stupidly as he waited.

Rikki smashed the alarm clock on her bedside for the 5th time and rolled over, still squinting as the bright sunlight filtered through her think] curtains and nearly blinded her. It was six o'clock. She she still another 3 hours at the least before she began to care about school, but she sat up anyway, rubbing a hand through her messy hair and yawning. The frosty morning air surrounded her almost instantly but she was used to it by now, and she reached her her robe and shrugged it on before swinging her feet over the edge of her bed and stretching.Without ever realizing it, she'd made a habit of always glancing at the picture she had of Lance on her nightstand every morning and smiling. It was natural of course. He was only reason she ever actually got up every morning. If Rikki didn't have him to see, she'd sleep the whole day away in the comfort of her warm sea of covers.

But since she did have him, she got and walked over to her bathroom and splashed some water on her face to help wake up, and shook her hair until it was light and fluffy like always, rubbed some tooth paste on her teeth and trudged out of the bathroom to her closet. "What to wear, what to wear..." Rikki found herself singing as she picked out a cute dress pulled on her favorite leggings, and returned to her mirror, drawing a very think line of eyeliner on each eye and a small layer and lip gloss. Lance absolutely hated when she wore any makeup but she did it anyway, every now and then. It'd become a necessity, just like heels. His height had left her scrambling to find a way to measure up to him long-ago, and she'd let that insecurity go long-ago, but it was an unconscious need. Lance made Rikki feel small and delicate like a porcelain doll sometimes, and she hated that the most. She didn't want to be a nuisance.

Satisfied with her appearance, Rikki picked up her purse and books and walked downstairs. Her parents were already gone for the day, to be back only god knows when. They probably wouldn't even be back today. They hardly ever did come back during the week. It'd become so common they didn't even leave notes anymore. She only shrugged on Lance's jacket she'd taken a while ago and poured a cup of coffee for her own self, and walked outside on her front porch and sat on the step. Sipping at her coffee she began to draw the landscape before hand while she waited for him to come and escort her to school. Redwood had to be the most uneventful town ever, but he insisted on walking her anyway.

Abigoth stood just outside the Nine Rings, overlooking the landscape of the Underworld. Dark, mocking eyes scanned the divided world. His hands were behind his back, left held in the right, gripping the dreadlocks of the severed head of one of his messengers.

They refused to join them. They refused to stand by His side. They have chosen death, and death he will bring them…

His lieutenants stood behind him and to the left and right, six in all. Each had a pair of dark red, bat-like wings folded against their backs. In their hands they gripped enormous fiery broadsword, spears, and axes. They wore little armor except for breastplates and helmets. Thick biceps, halves, forearms, and other assorted muscles tensed in anticipation. Some had hooves; others had lizard-like feet. Horns decorated the tops of their heads.

“Go forth my lieutenants,” said Abigoth, “and command your legions to slaughter all in your path. Show no mercy. Do not stop until they surrender. All hail The Master!”

“All hail the Master!” cried the lieutenants. They spread their wings and leaped into the air in sync, ready to make the Underworld burn.

-------------------------------------------------

A man stood at the end of Lance’s driveway. He wore a black trench coat, with the color pulled up, and a black hat. His face was shrouded in deep shadows. The man slowly walked up the driveway and stood on the porch. Lifting a gloved hand up to the door he knocked.

Lance exited the warm shower, and as soon as hi stepped out, the cold hit him like a Train, literally. The Bathroom had fogged up like a swamp. But, well, minus the actual Swamp part. The fog was pretty darn thick, and Lance could barely see anything in the room. He listened to the sounds of his iPod playing in his room, sending brilliant soundwaves through his House. For some reason he liked the Song that was playing, even though it was in Japanese. It motivated him to be his best, and he knew all of the lyrics.

He followed the lyrics of the song and quickly dried himself, then found some Clothes. He looked around in his closet and fond some Jeans and a T-Shirt. He looked them over quickly. The jeans were blue and slightly faded, and the shirt was red, with traces of Yellow on it. He threw the Shirt back into the pile and picked up another. It was that Shirt. The Quickman one, well...

