"God damn it, Troy! You always start stuff and get us roped up in the mix!"

That was the first thing that I heard as soon as I stepped onto the Toronto campus.

I blinked weirdly as Avery staggered over to me, disgust written all over his facial expression. "You good, dude?" I peered in to see his pale and sweaty complexion, pupils unusually small in his grey eyes. "I would be if you didn't constantly put me in scenarios that I have absolutely no purpose of being in. You want to break the law, Troy," His voice gradually got deeper and louder, attracting a crowd of students. "That's on you, but don't think that I want to be apart of it." I stared at him, wondering where all of this was coming from, Jade arriving next to me on her hoverboard. "What's going on?" She looked at me, speaking with uncertainty in her voice. I went to answer but Avery cut me off.

He started coughing, his eyes glitching as if they were changing a series of colors in under a few seconds. I furrowed my brows, wondering if I was seeing shit. "A-are you okay, man?" I went to reach for him as he crouched over on his waist. "Get away from me!" He snapped, slapping my hand away. I was taken aback, slight hurt recoiling in the pit of my stomach. It was like that? With a snarl, Avery stood upright with his eyes narrowed, so much hate embodied in those orbs. "Matter of fact," There was a shiny silver liquid dripping from his lips and I frowned, wondering why he seemed so against me all of a sudden.

"I don't need you."

I blinked, confusion filling my core as Jade stepped closer to him, her face mirroring her saddened emotions. "I never needed you, Troy," Avery spat coldly and my heart throbbed, my eyes stinging with unshed tears. Why was he acting like this towards me? Had I done something wrong? "And I never will." He finished with a harsh glare sent my way, his hand coming up to wipe the silver liquid from his lips. He looked at Jade once more before walking off in the opposite direction of the school. I stared at the spot that he was standing in, questioning everything that just happened.

Did I just lose one of my best friends?

"I'm sure he didn't mean it Troy," Jade pulled on my arm, her voice pleading with me. "You know how Avery gets. Please don't take his words to heart," The crowd around us looked at me with glances of concern, pity, and mirth as if I deserved him yelling at me like that. As if that was my retribution for all of the laws that I had broken. I frowned as my brows clumped together, a way to stop myself from letting even the slightest bit of a tear fall. "...too late for that."

I snatched my arm out of her grasp, free hand reaching up to grip my bookbag as my umbrella hovered over me, the fallen raindrops reminding me of pain. "I'll see you later in class." I masked my voice, void of emotion as I walked forward, wanting to get to class so that this day could be over. I didn't know if this was a horrible dream or what, but Avery was deathly serious about what he said. To me, he seemed to have nothing but contempt for me and it was understandable.

Though I saved his life, I got him into countless situations with demon cops. It was only a matter of time before he got fed up. I rolled my eyes with a sigh, making way towards the history building, wanting this day to go by as quickly as the weekend did.

I walked into class alone, mugging the students who thought that they could stare at me. I didn't say anything like I would normally, just taking a seat at the back of the classroom. Seconds later, Jade walked in, shooting me a look of concern. I had no idea why she was here and not looking for Avery. All of those traitorous thoughts made me wonder if she felt the same way as well. There was no telling.

The seats in the class were filled and Pazul floated her way in, scanning the crowd with her narrowed eyes. She seemed to be on edge and it made my mind start conjuring up theories. "Good morning, class. Today, we will..." I tuned her out, looking out the window. My brain was not on today and the information she would be teaching regarding the demon lord would not resonate with me. It was as if I lost the last brain cell inside my head.

Pazul seemed to be calm yet tense the whole time, and I clicked my teeth, curiosity pulsating in my mind as I thought back to all of my occurrences with them damn cops since two days ago. All of the demons in the area seemed to be stagnant. No matter what I did, they didn't react. They seemed eerily calm and relaxed, like I wasn't even irritating them despite all actuality. They didn't even relay my information and statistics like usual. It was as if they didn't feel the need to do that anymore.

Creepy.

"So now, I'll be handing back your essays from last week," Pazul cut into my daydream after about 55 minutes. That bitch. Always gotta destroy my dreams. "Some of you did well, others not so well," She hissed demonically, resulting in the class nearly jumping to the ceiling. If I recalled, she said that this essay would determine our standing among the demonic realm, whatever that meant. How much information we provided in the essay and how detailed you were and whatnot, it would be useful to figure out where to place you when it was time for your servitude under the demon lord.

It was evident because none of us got to stay here forever. Some people were old and that means they were lucky. The young? Not so much. It was just a bit rare (not really though) that humans were selected, but once they were, they never came back.

Spooky.

No one ever knew what their job was as they served the demon lord. No one knew because they never came back. Were they dead? Were they alive? Who knew? One couldn't tell because the humans ranged from all types of ages, men and women.

