As the sun beats down upon my head…

  This dread forebodes the days before…

  The days behind…

  I stand alone…

  Under this, never a day of winter’s sky…

  I know not why they left me…

  The reason, the what, the how…

  Only that I am alone…

  It is dry…

  Stale…

  This was our cross to bear,

  and now not but mine…

  For the ones left to help,

  have in their own chosen to leave…

  Burning, I stand…

  Slow to die, I walk…

  Touch not, and fear none…

  Trudging and burning, crying and yearning…

  Heavy I feel, abandoned I was…

  I wish I knew why.

  We were once as one,

  right supports left,

  and left the right…

  There was no center…

  No one to circle,

  no individual to protect…

  Why me?

  I held, I was not to hold!

  Not simply support!

  A pillar, I was!

  Desolation is all that is left…

  Sand, wind, and heat.

  One more step…

  A few more inches…

  We held together what was right…

  Our friendship illuminating the endless night…

  Why? Those who swore to stay...

  Why did they abandon?

  Or… why did I remain?

  Was my cross too heavy?

  Were my steps in the wrong?

  What crime, oh God, what sin,

  had brought them to leave me in such a state?

  Heat is blistering…

  My soul is dark…

  I fear the sands of the quick…

  I fear as I burn here alone…

  An oasis, just one drop of water…

  To wet my lips before I am gone…

  Is my hope false? Does not my cause burn true?

  Does not my intent burn as now does my skin,

  blistering under the relentless sun,

  no shade, water, or arm to cover me?

  I fall to my knees…

  All water stolen…

  Not a tear to shed…

  What did I do to them?

  Do I deserve such fate?

  Is this my trial?

  Or my punishment…

  My Lord suffered for my failures.

  My own sins, weighing him worse than the sun.

  His cross he carried…

  His blood he shed…

  Abandoned and betrayed,

  He forgave…

  Not this day, dear child!

  Not on this day, shall you reside in Paradise!

  Stand upon your feet, carry the weight of the heavens!

  Know that for you it was suffered!

  For you it was done!

  The endless wastes of the desert…

  Will end.

  Your trial and suffering…

  Will stop.

  But not now.

  Not today.

  Tears fall from my eyes…

  A sob wracks my soul.

  Once again my feet are beneath me…

  Once again I push to trudge…

  To burn.

  They all left me… I was…

  I was…

  I cry out, and plead…

  Though my throat, parched, and cracked…

  can find no words to say I’m sorry!

  Sorry to the God who died, and rose…

  And suffered for my pleasures.

  For my foolish sins, and hateful joys!

  And alone, as I walk these steps…

  He again suffers.

  Now I see.

  Now I know.

  I am not alone and my pain is also his.

  Beside me he does not encourage.

  In front of me he does not lead.

  But beside me he suffers.

  Each step he shares with me!

  I must hurry! I must run!

  For those tears were not from my eyes!

  Those sobs not from my soul!

  If not for me, I will survive for Him!

  No longer, my God, no longer shall you cry!

  I love you, I thank you, and forever I will try!

  Cross re-shouldered,

  blinding heat rekindled…

  I was cooled by those tears.

  The tears of the God that cries for me.

  That died for me.

  Why ever I was left, why ever I was abandoned…

  Even if I am left to walk alone…

  I will continue in these steps.

  And I will escape. I will make it out. I will die trying.

  For when that day comes…

  His eyes before mine…

  I want to smile and say thank you.

  Knowing he did not suffer for me to give up.

  To despair.

  But to prevail, and to live!

  So I walk…

  I burn…

  And to Him…

  I talk.

  ~Alone I Burn These Steps

  ~Feldyn Goldchord, the Endless Bard.

  * * *

  For some inexplicable reason, the electricity was still working, so the inside of the city shop was well illuminated from the overhead light fixtures, as well as the light from the windows. Bryan would have preferred darkness.

  Ally and Feldyn were lying near the far wall to the right of the entrance, on the smooth concrete floor. Feldyn skin was gray, and he was visibly drenched in sweat. He was shivering violently, when John knelt next to him. “I see you decided to join us,” Feldyn mumbled, barely audible, then began coughing, green phlegm laced with blood coming from his mouth; bloody snot running from his nose. “Do not speak,” John told him calmly, opening Reba’s bag that was set near, looking over vials and setting some together on the floor, next to ones from his own bag he had brought. “Ally… first… worse…” Feldyn tried, but was coughing too hard now to form proper words. “Do not speak means shut up,” John explained, mixing chemicals.

  Indeed, Ally was beyond worse. Gray as gray could be, veins bulging all about her body, green and red running from her nose, purple and black from her mouth. She sounded like she was drowning, gurgling and gagging next to Feldyn. Pazely stood with Bryan, holding his hand tightly, watching while John combined liquids. Bryan hardly noticed her out of character show of emotion, for he too needed a hand to hold.

  When they had entered, the mood was solemn. Gigi and Stryker barely acknowledged them; Stryker seated by a table which Reba lie upon, covered from the neck down by a blue tarp. He did give a faint smile when he saw Pazely. Gigi sat on a swivel stool, slowly turning in a circle. Every one of them (save Masque) looked like they had gone through, well, pretty much what they had. Burns, scratches, cuts, bruises, dirt, blood... Bryan had been through a lot since this shit started, but hadn't looked this bad. Even Gigi (are those supposed to be cow pajamas?) was almost unrecognizable.

  … Gigi had been braver than him since the beginning, hadn’t she? How could he have left them to go through this on their own? Never, not ever was he going to stay behind again! No matter the cost to himself, he was going to be just as brave as this stupid little kid! He swore it!

  “Bryan, open her mouth,” John instructed, taking the boys attention away from his own self-loathing. John had moved and was now kneeling next to Ally. Bryan started over to them, and to both their surprise, Ally opened her mouth on her own. Pazely let out a tiny sob. John smiled. “Forgive me for figuring you too near death to understand my words,” he apologized to the girl. “And forgive me for this as well.” He poured the mixture into her mouth, then quickly clamped one hand over it, the other holding the back of her head.

  Ally went ballistic.

  “It is curing you, it is curing you!” John reassured as Ally thrashed, kicking and struggling, while he held her mouth shut. She had to keep this down! Reba had taught him a sort of omni-antidote, and in all honesty he did not know if it was going to work. If he understood the process correctly, it detoxed the blood and flesh, drawing all remaining poisons into the stomach to be expelled. Reba had told him it would feel worse than the poison itself, but should cure almost every poisoning she could think of. They just had to keep it down until they were supposed to vomit.

  Stryker began to run to them, but was stopped by Masque, who shook his head. It was a painfully long two minutes before Ally’s body finally relaxed, and John softly set her head down. Her color was coming back, and her veins were no longer bulging. That was… much more dramatic than he had been expecting. John stood and moved back to the potions he was mixing on the other side of the half-elf.

  Sitting straight up, Ally began vomiting an extreme amount of filth. It looked like raw sewage, tinged with blood, green slime and purple... something. John did not appear concerned, mixing another antidote. “Well… that sucked…” Ally bitched, spitting now, voice sounding stronger than it probably should. “Ally!” Gigi cried, and she hopped from the stool, running to her cousin. She was barely stopped by Pazely, who grabbed her cow hood.

  “I’m all covered in barf,” Ally said, for indeed she was. Which was more than a bit disgusting. Gigi made a face, before announcing “I knew you would be okay!” Then turned to Pazely, “You too!” To Bryan, “You suck!” She then hugged Pazely, snuggling tightly against her. Bryan couldn’t help but smile. “I missed you too, Gigi,” he said, which she ignored, but thought he saw a tiny smile cross her lips.

  That was the moment Bryan noticed. Gigi wasn't just so filthy she was unrecognizable, it was she looked much older than she should be! He remembered the change that occurred in her after Reba saved her life, but this was... more. The girl had subtly altered since then to look so much older. She could pass for a petite eight or even nine now! Days ago she could have got away with pretending to be four!

  Finishing the other antidote, John administered it to Feldyn, holding him much tighter than Ally. He was bigger and stronger, so when the sensation of being burned to death from the inside overcame him, Feldyn thrashed hard enough, John had to sit on him. When he finally relaxed, John moved away. The half elf, feeling an overpowering nausea worse than the poison caused, managed to roll to his side, and raise his his hands, before vomiting with such force that it splashed off of the concrete floor, hitting him in the face, neck, and chest.

