“So let’s get this straight, not only are the demons here but the one leading them was the second in command to the demon queen and he is the one who taught you everything you know.” Sarah reiterated for the group, now reunited in Lena and Sarah’s room.
“Yeah that’s pretty much it.” Andras replied sheepishly, at a loss for what to do next.
“Well it’s just the second in command, we beat the demon queen. How hard can he be?” Bianca exclaimed with faux confidence.
Andras unfolded his arms to grip the sides of his head, “You don’t get it, that demon is not to be underestimated. The demon queen might have been behind some of the bigger schemes but the details? It was always him. She would demand something be done and he was always the one to make it happen.” He explained to the group, waving his hand around for emphasis.
“I was given my rank as a demon Lieutenant because I was incredibly intelligent among my kind, he was given his for being even more so.” He added, refolding Lena’s arms.
“How come you haven’t told us about him before?” Amber asked.
“I did mention him to Lena once but I didn’t think I’d need to because I didn’t imagine he’d still be alive.” The demon answered her, “Anyway, did you guys have any better luck?” The question hung unanswered for a moment as the girls pondered their situation.
“Oh uh… Bianca and I managed to reach out to some friends and give them the code phrase as discussed and nothing of substance came from the rumor mill but we think Ms Marquez warrants special attention.” Amber informed the group.
“I suppose the teachers would be a good target for their authority and unfettered access to the school. We’re going to have to search every inch of the campus, starting with any underground areas because if they’re operating out of anywhere, it’s going to be a basement of some kind.” Andras remarked, “Anything else?” He added, looking to Sarah and Liz.
The two exchanged a look before Sarah gathered herself, “Well we have good news and bad news.” She began, “The good news is that the cops shouldn’t be able to put us at the scene as the cameras seemed to ‘fail’.”
“Of course.” Andras commented, drawing the attention of the group. “And the bad news is that we believe that is because at least some of the security guards have been replaced.” Liz finished.
“Of course they have, Idsalis is a certifiable genius and it seems he has already wormed his way further in than I expected.” Andras observed, “For now we’ll have to avoid any and all security guards.”
The room fell silent as each of them dwelled on their current situation. Andras wanted to try and raise their spirits with some promise that they would beat this thing but they were on the defensive, one wrong move and he could lose one or all of his friends forever.
“We won’t let that happen.” Lena assured him, “Don’t you dare try and shoulder all of this, we knew what we signed up for.”
“I know but I’m the only one with the power to fight back against what could be anywhere from dozens to hundreds of demons. The odds are so stacked against us…” The demon trailed off.
Lena didn’t reply to his complaints, “Andras, I am going to need my body back.” She instructed him, sounding determined.
Andras took a second to come out of his stupor and process what she said. Shifting backwards he began to exit her body, the blue glow turning each of their heads towards him as he emerged from her chest smoothly. His demonic feet made contact with the cool timber floor as he regained his bearings, hearing Lena’s feet meet the same floor he quickly moved to the edge of the group and took a seat on the floor, knowing what would come next.
All eyes were on Lena as she stood between them, “Now I know you’re all feeling afraid, like we’re back on the island again and helpless but we aren’t.” She began.
“Yes, I know we might only have one demon against an unknown number of enemies but when has that stopped us before? The six of us single-handedly took down the demon queen and foiled her plan to take over the world. We can handle what’s left.” She remarked, bringing soft smiles to the girls’ faces.
Turning to Andras she continued, “I know you’re scared now that you feel like you have something to lose but I promise you, you aren’t going to lose us but we’ll be damned if we let you try to carry this burden alone” The demon gratefully smiled at the girl, feeling at least a little bit hopeful.
Turning her attention to the rest of the group, “We have beaten these things before, we can do it again. Now, who’s with me!?” She asked them.
The girls cheered gleefully, welcoming the positive outlook, “Now, we’re going to go out again tomorrow and follow up on those leads. Once we get a better idea of who exactly has been replaced they will lead us right back to their filthy lair which should be all we need to uproot these bastards once and for all.”
“Umm… excuse me?” Elizabeth asked carefully, not wanting to interrupt her big moment.
“Yes?”
“That’s all well and good but how exactly does finding their lair help us?” The scientist enquired.
