a/n: this is happening at the same time as the prologue, but what everyone else was doing at the time 

Meanwhile, with Annie...

"Alright, dear. You can go home. Be safe, and tell Charlie I said hi, okay?" 

"Yes, Your Majesty. I will. Thank you for your kindness. I hope you enjoy your meal." 

"Oh, if you made it, of course I'll enjoy it. Now go on home!" 

As the chef left, Annie smiled to herself. She really did love her staff. They were all so kind and sweet. She stood up, about to go to the table and eat, when she was interrupted by the loud clicking of shoes. 

"Ah! Satana, my sweet! There you are." 

The horrid face of Lucifer appeared before her. Oh, how she hated the man. She glanced down at the rings on her finger in disgust. She would never understand why in the name of her Kingdom her parents and grandparents would arrange for her to marry such a horrible piece of filth. 

She forced a smile anyway. "Yes, dear?" 

"I want you to go check on the prisoners. I'm sure it's nothing, but apparently a guard heard something about a riot and escape attempt. Go make sure everything is orderly." 

'I hope they do make it out of this literal hellhole. At least they have a chance at seeing the light once again.' 

"Of course," she replied, her voice as sweet and fake as erythritol. (For those who don't know, it's fake sugar used in low-sugar recipes but it's wayyyy too sweet.) 

She swept by him, her dress billowing behind her because of how fast she was walking. She was fueled by her anger and hatred of that... thing. 

He, of course, thought she was doing as he said. In reality, though, she was going to help them escape. She knew how angry he could get, but she'd rather put herself in harms way than let all of those innocent people rot away in the cells no one deserved. 

"Sami! Come on, pup!" 

Almost immediately, she could hear the pounding of the giant hellhound's paws, and in a matter of seconds she saw it bounding toward her. 

"Good dog!" she laughed, letting it lick her hands, and then petting it's back. Sami, much like all hellhounds, was a sweetheart. The only ones that weren't were the ones that had been controlled, abused, and twisted into becoming evil. Sami, though, was one of the few non-binary hounds they had. They were her favorite. 

"Alright, calm down, we have work to do. Let's go." 

She opened the door, looking down the long, dark passageway. The two stepped inside, and started walking down. 

For other people, this was called the Passage of Madness. She walked as it got darker and darker, listened to the gentle hiss of steam and fog as it passed by her knees. For her, it was relaxing. A place of no magic, no Lucifer, no noise, no nothing. Simply her, her thoughts, and her favorite puppy. 

Eventually though, they came to a large, intricate copper door. There was pale light seeping through the cracks, and the door itself glowed softly. She placed her hand against the center of it, and muttered a simple spell: 

"Hello, again, door that shines 

Know and feel this hand of mine 

I beg of you to let me pass 

Just as those who share my past." 

The door slowly swung open, revealing a room of brick walls, wooden floors, lanterns emitting warm light, and small rooms with golden bars. 

As she walked past, the 'prisoners' stopped whispering to smile and wave, and then they would go back to their conversations. Since Lucifer never came down here, he thought this was a standard, cold prison. Really, though, every room had a small cedar table, with a chair made of the same wood. Each chair had a soft velvet-like material on it for comfort. Every bed was small, but had fluffy pillows, the sheets were washed at the beginning of every two weeks, there was a lantern hanging from the ceiling, and they were provided with decent meals, books of their choosing, and every day at a certain time they were allowed a few hours of release time to do whatever they wished, whether that be exercising, talking, playing games, or staying in their cells. 

There were also windows for each person to see into their neighbors' cells, so they could talk to each other, trade food or entertainment, or whatever else they wanted to do. 

As Annie was walking by one of the more luxurious cells, she heard a quiet whimper coming from the more shadowed part of the room. She stopped and let Sami continue to wander around and greet the people, kneeling down to investigate. 

"Hello? Who are you?" she asked, doing her best to sound gentle and not as worried as she was. That's what being a mother did to you: always worried. 

