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 “EVERYBODY GET INSIDE RIGHT NOW!” Dexen screamed at the top of his lungs, waving at everyone who was still outside wandering like lost puppies.

He and Annetta helped little kids and elderly people walk up the large stairs while Riley stood at the entrance, watching them all with curiosity. Nobody smiled, they didn't even look at him as he opened the door and held it there. They were all scared and confused.

Some of the younger people recognized Riley; he could tell by their expressions when they saw him. They looked like they had seen a ghost. He could be one, with his new pale skin and deathly look in his eyes. He knew them through his sister, but he wouldn't say they were friends. He was sure they'd think differently, but not anymore. Not after Fiona disappeared and all eyes were suspiciously on Riley.

“Is that everybody?” Riley asked his brother when he walked up the stairs to the school.

“No, I know there's a lot of people out there. They're probably hiding in their homes or still trying to figure out what's happening. But we don't have the time to search the entire town for everyone,” Dexen said, looking around to see if he missed anyone. Or if luckily he'd notice someone.

“What do we do now then?”

“Get a few dozen adults into a class room and I'll tell them what's gonna happen so that they can tell everyone else,” Dexen said.

“Won't it be difficult to convince them about magic?” Annetta asked as she walked behind us into the school.

“I'll show them my magic then,” Dexen said, smiling from the corner of his mouth.

“Oh,” she said. “Yeah, I guess that would work.”

Dexen went to find a couple of adults who looked like they would be easier to persuade into believing in magic. Riley and Annetta found some who had friendly faces, those definitely looked like they could trust. After gathering them, they went into a class room and closed the door.

“Hello, everyone. My name is Dexen and I'm here to tell you something that might be hard to believe, but trust me, it's all real,” Dexen began his speech, looking at them all in the eyes and smiling confidently. “I'm sure you're all aware of what is happening outside, and if you don't, then you might want to grab something to hold on to.”

The ones who knew each other exchanged worried expressions. The rest just looked at Dexen with blank stares and big alerted eyes. They might have picked the nicest people, but not the strongest. They should have gotten the ones that wouldn't faint at the sight of a cockroach.

“Magic is real,” he continued, getting a couple of gasps and some other chuckles. “It's real and it's scary. What's happening outside is chaotic, and it's all because of a witch named Jocelyn. She has trapped the town, so there is no way out except through dying.”

“Is this a joke?” a woman said.

“No, it's not a joke. This witch has summoned the dead from the graves and is using them to kill everybody, and to make things worse, demons have also entered the town, making it a war of survival.”

“Show them your magic,” Annetta said, who was standing by the door watching to see if anyone was trying to peek in.

“This witch has blocked all other witches in the town, preventing them from using their magic. But I have tattoos on my body made specifically for moments like these when I can't use magic.” Dexen took off his shirt, doing a quick twirl to show the people his moving tattoos. “Each symbol on my body represents a spell. Any of you see one that you like?”

“The star,” said the same woman. She was looking at Dexen like she wanted to eat him, smirking and everything.

“I'm not sure if I can do that one in here . . .” Dexen said.

“Because magic isn't real and you're just wasting our time,” someone said.

Dexen rolled his eyes and faced the window, raising his hands as a ball of light appeared on his chest. He shot a beam of light, like the one he had used on Hart, and it broke through the windows and shot out as far as he could see, burning everything it touched and destroying it. He hoped nobody was in the way, otherwise . . .

“That's why I can't use it indoors, because it's an energy beam made to destroy and obliterate everything in my path.”

“Wait, are you a witch?” the woman asked, everyone also looked like they had wanted to ask the same question.

“Yes, I am a white witch. There are also black witches, which are . . . the evil part of magic.” Dexen avoided looking at Riley, even though he had wanted to when he said those words. Riley didn't care, he just wanted to be alone again. All of the people were bothering him, he didn't want to be in there.

“So the witch that is doing this, she is a black witch?”

“Precisely.”

“What are we going to do then? There is no way out?”

“That's why I have called you in here. I am going to shield this school so that nothing can get it unless it's human. The shield will put me in a coma, but it should give us enough time to hopefully outlast this war between the dead and the demonic.”

“A war between the dead and the demonic?” someone questioned.