  “Thank you, John,” Feldyn said, spitting and trying to control his gagging, “though I fear it may be too late.” Ally punched him in the ribs. “Ow, bloody fuck! What the hell?!” Feldyn complained, falling to a hip, and looking over at her. He looked to the other faces in the room, John mixing something again in silence. Then, his eyes fell to Reba.

  He and Ally had been ill, they could hardly follow what had happened since their poisoning. Feldyn did know the imp had taken Caleb. He had just assumed everyone else survived, having listened to them argue over how to heal himself and Ally. It never dawned on him Reba’s voice was not included, nor that healing them would have been a non issue if she was there.

  “Is she dead?” Ally asked before he could, slowly getting to her feet. “Not yet,” John said flatly, still facing the wall. He had yet to even look at his daughter since entering the room. He feared if he had, that his heart would take over, delaying the vital treatment of Feldyn and Ally.

  Stryker hurried over to help the blonde teen to her feet, not being vomit-shy. The lot of them were already covered in enough blood and dirt to look like corpses, what was a little barf? “John… I know Masque says she is alive, but you haven’t seen her injuries…” Bryan had never heard Stryker's sound so defeated. It made his gut sink. John filled a syringe (without the needle) with a brown liquid, then another with something yellow, and stood. “Oh ye of little faith,” John didn’t smile when he spoke, walking to his daughters side, face an emotionless mask.

  Not hesitating, he pulled the tarp from her, and most of the room gasped. The hole in Reba's side was enormous. John barely suppressed a sob, and felt his legs go momentarily weak. Bracing himself on the table and leaning in to look closer, he almost sobbed again when finding what he had feared to hope. Reba's body was stitching itself back together, and her bones and organs were regrowing. It was subtle, and very very slow. Unless you were willing to stare with focus at at one point, you wouldn't notice. It was progressing so very slow, there was no doubt the healing would cease without something to help it. And that is exactly what John was to do.

  “Do not worry, everyone,” John said, barely aware of his own words, let alone the fact he was crying. “She is going to be okay.” With that, those words spoken with relief and not an ounce of fear, Pazely and Stryker could not hold their emotions, joining John in his tears. Stryker struggling to keep himself under control, wrapping one arm around his torso, his free hand over his face. He had been so sure she was dead! So fucking sure!

  “We need to give her this, to help her to both heal and sleep. Waking while her body heals... would be... bad. Stryker, Masque, hold her down, will you? This is going to cause a... temporary reaction,” John said, and both complied. Stryker ended his relieved agony in an instant. He didn’t care how strange it all seemed anymore! If John and Masque both said she would live, then she would live! His - their Reba, would live.

  When the two had her held down, John was thinking of the best way to do this. Reba’s body wasn’t normal, almost any way he gave her the potions should help. Still… Taking the syringe with the brown liquid, he depressed most of it into the wound in her side, a bit into her mouth, then put the tip of the syringe in her nose, forcing the rest of the liquid into her nasal cavity. Tossing the empty one to the ground, he stood holding the remaining syringe. the one with the needle. Come on, come on… Her body twitched. “Do not fear, this next part is supposed to happen!” John reassured the group, with a bit more enthusiasm than intended.

  Reba suddenly, and chillingly, screamed.

  “Hold her down!” John cried, his daughter thrashing, and continuing to screaming. The cries were nothing like Ally's had been from the mana sickness. These were horrible. John put a hand on her forehead, and his expression was almost violent, as he pushed with his full strength to hold her head still, and stuck the needle into her eye. No, not into, but beside it. The quickest way to her brain. He gave an agonized grunt, depleting the entire amount of the syringe.

  Within ten seconds, Reba went limp with a great sigh. Stryker and Masque let go of her, and stepped back hesitantly, looking to John, who also stepped back, shoulders drooped in exhaustion. Feldyn rolled a well worn office style chair, over to the old man, who sat in it heavily. John was too relieved to even show emotion, too exhausted for words, and too worried to risk doubt. “Is she… Will she really be okay?” Bryan asked. “See for yourself,” the priest answered, “then cover her, if you would. It will be some time until she wakes.” In truth, John was simply too afraid to be the one to check. What if it hadn't worked? What if he had chosen wrong?

  Moving over to his dance teacher, Bryan picked the tarp up that had fallen to the floor. Stryker came around to help him spread it back over her, while Masque backed towards a corner of the room. As they were pulling the tarp over her, Bryan stopped, and leaned down to examine the grievous wound. He barely kept from saying ‘Oh cool’. You could actually see the damage repairing itself! It was remarkable! Pazely, Ally, and Stryker had also moved over to see what Bryan was looking at. The reactions were mixed, but all of them were just as amazed.

  Officer Stricksent was still feeling emo, however. “Looks like I fucked up again,” Stryker lamented. “No matter what I do, even though it's my job to make sure none of you get hurt, I keep fucking it up.” Ally groaned, “I don’t recall you being assigned the job of the group’s bodyguard.” As soon as she finished speaking, she became acutely aware of the fact she was covered in bard, and scurried away, to put distance between herself and everyone else.

  “You are as much a victim in this as the rest of us,” John said heavily to the officer. Before Stryker could whine further, John added, “You saved her.” That made the blond-haired man take a moments pause. “Pazely told me what you did, how you forced healing liquids inside her. If you had not done that, she may not have survived long enough for me to get here. Stryker, you saved my daughter’s life. I can never thank you enough for that.” Stryker didn’t know what to say, but sure didn’t feel like he had saved anyone. He had done the only thing he could, and didn’t deserve thanks.

  Yet… someone did.

  “Thank Jesus,” he said, tears streaming freely from his eyes, where none had been a second ago, “or God, or whoever. Not me. I was just… panicking. Trying anything.”

  “Why don’t you?” Gigi chirped. “Thank Jesus,” she clarified. “Why don’t you tell him thank you, Stryker?” He couldn’t take it any more, leaning a hand on the table Reba lie on, the officer began to cry silently as he could, and had to turn all the way around, resting both hands on the table to keep himself up, the soft tears turning to sobs.

  And unknown to all, he took Gigi’s advice, and said thanks in his mind to one he had never before spoken to.

  Well, almost unknown to all. As Masque watched, he saw Stryker’s chains move. The chains of sin that still bound the man shook, and slackened. Under his shadowcloth, the vampire smiled.

  No one interrupted Stryker, giving him his moment and time to compose. It hadn't taken long. Looking much more determined, he walked away from the table, over to his weapons he had set by a small desk. “Now to save Caleb, and send those demon fuckers back to Hell,” he said, with forced -sniffled- bravado. “Hell yeah,” Ally chimed in, still feeling a bit dizzy. John shook his head. Did this group’s morale ever stay down?

  Gigi screamed, scaring the crap out of all of them; Pazely about jumped through the ceiling, Gigi standing right beside her. “What the hell?!” Paze bitched at the child, who holding the sides of her head, eyes wide. “Sorry,” the cow onion apologized, looking uncharacteristically embarrassed from all the eyes on her. “Namey startled me. He started talking out of nowhere, and was loud!”

  Not this again. “Gigi, we don’t have time for your imaginary friends, okay?” Ally lectured. But her little cousin seemed to be far away, as she stood staring off into space, hands still holding the sides of her head. Everyone else looked horribly confused; eyes eventually falling to Ally, who sighed. “She thinks she has someone in her head, talking to her.”

  “And ye do not believe her?” Feldyn asked. “Should I?” was the honest reply. “Well,” the bard started, “why not?” Ally cocked her head to the side in thought. He had a point. “She is not a normal child,” Masque contributed, “the way she spoke to me within my mind, when you were both in danger, is something I cannot explain.” That opened Ally’s eyes a bit. Oh yeah, they had said Masque heard Gigi yelling to him for help when they were being attacked outside the barrier. “She is almost precognitive at times, as well.” Feldyn said to no one in particular, walked over to Gigi, and knelt to look into her eyes.

  “Gigi,” he said softly. “Feldyn,” she answered in kind, and he smiled. “Someone is talking to you in your head?” he asked. She nodded. “I saids that already.”

  “So you did. Has this voice talked to you before?” She nodded again. “Do you remember the first time?”

  “When I fought the dog monster,” she told him, with a frown. The room exchanged looks with each other.