“Well the people they replace must be held somewhere, I can’t imagine they’d be willingly loaning out their bodies to the demons. If we can just free them during the daytime, the demons will be destroyed.” The red-head explained.
“Oh right… but what if when we finally get the chance, it’s nighttime?”
“Uh- I guess we’ll have to make sure it’s not when we do.” Lena answered awkwardly. “Not necessarily.” Elizabeth replied with a confident smirk.
“If you get me to my lab, I think I can figure out a way to solve that potential problem.”
——————————————————————————————————————————-
Aside from some peculiar noises outside the window that piqued Andras’ attention, the night passed uneventfully. The demon felt a smile creep to the corner of his mouth as he heard some of the girls begin to stir. Bianca yawned obnoxiously loud as she stretched her four limbs out.
Sleeping conditions were pretty rough, Sarah and Lena shared one bed, Amber and Bianca in the other. It was Kiera and Elizabeth who had the pleasure of sleeping on the floor in between. The pair had complained about their backs the previous morning but hopefully they wouldn’t have to sleep like that for too long.
The first pair of eyes to open belonged to Elizabeth, the girl’s weary eyes briefly searched the room as she took in her surroundings. Her sluggish gaze eventually settled on Andras, staring blankly for a moment or two before her eyes went wide and she shot up in a panic.
The sudden movement disturbed Kiera, “Ughh what?” She asked sheepishly as Elizabeth’s tired eyes stayed locked onto Andras’ form. In her tiredness the girl momentarily forgot her situation, it didn’t last long though as the girl’s racing heart began to slow with the realization.
“Oh… I’m sorry Kiera I forgot Andras slept outside of… Lena last night and he scared me.” The young girl explained to her newly woken friend.
“Unnnn…” Kiera groaned as she rose up from her makeshift bed, “That’s ok, it takes some getting used to I suppose.” She said with a weak smile, she most definitely wasn’t a morning person.
“Whose turn is it to get breakfast?” Bianca asked from underneath her pillow, the words coming out barely telligible.
Neither Kiera nor Elizabeth seemed to know the answer so Andras spoke up, garnering confused looks from the trio.
“He said he is pretty sure it’s Sarah’s turn.” Lena translated for them, lazily rolling over to look at them. “A little homesick buddy?” Lena teased him.
The demon just shrugged, not minding needing to be translated for the moment. “Amber, you up?”
“Yeah yeah…” Amber replied, nonchalantly rising from her sleeping position and shuffling past Bianca to sit on the edge of the bed. “Go ahead.” She said before opening her mouth invitingly for the demon.
Andras smiled gratefully at his friend, even though the window was covered with their black out curtains, it always makes him nervous to be outside of them when the sun’s up. He quickly began disintegrating and flowing inside of her as Elizabeth watched closely. “It really is a sight to behold.” The scientist commented.
“Eh, after a while of watching him enter your friends or have him possess you, it loses its novelty.” Sarah explained, wiping her messy hair out of her eyes as she unlocks her phone, “And yes, I’ll get breakfast. What do we all want?”
“Amber wants pancakes.” Andras replied, having just finished taking control of her. The rest of the girls began relaying their orders to Sarah as the demon ran his hands through her short hair in an attempt to comb into place. “You plan on wearing your usual outfit or do you want me to pick something new?”
Andras just smiled, answering the girl’s question.
——————————————————————————————————————————-
Andras rubbed Amber’s lean stomach, relishing in the satisfaction gained from eating those pancakes. “Thanks Sarah!” He said gleefully, earning a smile from the girl who was mid bite of her own food. He took a second to appreciate the sight before him, each of his friends eating and chatting amongst themselves like they weren’t all in mortal danger. It had been a good morning but it was almost time to go back to reality. The thought soured his mood.
“Don’t worry buddy, we’ll beat these things and then we can do this as many times as we damn well please, ok?” Amber comforted the demon, surmising what he was thinking.
“Thanks.” He replied simply, gaining back some of his resolve, “No worries, now I think it’s high time we got dressed and put on a bra yeah?” The girl joked, lightening his mood.