“Yes, they are going to fight and kill each other. They're looking for something.” Dexen didn't tell them what exactly, and he wasn't planning on it.

“They're looking for me,” Riley said. Everyone's heads snapped towards him. He was in the back with Annetta the entire time, just looking at them whispering about how crazy Dexen was. “But before you try to act stupid and suggest you throw me out, hoping it would save yourselves, I want you to know that it won't. You throw me out, they will capture me and you will all die.”

“Why do they want you?” a very sweet looking lady asked. She was probably the only one who looked kind, maybe because she reminded him of his mother.

“It's a long story and we have no time. My brother, Dexen, will use his magic to protect us. So you will all treat him with respect. He is sacrificing his life for all of you.”

“We appreciate what you are doing,” the lady replied, smiling softly.

“The reason we brought you here to tell you this is so that you can tell everyone else about it. Tell your friends, your family, your neighbors, spread it as quickly as you can,” Dexen said.

“How long will this last?” the same kind lady asked.

“We don't know,” Dexen told her. “We just have to prepare ourselves for the worse. That is why I want you all to leave this room and start telling everybody what you heard and saw.”

There were no further questions asked. They left one by one, and Riley stared them down. At first, they only heard silence in the halls, but after a couple of minutes the halls filled with voices whispering, some sobbing, and the very expected denials. Riley locked the door of the classroom because people were trying to get in, demanding questions, but Dexen needed space to prepare.

Dexen looked around nervously, inspecting his own tattoos as if he had never seen them before.

“You don't have to do it,” Riley told him. Dexen was afraid, that was obvious. Everyone seemed to be afraid.

“I do,” he replied, his voice flat and empty now, reminding Riley of someone.

“How are you going to do it?” Annetta asked.

“I need to be in the middle of the school. It's probably the hallway that connects the other four. I need to be in the middle of that, and no one can touch me or disturb me while I am in the coma,” he said. “We're gonna have to pass through everyone to get to it, so be ready for anything. Demons and witches aren't the only monsters, remember that.”

“I'll stay with you,” Riley told him.

“I will, too,” Annetta said, smiling at them. “I don't want anyone else to die.”

Dexen looked down at his hands, nodding happily. He looked like he wanted to say something, but couldn't. Annetta noticed as well, so she quietly left the room and left the two brothers alone.

“In case anything happens and I don't come back, I just want to let you know that I am sorry for not finding you earlier.” Dexen raised his hand quickly as Riley opened his mouth. “If I hadn't stopped searching, maybe I could have stopped this from happening. And maybe then we could've been a real family.” His tattoos began to move, this time in a strange way, Riley saw. There was a beautiful tattoo replacing the eye on his chest, becoming the center of all the other tattoos, almost like a leader. It was the spell that would save them all from the monsters outside.

“You don't need to apologize to me,” Riley said. “Everything happens for a reason.”

Dexen closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. Riley quickly walked up to him and hugged him. This was probably the first time Riley felt like they were real brothers. The warm embrace quickly reminded him of his sister, and it made him happy. He felt comfortable and safe, like he wasn't ever going to be alone again.

“Thanks,” Dexen said, his voice raspy and broken like was trying hard not to cry.

“We're still going to be a family, we're still going to be two crazy brothers who go on magical adventures across the world,” Riley assured him, squeezing his shoulder. He flinched back when it looked like one of the tattoos was trying to grab him and Dexen laughed.

“Are you ready?”

“I am,” Riley said.

“You know you're going to be the one in charge now, right?”

Riley didn't respond, he felt like a simple nod was enough. He didn't want to tell Dexen that being a leader, being responsible for other people, was not something Riley was good at. But Dexen was going to put himself into a coma to save them, so he was going to keep his opinions and thoughts to himself to give Dexen a peace of mind.

There was a strange sound coming in through the broken window where Dexen had released his laser. Their heads turned, watching outside as sudden movements were spotted in the trees and shadows stretched larger on the ground.

“Demons?” Riley wondered.

“I don't know, but it's time,” Dexen said, looking at him.

Riley wanted to be nervous, to be afraid for his brother and for everyone, but he felt nothing. Maybe that was a good thing, maybe he knew they would all be okay. The sun would always rise in the morning, casting away all of the darkness. What was happening couldn't last forever, the sun will rise.