  “He says there is no more time!” Gigi announced. “He thought he could get Caleb to listen in time, but something bad is gonna happen!” Feldyn took her hands from the sides of her head, holding them in his own, trying to get her to focus. “Gigi, can you ask this voice his name?”

  “He doesn’t have a name.”

  “Well, can you ask him what he is?”

  “Really?” she said outloud a few seconds after Feldyn's request, tilting her head in disbelief. “Cool!”

  “What did he say?” Feldyn asked, his curiosity great. Gigi was too… silly, to be faking this. She heard something, but if it was magical, or mental illness, or other, was yet to be determined. At this point, Feldyn figured nothing could surprise him anymore.

  He was wrong.

  Gigi’s wide-eyed gaze focused directly on him, and it felt like she could see into the depths of his mind. She grinned, “Namey says he’s an angel!”

  * * *

  When Caleb finally woke, he quickly wished he had stayed unconscious. His body ached everywhere, and was restrained; hanging against a wall of some type, feet not touching the ground. Blinking, he tried to move his head, and found there was something gripping his neck tightly. After a moment of confusion, Caleb realized the thing around his neck was attached to the wall behind him. His arms were straight out to either side, wrists also bound to the wall just as secure. His legs were straight down, crossed at the ankle and also tightly secured in place. Then it dawned on him.

  He was hanging in a crucifixion pose!

  Panic came over the boy, and he tried to wiggle around to no avail, though did manage to steel his nerves a bit. At least he wasn’t nailed to anything. Yet.

  Wait, how did he get here? Where was he? The last thing he remembered…

  Caleb started. Iiyni! The others! Adrenaline finally focused his thoughts more on the here and now. Or more like on where and how. Looking around the best he could, with the extremely limited range of motion… yeah, no fucking clue. But the sky was violet, so he had to still be within the barrier-shield somewhere, right?

  Hanging a good distance from the ground, he noticed the wall he was attached to wasn’t quite sheer up and down, but had a slight slope, much too steep for anyone to climb. Across from him, a similar wall ran parallel to the left and right. The wall, and the ground he could see looked like a mix of asphalt and concrete, with grass and weeds poking through cracked sections. To the left there was a wall with a small opening, presumably an exit. The right was a dead end, and much closer to his position. It kinda reminded him of a huge drainage culvert.

  Where the hell was he?!

  “Ah, you’re awake!” the deep, phlegmy-sounding voice said. The voice had come from almost directly below him, Caleb unable to angle his head in a way to see down that sharply, had failed to realize someone was there. The speaker walked out for enough to be seen. Craning their head back to look up at him was the fat, greasy, nasty king of the zombies; head partially shriveled, left arm tiny.

  Caleb took some small solace in the fact the man only had two normal-looking human legs, and not the multiple penis appendages that had been described by Ally…

  Walking back under him, Larry kept speaking. “Xal actually made me put you under proper, while I repaired the damage that little twat did. She didn’t want your weak human heart stopping from the pain or something. Not that I couldn't get it going again, but blah blah, enough risks this, enough that,” Larry’s voice sounded like it was getting closer. “Took you so long to wake up, I thought you might still die.” Caleb gasped audibly, when the zombie king rose to be in front of him. “Even fixed that hunk of bone sticking out of your arm. How the fuck did that even happen?”

  Caleb instinctively tried to recoil when Larry reached a nasty, meaty-fingered right hand to grab his chin, turning his head back and forth, appraising. “Well? Can you speak, or is your psyche irreparably damaged?” Larry leaned back some, looking the boy over. Caleb wanted to vomit. He had never smelled anyone -anything- this horrible in his life! Had this bastard smelled like this when they rescued Feldyn?! “My nose may be irreparably damaged,” Caleb grumbled, wincing from a suppressed gag. “Nice head by the way. And the baby arm really suits you.”

  The zombie king rolled his eyes. No reason to get his soiled underwear in a twist. This was supposedly the Dragonheart, Larry was expecting at least a little gumption to him. Even if there was no way he could actually be the Dragonheart. Not that it mattered. Let Xal believe her bullshit, and Larry could accomplish his dream of becoming a full demon. Finally able to transcend this fucking Earth! “Yeah, thanks. Only, I have this nasty taste in my mouth all the time now.” Larry made a deep hacking noise, and spit a golf ball-sized wad of infected, putrid snot into the boys face. “Ah, that’s better!” he declared, and lowered back out of sight as Caleb started to vomit.

  “Where am I?” Caleb asked, soon as he quit retching, daring to open his eyes. He was dry heaving repeatedly while trying to breathe, the stench continuing to assail him. When he wasn’t answered immediately, Caleb added more volume, and some emotion to his voice, “I said, where the fuck am I?!”

  “In butt-fuck Egypt, where else,” Iiyni’jeari’eea answered, as she stepped on the circular spot Larry had been standing, which grew straight up into a pillar, higher than it had for Larry, in order to bring her eye level with Caleb. He hadn’t noticed her arrive, being more occupied with things like vomiting. “Welcome back,” the zombie king said, not sounding like he meant it. “The others?” he asked. “Busy with baby,” Iiyni told him, referring to the other two Terrors. She had no clue what the fuck her sisters were doing. Belle came back on time, at least. And half dead, because: pathetic. “Auntie’s so excited, she’s gonna have blue balls if we don’t hurry up and finish this shit.” The imp looked Caleb over while she spoke. Larry cackled a gurgling wet laugh, but didn’t look up from the papers he was going through on his desk.

  Iiyni grinned at the boy, and he finally noticed just how unusual she looked. How had he not noticed before? Her unnatural shark-like teeth. The squirming veins along her hairline. And Iiyni's skin appeared to have a translucent extra layer, that somehow disguised a heavy muscle tone underneath, that was and wasn't there, like a mirage out the corner of your eye. She must have been disguising herself before, that was the only explanation! Sure, he had noticed her odd teeth, but unusual teeth were cute. Whatever the reason...

  “You’re beautiful,” Caleb said to her without intending to, and her eyes opened wide in surprise, grin fading. She may look a bit -okay, a lot- younger than Pazely, but there was something to her that was totally gorgeous. Hell, she was a sex demon, right? Not a human kid? So it didn’t make him a pervert, right? Right? Just a complete moron; especially given even an iota of the current freaking situational context.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Then, Caleb remembered and realized something- the look on the imps face before she had knocked him out... “Sorry about your pets,” he apologized, in all sincerity. The demoness was so startled that she almost fell off the pillar.

  “Wh-wh-what fucking pets?” she stammered, in her odd, tiny, almost unnatural, little-girl sounding voice. And it surprised him how much the demon could appear a normal, embarrassed, human girl.“The crab and spider?” Caleb clarified, fairly sure he was correct. “Those were yours, right?” Iiyni grabbed his chin in her hand hard enough that he had to tense his whole body to keep from crying out. She’s gonna break my jaw! “Who the fuck told you they were mine?” she hissed, clenching those adorable jagged teeth. “N-no one!” He was seriously struggling to keep his composure now. “You just looked hurt, and those animals seem like your style!”

  Staring into his eyes for a few more moments, Iiyni'jeari'eea was seriously considered ripping his jaw off. How in the fuck did he ascertain that she liked crabs and spiders? Was this some trick to throw her off guard?! Her heart skipped, realizing how close she was to his face. Without knowing why, her entire body got hot, and the feeling in the hand that was holding chin face felt strange. Sensitive. Iiyni jerked it away.

  “C-c-close your hole scro-sack, no one wants to hear more of your hippy-dippy, faggy, nicknaming bullshit!” the imp raged, mentioning the nicknaming thing for no real reason whatsoever. Then she slapped him out of pure reflex, almost too hard; his eyes lolling. FUCK, she hoped she got to punch a few holes in this buttwad before they were done!

  “Hey, be careful, dammit! I’m not gonna keep fixing him!” Larry bitched to the imp as she lowered back down on the platform he had alchemically engineered. She flipped him off. Larry was glad she would be dead soon. Well, dead as a demon could be. Larry decided he would take the time to watch her burn for a bit. It would be a satisfying, and enlightening, new experience.

  “What nickname?” Zit asked, bouncing over to her sister ahead of Jenta, from the end of the canyon to Caleb’s left. Iiyni’jeari’eea ignored her. “And just where the hell have you two been?” she asked, raising both eyebrows. Ki’yi’xyit ignored her in return, bouncing past, to stand on the raising platform. Jenta, however, stopped to face her older sister. “The lycanthropeire was almost killed by the thrall. I was dealing with the cleanup,” she partially lied, unflinching.