She had trouble making out the face hidden in the shadow, but when the person came into the light, she was shocked. 

"Lizzie?! What in the name of Hel are you doing in here?" 

Lizzie was shaking, eyes wide and scared but also shining with a sliver of hope. "A-Annie..." she mumbled, "I need to get out of here." 

The Queen was also shaking too, now, but she put both hands through the bars and held Lizzie's hands in her own. This was the first time seeing her friend in years, which made her wonder just how long she had been down here... 

"How long have you been-?" 

"Twelve years." 

To say Annie was surprised was a gross understatement. HOW had she never noticed her? 

But then Lizzie continued speaking. "Lucifer... he- he had me transferred here a few weeks ago, I had been in castle but I guess he thought... I don't know. I just need to get the fuck out of this place. It's not that bad, but I just can't stay here." 

"Hey. I am going to help you escape, if it's the last thing I do. You understand?" She then put her forehead against the gold, and she could feel it melt under her newly-burning skin. As soon as her's and Lizzie's touched, though, it cooled off. 

"Promise?" the beautiful prisoner whispered. 

"Promise." replied the horned Queen. 

______________________________________

Meanwhile, with the Clan... 

"They're, like, so fucking dumb." 

"I know right? Why can't they just die, like what the hell?" 

"Yeah, I'm probably gonna push them off a bridge if those suicidal sons of bitches don't jump off themselves." 

"Yeah, or we can stab them." 

"OH! Or put them through bread slicers like in that movie, what's it-?" 

"Don't know, don't care." 

"Can you assholes just, you know, maybe shut the fuck up for once in your lives?" 

Hannah had enough of their death plotting. Once upon a time it was fun, but now listening to Kate and Karl all the fucking time was just so old. It's like the most annoying people were always twins. Like those two. And Kass and Sandy. Why do all the most pissy people have names starting with K? 

"Why? You in love with one of them, or something?" Kate said. 

"No, and even if I was, why'd it matter? As if you aren't-" 

Kate's eyes turned cold and hard. "Don't. You. Dare. Bring that up here. Not in front of them. Not anywhere." 

"Oh, so you admit it then?" 

The blonde stormed up and held her knife against the redhead's throat. "I will kill every last one of them if it's the last thing I do. Including her. Especially her." She pulled away, Hannah's neck now bleeding slightly. 

"Whatever, prick." 

She leaned back against the wall, and the twins resumed their argument. Devon was also leaning against the wall on the other side of the unused classroom, and he looked completely and utterly dead. Like there was no life left in him or something. She couldn't stand to stay in there any longer. 

"I'm leaving, assholes. Don't kill anyone without me." 

She strutted out of the door, grabbing Devon's arm and pulling him out of there too. 

"I can't stand them," she said. 

"Neither can I." 

"I want to leave." 

"So do I." 

"Forever." 

"Yeah." 

"So, we're in this together, right? We're getting out of this shithole?" 

"Of course." 

"But where should we go?" 

"I don't..." Dev started, but he stopped halfway through. 

And by stopped, he stopped everything. 

Talking. Walking. Blinking. Breathing. His heart probably stopped for a second, too. His eyes lit up, the kind of light that's both hopeful and mischievous. 

"I have an idea." 

"What is i-?" she was cut off by him jumping up, snatching her hand, and rushing out of the school. 

"You wanna get revenge, right?"

"Yeah, I don't want them to fucking die though. Not ours, not theirs. I don't even know who's side we're on though," she said between heavy breaths from walking so fast. 

"Well, I think I know how. Where all of us can be safe. Especially us." 

"How?"

"Just follow me. Come on, dipshit!" 

The boy who had looked dead just minutes ago was now glowing, literally glowing, and excited. He pulled Hannah through crowds of teenagers, in the paths of bikes and cars, across lawns and gardens and parks. Until finally they reached the biggest house Hannah has ever seen. 

They arrived at the edge of the driveway just as they saw two things fall from the sky. 

Human-looking things. 

Except... 

Humans don't have wings.