A few months ago, Lance had gone to a Party, it was fancy dress, or so they called it. Lance, loving Megaman to death, decided to dress up as his favorite Robot Master, Quickman. His best friend had gone as Metalman, and they were having a great time. Lance embraced the memories as if they were family. He tried to remember who he'd met that night, and then he remembered. That was the Night that he'd met Her...

"Man, that was ages ago! I mean, come on... Back then I thought love was nothing..."

Lance put the shirt down gently, as if it was his best friend, which it was, in a way. Lance walked around, and after putting on his clothes he sat down, and he remembered what he'd said that Night. He knew his words all too well, as they'd burned themselves into his mind. As he began to say the words that he'd said months ago, the song he was listening to decided to follow him.

"You know, how do I say this? I think love is a big waste of time. Because life is so short, right? I mean why do i have to waste my precious time..." Lances voice went faster, as it usually does when he is deep in thought. ".... OnSomeoneElse. IHaveSoManyThingsIWantToDoAndWorkIsFinallyPickingUpForMe,ToTellYouTheTruthIThinkPeopleWhoWasteTheirTimeWith
LoveAreLosers. NoSeriouslyI'mNotBeingJealous....."

Lance started to feel strange, and he kept going on past where the song stopped, and he kept going on.

"ButEverSinceThatDayIMetYouI'mLikeADollThatHasn'tBeenWound, SystemShutdown, Ican'tConcentrateOnAnything. ThoseNightsThatUsedToFeelSoShort; NowICan'tSleepAndTheyFeelLikeAnEternity. IFeelLikeAnIdiot, LookAtMe, I'mAnIdiot! THIS ISN'T ME!..."

Lance finally realised that he was out of breath and nearly passed out, so he gulped in as much air as he could. His cheeks were red by the time he'd finished so he went to wash his face again. He proceeded back into the Bathroom and turned on his cold water. He cupped his hands and they filled with water, and he pressed them to his face. The cool water immediately made him feel better, and he kept on flicking water onto his face until he felt alright. He stood up and smelled the air, something seemed off. It wasn't him, he'd shower and put deodorant on and everything, so it definitely wasn't him.

A few minutes later Lance was putting on his new shoes, worth $130 or something like that, at least. They were Osiris, Skate Shoes that seemed to be Ski Boots in disguise, which they weren't. Lance had just finished tying his laces when there was a knock at the door, it was loud, almost unnaturally loud. Lance pushed aside one of the curtains and peered outside. There was someone on his doorstep, dressed in a trenchcoat and a hat that obscured all of their features. They looked very shady.

Lance stood, taking his time to get to the door, after all, why would he want to answer to this mysterious person? It was just after six in the morning, but still, Lance decided to answer the door. Eventually, after a few minutes, Lance reached the door. He grasped the knob, and turned. The door opened, and a breeze rolled in. The figure was still there, surprisingly. Lance gave it a bored look, and opened his mouth.

"Who are you, and why are you here?"

Something told him that something was up in the Underworld. Lance wondered if his Brother was still alive, being Royalty and all. Maybe this guy was an Assassin sent by a new ruler. Wait, if Lance's Brother had died, doesn't that mean that he was the new King?

"So who are you? Tell me, I haven't got all day".

The man in the trench coat looked over Lance with his eyes finally setting into his. You could see two faint glows underneath his hat, and beneath that a puff of fog erupted. Overall the man gave off a mysterious aura. Without moving his eyes off of Lance, the man reached into his coat and pulled out a folded piece of paper. Sealing the paper was an insignia of a pentagram. Directly above it was a name printed in a fiery red ink.

Prince Lancelot Quinnzeill

Under the seal was a letter written in the same font and ink.

Salutations, Prince Lancelot Quinnzeill

This is an official notice of draft. You are hereby commanded to return to the Underworld to serve under the command of General Abigoth. Once arriving, you shall be appointed as Commander of Legion No. 2-7. We are hereby at WAR with the lycans, vampires, and users of forbidden arts. Report to General Abigoth within three days. Failure to do so and you will be classified AWOL and will be charged with treason against The Master. This is an official notice of draft.

General Abigoth

Once the letter leaves the man's hands, he vanishes in a cloud of smoke. Possibly to deliver more draft letters.