  Iiyni rose an eyebrow. That dumb bitch’s failure and injuries were not exactly news. “You were dealing with the cleanup this entire time?” Iiyni’jeari’eea asked in an accusatory tone. She wasn’t actually mad, but for real? “The half-elf and Larry’s toy?” Iiyni inquired further, and Jenta shrugged. “They escaped. I already informed Auntie.” Okay, now she knew Jenta was full of shit. These type of excuses might work on the three retards, but not on her. Giving her taller sister the best ‘Don’t lie to me’ look she could, “Seriously Jenta, the fuck were you two doing?”

  “What did you nickname sister?” Zit asked Caleb, from where she stood on the risen platform. NO! Iiyni'jeari'eea turned, but it was too late. “Iiyni,” Caleb answered, and Zit squealed. “Oh my GAWSH, that is so cute! Give me one too!” She leaned in, putting two hands on Caleb’s chest, getting inches from his face. He realized for the first time that he wasn’t wearing a shirt. “I don’t even know your real name,” he answered her, a bit hesitantly, and she frowned. “Oh, that’s right… Wait, that means sister told you her real name?!”

  Even though she was thankful Zit’s antics took the attention off of her, Jenta was also puzzled at what she heard and was seeing. Not only was the teenage boy bound by a holding collar, and Iiyni’jeari’eea either didn't care or hadn't noticed, but she had also told him her name? Why? Not that it mattered too much, it was just a foolish thing to do. And even odder, Nini was red. At first, Jenta thought it was from fury. Which would have made sense. Holding collars, and annoying nicknames. But after watching her for a moment, it looked more like she was blushing. Was she… embarrassed? That... wasn't possible.

  Seeing her sister possibly experiencing physical embarrassment, was the deciding factor for Jenta. The boy on the wall may truly be the Dragonheart. Jen’taa’yi had still been trying to cling to the hope that Rarami's note was wrong. That the note had been somehow forged, and she was overreacting. Though the signs, the more she looked, said otherwise.

  “Iiyni has a nice ring to it, I think,” Shuzariel mocked in her phony joy-filled voice, practically skipping to the two imps, modestly sized boobs ignoring gravity while bouncing in a controlled yet tantalizing manner, under her skimpy top. Iiyni whirled on her. “You voice that name one more time and those ridiculous blobs of fat are going to get ripped off and shoved up your ass,” she growled. Suzie rolled her eyes, “Touchy. I think someone has a crush.” She winked to the furious imp. Jenta put a hand on her sister's shoulder, and Iiyni looked into the taller imp's eyes, before taking a deep breath to calm herself.

  Unable to see anything but the little girl’s (or imp’s) face, Caleb was trying to listen to the conversation below. That new voice… sounded... so familiar. And why is Kiki just staring at him- his body tensed in horror as the tiniest of the imps leaned in, giving him a fierce, deep kiss. She was quite, um, intense about it. He was not reciprocating. Not that it mattered. When she moaned and trembled he almost yelled for help.

  Suzie sighed when she saw Ki'yi'xyit sucking on Caleb’s face. Boobies bouncing under her tank top, Shuzariel headed to the platform and touched it, willing it to lower. Ki’yi’xyit made a whining sound, then licked Caleb’s torso and rake her nails down it as she passed, causing a hiss of pain; nails leaving bloody lines down his body. He barely refrained from saying thank you to whoever had gotten the terrifying creeper demon away from him.

  “Calm yourself there, girly,” Suzie said, patting the horny little thing on the head. “But I was having fun!” she complained, and the witch rolled her eyes. “Like you can enjoy making out. Besides, he didn’t even like it. Look, still flaccid, not even the slightest of bulging,” the witch observed, and Zit looked up to see she was right. “This one ain’t into little girls, sad for you,” Suzie grabbed her breasts. “I promise you, he has no problem getting hard for these.” She stepped on the platform, raising up and away from Zit, who turned to walk over to her sisters, face sad. “I really was having fun…” she mumbled, as she continued past them and the rest of the way out of the artificial canyon.

  “Nini, I need to talk to you,” Jenta said, her tone serious. “Can it wait?” her older sister asked. “No, it’s important.” Iiyni’jeari’eea stared into her eyes for a moment, then nodded. “Okay, what is it?”

  “Not here. Follow me.”

  “Are you fucking serious?!”

  “Sister, you know me, I would not be doing this if it wasn’t important!” That was true, and Iiyni knew it. Jenta almost had a pleading look in her eyes. With a great aggravated sigh, she motioned to Jenta to lead the away, and both leapt out of the canyon.

  As Shuzariel had been rising up on the platform lift, Caleb had been wondering who was coming up to be in his face this time. 'Wait, I’m still covered in snot and vomit, yet that imp was kissing me anyway?!' Okay, cutesy demon or not, that was about as nasty as the creature was terrifying.

  Then, all his thoughts and worries went away; a young blonde woman rising into view before him. Her hair was a perfect yellow-blonde as blonde, barely shoulder-length, and was pulled into two small, tight pigtails. Her features were petite and very pretty, lips painted red, and her eyes.... uh, were a literal swirl of dark colors: maroon, olive green, gray, brown, yellow...

  Caleb, you need to pray, and pray now or you might lose yourself!

  … out…. f..ally … !

  The young woman wore a cropped tank top, revealing her belly, and advertising just how amazingly perky and gravity-defying her boobs were. He began to sweat all over his body. She smiled at him, hands on hips, overt he tiny miniskirt. Another micrometer, and she may as well not have a skirt on at all. He was sure that from the back, plenty of cheek would be showing.

  Heh…. hehe…. HEH HEH… HAHAHA!

  'What… the… fuck… Why… Who is she?'

  Listen to me!

  His heart slammed looking at that gorgeous smile. Her skin was unnaturally flawless. “Oh darling, it’s been so long,” she purred, leaning in; then froze, eyes widening. Standing back up, her expression was a little sad. “Oh yeah, you can’t remember me, can you?” She overacted the pouty thing to the point of not just cheese, but limburger. “And we had so much fun too!” she sighed dramatically. “Ah well. All good things must come to an end. Not that there was anything good about what we did together.” Now she giggled, and turned, walking away from him.

  He had been right; her ass was showing. Not that he was complaining… She turned back to him, raising a hand like she just thought of something, and wanted to get his attention. “I know what I can do!” Suzie pretended to realize. “Since it was my witchcraft that sealed your memories in the first place,” she grinned wickedly, and almost purred: “then it shall be my witchcraft to help you remember.” Reality beginning to sink back in, Caleb noticed she was walking on thin air!

  “You! You're the witch queen!” he gasped, and Shuzariel clapped. “Good boy!" she condescended with hyper energy, walking back to him, and frowning. “Ew, did stinky down there slime you or something? So vile.” The witch queen waved a hand past his face, and Caleb felt warm liquid that smelled of an odd, but still pleasant, perfume, wash across his head and chest. He held his breath instinctively.

  Looks like I’m in friendly company now, you fucking faggot!

  You need to stop ignoring me! Pray, Caleb! Cry out to Christ the Lord!

  Shaking his head, trying to clear it; he didn’t know what was going on. He felt so strange! He wished those damn voices would be quiet and let him try to think! “Fuck you, Suzie!” Larry snipped from down below. “You just cleansed him with piss, you stupid cunt. Like you have room to call me vile.”

  “At least I can make my piss desirable!” she turned to shout down at the fat zombie alchemist. “Unlike your nasty, infected gunk!” Suzie turned back to Caleb with a sigh, ignoring the zombie king raining insults upon her.

  Gotta love witchcraft! What else can make piss into ambrosia? Ha ha!

  'She… She peed on me by waving her hand?'

  Please Caleb, for the love of the literal God, FOCUS!

  “Where were we? Oh yeah! Time to remember, my silly little boy.” The witch queen she leaned in, and kissed him. No tongue like the sex demon. Just a simple, quick kiss. As she pulled her face back, she froze, and blinked a few times, staring into his eyes. “Oh my… looks like our Dragonheart has acquired quite the hitchhiker.”

  Maybe she’ll put you on a fucking leash now!

  'I don’t… I feel… When am I?'

  I truly wish I could sigh.