Dexen unlocked the door and was the first one to walk out of the classroom. Riley followed immediately, and wished he hadn't. There were prying eyes on him, not his brother, not Annetta, him. He marched right behind the white witch, returning the stares he received. People were pressed up against the walls as if they were a contagious virus. They were scared, he could see it in their eyes; it was as clear as the night sky.

What astounded Riley was that everyone could be looking at the moving tattoo's on Dexen's body, but no, they chose to look at him instead. Was it because they now knew he was the reason creatures of the night were in this town? Did it make them wonder what kind of person he was that monsters wanted him?

Riley ran his fingers through his long hair and pushed it back, away from his eyes. He looked straight forward and let go of his care for the world. He didn't want to care about them, didn't need their judgment. He kept a strong posture and kept walking, following Dexen down the halls that never seemed to end. There were some who started to follow them, wanting to watch the magic happen, to see if the rumors were true or if it was all just some stupid joke.

The place they needed to be was more crowded than the halls. The middle of the school was referred to as the 'Activity Area,' where students would post fliers about their clubs or the school staff would put up news on the bulletin board. It connected four other halls, like a cross.

“EVERYONE NEEDS TO LEAVE THIS AREA IMMEDIATELY!” Riley shouted, surprising Dexen, because he was usually quiet. “YOU WILL NOT ENTER THIS PLACE AGAIN OR YOU WILL FACE CONSEQUENCES!”

Nobody but a few were actually listening to him. Those that did got up from the shiny floors and found a hall to leave through. Dexen raised his hands, closing his eyes while he stepped into the middle of the area. Everyone watched curiously, and some were laughing like it was some kind of joke.

They didn't laugh when two glowing mirrors appeared in front of Dexen's hands. There were gasps and one scream, then everyone started running. Everyone panicked, but half of them stayed in range to see Dexen do his magic. No one was left in the area except them three, and now Dexen could truly begin.

“Remember, don't let anyone touch me. I cannot be disturbed,” Dexen told Riley without opening his eyes again.

“I'll make sure no one does,” he replied.

“I'll see you in a while then?” Dexen said, still not opening his eyes.

“Definitely.”

“Stand back,” Dexen told them.

Riley and Annetta walked back and stood by the walls, close to one of the halls. There were people jumping behind others trying to see what was going on. It infuriated Riley. It wasn't a show, it wasn't a circus. This was real life.

Dexen screamed, and it made Riley's heart jump. The two mirrors flew around the white witch, gaining speed over time till it looked like a cylinder light around him. His tattoos then turned white and so did his eyes. He was still screaming.

“Is it hurting him?” Annetta asked him. The same question was in Riley's mind. Dexen never told them if it was going to be a painful process. Had he kept it to himself so that he didn't worry anybody? Well, it didn't work.

“I really hope not,” he told her.

He stopped screaming, and when he did, the light spinning around him expanded so quickly, that if you had blinked, you probably missed it. The lights sent off a piercing high pitch sound that traveled with the light as it went through everything and everyone. The lights went through the walls and disappeared when they reached the outside.

Dexen's face froze, literally. To Riley, he didn't look like he was in a coma, but was turned into a statue instead. It made him sad, like he had just lost his brother and he was now again alone in the world. His tattoo, the one on his chest, glowed and released another light that did the same thing as the first. It shot all around, speeding through the buildings and disappearing outside.

“Why does he look frozen?” Annetta asked.

“He's in the coma. I guess it's not the medical coma we know about,” Riley replied.

“What do we do now?” she said.

“We wait, I guess.”

-*-*-*-*-*-

A couple of hours passed. No one had dared to step into the area. Most of the people who had watched from the halls were now gone. Now everyone just sat on the ground, waiting for something to happen.

Riley didn't want to think about waiting. Demons were out there looking for him, waiting was just a game he'd lose. Hart wanted him to be a warrior, but how could Riley fight the war by himself? He was only one person, one person who knew nothing about the dark side of the world. He wasn't as close as powerful as him or Dexen. So why did Riley need to be a warrior? Exactly what was Hart's plan? Because it made no sense and Riley wanted no part of it if it involved this.