---------------------------------------------------

At the same moment, Abigoth stood in his war room with his lieutenants. It was a round, dark, Gothic chamber filled with contraptions of torture. In the center was a large table with a three-dimensional map of the Underworld and detailed figurines of demons, lycans, vampires, and werewolves. At the center of the map were the Nine Rings. The rest of the Underworld was divided into three sections of equal size surrounding the circumference of the rings. Two groups of ten demon figurines, each representing a legion, were positioned at each border.

"First" said Abigoth, speaking to his lieutenants, "We must keep our enemies equally weak while we remain strong. That means we must sabotage each of the races. Send a commando regiment into each of the territories and retrieve medallions from the Vampires, battle standards from the Witches and Warlocks, and ceremonial spears from the Lycans. Then I want you to slay twenty of each faction, near all the borders, which makes forty for each race and one hundred twenty in all."

"For the vampires, impale their heads on the Witch standards near that border and slay the ones near the Lycan border with the spears. In the Witches and Warlock's realm, slay the twenty near the Lycan border with the spears and plant the medallions on the ones near the Vampires' border. Finally, in the Lycan's territory, place their heads on the standards at the Witches' border and plant the medallions on the bodies near the other border."

"Once they are heavily indulged in fighting each other for the deaths of their comrades, I want each of you to take your armies and attack at the specified points I've marked on the map: Here, here, here, here.. here, and here. Did I make myself clear?" he said, looking at each of his lieutenants.

"Yes sir!"

"Aye!"

"Aye, milord."

"Crystal."

"Yes, General."

"Wha-"

Before the confused demon could even finish his statement, Abigoth vanished in a cloud of smoke. The demon looked at the empty space in front of him with a glassy stare. He felt a slight sting at his throat and lifted his clawed fingers up to his neck. They came away covered in his black blood. His jaw dropped and he looked at each of his comrades. Finally the demon's head fell from his shoulders and landed with a thud with the body following suit.

Abigoth stood behind the demon, facing him. His left leg was stretched behind him and his right bent at the knee in a pseudo-crouch while his left arm supported his body. The General's right hand was outstretched to his side, his hand holding a saber that glowed with a purple ethereal hue. A single drop of blood ran along the blade and dripped onto the floor.

The blade was consumed in dark flame as the irritated General rose to his feet. With his now empty hand he snapped his fingers and a new lieutenant appeared in a pillar of fire. He stood in the spot once occupied by the previous one. Abigoth looked at his other lieutenants.

"Inform him on the plan. I will depart to me chambers." he turned to leave, and just before he got to the door he stopped, "And... Find a group of imps to clean up this body and place it in the reincarnation chamber."

Abigoth left the room. The lieutenants vanished in a puff of fire, eager to do his bidding.

Amelia heard the knocks at the door; and she jumped up with a grin, running over it and grabbing her messenger bag. She opened it up, seeing Ali standing there and she instantly hugged him almost a small tackle, grinning. "I missed you!" she said with a smile, looking up at him and kissing his cheek softly.

"Come on. Let's get to the coffee shop." she said, grabbing his hand and intertwining her fingers with his and pulling him down the steps as they started walking down the sidewalk. She smiled at him. "So how did you sleep? Any interesting dreams?" she asked with a small smile, looking up at him as they walked.

Cassandra woke up at precisely six thirty in the morning to her mother gently shaking her awake, apparently she had fallen asleep on the bench at the bay window in her bedroom. She sat with her back against the wall with a small light blue blanket resting over her, it now fell to the floor as she started awake and stared at her mother with sleepy almond shaped brown eyes.

Naomi raised her eyebrow at her daughter, " School?"

This got Cassandra moving quickly as her eyes widened and lost their sleepyness, she said nothing as she jumped up to run into the adjoining bathroom and the door closed behind her. Naomi smiled and shook her head as she picked up the fallen blanket, folding it as she heard the sound of the water running for her daughter's morning shower. She put the blanket away before she walked downstairs to make, her now running late daughter, some breakfast before she left the house for the day.

