"We turn around and see...."

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Gear's POV:

We turn around and now, there's these three demons in black dresses chasing us, clutching darkened wands. 

We're all screaming, freaking out and running to Laceline Rockette's, away from these three... people.

We bust through the back door and lock it shut, gathering at a table in the diner.

"I swear, if I have to run any faster again tonight, I might twist my ankle." Val sighs, exhausted.

"I think we would prefer that, Val." Zach breathes, folding his arms. 

We all just glare at him.

"But, moving on, I'd best show you what this book and scroll is about before we have a squabble." Loretta denotes, rolling the scroll out on the table.

Oli: 'So, Loretta rolls out this scroll out on the table and we put the Ram Skull in the middle of it. We need these three things to cleanse it; we need the anklet of a fallen demon, an amulet of unicorn horn magic, and the chastity ring of a fallen nun. Now, I don't know where we're gonna get any of this stuff, so I think Loretta's gonna be a big help.'

Lana grabs the book that came with the scroll and opens it.

Inside is two spells; a fog spell and a... transformation spell?

"OK, who needs to shape-shift?" Lizzie asks, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh, no, it's not in that context," Loretta corrects, sticking her hands out.

"The transformation spell is what can help you transform into one of the demon's lovers. You need it to get the unicorn horn and its magic."

"So, I'm guessing we need to split up?" I suggest, puzzled.

Turns out it ended up being the best idea.

Since what we were going to do involved seducing a demon- apparently- and Loretta had the amulet we needed to keep the magic in, I ended up going with Oli, Lana, and Val. 

Victor and Heidi ended up going with Zach and Lizzie to get the fallen demon's anklet.

I rip out the page of the book containing the fog spell and give it to Lizzie while we take the rest of the book.

And with that, we leave the diner.

***

After a quick run, we end up at the bridge, which leads to the church and the cemetery.

There's a note attached to the bridge, which Oli grabs and reads.

It reads:

The demon Lassie was known for two things in the Demons Games; seducing men and shattering dreams. To earn her place as one of the Delamont Mistress' servants, she broke the unicorn horn of one of her adversaries, removing its corruption needed to advance. To claim the unicorn horn and take its magic, one of you must use the transformation spell, seduce Lassie and lock her in the mausoleum.

Be wary, though; once she is locked in, you will only have a minute to claim the horn.'

"And then there's me thinking Gear should do it." Val orates, pointing her thumb at me. 

Oli's shocked and Lana looks OK with it.

"But whoever's doing it, pro tip: use a cheesy pickup line. It'll probably work."

"Well, I am the Lady Killer and I don't wanna be at risk of dying again, so I'll do it. Don't worry, Lana; I'm not gonna cheat on you." I reassure, hugging Lana.

I'm just hoping this doesn't end up being very awkward.

Everybody recites the spell, which is:

'With this spell that we cast, let thou walk as another as if it were their last.'

"Ya feel any different, buck?" Loretta speculates, looking determined at me.

"No, still feel like me." I retort, pretty surprised. 

Gear: 'Well, I still feel like me, and that's not a good thing. Because guess what? I'm dating Lana! OK, Lady Killer Gear's gonna have to come out real quick, so just be ready.'

Val, Oli, Lana, and Loretta hide behind the church steps, egging me on as I stride towards Lassie, my hands in my pockets as I fidget with the box inside one of them.

"Hey. Sup?" I near growl.

And, immediately, I hear Val burst out giggling. 

And damn, she giggles really fucking loud.

Val, you're a great person to be around and I love you- platonically, of course- but calm down, dear God.

"Hey, lover boy. I've been waiting." Lassie whispers.

And cue the discomfort. 

Why are most of the women in this town acting like they want to fuck me? 

I mean, I get that I'm hot, but my dick's already in somebody else's pussy, so leave me alone. Please.

And I can see the group from here, too. And I really don't know why Lana's blushing, but she is.

She seriously can't be turned on by all this.

Lana: 'I honestly don't know what's just come over me, but... I'm finding Gear kinda hot right now. I'm not sure why, but... he's just really hot right now.'

OK, fuck it; time to take Val's advice.

