Brendon took the familiar hall. The hall that honestly terrified him as he pictured the red eyes and voices from before, but he had to make sure Dallon was okay if he had come this way.

"Dallon?" Brendon called out far too soft for anyone to be able to hear him. He cleared his throat and tried again, louder.

The hall felt darker than before. It seemed to latch onto Brendon and pull him further into it. It moved along his skin, tempting him to just shut his eyes and be fully embraced.

Brendon shuddered. He drew his arms inward, crossing them over his chest as he called out to Dallon again.

He hated the feeling this place had shifted to. It wasn't warm like his memories. It was cold. He felt like the dark could actually touch him and leave a mark.

"Dallon!" Brendon yelled, flinching at the echo of his own voice.

There was a noise to his left. He turned to find himself outside of the dime outline of a classroom. He stepped towards it, cautious of what might be waiting in the dark. "Dal?"

"Bren?" Dallon's voice was soft from the dark.

Relief filled Brendon. "Where'd you go?"

A laugh carried through the dark that dampened the relief he felt and instant before. "I never left."

"Dallon." Brendon stepped into the room. "Are you okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" His response was quick. Almost more of a statement than a question.

Before Brendon could respond, the shadows shifted. A path seemed to cut through the dark, revealing Dallon sitting on the floor with his back against the teacher's desk. His head was cocked slightly to the side as his empty gaze stared off into the dark. Beside him was a set of legs that seemed to be forming from the shadows. Brendon followed them up, locking his eyes with red orbs.

"Yes, Brendon," Ryan grinned at him, "why wouldn't he be?"

Brendon's mouth went dry. He watched Ryan step in front of Dallon, letting his fingers dance on top of Dallon's head. Dallon didn't so much as blink.

"What's wrong?" Ryan raised an eyebrow as something swished through the dark behind him. "Cat got your tongue?"

"What did you do to him?" Brendon's voice cracked with his words.

"Me?" Ryan held a hand to his chest. "I only guided Dallon somewhere quiet. Isn't that what you wanted?" He kneeled in front of Dallon, staring into his eyes with intensity while trailing his fingers down Dallon's face.

Brendon started forward. He felt anger well up inside him. He didn't want Ryan touching Dallon, or doing whatever he was doing to him. He instantly froze, however, when something long and think whipped out of the dark. It took Brendon an instant to realize that it was a tail. A tail with a sharpened end, like a cartoon devil, that rested not even an inch away from Dallon's throat.

"No, we don't want you any closer, Brendon." Ryan said coolly as he continued to stare into Dallon's eyes.

"What the hell are you." Brendon asked, keeping his body still while watching the tail hover at Dallon's neck.

Ryan turner away from Dallon. A small smile played on his lips. "I warned you that your memory didn't have room for me." He rose to his feet and took a step forward. His tail remained positioned at Dallon's neck. "I'm a demon, straight from hell."

Brendon shook his head. "That's not-"

"Do you remember the other kids playing with me, Brendon?" Ryan cut him off, eyes burning brightly through the dark. "Do you remember anyone even glancing my way?"

Brendon had a burst of images run through his head. He cried out, shutting his eyes as a pain shot through him. The images still played behind his eyelids. Memories from his childhood on the playground and in the halls. Ryan was there, but no one else acknowledged the red eyed boy. Brendon was alone when he was drenched by the sudden rain. Brendon wasn't reprimanded alongside anyone when he ran through the halls and hurt himself.

"You had to have..." Brendon trailed off. It didn't make sense. Brendon hadn't been alone, but everyone around him had acted as if he had.

"I don't exist to most." Ryan gestured to the darkness. "I follow the chaos. I follow the storms. You were a welcome break when you saw me."

Ryan took a step forward. He held out his hand. When Brendon didn't take it, he slowly withdrew.

"I'm a storm bringer, Brendon. I'm here because of the hurricane. I am the hurricane, but I'm not why you should be scared." The intensity of his eyes died down as his voice became a hush.

"What do you mean you're not why I should be scared!?" Brendon hissed through his teeth, "You literally just said you're here with the hurricane!"

The demon rolled his eyes. "You humans fail to see the bigger picture." He muttered.

"A fucking hurricane is kind of a big picture."

Ryan's tail twitched and Brendon quickly snapped his mouth shut. Despite Dallon's lack of reaction, Brendon didn't want him any closer to harm.

"I'm trying to warn you because I like you." The demon growled. He took a moment before speaking again. "You see me when most can't. Even he can't see me," his eyes flickered towards Dallon's direction, "he was just scared enough to let me in."

"Warn me about what?" Brendon kept his eyes on Ryan's tail, "The massive hurricane you brought with you!?"

Ryan stared for a moment before bringing his hand up to his face and pinching the bridge of his nose. "Your skull really is thick." He sighed, "It's such a good thing you're pretty."

Before Brendon could react, the demon has him by the shirt collar. A mixture of emotions swept over Brendon with the creature's closeness. Fear. Calm. Confusion.

"I'm a storm bringer, but you've unleashed something even I can't contain." Ryan hissed. "Even with you're little brain, storms brought back memories of me and let us interact. Something stopped that and I barely have enough leway with a storm of this size to speak to you."

Brendon stared into the eyes of the demon just inches away from him. He could see a mixture of emotions through the red. Anger. Strength. Sadness?

"I am not the only thing here you need to worry about." Ryan repeated, trying to cement the words into Brendon. "I don't like that it's trying to take you away from me."

"How could it be trying to do that?" Brendon asked with a shakey breath. The demon's grip on his collar was tight. The fabric dug into the skin of his neck, but not enough to fully choke him.

"You're special, Brendon." Ryan pulled him closer. "You can see what others can't. It doesn't like that and it's turning what you can do off."

With how close they were, Brendon expected to feel Ryan's breath on his face, but there was nothing. The thought popped into Brendon's head as to whether or not the demon needed to breathe.

"I'm not going to let you forget this." Ryan said, practically touching Brendon's nose with his own. "It was amusing to watch another creature's work at play, but I'm not playing anymore."

The shadows seemed to suck in at that instant. Brendon was pulled even closer to the creature and their lips were connected. Brendon's eyes fluttered involuntarily. A strange sensation washed over him as the demon kissed him. It felt good. It felt bad. It felt dirty.

Brendon cried out as something sharp punctured the inside of his bottom lip. He tried to pull away, but Ryan held him in place. It was another few seconds before Ryan pushed him away. Brendon stumbled to the ground, gasping for air.

Ryan remained standing. Blood dribbled down his chin. His tongue flicked from his mouth like a snake, swiping at the dark liquid.

Brendon groaned. He felt cold, like the low temperature was enveloping him with a blanket. "What did you do?.."

Ryan's tongue swiped at more of the blood. "Marking you as mine." The demon replied, "You won't be able to forget me now."

"No..." Brendon held his head. His bottom lip felt swollen. His head felt like it was underwater. "I'm gunna throw up..."

Laughter filled the air. Ryan crouched in front of him, grinning. "You're going want to hold that in." He nodded his head towards Dallon, "Someone's going to need to catch him." He laughed again before vanishing.

As predicted, Dallon began to fall to his side. Though it was difficult to move, Brendon dove to keep his head from hitting the solid floor. Dallon's eyes rolled back in his head before the lids fluttered shut.

Brendon could feel his own eyes closing. He was suddenly exhausted and had nothing in him to fight of the feeling. He let his head drop and gave into the exhaustion.