Cassandra quickly had her shower, getting out to blow dry her hair and fix her naturally pin straight hair with her bangs framing her ivory skinned face. She glanced at the clock before calmly walking back into her bedroom, more assured of the time she had to get ready now, and walked directly to her closet and dresser. After a few moments of consideration, Cassandra decided on the outfit with the short blue jean shorts and criss-crossing thin black and white belts that were over the simple dark blue tank top. Onceshe was back in the bathroom, she put a light dusting of a grey eyeshadow on her eyelids then used mascara and black eyeliner to, well, line her eyes. Her usual lip gloss finished her makeup as she added her favourite medium-sized silver hoop earrings and usual necklace with the treble clef pendant to her look.

She smiled at herself in the mirror before she walked back into her bedroom and located her small brown, white and black plaid bag that she peeked into to check if she had everything she needed. She moved her cellphone from her bedside table to her shorts' pocket. Keys, check. Binders, check since her textbooks were at the school in her locker. Sketchpad and pencil, check. It appeared as though she were ready to go eat something and be on her way.

The teenager quickly walked down the hall to the kitchen where her mother had a lunch for her and a few pieces of toast sitting on a plate for her. Cassandra placed the lunch in her bag that she put down at her feet. She slid onto the chair she had stood beside and, with a nod to her mother in appreciation, picked up the cooling toast and took numerous bites until both pieces were compeltely gone.

" Thanks mom," She said with a smile as she quickly walked back to the bathroom she was the only resident of and brushed her teeth. She reentered the kitchen and picked up her bag, giving her mother a quick hug and kiss on the cheek as she raced from the house. Her mother stared, with a small smile on her lips, at her daughter who seemed to be so full of energy again. With a shake of her head and the smile still in place, Naomi cleaned up the crumbs and dirty plate her daughter had left behind. Her daughter being late was entertaining during the odd chances when she ran behind.

Ali laughed and wrapped his arms around Amelia, his face flushing slightly at the peck on the cheek she'd given him as he said, "I missed you, too." As soon as she grabbed his hand he adjusted the strap hanging from his shoulder to keep his backpack from slipping and couldn't help but smile as she asked him how he'd slept, "Oh, I slept like a baby. I always sleep well, though." When he started to think about his dreams he said, "Well, I know I had one really interesting one but I forgot it..." He chuckled and shrugged, "Figures. I did dream I turned into a squirrel, though. Mom make me sleep in the garage."

Then he said, "How about you, gorgeous? You get any sleep?" He smiled at her and added, "And my mom says 'hi' and that she's gonna be making brownies if you wanted to come over after school." He smiled, "Because, you know, we have to bribe you to spend time with me." He kissed her forehead and said, "But, no, really, how did you sleep?'

Danji, His sister, and his mother were talking about Danji's missing twin. "I searched high and low but still couldn't find him.." His mother said calmly. Ever since his father had died his mother had always been calm and collected about her feeling. His sister on the other hand was struggling on, moving on. Danji admitted that he missed his father too but, he knew how to over come depression. To overcome it he moved on, he knew that was what his father would have wanted in the first place. Danji looked at his mother nodding,"I had to ask a lot of people if he had seen him.. No one knew.. I even asked his friends if they knew where he was at.. They didn't know either.." He stood up,"I'm going to keep searching.. I know that he is still out there.. Looking for me.."

Danji waved goodbye to his mother and sister as he walked out the house. He heard her say before he left,"Hope you find him.. Be careful.." He turned around smiled and waved,"I will Liz no need to worry about me.." Turning back around he walked off. He walked for a little while, seeing his girlfriend running for something. He ran over there [It was like a flash step] standing right in front of her,"Hello, Cassie." He smiled, he knew she was probably late for school. "Want me to walk you to school." He smiled that caring, and generous smile he always gave his special girl that smile.

As they walked and Amelia hung onto Ali's arm, she smiled up at him with her twinkling eyes and listened to him. When he said he forgot it, she rolled her eyes and laughed with a grin. But at the mentioning of the squirrel, she could only giggle and laugh at the site of that. She smiled at him. "You goober. You have the funniest of dreams." She saw people walking by; a man in a suit, a woman walking her small dog and cars rolling down the street as early risers were bustling around. Redwood wasn't an extremely small town; it was between small and medium, and it had the things that people needed and things people could do for fun. It was perfect to Amelia.