"Hey, your dad's a boxer, right?" I ponder, pointing at Lassie.

"Because DAMN!" I snap my fingers.

"You're a knockout."

You can hear Val laughing from here and I'm worried it's gonna get us murdered but, for now, let's focus on pretending I'm into the horny bitch.

No, I don't mean horny like that- OK, maybe I do- but Lassie literally has horns as well; it goes two ways.

And I'm gonna be honest real quick; after that, I genuinely zoned out since, for the most part, Lassie's just trying to get in my pants and I'm just trying to hide my discomfort.

A few minutes later, I finally manage to lock her in the mausoleum. 

I get the unicorn horn off the roof of it as the group races over to me.

I snap the horn over my knee, like any normal person would, and we bottle the magic up into the amulet Loretta has.

And right as we finish, Lassie breaks out of the mausoleum and we just sprint away like bobsleds racing down a bobsled track.

Weird comparison, I know, but just go with it. 

We race back into Laceline Rockette's through the back door, somehow without getting cursed, sit at a table and we re-group.

Well, the rest of the group did; I didn't.

I don't think I've told you guys this, but... I've been doubting my relationship with Lana for the past few hours, especially after our battle with the Stone Man.

I mean, I still love her, it's just... we keep being targeted by the rest of the group, like with Lia and Zach.

I think Zach's just exclusively targeting us because he's jealous of our relationship; his wife was the first person to die and he's pissed that we're happy together.

And I don't know what to do at this point. There's got to be a way around it without breaking things off with her.

"Gear, are you alright? You didn't come sit with us." Oli says, bringing me out of my thoughts.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good, it's just... I'm really doubting my relationship with Lana at this point. After what happened with the Stone Man and Lia and especially with Zach now, it's just... I'm thinking of breaking it off." I confess, looking away from him a bit.

"What?" Oli gasps. 

"Or at the very least, faking it to trick Zach. I don't want anything bad happening to either of us, I just want us both to be OK. Even if it means I have to end things to protect her." I sigh.

"Gear, if you really love her, you wouldn't let something like this affect how you feel. And sure, I get you're upset that you're being targeted and you want to protect her- if Evie were here, I'd feel the same. But you shouldn't feel like you have to break it off for your sake. Like Lana said when you were in the challenge, you've been together 2 years." He acknowledges, motioning to me.

And I mean, he's got a point.

I got that box and that ring for a reason; because I love her.

And I shouldn't let others tell me how to feel.

So, I'm not gonna break it off, I'm just gonna prove Zach horribly wrong instead.

Or at the very least, kill him.

Right when I rejoin the others at the table, Lizzie, Zach, Victor and Heidi come back.

Lizzie holds up her wrist; she was cursed too.

"So, after all of that, it's only two of us going in now? I'm confused." Oli says, shrugging.

Then, Val finds a note on the bar. 

She grabs it and reads it aloud. It reads:

'The demons are not happy with how you outwitted them. So, all of you will pay the price. To claim the chastity ring of the fallen nun and cleanse the Ram's Skull, all six of you will run the Demon's Gauntlet, where the last to complete the four challenges will be their sacrifice for the night. Good luck; this death will surely be a change of heart for the five who survive it.'

Hold up, hold up... what?!

It's a 6-way challenge now?!

This was not in the contract earlier.

"What?" Lizzie gasps, her face pale and her hands covering her mouth.

"So, we're all competing against each other?" Oli confers, completely awe-struck.

Zach: 'Finally, something I can do and accomplish. I've won one gauntlet already and now, it's time to show these bitches that I'm getting out of here. And they can't stop me.'

Gear: 'I'm in shock and complete horror right now. I need to compete against my alliance and my own GIRLFRIEND if I want to have a chance of getting out of this town. I'm just hoping and praying that this is Zach's downfall.'

"This cannot be happening." Lana groans, on the brink of tears.

Thankfully, I'm able give her a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

"We'd best get going, guys. I don't want to keep these demons waiting." Loretta urges. 

We all reluctantly walk out of the diner to the challenge area.

I just gotta do this.

Because I'm not going down any other way...