Standing from the impromptu eating circle, Andras moved over to the clothes he’d set out while waiting for breakfast to arrive. Just a few minutes later he’d slipped into a pair of tight, ripped jeans, a black, spaghetti strap top and a navy blue jacket. He felt a unique sense of contentedness as he examined ‘himself’ in the mirror.
“Ah, the usual attire then.” Lena commented, making the girls giggle. Elizabeth, being the only one that didn’t understand, was understandably confused, “Usual attire?” She queried.
“Oh yeah he’s got a favorite outfit for each of us, he really enjoys it for some reason.” Bianca answered the girl before taking another bite of her bacon and egg roll. “Yeah and we like to make fun of him for it.” Kiera added before offering the demon a coy smile.
“Curious, nothing too revealing I hope?” Elizabeth asked as seriously as she could but couldn’t help but let a teasing overtone creep in. “Oh no, truth be told he dresses more conservatively than most of us, especially me.” Bianca joked.
“Key word, most.” Sarah interjected with a faux annoyance.
“Oh come on Sarah, you can’t blame Andras for not wanting to walk around in sweaters in all temperatures. It’s not his fault you always wear so many layers to try and hide those giant melons of yours.” Bianca mocked her, sending another round of giggles across the group. Well, from everyone except Sarah that is who narrowed her eyes at the girl.
“You would do well to remember who paid for the food you’re enjoying so much right now.” She said with as much venom as she could muster, making the girl shrink slightly and avoid eye contact.
“Anyway.” Lena cut in, “Yes he does dress nicely. It seems he’s quite comfortable in the outfits he creates.” Her eyes shifted to the demon who’d been waiting wordlessly for the conversation to move on.
With the last morsel of food consumed Kiera decided to grant the demon his wish, “Should we get going? I can’t imagine the professor will be happy with being interrupted by our late arrivals.” She asked Lena.
The mention of leaving the room instantly brought down the fun tone they’d been enjoying thus far this morning. “I suppose we should.”
——————————————————————————————————————————-
“I hope Sarah and Elizabeth will be ok.” Lena expressed her trepidation to Kiera as they made their way to class, making sure to not let any classmate escape their notice.
“I mean Bianca has Andras and I think I could probably hold one off but why did we send those tw-” She began before noticing Audrey approaching them. Lena smiled brightly at her friend, “Hey Auds!” She exclaimed purposefully, eliciting a confused look from the girl.
“Auds? That’s a new one.” She replied, letting Lena breathe a mental sigh of relief before giving a subtle nod to Kiera.
“Hi I’m Kiera, Lena has told me all about you.” She said introducing herself with a wave.
“Oh so you’re the master animator!” Audrey complimented her, “Oh I don’t know about master…” Kiera trailed off shyly giving Lena a look.
“Come on, you can admit it! You’re leagues ahead of me and everyone in that class.” Lena insisted much to her friends’ dismay, “Whatever you say.” Kiera relented, hoping to change the topic.
“Anyway Audrey, how’s the greenhouse going?” Lena asked, much to Kieras relief. “Amazingly! You remember those rare samples I was telling you about?”
“Of course.” Lena replied, “Well they took really well to the soil and should produce their pollen any day now.” Audrey explained.
“Oh that’s awesome, were you worried they might wilt?” Kiera queried.
“Yeah because the ecosystem it comes from is so different to our own I really had to ensure every detail was correct when recreating the right conditions. I was so worried I’d miscalculated something, it would have been a very expensive mistake.” The latinx girl answered with no small amount of relief.
“Well I’m glad you were able to get there in the end.” Lena told her with a sympathetic smile, “Anyway, the girls and I are playing a little game and I was wondering if you’d like to be a part of it?”
“Oh? What’s the game?” The botanist asked curiously, “Unfortunately telling you is against the rules but I can tell you your part and promise you a share in the winnings if we get there.” Lena replied as cooly as she could.
“Mm I do like the sound of that, it’s a deal. What do I need to do?”
“I just need you to remember a word I give you.”
“Is that all?” Audrey asked, seemingly visibly confused but at least a little intrigued, “Ok I’m game, what’s the word?”