  “Hmmm... looks like you’re a nobody...” Suzie kept staring into his eyes, forcing her will into Caleb’s mind, pushing him to the fringe of consciousness. “Why didn’t you tell me he was there?” Suzie asked, leaning back to to pop out a hip, arms crossed over her chest in a part attitude, part pouty stance.

  “When exactly have we had a chance to talk? Can you just get rid of this fucker, already?” a strange voice replied to her. “Quit bitching. He’s a no-name, not even supposed to be in there. Probably just here to relay information from a watcher.”

  “Then what the fuck is he doing inside here with me?!”

  “Oh calm down, I’m sure when no one in Heaven was picking up the phone, and he jumped into our boy-toy to try to boost the signal and got stuck. Am I right?”

  “He jumped in shortly after you changed his memories the first time.”

  “I’m probably right then.” Suzie grinned huge. “Since an angel acting without orders from above is nothing more than a rebel, I doubt he would like to defect? No? Oh quit trying to take control, it’s embarrassing!”

  “Can I leave now? Sinful moron or not, It fucking sucks in here!”

  'Oh… Oh God,' Caleb thought, dread filling his as he finally realized. 'That voice! That voice is coming out of me! I’m the one talking!'

  “Not quite yet," Shuzariel told the demon that was possessing the boy's body. "First, I need him to remember, to make sure this all had the desired effect. With the angel in there, my first enchantment broken, the second one fucked with...” she got in Caleb’s face again, “I’m making sure this shit disenchants properly.” She kissed him again, without giving the possessor demon a chance to reply, breaking the enchantment, and regurgitating in his mouth for good measure.

  Before Caleb could think another thought, he felt his world spinning and churning, his mind folding in upon itself, over and over. Then it stopped. And for a moment, Caleb couldn’t even remember his own name. But when his eyes focused on the witch queen in front of him, his blood ran cold. “Oh no,” he said in horror, the witch’s vomit spilling from his mouth. “And, and he returns to us,” she smiled.

  Caleb's memories, everything he had forgotten, was now in his mind like it had never been lost. And that caused a bit of a paradox, struggling to reconcile the then with the now. Caleb would probably have given in to the overwhelming guilt those lost memories brought, if not for the woman in front of him. This witch queen, whom he had known as Miss Susan Redling, his summer school teacher.

  * * *

  An… angel?! Feldyn stood, and stepped back, shocked into silence. Is… Could an angel really be speaking to her?

  “Gigi, is this true?” John asked, all signs of exhaustion gone. “I guess,” she answered, looking excited. It wasn’t everyday you talked to a real angel! “Are there more coming?” the old man asked tensely, anticipating an angelic siege at any moment. Gigi stared at him blankly, “Nope.”

  “The angel confirmed this?”

  “Yup.”

  “Did he say why?”

  “Nope.”

  “Can you ask him?”

  “Maybe.”

  “Gigi,” Bryan stressed, glasses off and rubbing the bridge of his nose, “can you please focus?” She turned to look at him, just as blankly and wide-eyed as she was at John. Bryan, however, was quite used to that expression. “I’m not your radio,” she informed him. Bryan didn’t bother to argue that. What was the point? She was technically right, after all.

  “I am sorry, but this is important,” John said, retaking her attention. No one else in the room spoke, all too curious to watch the scene play out. “If angels come to fight the enemies, they will likely kill not only them, but all of us as well. That is why we need to know.”

  “That would suck,” Gigi sighed, then her expression went a bit more serious, as she presumably discussed things with the angel. “He kinda went AWRK!” the child said a moment later. John had no idea what that meant. “Namey says nope,” she added. Everyone stared at her, equally confused as John.

  “No… other angels?” Feldyn hesitantly asked, assuming that’s what she meant. “Yeah, it’s just him.”

  "Do they not know of the gate?”

  “John!” Feldyn exclaimed, startled at the old man's casual revelation.

  “What gate?” Ally asked.

  “The Echoes of Aebra – I mean Aethra,” Gigi answered... one of them(?).

  Feldyn actually took a step backwards. John frowned, “The Echoes of… Why does that sound famili-”

  “The Echoes of Aethra,” Feldyn spoke, interrupting John and taking everyone’s attention. “It’s a… It is a sort of theory. More like a fairy tale of a concept.” Why had it never occurred to him that the Echoes were real?! “It is the belief that any and all things touched by the prophecies in Esseff Codex, in any way, gains a sort of amnesty from God’s intervention.”

  “The heck does that mean?” Pazely asked.

  “It means,” Feldyn continued, “that the extra measures God would normally take to stop things won’t happen around us, nor anyone else that crossed our path of prophecy, be it villain, hero, or innocent bystander.”

  God had not intervened to keep them alive, all this time? Had… it truly all been luck? Had they survived so long from random chance? What prayers would be answered, then? Surely the Lord not intervening is not the same as him leaving them to fate?

  “What gate?” Ally stressed, and was ignored.

  Gigi made a curious gurgling noise, before stumbling to her butt. “Sorry, that happens,” the little weirdo said, like that explained everything. “And Namey is gone now, so leave me alone! He’s busy cuz he’s stuck in Caleb, and he said he’s sorry and we are all fucked.”

  “Gigi!” Ally snapped at her. Gigi barely seemed to care. “Well, he didn’t say that because angels don’t cuss! The heroes cuss when they are upset! I’m hungry.”

  “Bryan, get the child some food,” John told the teen absentmindedly, trying to piece the information together in a way it made sense.

  Ally growled loudly and stomped her foot, “WHAT GATE?!” she shouted, without an ounce of anger, but with a good sprinkling of irritation. “That would have almost been cute if you weren’t covered in barf,” Pazely pointed out. Taking her shirt off, Ally noticed her stomach was, of course, covered in barf too. At least her sports bra was clean-ish. “Here,” Bryan said and tossed her a bottle of water from the bag he was currently retrieving food for Gigi from. She caught it and used it, and the parts of the shirt that didn’t have vomit on it, to try and clean her tummy.

  “Feldyn, could you perhaps tell the others what it is the enemy is planning?” John asked the bard, though it felt more like an order. John was pacing now, staff in hand, head held low in deep thought. Stryker stepped forward to look at Feldyn. “What have you not told us?” he asked, more worry in his voice than irritation. They had monsters, witches, magic, demons, and now an angel. What was left?

  Feldyn gave him an odd expression, "Surely you know?" The cop shook his head. "Only Masque, myself, Reba, and you, know," John told him, his tone moving Feldyn that add chill in his mind. "That..." Feldyn started to say, as his mind began to question things, again. They had never told the kids what the enemies intended. Nor had they asked. Why?

  Taking a deep breath, the half-elf told the room, “the Terrors are trying to open a gate to Hell.”

  “A gate to Hell?!” Pazely shouted, and dodged the barf covered shirt Ally's threw at her head.

  “It’s true,” Bryan and Gigi said in unison as he handed her a jar of pickles from his bag.

  “JINX!” Gigi squealed in delight, almost dropping the jar. “You knew? About this?!” Pazely yelled at Bryan, still recoiling from the article of clothing Ally had thrown, like it was going to jump up and get her. Guess you never could be sure any more. “John just told me a little bit ago, I swear!” Bryan replied defensively. No one cared Gigi magically knew, but he gets yelled (and glared) at? He even had the foresight to bring pickles just in case Geeg really had come back! Everything he does gets overlooked…

  “When were you going to tell us this?” Ally demanded of Feldyn. “To be honest, I do not know if I ever was,” he admitted. "And I am not sure why. An equally good question may be, why did you never ask?" Absolutely no one replied to that.

  After a moment, “... Being this near to an opening will most likely kill us,” John mumbled from where he paced, lost in thought. "Kill us? How far away do we need to get?" Stryker asked the old man, who ceased his pacing. He hadn't meant to say that out loud... Clearing his throat, “I do not know for sure, but it is said the initial wash of Hell from an opened gate destroys life, and can drive mad those who survive the initial destruction."

  “Anything say how to not die or go crazy?” Stryker asked, figuring that accepting shit without question was the best course of action. “To pray,” John answered with a nod. “To pray as hard as you can. But prayer will not save you from what demons may cross the threshold." Nor will it save them if the Order were to get inside the barrier. “Getting Caleb back is about all we can hope to accomplish at this point. If we are lucky, that may even thwart their plans."