"I did. I slept fine; I don't remember my dream but I did get a full night's rest. I woke up early to get some shots though; which came out amazing. I'm planning on entering some into the wild life photography contest next week. The winner gets 500 dollars and a new camera." she said, smiling at him as her face showed determination and glowed with confidence. At his next comment, Amelia stopped when they were right outside the coffee shop and leaned up, kissing him on the lips. "Of course I'll come over. Brownies sound delicious."

Seeing as Danji had been extremely fast about his movements, Cassie had only barely noticed him in the instant it had taken him to step in front of her and almost ran into him. She stood in front of him, her breathing coming only somewhat fast, as she tilted her head to look at her much taller boyfriend with a small smile on her lips.

" Good morning Danji," She said, as cheerful as ever, as she lifted her hand to shade her eyes from the bright sun that just had to be right behind the tall male. Then Cassie nodded in response to his question, " Of course." She definitely wouldn't mind that, the girl thought to herself as she took a few steps forward. She turned to glance in the direction of the school before her dark brown eyes were drawn back to look at Danji and her smile turned slightly playful. " I slept in again," She admitted quietly, her eyes shining since she really didn't mind being late now.

As she made her way down her staircase Evie walked over to her Grand Piano. She ran her delicate hands over the keys it brought a smile to her face just to be near it. Just as she sat down and was about to play, the doorbell rang. A sigh escaped her lips in disappointment, but then the realization of who it must be changed her demeanor completely. She rushed off of the bench and glided to the door. Her red flowing dress floated behind her in an almost angelic way. As she pulled open the door her lips pulled instantly into a smile and her eyes lit up with delight as she saw Derek.

Motioning him to come in, Evie shut the door behind him then went to the kitchen. She grabbed a couple of dollars for lunch and then went to her bookshelf as she did every morning. Closing her eyes, she reached out and took a random book from the shelf, today; The Perks of Being a Wallflower. The day was looking up, she loved the book, one of her favorites, and she hadn’t read it in a long time. Making her way back to Derek, slipping on low heels that matched her dress, she grabbed his hand and they headed out her door. “How was your evening?” She asked, a common place thing to question about, but as she did it reminded her of her dream and her smile wavered for an instant, her eyes went cold and dead, but almost immediately as though nothing had happened she recovered. If it had been anyone else, she wouldn’t even have lost composure for that short amount of time, but it was hard for her to hide things from Derek and she normally would have told him what was bothering her anyways, but this was one thing she didn’t want to share with him.

Derek watched with loving amusement burning in his aquamarine eyes as Evie danced around the span of the house, collecting money and books and whatnot before so much as a greeting was offered. When she finished, he couldn't help but pull her in an intimate embrace, his lips pressed firmly against her cheek. He had missed her through the night, and was delighted to be near her again. He just had to let her know how much he loved her.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said softly into her sweet smelling hair. "My night was okay, I didn't get much rest. How about you babydoll? I missed you."

If it was one thing about Derek that just gushed with affection, was his amorous pet names for Evie, which he was abundant with. He pulled away only to take hold of her hand and lead her out the front door, where his black motorcycle waited on the sidewalk. He watched Evie, admiring her tall, bountiful figurine and the stunning way she looked in her bright red dress, his grin broadening.

"That's a nice dress," he stated, leading her to his bike. "You wanna ride? If not, are your folks okay with me leaving ol' Black Betty in front of their house?"

Ali grinned and said, "I have absolute faith in you, hun. Your photography is amazing." He smiled at her and stopped when she did. He always blushed when he kissed Amelia, always. He didn't know what it was but his cheeks always ended up a nice pink color whenever he kissed her, or she kissed him. Didn't matter, really. But, of course, he did kiss her back before she pulled back and said she'd come over. Then he just had to say, "And I think she's even gonna try and bake chocolate chips in them. That'll be amazing." He opened the door for her and then, after everything had been all ordered up (Ali opted out of coffee and went for some tea instead) he sat down and rested his elbow on the table, and his head in his hand. Something he never really did unless he was thinking.

