Athena leaned back in her seat and blankly stared out of the car window. They had woken up early the next morning and got a head start getting to the asylum. Athena wanted to stay longer this time in hope that her fear of this place will go away. But she doesn't think it will.

After she went back to sleep after her scare, she had another small nightmare. They just wouldn't leave her alone and she hoped that conquering her fears will let her sleep peacefully at night.

Athena turned around in her seat thinking she would see Derek in the back, but he wasn't there. He had slept in by accident and Athena didn't want to wake him up. Instead, she took his camera and left a note letting him know where they were going to be for the day. She wanted him to be here with her, but if he was going to be nervous the whole time, they weren't going to get anything done. 

The trip was quicker this time now that they knew exactly where they were going. Celso drove up the driveway and parked in front of the building. 

Athena walked around the cemetery and made sure to study each of the tombstones. There weren't much difference between each of the tombstones. They were all halfway dug into the ground and poorly taken care of. 

After walking around the cemetery, they went back inside the building. They walked the whole bottom and top floor and took enough pictures to fill up the whole newspaper. When they were done with the buildings, Athena noticed that the sun was beginning to set. 

She wanted to get at least one more picture of the room she was standing in now. Nothing was in the room, but one wall had a large mural on it. The pictures and writing were strange. Celso told her that the writing wasn't Italian or any kind of language he had learned. 

Athena could tell that he was getting nervous. He kept clenching and unclenching his fists and he kept looking around the room. 

Suddenly, Celso's body became rigid and he held out his hand. "Athena, let's get out here."

She didn't argue but held her hand out to grab his hand. She never met his hand. Celso was suddenly pushed back by an unknown force. He went through the open door and hit the hallway wall. 

"Celso!" Athena started to run towards him when the door slammed shut, blocking her from getting to Celso. She banged on the door and tried to work the handle, but it didn't budge. She could hear Celso yelling from the other side. 

A loud bang sounded behind her. She turned around to see a long, thin figure in front of her. She pressed her back against the door. The figure looked human, but its bones showed. Its eyes were red and red ooze came out of its mouth. 

It brought up one hand and banged it against the door by her head. She flinched and shut her eyes. From the other side of the door, she could hear Celso yelling for her and the door handle rattling. 

Her breathing started to become labored. She felt like her breath was being sucked out of her. Opening her eyes, she saw that the figures mouth was wide open with strings of red connecting the jaws. A thin silver line was coming out of her mouth and into the mouth of the figure. Athena's heart began to race. She didn't know what that line was exactly, but she had a few thoughts and none of them were good. 

Black spots were starting to fade her vision and her body started to become weak. Her eyes were slowly closing. She almost didn't hear the gunshots ring from outside and feel the door behind her swing open. She fell backward and felt a strong pair of arms catch her and lay her on the floor. 

She kept her eyes opened to see Celso holding his gun up to the figures head. She heard it's demonic laugh bomb through the room. She saw it talking to Celso, but couldn't hear what it was saying. Celso must not have liked what it had said since he shot a bullet into its head.

The silver line came out of the figures mouth as its body hit the floor. The line floated in the air towards Athena. Her mouth was partially opened as it slid back into her mouth. As the line disappeared inside of her, her health started to come back. Her breathing returned to normal and her strength returned. 

Celso came and knelt down beside her. He gently lifted her up into his arms and ran out of the door and building with no looking behind his shoulder. He set her in the car and immediately got into the driver's seat. Turning on the car, he sped out of the driveway and was back on the road to Florence. 

Athena slowly sat up in her seat and held her head. She had a massive headache that felt like it was splitting her skull apart. She looked over at Celso and saw his worried expression on his face. Both of his hands were on the steering wheel and his knuckles were white. Athena thought back to what had happened. 

"What was that thing doing to me?" she asked quietly. 

Celso took a long, deep breath before answering her. "It was taking your soul. That silver line that you saw, that was your soul. To them - the demons - that's what they want. Anyone who is weak and not watched, they take their soul."

"So it was killing me," she said slowly. She brought her knees up to her chest and hugged them.

Celso's grip on the steering wheel grew tighter. "Yes. That demon was trying to kill you. It won't ever get you again, Athena. That demon is no more." 

"What did it say to you?"

Celso didn't answer her.

"Celso," Athena called out to him. She turned in her seat to look at him. "Answer me. What did it say to you?"

Celso took a quick glance at her before shaking his head and sighing. "He's coming."

Athena gave him a questioning look. "He told you that 'he's coming?' What does that mean?"

"Everything," Celso breathed. "Who that demon was referring to is their king. He's the most hated demon of all time. He's hard to defeat in battle. Every hunter who has gone up against him had died. One had been able to injure him, but not fatally. Those two words could mean the end of the world."

"So, let me get this straight," Athena began. She pinched the bridge of her nose in hope to calm her headache. "I almost died, and now there's some demon king that wants to do what?"

"Basically, kill all of the hunter and protectors and reign terror on the human world."

Athena paused, not knowing what to say. She stared out the window and tried to comprehend what had just been told to her. She stayed silent the rest of the car ride and Celso didn't try to speak to her. When they got back into Florence, Celso took her back to his house.

"I don't want you going back to the hotel tonight," he told her when they stepped through the wall. 

"Why not?"

Celso sighed and sat down on the couch. "Because, I want to keep watch over you."

Athena sat down next to him. "You do that anyway back at the hotel."

"True," he agreed. "But I don't have any of my stuff here. If there's going to be a demon king rising up, I need to be ready."

Athena nodded and thought a moment. What if something happens to Celso and no one could protect her from the demons and their king? She needed to learn how to fight them. She needed to learn what Celso could do and she knew that the only way she was going to learn was by him. She turned to him again and bluntly told him, "I want to learn how to fight."

Celso looked at her with wide eyes at her sudden statement. He then shook his head. "No, I can't let you learn that."

"Why not?"

Celso sighed and stood up. "Demon fighting takes many years to master and is very dangerous to learn."

"Then just teach me the basics!" She wasn't going to let this down without a fight. "And I'll be very careful. I promise." 

Celso ran a hand through his hair. "My answer is no, Athena." He started to turn his back on her to walk away when she stood up.

"What if something happens to you?" she asked quickly. 

Celso stopped in his tracks. "Athena."

"No!" She shook her head and stomped over so she was in front of him. "Don't do that. I want to learn how to fight. What if something happens to you and there's no one there to protect me? What if you have to go up against that demon king and you get killed? What then? Who will be there to protect me?"

Celso placed his hands on her shoulders. "Nothing's going to happen to me."

Athena pushed his hands away and took a step back. "You don't know that! Today is a prime example of that! Either one of us could have died today. I don't know what exactly was going on on your side of the door. For all I know, you could have been fighting off other demons while I'm being useless against another. I don't want to feel useless, Celso! I want to learn how to fight!"

Celso sighed and ran both of his hands through his hair. He thought about it for a moment before sighing again. "Alright. I'll teach you how to fight, but you do exactly what I say and no arguments. Got it?"

Athena smiled victoriously. "Got it. When do we start?"

Celso smiled at her before stepping closer. "Now."