  "Caleb?" It was Feldyn's turn to question. "Do ye know why they want him?" John, once again, gave him hat look and tone, alerting the bard something within him was amiss. "Feldyn, what do you remember of the prophecy I showed you?"

  "I... well, it spoke of the Terrors, and opening a gate to Hell with hearts,"

  "And?"

  "And? ... There... was not much else." Was there? He held the old man's scrutinizing gaze for several moments, before John broke eye contact, "There was indeed more. True, it was a fractured mess printed out on one document, but there was mention of the Dragonheart, and several passages eluding to individuals and events that fit with the current mess. "I... do not remember this. Are you sure?" Feldyn asked, receiving a grim nod.

  Masque finally spoke, "I too had forgotten, remembering only after the rescue of the little ones."

  "Please stop calling me that," Ally groaned, without much energy. She was still stuck on the gate to Hell thing.

  "Getting Caleb back can stop them?" Stryker asked. John nodded again, "Or delay them long enough for the Order to get involved, allowing us to make our escape. And if this echo thing is true, and we flee far enough, the angels may be clear to intervene."

  "Do we have any idea where he is?” Bryan asked. “He’s by the Rock,” Gigi said crunching on a pickle. John sighed. “Any other information you have to share with us?” he asked, without turning to look at her. “Hmm… Not really,” she answered. John wondered how true that was.

  “Then to the Rock we go!” Feldyn declared. Why not? Their path here may have been made by foolish and hasty decisions, in part due to someone or something manipulating their minds, and here they were. Looking to everyone in the room, “I am serious! We have but two choices; flee, or continue. Correct?" The group didn't look convinced, but no one objected either. He didn't blame them, but they had to do something, and that something must involve rescuing Caleb.

  Feldyn did have a plan of sorts. What was it? Send in a group, lure the enemy out, separate and destroy. Larry has proven to be not too overwhelming in strength. Caleb blindsided him, and from what they had heard, Masque had damaged him severely in more or less 1v1, making him the best choice to kill first. Shuzariel was likely of similar power level. X’al’antra and the imps were the biggest problem. But now that X’al’antra is at least partially sealed and Masque can feed, perhaps their black-garbed friend could entertain the vampire queen long enough for the rest of them to come to his aid.

  Shuzariel? The bard was going to have to deal with her himself. Once they got rid of the zombie king, and Masque went off to delay X'al'antra, Feldyn was the only one left that could stand a chance against her. Although he would need to fight all out... With magic likely not a sin for them, and manastorms neutralized within this barrier, he could finally un-nerf himself. Which meant revealing something to the others he had never intended for them to-

  LANCE!

  Feldyn paled, his heart slammed. The tiny weight on his shoulder was gone. Where?! When?! Feldyn had gotten so used to his small friend being concealed, he had taken his presence for granted! The last time he remembered feeling him was…

  “Feldyn?” Ally asked, the half-elf suddenly looked about to panic. “Hey man, you okay?” Stryker followed up, when the bard didn't respond to Ally. “He’s gone…” Feldyn mumbled. “Io-Neintan’i chto’rr-enas, he’s gone!”

  “Whoa, calm down!” Stryker urged, going to his side, wondering how his voice sounded like that when he said whatever the fuck that was. “Who’s gone?” Bryan asked, also wondering how Feldyn had made his voice do that. It was obviously a different language, but... Feldyn looked at him now, and Bryan saw the eyes of a parent that had just realized their child was nowhere to be found.

  “Lance,” Feldyn said. “He’s gone! Io-Neintan’i, he’s gone!” Feldyn repeated, not registering how uncomfortable the others were. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, because the last he remembered Lance's presence was right before Ally cast that lightning parasol.

  Meeting her eyes, fists and jaw clenched in fury, he fumed, “If you killed him with that foolish spell, I swear!” he snarled, and Stryker slapped him across the face.

  “GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF!” Stryker shouted, shocking Feldyn as much as slap. And the half-elf realized he had been panicking.

  “I am sorry,” Feldyn said, and meant it. He didn’t feel even a hint of anger for being struck. He deserved and needed it. May need another one, as he was still shaking, still feeling that hint of rage. “No more secrets!” Stryker told him, voice firm and authoritative, before turning to the others. “That goes for everyone! We are risking our lives! Even Gigi is here! No. More. Secrets.” Everyone nodded like they had just gotten in trouble by the alpha parent. Stryker playing that role would have been funny in a different setting.

  “Lancetron Que Delimitrix,” Feldyn said, rubbing his sore face. “He is my friend,” then with a look of shame, and words sounding like an apology, he added, “and my familiar.”

  * * *

  As Caleb struggled to keep his wits and make sense of everything It was very clear he had been used; to what end, he didn't know.

  Shortly after Pazely came back from that boarding school place, things had mostly gotten back to normal. Which, for them, meant getting into trouble. They all went to the same school, because Castle Rock combined their middle and high schools. Caleb didn’t know why, but it had always been that way, so he never questioned it. Before summer break, they snuck off campus to go buy a new game that came out that morning. Their local grocery store, with a small area for media rentals, only carried a few copies of certain new release games and movies, and the kids were worried the few adult nerds in town would buy them.

  The assistant manager at the store called the cops on them for truancy. Stryker was the responding officer, and managed to keep them out of trouble. He even bought them a copy of the game! Though the skipping school thing still pissed off their parents. Well, not Bryan’s parents. He could vanish for a year, and when finally returning home, his parents would ask how his trip was.

  On the first day of summer break, their parents (sans Bryan’s) placed a curfew on them, citing the truancy incident as the cause. Even going so far as to bypass Stryker, talking to the police chief to guarantee the other officers knew to arrest their kids if seen out after their curfew. Which pretty much just meant they needed to be stealthier than usual.

  Then, Gigi had shown up out of nowhere and was dumped on Ally. Now that he thought of it, Caleb figured her cousins showing up were probably supposed to be a means of control. For not long after, Sally and Jessie also appeared, Ally having the sole responsibility of their well, everything. Her parents must have thought taking care of kids would hinder the girl, and therefore her friends, from doing what they wanted and getting into trouble.

  It hadn’t worked. Gigi was hardly a hindrance, and wasn’t a nuisance to anyone but Pazely. Though they all knew Paze secretly loved the little turd. And Gigi had absolutely adored the attention!

  She would sit with them while they played games (video or other) and watched anime, usually falling asleep in someone’s lap. They took her when they went camping (usually without permission…), and brought her to dance, even dragging her around town in their random escapades. Hell, they basically turned her into their little mascot.

  The arrival of the other two didn’t hinder them either. Wild child Jessie was obsessed with Caleb, and did whatever they told her, out of fear she would be sent home. Even goody-goody Sally didn't complain or tattle. It’s funny how the twins’ family had money, traveled, and did a lot of activities, yet they said wandering around town, hanging out, and ghetto camping, was the "best summer of their lives".

  Unfortunately, not even halfway through the summer, Caleb’s dad had informed him he would be going to a tutor for summer school five days a week, the remainder of the break! What a dick! Caleb didn’t need a tutor, his grades were fine! Great, actually. Was rare for him ever get below a 90. On tests, anyway. Homework and other projects were, um, hit and miss. Straight A's though, far as the teen and anyone that mattered, was concerned.

  Pazely herself was forced into volunteering at the fire department, basically meaning she cleaned the place… which they did anyway, so a bit pointless. In other words, hanging out and play handhelds, or reading, or do whatever she wanted. But, of course, Pazely had to be extra, and started a bikini car wash for charity, sans the bikinis. It's small town Washington, dance clothes caused enough gossip.

  Over ten thousand dollars. They raised over ten thousand dollars! Miss Terra got as many older teen to adult dancers she could to come help. Being far away as Seattle in one girl's case, and all of them getting their friends and family involved, while posting on social media, it blew up. Many local business profited from the tourist dollars as well.

  Once again, the ‘evil’ kids, and scandalous dance studio, with the owner who "exploited children", did something good for the town.

  Caleb, this time around, was not involved with what his friends were doing, as his summer school scheduling interfered. Which was where everything began to go wrong. Though it didn’t feel so wrong to him at the time...

  His ‘school’ was taught out of a lady’s house he had never met, and she wasn’t even there when he had first arrived, letting himself in the garage turned classroom. It was set up for twelve kids, and a teacher. Or so it was supposed to be. He found it set up with only one desk, with his name on it. With nothing else to do, Caleb sat there to wait, feeling sorry for himself not getting to be with his friends.