He bit his lip slightly and said, "Amelia, I don't know what to do...I'm so confused. I know we've talked about this before but my dad's really pressuring me into staying and working with him after I graduate, he wants me to work on getting licenses for the work we do...But I really don't wanna." He sighed, "And I know it's important to do what you love but I really don't want to let my dad down, he needs my help and I just don't know what to do."

Abigoth stood in his war room, alone, looking over the map. Several red X’s were scattered across the paper-mache landscape. Most of the commando regiments have already returned with news of success. The Seeds of Chaos have been planted, and the Inferno of War has been kindled…

He leaned against the brim of the circular map, gauntleted fingers tapping on the edge; cold, calculating, merciless eyes scanned the battlefield. Now he waited for the flames to reach their peaks and burn themselves out. Then they would invade their crippled enemies.

Too easy…

Lance was shocked when the Man disappeared, but he was even more shocked at the Letter in his hands. It looked slightly blackened, possibly by fire or magma. Lance looked around, to see if anyone had seen the Man, but all of the doors had been closed, and the curtains drawn, on every house in sight, but his. Lance turned, entering the doorway. He flicked his leg backwards, knocking the door closed. He proceeded to the Hall, and he grabbed the Letter opener that was in the drawer. He stabbed the Letter, pushed the Opener through it, and popped the top off of the packaging. Lance pulled out a piece of Paper, with words that seemed to glow, and he realised that the man had been a Demon, and that he was most likely being called to the Underworld for some reason.

Salutations, Prince Lancelot Quinnzeill

This is an official notice of draft. You are hereby commanded to return to the Underworld to serve under the command of General Abigoth. Once arriving, you shall be appointed as Commander of Legion No. 2-7. We are hereby at WAR with the lycans, vampires, and users of forbidden arts. Report to General Abigoth within three days. Failure to do so and you will be classified AWOL and will be charged with treason against The Master. This is an official notice of draft.

General Abigoth

Lance looked it over, reading it well over ten times, in his Head, out loud, and the whole time he kept thinking of his Brother. What had happened to him? Had he died? Was his Throne stolen by another Demon? Lance didn't like War, or Fighting, but he knew that once he went over the edge, he was capable of almost anything. They were at War with Lycans, Vampires and Witches and Warlocks. Lance was shocked. "But why? Why do we have to fight...?"

Lance's eyes skimmed over the last sentence, he realised that it was best if he reported straight to this 'Abigoth' character. Lance stood, and grabbed his Phone. He pulled up the Texting page and found Rikki's name. He began typing rapidly, as he knew that every second he delayed, his kind cold be getting slaughtered. Just like last time they were at War.

Hey babe, I'm not going to School 2day, I have other... Important stuff to do. I got a call from my Aunt, my Uncle's dying. He's in real bad condition. I might be away for a while, and I lost my charger, so my Phone will probs be off for a while. You'll have to go to School by yourself cuz I can't escort you. D=

Luv yu =3 xoxoXOXOxoxo

Lance turned his Phone off and put it back on the table, he then set off to close all of the Windows and shut all of the blinds, because if someone saw what he was about to do, they would probably have a Heart Attack from seeing it alone. Lance eventually closed everything, locked all of the Doors and had made the House secure as it could be. Lance went into the Hallway, and proceeded to the end, to the Basement door. He opened it without hesitation, if he did, they would get him. He leaped down the steps and landed on the ground. He pulled the light switch, and a dim light filled the room.

The room was completely empty, except for one thing. A cabinet. No one knew what was in there, as Lance never let anyone inside. Lance quickly went over to it, yanked open the door and looked around inside. He eventually found what he was looking for. He took the Machete and Goblet out of the Cabinet and placed them on the ground. He walked back over to the Cabinet and began to push it away from the Door. Behind the Cabinet the Wall was black, blacker than black even.

Lance kicked the Wall, and it shattered. Lance kicked again and the whole Wall disappeared. Behind it was a Portal, it was the darkest Purple, with pieces of red slicing through it's entirety. Then Lance did the hardest part of this whole thing. Lance grabbed the Machete and sliced his forearm, catching the blood in the Goblet. He then thrust the Goblet forward, sending the Blood splashing onto the Portal. The portal opened wider, wide enough to step through. Lance dropped the items to the floor and stepped through the Portal.