“I don't want to be insensitive,” Annetta said, breaking Riley's train of thought, “but I'm starving. My grandma and I were at the coffee shop to eat and we didn't get the chance to.”

“No, it's fine. I'm actually kind of hungry, too.” Which was strange because Riley didn't need to eat anymore. He hadn't felt hunger in so long that the pain in his stomach surprised him. It had something to do with the fact that he had no souls left. They were feeding him energy, so food and hunger wasn't needed anymore. But now it was just himself again, his really human self. “I'll see if there's a vending machine or something.”

“Want me to come with you?”

“No,” he said quickly. “You need to watch Dexen and make sure no one comes in here.”

Riley never went to high school in Bellumstone. He went to elementary and middle school, but then his parents made them move. He had actually attended three different high schools in two other state. It was one of the most unpleasant experiences of his life.

He found the cafeteria rather quickly. He thought he was going to run around in circles and be forced to ask someone for directions. But he was glad that it didn't come to that. The cafeteria had people, like he knew it would. All of the tables were full that some were sitting on the floor. No one saw him or noticed him, probably thought he was nobody. He took a nice deep breath and walked towards the four vending machines by the cash register.

The power was off, so they weren't working. With the light coming from the dozens of candles all around him, he could see that they were all full of chips and chocolate bars and a bunch of other candies. His stomach growled at him, getting more painful. He kind of wished Annetta hadn't brought up the hunger thing.

He was supposed to open the vending machine without bringing attention to himself? He couldn't just break it. But he could slice the glass.

Riley summoned his dagger and jabbed it into the machine's clear glass, dragging it down slowly. He made a square and pulled back the dagger. The glass fell inside, creating a loud BANG that he was sure Annetta had heard from across the school, or maybe he was exaggerating.

He didn't look back, didn't want to see all of the people watching him. The cafeteria didn't go silent or anything, everyone was still talking, so maybe nobody cared.

Then Riley realized something. What was he scared of? Being caught taking chips? It made him angry that he was so stupid, so he just started grabbing whatever looked good, no matter how loud it was. He took it and left the cafeteria, carrying it all by using the end of his shirt as a bag.

As he left the cafeteria, he bumped into someone and all of the food dropped on the ground. He didn't apologize, didn't feel like talking to anyone. He bent down and picked up the junk food one by one, putting it all on the end of his shirt.

“Well look who it is,” said a very familiar voice.

He looked up and Genevieve was staring back at him. Riley rose slowly when he picked up the last chocolate bar and looked down at the girl, then tried to walk around her to go back to Annetta, but Genevieve put her foot in front of Riley and he tripped, falling forward and dropping everything again.

“Oops,” she said, laughing with her friends.

He closed his eyes and breathed, gaining the strength to pick up all of the items once more and gathering himself. He stood up and walked away, not giving Genevieve the benefit of seeing him humiliated.

He saw Dexen at the end of the hall after going through two others. He could also see Annetta sitting against the wall, staring at her hands. She noticed him walking into the area and smiled when he knelt in front of her and poured all of the items on her lap.

“Thank you! I was actually craving this,” she said, holding up the bag of gummy bears. Riley smiled back at her as she opened it and devoured a blue bear, chewing it like a child experiencing candy for the first time. She moved her head to the side and her eyes widened, brushing off the smile on his face. “DON'T TOUCH HIM!” she screamed loud.

Riley spun around so fast that he almost tripped, which would have been pleasing for the person who was holding her hand out to touch Dexen's body. Riley ran towards Genevieve and tackled her to the ground, pushing her away.

“YOU LITTLE BITCH!” She shouted as she squirmed underneath Riley. Her friends grabbed him and dragged him back, tossing him aside. Genevieve pulled herself up and went to kick Riley in the gut, but he grabbed her foot just in time and pushed it away. As he got up, she landed a fist on his face, knocking him back.

Genevieve and her friends, which consisted of all boys who were obviously stronger than him, gathered around Dexen and stared at his glowing tattoos. Riley pulled out his dagger from his back pocket as Genevieve went to touch Dexen and hurled it at her. She gasped when the dagger stabbed her in the back and her friends jumped back at the sight of it when she turned around to look at Riley in shock.