  When his teacher finally entered, Caleb forgot his friends entirely.

  Miss Susan Redling. She looked to be in her twenties, but could have passed for a teenager. Short blonde hair, flawless skin, petite frame, and absolutely perfect proportions. No makeup on, hair damp and smelling of shampoo, a casual pair of white loose-fitting shorts, and light blue t-shirt. She was hot! Her voice, the way she spoke, moved... and the facts he was her only student, and was sworn to secrecy so his dad wouldn't remove him, and lose her the money... Summer school suddenly sounded like it was going to be worth it.

  The second day, Ms. Redling had her hair in a ponytail, and wore wearing skinny jeans with a plain white t-shirt. She was also acting differently, seeming to go out of her way to bend over in front of him, stretch provocatively, and let him see down her shirt. It was so blatant, in fact, Caleb tried to ignore it, figuring it was just his horny brain. Things like that just didn't happen in real life!

  On the third day, she came into the classroom in a small pink bikini, hair was also wet again, and she smelled absolutely amazing. Caleb no longer cared what was happening, he was going to enjoy every second of this so called summer school, where all he did was pretend to do work she never checked, watching her as much as he could, without being noticed.

  And then, not even a half an hour into class, she had got up, walked over to him, slid his chair back, straddled him, and began kissing him.

  His first kiss. And she hadn't stopped with only taking that from him.

  By the end of the next week, the classroom looked like a war zone. The blackboard was cracked, there were holes in the wall, the desk was in pieces, there were burn marks in the floor, ripped discarded clothing, cigarette butts, and empty beers. Then one day, he had gone to class; expecting Susan to walk through the door any moment, with alcohol and pot, wearing hopefully nothing.

  She never showed up.

  The day after, the same thing. And the day after. That last day, he had stayed so late waiting for her to return home, that Ally had come looking for him – being the first of his friends to ever come to his so-called summer school. But Ms. Redling was gone. As in, she never even returned home. After a week of her absence, Caleb’s dad got a letter in the mail saying he didn’t need the tutoring, that he was ahead of all other students in the country, a super genius, and that she recommended getting him into college early, skipping the rest of high school completely.

  Of course his dad didn’t give a fuck, followed through on nothing, and hardly gave it a second thought. But at least Caleb didn’t have any new restrictions placed on him, at the receipt of a positive letter from the tutor.

  Not that he cared or it mattered. Summer was essentially over, but that didn’t bother him. He didn’t even mind that Susan left, figuring she freaked out about the underage thing. He wasn’t one of those guys that was going to get her in trouble. He would keep his mouth shut. Not like he was in love with her or something, it was just sex.

  Aaaaand, therein lie the problem: sex. Something had changed in him. Every hobby and interest, every emotion, none of it was the same anymore; it all paled in comparison in the face of sex. That was all Caleb wanted anymore, and all that he could think about. Sex. Sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex.

  And he could no longer have it.

  Or at least, the one he had been having it with was gone. Sex was still a possibility. Maybe. Who were his options? Pazely and Ally. Who he would have preferred was Reba… Which was most definitely not a possibility. Reba saw him as a child. Pazely and Ally were too good of friends to be viable options either. Maybe dating one of them someday could lead to it, he really wanted was someone he could permanently objectify without guilt. Lust, not love, on both their parts.

  His obsessive sexual cravings lasted for what felt like an eternity. He honestly, even now, can’t remember the start of the school year. It wasn’t due to some spell or anything, just that he simply hadn’t been thinking of anything else besides sex. Caleb was now sure, during that time, he had passed far into the realm of psychosis more than once. Which... maybe was because of a spell or something, as it was not natural at all, the obsession that had overtaken him.

  Or wait… Maybe it was because of something else. Because... thinking about it.... that was when he had first started hearing the voice. The bad voice. The one that wanted to do bad things to girls. The one that made him, remembering it all, feel sick. Sick that it hadn't bothered him. Not like it should have.

  He had resisted the more violent or taboo thoughts, though... it had... worn him down. Caleb eventually lost the will to fight the safer ones- No, that wasn't it either. He simply made excuses in his mind, until talking himself into it. Talking to that voice, that he had not been aware was an actual separate presence, for at that time he didn't hear it so much, as thought. But it was clear as day now, how not him it had been, having no control of the thoughts that spoke to him. That tempted with those thrilling images and promises. In that disgustingly vulgar language.

  Still, he had... liked it. And... gave in. Sneaking into Ally’s room to sniff her panties. Humiliatingly shameful now. Then, it had felt like satiating a ravenous hunger. At least he went for clean panties. All but once, anyway... Giving into the panty sniffing once, killed any lingering hesitations.

  The next time Ally was in the shower, without a second thought, he had walked right in. To his surprise, she didn't say a word in protest. In fact, she had looked... excited. He continued to not hesitate, going from the shower, to her bedroom.

  To make things worse, Sally, Jessie, and Gigi were all in the damn house! He hadn’t even closed the door to the bedroom! They had to have heard them! What the hell had he been thinking?! What the evil hell was wrong with him?!

  After that day, he and Ally had a secret sexual relationship, telling no one. Caleb acted exactly the same he always had to the poor girl, until they were alone. In public, and around others, she was a friend. A sister. When they were left alone...

  It wasn't enough for him. God forgive him, his sins weren't enough. Ally, herself, was; the situation wasn’t. He craved feeling naughty. Inappropriate. The forbidden. Something that made his heart stutter, his soul burn, now that was what he had wanted.

  One night, Caleb and Ally had gone up to her room. Ally’s parents were the type that were gone almost every evening, for some church event or another, which made it easy to get away with things for a few hours. Sally, Jessie, and Gigi were supposed to have returned home after the summer, but the parents had decided at the last minute to let them stay and start going to school in Castle Rock. Not that any of the kids minded.

  Well, Gigi and Jessie had apparently gotten curious as to what Caleb and Ally had been doing in secret. And they... had hid in Ally’s closet. Caleb... God help him, Caleb had noticed them peeking through the closet door, which was open just a crack, though Ally had not. In truth, he hadn't been sure who was in the closet, but he knew who was in the house. And he pretended not to notice, finally getting the thrill he had been looking for, at the scandal of being watched having sex!

  The repercussions on his psyche, was too much even for the literal demon within him to handle.

  Caleb hurriedly dressed, making an excuse to go check on the kids, while Ally showered, barely holding in his laughter, as he gave the peepers time to escape.

  The horrible reality of it all struck his heart like a cannonball, watching Gigi and Jessie come down the stairs, Sally having been on the couch, playing one of Ally’s RPGs on a handheld.

  Jessie was scarlet red and wouldn’t look at him, but Gigi didn’t seem fazed. In fact, she had wanted more attention. Which freaked him out big time. He felt so vile, so ashamed, so unbelievably fucking angry. By the end of the night, Jessie was hanging all over him too. It was all he could do to not scream at them! Tell they how disgusting they were! They were too young! What were they fucking thinking!

  The fuck had he been thinking?! He just let two little kids watch him have sex! That night, on the way home, he intended to kill himself, but was too afraid. He was terrified... of being face to face with God.

  Instead he vomited violently. Sobbed. Screamed. Hurt himself. Did everything to punish himself, and hide, from the one he should have been begging for forgiveness and help.

  After that night, Gigi and Jessie harassed him every time they saw him. Quite inappropriately. Flashing him, then giggling and running away. Walking through the room naked, trying to be casual. Dancing around in front of him in their panties like strippers…

  Guilt. Caleb spent every day trying to find alcohol and drugs. He did it with fake smiles, trying to talk his friends into partying to relax. Guilt. What had he done?! What had he caused?! How could he stop it?! Fix it?!

  When his mind starting saying inappropriate things about Gigi and Jessie, he was terrified. He didn’t want to be some type of rapist! Although he feared... that maybe he did. Why else was his mind thinking such horrible things?! Why did he dream some evil scenarios?!

  So he did the only other thing he could think to do, alcohol and drugs not helping: got taken to a therapist, and lied to him in order to get pills. Can’t tell the truth about jackshit anything, especially this, or he would just be locked away forever. He said all the right words to get medication for obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety, and a possible mood disorder, hoping it would put these psycho-ass thoughts to rest, when powered up with alcohol. Or at least let him control them.