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It took him a while, but Lance's knowledge of this place allowed him to find Abigoth fairly easily. He stood behind the Demon and spoke, not knowing if he should either bow down or take a commanding role, so he just spoke casually. As Lance talked, he walked forward. He eyed the Map, and grinned slightly. "So, Abigoth, why am I here, exactly?"

The once-mortal demon had sensed Lance step into the room, and Abigoth made a malicious grin beneath the impenetrable shadows of his hood. He straightened his posture and uncurled his fingers from the edge of the table. Then Abigoth faced the Demon Prince and spoke in a dark, intimidating voice filled with a cunning intelligence and sadistic malice.

“You have arrived, Prince Quinnzeill…” he said. “Sooner than I expected to be honest…” He began to pace about the room with his hands folded behind his back. “I have heard rumors that some members of our order have been… consorting with humans.” Abigoth glanced at Lance and continued looking over each of the torture devices in the room while he spoke. “Not uncommon. They say that Goliath and Og the Giants were products of unions between demons and human women.” Most of the devices in the room one would find in the middle ages. There was a still cage, shaped like a man, suspended in the air by a chain. Beside it stood an Iron Maiden, an iron cage with spikes penetrating inward. Then there was a device designed to stretch the body until the dislocation of every limb. Finally Abigoth’s fingers rested upon a large ascending spike.

“I believe this one is my favorite…” he said, running his fingers up along the spike, “Did you know that there once was a man named Vlad the Impaler. He had a particularly gruesome way of torturing his prisoners… They would be forced to sit on spikes, just like this one, and be slowly impaled by their own weight… It would take them three days to die as the spike slowly traveled up their body. I believe this one is my favorite…”

He looked back toward Lance from under his dark hood, as if expecting a reply.

The landscape was beautiful this morning. Rikki should know, she'd sketched the entire thing and the next nearly twice before she gave in and glanced at her phone. It was almost 7:30! And she knew for a fact it didn't take him an hour and thirty minutes to get ready. "Where the hell is he??" She finally asked herself. She also realized she wasn't very worried. In fact, Rikki wasn't worried at all. She was ANGRY, however, her fingers tapping the concrete impatiently, as she through down her bags and picked up her cellphone. I went through all the trouble to look this good and he doesn't even show..oh just wait until I see I am going to make his li...

When she moved the lock screen she frowned. It could've been a mistake, but her phone had no text messages, no calls, no...anything. If he wasn't going to show up he could've at least called or something. That had to be the hardest part about him. Since he wasn't human, he always had stuff going on stuff going on she wouldn't even begin to understand and that he wouldn't explain. This was probably one of those times, too. But Rikki didn't care. I just want my boyfriend here, ON TIME, so he can kiss me good morning and walk me to school while we hold hands and...and...

Giving up she through her phone back into her purse, she picked up her books and coffee and started walking. About halfway down the street she rolled her eyes when she saw Ali and Amelia together on the street. It wasn't fair. She and Lance had the affection but were no where close to being that good at showing it, and this was all just to much for this morning, so she walked straight to school. It practically deserted.

"Figures...who's in rush to actually get to this place." Rikki walked, her shoes echoing loudly, through the back of the school to the courtyard where you ate lunch. They had to have one, given the weather was so fresh, clean, and nice. And right now, nobody was out there, she found a seat and put her stuff down, taking a deep breath before she wiped away the tiny tears at the corners of her eyes and sighed leaning her head on the table. "Where is he...?"

Amelia Lethera

Amelia smiled up at him as he complimented about her photography; smiling softly. She laughed as he mentioned the chocolate chips. "Oh my. Double Chocolate Chip. That's dangerous." he said; winking at her with a grin. As they rested at the table, she looked at him while he looked to be thinking quite hard. She frowned; her colored lips doing down instead of up.

She sighed as he started again with the stress with his dad. She reached across; touching his cheek and smiling at him sweetly. "Ali; this is your life.... you need to do what will be fun and successful. Something you want to do; otherwise it isn't worth it. Think of yourself once in a while, Ali... it will help in life. You do what you need to do... and want to do." she put her hands on his as she smiled at him encouragingly. As their hot drinks rested in front of them, the waitress walking away, Amelia picked hers up and sipped from it lightly.