“Denis?” Andria tilted her head, her eyes meeting his as she tried to read his expression.

“I don’t know. You guys better hide.” Denis spoke as he began to slowly approach the stairwell, his feet making no noise against the linoleum floors.

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Mark pushed through the school’s main entrance, Romeo, Alyssa, and Jared following close behind him. As he entered the main hallway, a feeling of unease washed over him. Stopping in his tracks, he turned around to see if the other three felt it; not to his surprise, they did. Nodding to his three followers, Mark held his hand to his side and grasped it around the handle of the ethereal sword, which took its form beside him.

Behind Mark, the three hybrids each pulled their weapons from the spiritual plain that they were held. Romeo brandished two small daggers, one handle colored a fiery red, the other a perfect white; Alyssa twirled a sawed off single barreled shotgun at her side, the metal of the barrel had carved into it a pentagram and a pentacle; and Jared bore at his sides two short swords, each with the same blade, but different handles. The guard’s of Jared’s swords differed in that one flared out in the shape of an Angel’s wings, while the other bore a resemblance to the wings of a demon.

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Feeling the uneasiness grow stronger, Mark started to move again, the tip of his sword dragging mere inches away from the ground beside him. As he came to the end of the main hallway, he stopped again; as his head turned slightly to the left and right, his eyes surveyed the surrounding halls, checking for any visible threats. When neither his eyes nor his senses picked up anything, Mark turned down the hallway to his left, his footsteps making no noise against the tiled floor.

Alyssa followed close behind Mark while Romeo and Jared took up the rear of the group. The quartet of inhumanness moved through the school cautiously, their ears, eyes, and minds searching for any sign of danger.

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Denis tightened his grip around the two weapons, his mind still telling him there was danger nearby. His shoes made no sound on the stairs as he moved up them gradually. As he neared the final step, he pressed his back up against the wall and continued his way up until he came to the end of the wall. Unsure of what his next move should be, Denis kept himself pressed against the wall and his fingers rested upon the gun’s triggers.

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Mark stopped in his tracks as his eyes came over the stairwell, where just a few seconds earlier he swore he saw something move. Taking no risks, he lifted the sword in front of him. Before he began to move, he could hear the three hybrids behind him readying themselves for the attack.

Once again, the quartet started to move again, even slower this time around. Their weapons were steadied in front as they moved towards the suspected enemy. As they came to cross the nurse’s station door, Mark stopped immediately, his head jerking to full attention.

“Shit!”

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Denis pushed himself off of the wall and onto the first floor as a door slammed open. Before he could see what caused the opening door, he fired off his pistols rapidly. As each round left his gun, the feeling he had beforehand dissipated slowly; and when it was completely gone, he halted his attack and lowered his weapons.

As his vision cleared from the rage he had just experienced, he smiled. The entire wall he was facing was covered in a thin white liquid, angel blood.

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As the feeling of unease fully engulfed Mark, his mind flashed to figures standing behind a wooden door, their eyes fixated on something. Knowing exactly what the two figures were watching, Mark dove to the ground just as the nurse’s door swung open and the gunfire started.

Mark and the other three hybrids waited for the gunfire to stop before they pulled themselves from the ground. As the hallway cleared of the debris, Mark turned his attention to the blood splattered wall. Without turning from the wall, Mark grinned.

“You must be Denis, then.”

“Aye. Laurence?” Denis moved away from the stairwell to get a better look at who he was talking to.

“Unfortunately.” Mark turned his head towards Denis, a slight smile crossing his lips.

“Come on downstairs…” Denis nodded towards the stairway, and without waiting for the others, made his way down.

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“You guys can come out!” Denis called out to those that hid in the cafeteria. He wasn’t sure if they realized it as well, but hiding would have done them no good if he were killed.

Slowly, the civilians piled out from some of the most pathetic hiding places. Two of the diner patrons, the Denningtons, crawled out from underneath a table; other’s crawled out from the café’s kitchen and custodial closet.

