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Lords of The Damned

1. Ablaze

Nero ran like hell's entire wrath was chasing him. Flames swallowed the city of Fortuna as Nero kicked in the door to Kyrie's apartment, looking around frantically for the young woman. So what she had dumped him two weeks ago? He couldn't just leave her to die in some random fire. Well he damn well could but he wasn't like that. Well not when it came to Kyrie, at least. Even if she hated him for a reason that he couldn't understand, and that she wouldn't take the time to explain, he still loved her and that was all that mattered.

"Kyrie! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Nero cried as he ran from the kitchen to the bedroom to the living room. He was starting to choke on the smoke and the visibility was getting worse by the moment. He looked around frantically until he heard a familiar sound. He looked to his right an out the window to see Kyrie running up the sidewalk away from the house, screaming in terror. Nero felt somewhat relieved and somewhat pissed that he had come in this house for nothing. As if to add to his bad mood, suddenly the gas pipe in the stove in the kitchen caused an explosion that blasted Nero out the 3rd story window and sent him smashing into the ground, hurting his leg in the process.

He tried to move the hurt leg hoping that it wasn't broken. Luckily he could still move it enough to walk which was all he needed. He got to his feet shakily and tried feverishly to catch up to Kyrie who was staring at the exploded building instead of running like a sensible person would. That was working to Nero's advantage as he limped over to her, bleeding from the explosion and barely able to breathe due to the high levels of smoke in the air. Suddenly she broke free of her trance and turned to look at him, first confused, then irritated. "What are you doing here, Nero!? I told you to stay away from my apartment!"

Nero sighed. Even during what could possibly be the end of them both, she still wouldn't just listen to him or try to not get angry with him for five seconds. "Kyrie… I came to get you out of here before you got baked alive!"

She looked irritated. "You didn't think I could get out of my own apartment and safely get out of here?! How old do you think I am?!" she walked up to him and continued to rant but her words fell on deaf ears. Nero was looking at the burning building as something seemed to be… moving. In his condition, Nero decided to not even go there. He snatched Kyrie's arm and bolted up the street, ignoring her inquiries and objections. It didn't occur to him that his leg was still hurt because he was trying so hard to get out of the area. Something just didn't feel right. It was like this crushing presence or force that was bearing down on them that he could neither see nor feel.

About five blocks down the street, Nero ran out of steam and stopped to take a few deep breaths. Just as he was starting to be able to breath, Kyrie screamed and took off running at an impossible speed. Nero just watched her go, perplexed at how the small woman could possibly take such a fast pace. When he turned around, there was a large demon coming his way. He had never seen a creature like this one. It carried a giant pair of scissors and in the place of its face was a mask. Its body was just a black cloak. The creature floated in the air and then let out a wicked laugh. It was like a grim reaper like demon that he had fought before… but something was… different about this one. Its whole body was engulfed in flames and it seemed to be the source of the overbearing pressure.

His Devil Bringer was pulsating like mad which probably was its way of saying "get the fuck out of there!" but Nero wasn't' really in a listening mood. He never was and probably never would be. It just wasn't like him.

The demon cackled, snapping him out of his momentary trance. This thing was really starting to get on his nerves and it hadn't really done anything yet. He finally lost his temper and fired a round at the creature from Blue Rose, the bullet going right through it. Nero blinked. He had shot it in the mask. Why hadn't it harmed the demon? The demon then did something that he didn't see coming at all. One second it was standing before him and then it was gone. Before he could fathom what had just happened, the demon appeared behind him and took a wet bite out of his neck.

What proceeded that moment came in well layered steps. He was shocked by the demon's actions. Then he got feeling back in his body and it hurt like a son of a bitch. Then some of the curse words that the teenager was thinking came flying out of his mouth as he turned around and slashed at him. He missed and the demon laughed again, appearing to his right, then to his left. It occurred to him that the demon was using him as a plaything but heat only made him angrier.

The demon suddenly grabbed him by the back of his coat and swirled around him and caused him to fall to the ground, out of breath and dizzy. "You fucker. Now I'm going to have to take some Tylenol or Aspirin when I get done with this because you're giving me a headache with all your fagidy ass ballerina twirling!"

The demon screeched and flew over him, hitting him in the head with the handle of its scissors. He fell back to the ground with a yelp and cursed, shooting at the demon as it flew past him and left, knowing damn well that the bullets weren't going to work. When the "Ballerina demon" was out of sight, he started off in the direction Kyrie went. He needed to find her.

Thanks a lot. Don't worry… it gets MUCH better –evil laughter with the flames of hell in the background- please read the next chapter and don't forget to review!