No one ever wanted to know nor ever find out. The rumors of the demon lord were enough to scare you. He was too powerful, too omnipotent. He was too terrifying and it was almost funny because no one had ever seen him and lived after the fact. I would give my left ass cheek up just so I could see a glimpse of this dude. Someone so immensely frightening intrigued me. Just the slightest bit.

"Nice work, Troy," Pazul handed me back my 12-page paper written on mankind before and after the arrival of the demon lord, how his appearance changed things for the better and prognosis of how Earth will continue to prosper. It wasn't complete bullshit as I used facts from the textbook as well as my intellectual mind. Though I hated school, I was incredibly smart. I had memories of being on the Quiz Bowl team back in middle school. "Seems like you care about your education," Pazul mused as I stared at the 99 on the front of the paper. Aye, that's what up.

"Yea," I hummed. "With all the time I stayed up transcribing this, I'd think that I was worthy of this grade," I smiled to myself, proud that I got this grade. I managed to keep my grade point average at a 4.0 all semester. From the time we first came here and had to get enrolled in a high school, despite all irritation at having to live in such a place, I pushed myself to do as well as my parents would've wanted.

"Class is dismissed, everyone. Please have a nice day," Pazul politely bid everyone farewell as she, too left the classroom. "Hey, Troy," Jade came up next to my desk and I frowned, not wanting to talk about what had happened. "I'm fine. Go ahead. I'm going to the bathroom," I stood up with ease, reaching for my bag. "I'll meet you outside," She nodded with slight apprehension in her eyes before leaving me to be the only one in the classroom. I made my way out to my locker.

"I always knew you were smart, Morelli," I put on my killer smirk as I turned against the locker, seeing Tara Byers standing next to me in all of her glory, her blonde hair pulled up into a bun. "Oh yeah?" I folded my arms, leaning in closer to her so that I could hear her a bit better. "Are you telling me that you had doubts?" I grinned, not feeling offended. People often got that image of me, so it was a bit nice to see them flabbergasted when they realized that I wasn't all talk.

Tara put a hand on me and I recoiled, not wanting to give her the wrong impression. "Tar—" I was immediately cut off by a familiar voice, heels clicking against the floor as I turned to see the most beautiful girl with a scornful look on her face. "What do you think you're doing, Troy?" I heard a bite in her tone and I turned to look at her, her glare permeating Tara on the spot. "I'm just talking to Tara, I guess," I mumbled, not comprehending what she was thinking. She narrowed her eyes, the gears in her head turning. I could already see where this was going and it wasn't going to end pretty.

"So did you just want me for a lay?" Natanya spat lowly and I put my hands up. I had no idea where this hostility was coming from. "I mean I did, but..." I trailed off, not knowing what to say. I didn't want to lie and say that I had no thoughts of it, because I did. I truly did. Honesty was key here. "But we are friends." I muttered, rubbing the back of my neck as her eyes swirled over in cold fury. She had gotten the wrong idea about Tara and I. I mean, I did fuck her several times in the past, but ever since I made that dumbass promise with Natanya, I hadn't gone back on my word.

"Hey—"

I went to reach for her but a stinging pain on my cheek startled me. I blinked rapidly, groaning as she held her hand up, a tear leaving her eye, the blue orbs darting from me to Tara like I had done something so utterly wrong. "I trusted you, Troy!" I wanted to speak, but shock completely consumed me. "You know what? Fine," She threw her hands towards me, seemingly pushing me away. "I really thought I had found something in you, but you're the same as everyone else," She folded her arms, gritting her teeth. Again, where were all of these conclusions coming from? "I think it's time my father and you have had a chat," She seethed and I had seen a totally different side of her.

I furrowed my brows, trying to figure out where my voice went so that I could tell her that Tara was just complimenting me on my intellect and that nothing was going on, but by the time that had happened, she had stormed off on her heels, leaving me behind. "This is just becoming one god damn thing after another," I rubbed my face in frustration, contemplating how I was going to fix this. First Avery, and now her? What was up with everyone today.

I wanted to smile and be chill like every other day, but something about this day was different. I actually had a reason not to be happy. I actually had a reason to dread the future. I actually had lost some things that made tomorrow easy to look forward to.

Fuck it.

If they wanted to be upset, then let them. I wasn't gonna kiss their ass. Who the fuck did I look like? If Avery wanted to be a pansy, let him. He'll soon realize all of the good things that I had for him. If Natanya wanted to jump to conclusions and bring her oh-so-scary daddy to me, I dared her to.

"I'm sorry about that," Tara didn't seem apologetic in the slightest but I motioned for her to go along with everyone else. I needed to go to the bathroom and figure out how bad this bruise was going to be. When the halls were empty, I pushed myself off of the lockers and made my way to the bathroom. "Damn, this shit is gonna fucking kill," I winced as I poked at the faintly swollen skin. Why did I have to go and say that? She really had the wrong idea, but it didn't matter anymore. What was done was done.