Lena took a second to take in her surroundings, seeing nothing but students passing by she leaned in and whispered, “Necklace.” In her friend’s ear. “Now make sure not to share this with anyone except our DnD group, ok?” she asked after leaning back.
“Ok, I can do that.” Audrey shrugged before looking at her phone, “Damn is that the time already? It was nice seeing you Lena, make sure to come by the greenhouse sometime yeah? Bye Kiera, it was nice to meet you!” She said before rushing off to her next class.
“Bye Audrey!” The pair said in unison to the retreating girl, “We should get going too.” Lena told her.
“Of course, what did you tell her by the way?” She asked as they started walking towards their classroom once again, “Necklace.” Lena said a little loudly, failing to notice the slight smile on a student’s face as they passed by.
——————————————————————————————————————————-
“Are you sure about this Sarah? We’ve been watching her for forty-five minutes and she hasn’t done anything except act like a normal teacher going over paperwork.” Elizabeth asked Sarah as they spied on Ms Marquez from the top of the auditorium.
“I’m sure, the timing of her personality change is just too suspicious. Trust me, these things are almost impossible to spot so we can’t take her at face value.” Sarah explained, not taking her eye off the unaware professor for a second.
A silence hung over them as Elizabeth debated whether to press further or not, “Are you only saying that because Andras fooled yo-” She tried to ask, her whisper getting cut off by Sarah’s head snapping towards her with a furious look.
“This has nothing to do with that.” She said with a very low voice before shaking her head and returning her gaze to Ms Marquez who was still flicking through and marking what they guessed were the most recent exams.
“Sarah I know you, don’t think I haven’t picked up on your feelings about this matter. The implication that you don’t ‘house’ him as often as the other girls was telling enough let alone all the other things that seem to go unspoken.” She explained passively, “Do you dislike Andras? Or is it just the possession itself?”
Sarah bowed her head and rubbed her eyes at the question, turning once more to her friend, “No I don’t dislike Andras, if it wasn’t for his change of heart the whole bloody world would have ended and the possession can be an inconvenience but it’s really not that big of a deal.”
“Then wha-” Elizabeth tried to ask. “It’s because I should have known better.” Sarah interjected with angry guilt before resting her head in her hands.
Placing a hand on Sarah’s shoulder, “Sarah you can’t possibly blame yourself for something like that, who in the world would have guessed that their friend had been replaced by a demon?” She tried to comfort her friend.
“I know that but all the same I just feel so angry. I’ve known Lena ever since we were little and I feel like such a shitty friend for not realizing something was off. Because of my failure, we all got bodysnatched and damn near caused armageddon.” Sarah confided.
“Look at me Sarah.” Elizabeth said softly, her friend dropping her hands and raising her head to meet her gaze.
“I understand, I really do. I’m sure they’ve all told you that it’s not your fault, which it isn’t, but you can’t help but feel like you could have done something.” She said sincerely, “Maybe you could have raised an alarm bell but there are countless ways that could have ended poorly. I know you feel guilty for what the girls went through, and maybe a little traumatized yourself, but do you truly believe it could have ended much better than it did?”
Sarah didn’t respond immediately, taking time to digest what was said but before she could say anything, the sound of a chair being moved across the floor echoed throughout the auditorium as their eyes were drawn back to the professor. Seemingly finished for the day the teacher had risen from her chair and packed away her laptop before heading for the door, bag slung over her shoulder.
From the slits in the rows they couldn’t quite see what she was doing but she had seemingly paused in the doorway. Sarah squinted her eyes to try and see but as it came into focus, Ms Marquez had stepped outside and shut the door. Neither of them dared to move until they could no longer hear her footsteps.
Forgetting about Elizabeth’s question for now, Sarah rose from her position amongst the top row and headed towards the teachers desk with haste. “Sarah, what are you hoping to find? If she catches us she’ll think we’re trying to cheat.” Elizabeth called out as she struggled to keep up with her friend.
“I’ll find something that proves she isn’t the real Ms Marquez, there has to be something.” She answered, rummaging through the drawers.
“Sarah I really think we should go, it’s starting to get dark.” Elizabeth warned, Sarah looked out the windows that lined the top of the auditorium. Seeing that it was still mid afternoon she went back to rifling through the papers.