“Our hero is here.” Denis rolled his eyes as Mark, Jared, Alyssa, and Romeo entered the cafeteria.

“Nice of you to join us once again fearless leader.” Jon spoke sarcastically as he came out from a small storage closet, Andria and Chris following behind him.

“I’m surprised to see you guys are still alive.” Mark smiled as he approached Jon and Andria.

“You’re welcome for that, by the way.” Denis interjected.

Mark turned his attention to Denis and nodded. “I never doubted you.”

“Do you mind introducing us, Mark?” Jared stepped away from the stairwell, his swords no longer with him.

Mark paused, his eyebrow quirked. “You’ve got vocal chords… introduce yourselves.”

Sighing, Jared stepped up next to Laurence, Alyssa and Romeo following. The three were lined up perfectly, their hands crossed in front of them.

“I’m Jared Toeur.” Jared nodded to Denis, then to Chris, Andria, and Jon.

“Alyssa Drakeford. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

“The name’s Romeo Stantenz.” Romeo smiled as he eyes crossed over Andria; Jon took noticed and wrapped his arms around her.

Seeing Jon and Andria embrace each other, Mark’s lips curled and his eyes squinted. “So I’m away for a day and everything changes?”

“Do you think we can worry about this later, Mark? We really need to get a move on.” Denis spoke up, hoping to avoid any confrontation between Jon and Andria.

Mark paused for a moment and before he could respond to Denis, Mr. Dennington spoke up.

“Is there a reason why no adult is in charge here?” John snapped.

Mark’s attention turned immediately to the patron. He smiled slyly, his teeth just barely showing. “Sir-.”

“His name is-.” Mrs. Dennington was about to interrupt Mark, but with the wave of a hand, Mark silenced her quickly.

“I needn’t know his name, for if he keeps this attitude he will no longer be breathing.” Mark’s voice was low, almost a full whisper.

“You can’t threaten me you fucking punk!” John went to take a step forward, but was persuaded otherwise by a shotgun barrel aimed directly at his stomach.

“You choose what’s best for you.” Alyssa kept her finger away from the trigger as she trained her shotgun at the civilian.

“Its okay, Alyssa, he won’t be doing anything too stupid.” Denis spoke soothingly, his eyes glaring at John Dennington.

“All righty! Now that that’s taken care of… what the fuck do we do now?” Jared clapped his hands together, his head nodding slightly.

“First things first,” Mark dug through the inside of his overcoat and pulled out a small vile filled to the brim with what looked like blood, “we don’t leave this place until you guys have a drink.”

Romeo raised his hand, his head tilted to one side. “Umm, you want us to drink someone’s blood?”

“Yes, I kind of planned on it. You remember the demon I told you about that got me to where I am now?” Mark spoke quickly, tossing the vile to Denis, who fumbled the vile before catching it.

“Yeah… Lucifer. That’s his blood?” Alyssa finally lowered her shotgun away from John’s stomach.

“It is. When you drink it, you enter the final stage.” Mark explained.

“Final stage? You mean there’s more to us than what we know?” Jared shook his head in disbelief.

“Why do you think I can fly and you can’t?”

“I just figured it was the same with the weaponry, you know? We all get different attributes.” Jared shrugged.

Mark shook his head. “Drink up… we’ve got a long battle in front of us.”

After taking a deep breath, Denis popped the top off of the vile and took a quick drink, leaving enough for the other three.

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“Master, they’ve all transformed!”

Satan cackled, his fingertips drumming at the arm of his throne. “We must not wait any longer, than.”

The imp hopped around the Devil’s throne, a small, cackling laugh emitting from the small beast. “Shall I prepare the commanders, master?”

“Yes… we won’t hold back on them. I want Cerberus up there, as well… tell him the gate won’t need to be guarded.” A red glow came over the Devil’s eyes as he thought of the destruction his army was going to bring.

The imp scampered away from the Devil and disappeared into the masses of demons. Minions stood awaiting their master’s order; rows and rows of them lined up at the entrance to the mortal realm. They roared in unison, their war cry echoing throughout the cavern of hell.