I did my business and washed my hands, completely aware that I had wasted about ten minutes of my time in the bathroom and that Jade was probably already gone. I blew out a breath, clutching my bag as I exited the restroom. I knew the halls were empty, but this was something totally new.

For some reason, the city of No Man's Land was eerily silent.

There was no sound of movement to even indicate that there were still signs of life. I stared at the ground, wondering what was happening. Something wasn't right and I knew that feeling that lied in the pit of my stomach. Dread.

I walked slowly over the window, the silence deafening, eyes glancing up to look out of the window. "What in the hell?" My eyes widened in unmitigated confusion, wondering why it all of a sudden stopped raining. My eyes went forth to the sky, seeing the usual orange hues turning a dark and vibrant red, mimicking the color of blood. The color seemed to be pulsating as a series of lightning bolts struck the area.

My leg started shaking erratically, vibrations shooting up my nerves. I grabbed onto the ledge of the window, trying to figure out if it was me or the ground shaking. With doubt controlling my mind, I looked out of the window, hearing sharp creaks as if something large was cracking and it was coming from beneath us. The eerie clash of lockers opening and then closing alerted me. They opened and closed. Open and close. I bit my lip in mild worry as more cracking filled the air and suddenly, I found myself being swayed back and forth, the ledge supported me as I lurched forward with a tremendous amount of force behind me.

"What the hell?" I grabbed my chest in pain, a loud droning noise eating at my eardrums. "Agh!" I hissed in pain, clutching my ears. With vicious rumbles, the ground started shaking and I couldn't hold my balance. Everything was spinning and the floors of the school began to split into cracks, exposing the dirt ground world. "What the fuck!" I screeched, dizziness slapping my head around, everything turning and throwing itself around me. I felt extremely nauseous, wanting to throw up everything that I had eaten.

Just then, ringing banged against my ears, echoing throughout the dead hallways. What the hell was going on? Why was the sky gradually getting darker and darker? I could feel blood dripping from my nose as my eyes rolled around, trying to find their stability. The window started to crack, its visible changes mirroring as I scrambled away on the dirt, not wanting to get hit with glass. I panted heavily, looking left and right. "I—" Sweat poured down my temple. "I need to get out of here. I need to find Jade." Panic was surging through my veins as I scattered my ways to my knees, eyes blurry as I ran for the exit.

I stumbled outside and the sight before me scared me. Everyone, the demon cops, the teachers and the students were all on the ground on their knees, heads bent over in submission as a large black saucer orbited up in the sky, lowering itself to the center of our campus. Trees were shaking with immediate force as an iridescent blue light began to glow from the saucer. I gulped as a wave of pressure wrapped around my neck, trying to push me to the ground. I kept my footing though, keeping myself standing as I fought against the unseen force.

"Today is Judgement Day."

"He'll finally get what he's been asking for."

"He really is enough to warrant a visit from Sir Alistair."

"He's going to die."

"Troy, what have you done?"

What was happening? Why could I hear their voices? Why were they looking at me like that? What was going on? I had done nothing wrong. "Who the fuck is that!?" I said to no one in particular, the harsh wind slamming against the ground and keeping me rooted. The lights from the saucer blinded me so I used my arm to cover my eyes, feeling such malicious stares. No one replied as their mouths were shut tightly, eyes firmly on the grass.

"I'd refrain from using such vulgar terms, Mr. Morelli," A dark chuckle filled the air as boarding stairs descended from the plane, slamming down to the ground with a loud clang. I breathed heavily, wondering whose voice that was that sounded so dark and ominous. Why did that voice sound so familiar? Everyone in the area held their breath in pure fear as the body of a man made its way down.

Whoever he was, he continued. "Since you asked, I'll answer." The man spoke, his voice crisp with authority and dominion, making my body shudder as the wind from the saucer swirled around. His voice seemed deep, dark, and demonic as a pair of gold eyes flashed from the entrance. "I have many names: Alistair, Satan, Lucifer, Belial, the Beast, king of Babylon, the Devil, the demon lord," He pointed out each finger, listing them on his hand as he stepped down, one by one, slowly as if he was taunting me. The tall man was dressed in a black suit and dress shoes, looking elite and dressed to kill. "You take your pick," He smirked evilly as his face came into view along with his exotic tone. He was a sinful tan with pink lips that had fangs creeping over, stubble donning his jawline and black hair looming over those sinister eyes. Just who was he?

I looked at everyone around me and they looked soulless. They were seconds away from scrambling like roaches out of the vicinity. This mysterious man's power was choking me, tightening its grip around my neck as I fought the compel to kneel. Each step that he took sent fear into my soul as he continued to speak. My eyes widened when I registered his next words, doom upon me.

"But do not feel free to call me Maddox Kane."