“We’ve got time, now help me find something.” She instructed Elizabeth.
Shaking her head and joining her at the table, “What are we even looking for?” She queried.
“This!” She said triumphantly as she found an exam paper marked two months ago, “How is that going to help?” Liz asked as Sarah began examining it.
“Even a super intelligent demon shouldn’t be able to mimic someone’s handwriting perfectly, Andras never gets ours right, if we can just compare one of these newer ones with this older one…” Sarah trailed off, eyebrows furling in confusion.
“Sarah, they’re exactly the same!” Elizabeth pointed out, “No! There has to be something different about it, or something else!” Sarah insisted as she struggled, and failed, to find the difference between the two styles.
Elizabeth grabbed her friend by the wrist, “Sarah, it’s not her. You need to hurry and put that stuff back, we need to go.” She commanded.
Sarah hesitated for a moment, unsure of what to do. Groaning in frustration she quickly stuffed the papers back in the deck before Elizabeth pulled her towards the exit. The pair took a second to peer outside of the room, seeing that the coast was clear they took off down the hallway. As they were leaving Sarah’s eyes darted everywhere, unable to shake the feeling that they were being watched.
——————————————————————————————————————————-
“Are you sure about this Andras? It’s starting to get dark.” Bianca asked as the pair descended into what was probably the sixth basement that day.
“Don’t worry, this shouldn’t take long.” He whispered back as they tried to take each stair as silently as they could. They’d spent all day looking for and searching through any underground storage areas they could find but they hadn’t found any sign of their enemies.
“We’ll find them eventually Andras, don’t worry.” Amber assured him from within to which the demon expressed his thanks wordlessly.
They arrived at the bottom of the staircase, a door standing in their way. Andras tentatively reached out to test the handle which turned easily. With painstaking care he twisted the handle until it could turn no further, carefully opening it and peeking through the slight gap created.
The demon was greeted with a large, dark room that was unlike the rooms they had searched so far. Sure enough the side of the room close to them was crowded with heavily packed storage shelves but curiously the shelves ended halfway through the room. The remainder was filled with what looked like chairs and some other things he couldn’t quite make out from this angle.
Hearing no noise from within he opened the door enough to allow them to pass through. As he did this, an audible creak from the door sounded throughout the space as the unoiled hinges grinded against one another. Andras’ keen ears picked up movement nearby, looking at the ceiling he could hear footsteps traveling across them. The steps being accompanied by the falling of dust from the ceiling that even his demonic sight could barely see.
Springing to action the demon quickly closed the door and pulled Bianca to the left side of the room, the pair crouching low as the pair of footsteps turned into many as what sounded like a sizable group made their way through the room above, towards the stairs.
Heavy footsteps thundered down the stairs, scaring Bianca and Amber who Andras could feel was deeply unsettled. Andras would be lying if he said he was calm but he had to keep a level head for their sakes.
They didn’t have much time to ponder their situation as the door flung open and various students began to pile their way in. The lights flickering to life as one of them flicked the switches on their way in. The pair peered cautiously as they saw a rather odd mix of people chatting amongst themselves, there were jocks, nerds and even some ‘alternative’ students all taking seats amongst one another. The door slammed shut as the last made their way inside.
Andras was only able to make out bits and pieces from their conversations.
“Yeah man this club will really help wit-”
“I know there are some people we don’t really hang out with but trus-”
“Don’t worry, you’ll see what this is all about soon enough.”
Andras’ heart sank as he pieced together what was going on, he tentatively grabbed Bianca’s arm to get the girl’s attention. Not wanting to risk any noise he used Amber’s hands to signal her to be ready to run towards the door. She nodded in understanding.
They returned their attention to the scene as a door they hadn’t noticed, on the opposite side of the room, opened. In walked a figure that looked familiar but wasn’t anyone they were expecting.
“That’s Ms Scofield! How could she have been replaced? I haven’t noticed any odd behavior.” Amber exclaimed to the demon as they watched the conservatively dressed nursing teacher walk in with an uncharacteristic confidence, the murmur of the small crowd of students going silent.
Ms Schofield was a slightly shorter woman who usually wore her long blonde hair in a professional ponytail, today though it was draped around her shoulders.