  It hadn't helped. Well, the thoughts went away, but he was pretty sure the days he spent on pills weren’t worth it. He soiled himself frequently, cried himself to sleep every night, had vivid hallucinations, and kept forgetting his own name. So yeah, the pills got flushed, and the thoughts came back, but now... it was a voice. A whisper, that he could audibly hear.

  The only other thing he could think of, was to avoid Ally like the plague, and subsequently, his other friends as well. Unfortunately though, Ally would not leave him alone. He had to find a way to get her to go away. So afraid of what the voices were telling him to do, it never occurred to him what Ally might be feeling. At her non understanding why he had been acting absolutely insane.

  His eventual answer to the whole situation? Jesus? Nope! Date a girl he could have sex with, that his friends hated. Freaking golding.

  It provided distance, and the excuse to avoid them. Or so went his logic. His choice was a girl that made herself quite available, and had been going out of her to talk to him. She was older, and had always watched him at school, having been raised here, but never spoke to him, or much of anybody. She was a super stand-offish, anti social bitch that everyone hated or, oddly, feared. If she was crushing on him, it was the perfect chance for guiltless crazy sex! Who was this random girl? Rashelle Clausington.

  Caleb got her naked day one. Though she refused to have sex with him. She had an annoyingly dominant and aggressive attitude. He grew tired of her in a hurry. Rashelle kept the others away, but he didn’t care anymore; he was going to dump her. Though he was a bit afraid of what she would do, obviously unstable and unhinged, so decided to force her to dump him instead.

  And how did his dumb ass go about it? By continuing his award winning decision streak, and cheating on her with Ally, of course! In secret. Which made no fucking sense. And being around Ally again, opened the door for Pazely and Bryan to start hanging out. Where did they all start hanging out? At Rashelle’s property! The little kids were not allowed up there, at least.

  And it was of course on Rashelle’s property was where Caleb and Ally would sneak off to have sex. Poor Ally... She hadn't even objected to being the girl he cheated with. The secret sex toy.

  One night, right after Ally had left the cabin (the same one they slept in the night of the blood moon), Rashelle walked in, obviously having been near. She freaked out on him, they argued, and then he dumped her for Ally. He was beating the voice in his head finally, and getting his normal self back! Fuck this bitch! There was nothing she could say or do to stop him!

  Then, Rashelle asked if they could at least have sex one time before he dumped her…

  After their sex, Caleb had fallen deeply asleep. When he woke, in his own bed, he had forgotten Miss Redling, the issues with Gig and Jessie, the pills, the guilt, the drinking, and the fact he was going to dump Rashelle; the voice was gone, and he had memories of planning a convoluted marriage proposal to -Rashelle- the love of his life.

  And just like before, the more he was around her, the more he hated her. So, again, he cheated with Ally. Only, this time was different. Caleb was mostly himself now, and the.. time with Ally, actually meant something to him.

  Eventually, however, his mind began to remember the things he had recently forgotten. The voice came back too. He even had a seizure at school, while trying desperately to remember something. Caleb kept the specifics from the doctors though. He also hid from his girlfriend the odd new memories of a summer fling, and a sexual psychosis.

  Feldyn first appeared to him, Ally, and Pazely one day on Rashelle’s property. Paze and Ally had snuck up there, staying a bit into the woods, and Caleb kept sneaking out to the trees to talk to them when Rashelle was off ignoring him, like she usually did. They had thought Feldyn was a complete moron. All of his Aethra and Dragonheart nonsense they assumed was some mental illness. A conspiracy theory nut, set off by recent events and news.

  More specifically the ‘storms’ that had been reported around the world. Once it made headlines, and governments couldn’t deny their mysterious and destructive existence, wackos like the ‘half-elf’ were appearing all over.

  The bad voice in Caleb’s mind came and went, and there was even a new voice that appeared not long after the seizure. But it was almost... pleasant, working like an antibody to the bad one. A counterbalance. The sane of his insanity. Which made ignoring them both a lot easier. If someone turns the heater up too high, and someone else counters with a blasting AC, they would, more or less, balance each other. And massively dry out the air!

  Which was his new state; roughly balanced, and emotional thought process dry as a bone.

  Eventually, they decided to humor Feldyn. Maybe they had even begun to believe him a little. It was hard not to wish for more, some fulfilling purpose for their lives. They had indeed done his stupid ritual. Caleb could plainly remember Pazely turning those nasty old shrooms into tea to give the ‘hippy bitch‘, then inspiring herself to dress him as one. But during the -fake- ritual, something very real happened.

  His memories fractured into two sets, before joining back together as one.

  One of them, he is suddenly being chased by a dog, though he doesn’t know why. Then Pazely came back, they went to dance, and Goldy came in the room and events unfolded until he was hanging here on this wall. It felt like the real memory. Yet, the other one distinctly remembers summer, the ritual, and going to the studio, before Feldyn entered. He even remembers not remembering. It was odd, yet he knew all of it was real.

  “Do you still love me?” Suzie the slut purred mockingly at Caleb, tears running down his face in two steady streams. “You’re a fucking bitch,” he growled, and she pretended to look offended. “Me? Just what did I do? You went all deviant on your own.” Having her so near was making him nauseous. The horrors of his lost memories were bad enough. He spit in her face. Now she looked irritated, “And here I thought maybe, you know, one last fucking fuck?”

  “The hell, he spit on you?!” Larry called up to her. “Buahaha! I like this one! Might want to fuck ‘em myself!”

  Caleb ignored the alchemist, glaring at Suzie until the platform began to lower. He knew it was his fault. He knew the choices had been his own, regardless of what they did to influence him. He just didn’t know why. “Why me?” Caleb called down to the witch queen. “Why did you- why did we... do that? To me- We-" he grit his teeth in silent growl, trying to stay calm. "And then just vanish? Why did what’s-her-fucking-name Rashelle, want me to marry her? Was it witchcraft? You need my blood tainted for some ritual?” The flustered questions were not born of some hurt feelings, he did not feel betrayed, but foolish and angry, simply wanting to know why.

  The pretty witch looked up face looking like she had just freshly applied makeup. “Why, my little love slave, it is because you are the Dragonheart! And I left, not for no reason, but because I got what I needed.” She shook her head in mock disappointment. “Though it did take you longer than I had thought. Young men just aren’t as virile as they once were.” She sighed, after giving her non answer. Caleb had no idea what she was talking about, and it was noticeable on his features. “Don’t you get it yet? I needed you to get me pregnant. We needed your baby,” she laughed mockingly, and honest.

  Larry shook his head in irritation. They didn’t need to explain shit to the boy, his 'role' was almost over! Why even bother? Not like the shit about the Dragonheart's baby was real or was fucking needed to finish the ritual. But Xal could believe what she wanted, no skin of Larry's ass.

  Caleb figured she was spinning another lie. It hadn’t been enough time for her to have had a baby, and she didn’t exactly look pregnant... She would be showing by now, wouldn't she? He hadn’t worn a condom… Not even once… Not with Ally either… And that still doesn’t explain why what’s-her-name wanted him to marry her.

  X’al’antra.

  … uhhh…

  Great, now the voices are back!

  Again guessing his expression -mostly- correctly, Suzie explained, “I’m a witch, moron. Do you think I carry a baby for a full human term? Please!” She gave him a dismissive wave. Then turned to his left, eyes wide with excitement. “Oh, look! Here's the child now!” Following her gaze, Caleb hadn’t noticed X’al’antra approaching from that end of the area.

  She was wearing another black human-leather bikini. Reba had burned off what the vampire queen had been wearing the other night, but for X’al’antra, human leathers were a dime a dozen. The last ones, and these, were not even enchanted. The vampire queen just appreciated beauty.

  And she exuded it. Her skin was so white that it was unreal. The irises of her eyes were bright red, thick black hair was gleaming with an oily sheen, while full-bodied and soft. Her body was slender, toned, muscular, and proportioned petite. Lips, fingernails and toenails were also blacks. She finally looked as much herself as she could on Earth, and under a seal. Unnatural. Unearthly. She was dark, evil perfection; and she knew it.

  In her arms, the vampire carried something. A bundle, the sight of which made Caleb forget everything else. That bundle looked like a baby was in it! The boy’s heart was slamming, dread so great that it canceled out all thought, even the two voices. There… There was no way!

  Reaching the blonde witch, X’al’antra looked up at Caleb. “Well?” she called to him, her fanged smile filled with wickedness, “Would you like to meet your daughter?”