Riley sprinted forward and grabbed Genevieve, pulling her back away from her friends. She was petrified, so afraid that she couldn't even speak. Her eyes watered, probably from the pain, which made Riley smile.

“Thank you, I needed that,” he whispered into her ear as he pulled out the dagger and brought it up in front of her, dragging it across her throat and slicing it open. Her friends screamed like little girls and darted out of the area. Genevieve's blood went everywhere. Riley dropped her useless body away from Dexen and let her bleed to death.

His hunger was gone.

Annetta was shaking when Riley walked over to her and sat beside her, taking one of the chocolate bars from her lap even though he didn't need it. Frankly, he was bored. So eating something would keep him busy for at least a while.

“I . . . I guess it was either kill her or let her touch Dexen,” Annetta said.

“Yup,” Riley said, taking a bite of the chocolate.

Only an hour had gone by, and honestly, Riley had expected them to arrive sooner. He first heard the footsteps like a march, like soldiers. But they were nothing like soldiers. Very aggressive looking men appeared, along with Genevieve's friends. They entered the area.

“You can't be here,” Riley told them. “You need to leave.”

They saw Genevieve's body in the corner and their faces became ill. There was a lot of blood, but none of it was close to Dexen, and that was all he cared about.

“It was him,” one of the dead girl's friend said.

“GET HIM!”

Nobody moved. Riley smiled from the corner of his mouth and took out his dagger, waving it at them. He raised his eyebrows, waiting. There were maybe fifteen of them and only one of him. But the fact that he now had one soul meant that he wasn't afraid to fight. They could harm him, but they wouldn't kill him, not fast enough to save themselves.

“What are you waiting for?” Riley asked them.

“Dude, if monsters want him, don't you think it makes him a little dangerous?” one man said.

“So? Look at him! He looks weaker than my ten year old brother!” said a friend of Genevieve.

“Don't let appearances fool you,” Riley told them. “I will kill you all if I have to and I'll feel nothing after.”

“I'm going back, I need to be with my family and protect them. To be fair, Genevieve had it coming. The girl was a bitch.”

“Are you hearing yourself? He killed someone and we're just going to let him go? You're going to let him free while your family is in the same building as him?” Genevieve's friends were starting to annoy Riley.

“I won't hurt anyone unless they get in my way. I can promise you that no harm will come to anyone's family or friends, as long as you cooperate and follow my two rules; don't come here and don't touch him,” Riley told them, pointing at Dexen.

“Bullshit.”

“You can all escort yourselves out, but leave them behind and don't come back,” Riley told them, pointing at Genevieve's friends, who were the ones that told everybody to come for Riley. The men didn't argue, they turned around and left.

“You don't control us,” one of the friends said.

Riley moved in front of them and held his hands behind his back.

“I want to thank you all for your donations, it won't go to waste,” Riley said, blinking.

“Huh?”

He grabbed the first one and thrust his dagger into his heart, then moved on to the next one as he tried to flee, but stabbed him in the eyes. The others quickly ran, screaming at the top of their lungs. Riley threw his dagger over and over, telling it to come back to his hands so that he could throw it again. He killed them as they ran and they died crawling away, bleeding from the many wounds on their backs.

There was no one in the halls anymore, they all left when he killed Genevieve. All four halls were now empty. Though he was pretty certain they were hiding inside the classrooms.

Riley turned to go back to Dexen just as another wave of light went through him. He should probably get rid of the bodies, he didn't want the school to have the familiar smell of death that he had enough of. The school did not need to turn into the dark room.

______________________

[Author's Message]: Umm, so that happened lol. I don't even want to say anything cause I want to hear what YOU guys have to say. So PLEASE comment below, I need to know what you're thinking so far, especially about what is happening. So leave a comment and VOTE, show your support! ALSO, IMPORTANT, I wrote a one-shot/fanfiction s-e-x- scene. It's a threesome between Hart/Riley/Dexen. If you want to read it, I'll put an external link that you can check out. If you want more of those naughty scenes, maybe Seraphina and Nicholas (; then YOU NEED TO TELL ME BECAUSE I'LL ONLY WRITE IT IF PEOPLE WANT THEM. And rememeber, it DIDN'T HAPPEN, IT NEVER WILL, IT WAS A FANFICTION ONESHOT. THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH, LOVE YOU ALL.