“Good afternoon students, I see we’re all here.” Ms Schofield addressed them all with an odd sultry tone, “I don’t know how much our regular attendees have told you about this special class but I’m sure you’ll find it absolutely riveting.”
After a brief pause, Ms Schofield clapped her hands together loudly before saying, “So without further ado.”
The room surged as the majority of the crowd burst into movement. Before Andras or Bianca had any time to make sense of what they were seeing, it was already over. At least half a dozen students found themselves surrounded by two or more assailants, each making sure to restrain them and cover their mouths.
Their muffled cries for help are quickly silenced by threatening glares and tightening grips. “Now now, we can’t have any of that, can we?” Ms Schofield said sinisterly as she approached one of the captured students. She grabbed the young girl by the face and twisted her face in a hideous sneer, eyes flashing green.
“Such rudeness! Whatever will our guests think?” Ms Schofield asked rhetorically as she clicked her fingers. The door she entered through opened once again but instead of more possessed, a demon ducked his head as he entered the room. Terrifying the already scared students as more piled in behind the monster.
As an eighth demon tried to enter the room, the teacher stepped in. “No no, we only got seven.” She explained slamming the door in his face, “Wait your turn.” She added as she dusted her hands.
Turning around with an excited look on her face she clasped her hands together once more, “Let’s get started shall we?” She suggested much to the demon’s delight as their already eager grins widened. Taking her advice they each began to select and approach their hosts.
Andras’ attention was torn away from the spectacle before them by Bianca who began tugging on his arm, the usually bubbly girl looked horrified, “Andras, we’ve gotta get out of here before they discover us.” She practically pleaded with him.
He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, “Just a little longer, we have to see what happens next.” he whispered back, Bianca didn’t seem very reassured by that but nevertheless the demon returned his attention to the scene.
Andras watched as the young woman Ms Schofield had grabbed earlier seemed to be first up. She was on the shorter side, definitely at least a little shorter than Bianca. The girl had short, shoulder length brown hair and was wearing a plain gray jacket and blue jeans from what he could see.
The girl desperately tried to shake free of her assailant’s grip as one of the creatures approached her. Andras was incredibly confused at this point, he didn’t see an extraction machine anywhere nor anything that looked like a soul well.
The hand covering the girl’s mouth was removed only to be swiftly replaced by the demons to silence her attempted scream. He brought his face close to hers, so close that Andras guessed she was getting a face full of his terrible breath.
The demon brought his other hand up and began to slowly close the distance between it and the girl’s face. Before it closed the final few inches heavy footsteps drew the crowd’s attention as a larger demon, at least a full foot of height on the one attempting to possess the girl, grabbed the demon by the shoulder and flung him backwards into the wall with a loud thud.
The dazed demon shook his head to see the larger one glaring at him, he said but one word in their harsh tongue. Andras recognised it as ‘Mine’. The girl snapped back to reality as she realized her face was currently uncovered, attempting a loud scream that ultimately amounted to a choked cry as her open mouth was quickly filled by the stab of the larger demon’s hand who began to disintegrate.
The girl’s struggle against the students holding her reached a fervor as she choked down the invading demon, his head starting to flow down her throat through the gurgling sound. As more of the demon invaded her body, her fighting began to wane. Her back arched as the demon delved further within, tears forming on the edges of her eyes as she tried, in vain, to muster even the tiniest amount of energy.
Her eyes twitched momentarily before slamming shut as the last of the demon entered her. The girl sagged forward in the students grips, the only sound remaining was a light sloshing that was almost too quiet to pick up.
Andras was beyond confused at this point, “Aren’t they supposed to extract them first?” Amber said, giving voice to his concern.
He didn’t answer her as he watched the girl intently, expecting to see the demon be forced right back out but instead, the girl’s head just rose. Ms Schofield angrily stomped towards the now conscious demon, scolding him in their harsh demon language that even Andras could barely understand as he only picked up some expletives.
Bianca once again got his attention by grabbing Amber’s arm, “Andras please, we have to go.” She whispered. Shaking his head of all the thoughts of what he just saw he nodded to the girl, much to his friends’ relief. The pair gingerly rose up from their crouched positions and tiptoed towards the door, Andras keeping his eyes glued to the crowd to ensure they hadn’t been spotted.
Opening the door just wide enough to squeeze through, Andras went to duck into the next room before seeing a student standing on the other side. He was a rather nerdy looking kid, leaning against the wall with his head fixed on his phone. The nerd’s gaze rose to meet Andras as the two made eye contact, freezing like deers in headlights. A lookout, Andras realized.
Andras reacted first as he surged forward through the doorway and grabbed the possessed student by the head, slamming it against the wall. The demon’s hands had risen to defend itself but fell as the impact did its work. Andras’ thumping heart was drowned out by the sound of commotion in the room he’d just left, thinking fast he pulled Bianca out and slammed the door, “RUN!” He shouted at her as he placed the unconscious demon against the door and tried holding it closed as it started being bombarded by heavy impacts.
Bianca climbed the stairs as quickly as she could but it was frustratingly slow for Andras who was doing his best to hold the crumbling door closed. With Bianca reaching the top Andras decided it was time for him to make his move, he leapt up half a dozen stairs and dashed further upwards as he heard the door finally break open behind him.
Not stopping to look he continued to sprint up the stairs, trying not to think about how many thundering footsteps he heard coming after them. Finally reaching the top of the stairs he reached Bianca, the demon seized hold of her wrist and led her out into the now dark hallway. Andras’ stomach dropped as he saw how empty the area was, with no witnesses, there would be nothing stopping their pursuers.
Sure enough, as he spared a glance back at the staircase, the group of oddly matched students weren’t far behind. Redoubling his efforts in sprinting while attempting to drag the much slower Bianca, they burst outside through a large pair of double doors into the cool night air. Being met with a line of trees, scarcely lit by the lamps of the walkways, Andras ascertained that they’d exited at the edge of the campus. With buildings on his left and right but only the trees from the local park in front of him the demon made the split second decision to run left and towards the center of campus.
As he rounded the corner of the large building the pair heard the doors burst open again as their assailants refused to give up. The pair made their way at top speed, ignoring their lungs for the need of oxygen and ignoring their muscles for the need of reprieve they pushed on. Reaching the grass field in the middle of the property they beelined for the dorms on the other side. Even though the sun had only disappeared very recently, there wasn’t a student in sight, likely driven inside by the chill in the air.
Andras barely noticed the breeze nipping at some of Amber’s exposed skin, instead risking another look behind them. His stomach dropped as he saw one of the larger jocks having made his way forward from the pack and very close to catching them. Just as Andras was about to turn his head he noticed some of the other demons stopping dead in their tracks around the middle of the field before calling out to their brethren.
The remainder of the group stopped, except for the jock who was so focused on chasing them down he didn’t seem to hear what his brothers were telling him. With Andras transfixed on the scene the Jock had managed to close the distance between them and took a wild swipe at Bianca only to be shoulder-barged by the waiting Andras. The impact sent the jock sprawling into the dirt and Amber’s shoulder in agony.
The jock growled before going to get up, being interrupted only by a green glow forming on his chest to all of their surprise. Andras and Bianca’s run shifted to a light jog as they watched the Jock struggle to try and crawl back towards his compatriots before rolling onto his back as his demonic form began to emerge.
The jock’s body buckled as it effectively spat out the unwelcome guest, the demon landing on the grass. By the time the demon turned to the barely conscious jock the pair had reached the edge of the field, stopping to watch what was unfolding. The student shook his head as he tried to get his bearings, only to lock onto the horrifying monster hunched above his prone form.
Before he could even scream the demon unleashed a breath of green gas in his face, knocking him out. The demon turned his attention to Bianca and Andras once more, the pair tensing up as they prepared to run again, only to breathe a sigh of relief as the demon picked up his ex-host and started to run back the way he came with his allies.
Bianca immediately wrapped her arms around Andras as she sought his comfort from what they had just barely escaped, the demon swiftly enveloped the girl in his arms as he too relished the safety of the embrace. They weren’t able to enjoy the moment for long though as they felt their phones vibrate, most likely from the gang trying to find out where they were.
They reluctantly broke off the embrace and Andras explained to the group that they were on their way before hastily making their way inside the dormitory.
