Eleven: Scream


Hi all,

*Again* sorry for the extended wait on this chapter. I finished majority of this piece in May but, on the 17th, I suffered a blow in the form of my beloved puppy crossing the rainbow bridge :( I know it can be seen as unavoidable, being that he was almost 15 and golden retrievers aren't expected to live so long but to be honest I took it pretty hard. Anyone who'd been on my Wordpress page saw his photos and hopefully could see how much he meant to me. He inspired so much happiness in me at the worst times of my life. Fell into a pretty bad funk and couldn't write anything for a while, and still I think it'll take me a while to think of him without crying. I'll miss my Sammy! I didn't want to depress anyone but I feel since you guys are already seeing what's in my head you might as well hear what helps me get it out and open. Cherish your puppies while you can, they hold a place in your heart and home like nobody else can :(

Anyway, enough sadness. Positivity! I'm sorry I kept you all waiting! Thank you all so much for your reviews and feedback, I'm sorry it's taken so long! I really struggled this chapter but I HAD to get it out, so apologies if it's not up to par.

Princetonlover your reviews are SO LONG and I loved every word! Thanks for taking all that time to give me some helpful feedback! :P I hope I answered a few of your questions in this chapter, but you are waaay ahead of me on the other mysteries ;) But *cough* Rome and Cain may not be from the second circle, no...

Aqua Star Antidote X has been stashed, Half-Demons are mutts, so they are unstable and grow up quicker (but they can start running around at a young age anyway) and I hope the rest of the chapter answers your long-awaited questions ;) (I'm sorry you had to remind me again! eep!).

TheRedWolfAlari OH MY I looooooove In This Moment! I just got their new album and it gave me so much inspiration! Great minds think alike! :D.

solaif79 hope this chapter answers your questions :) thank you! *)

I'd like to give a special shout-out to reviewer Halloween Haunt. Your review came to me and gave me a boost when I needed it most and I want to thank you SO MUCH from the very depths of my heart for those kind words about my writing. I try and spend a lot of time improving my vocabulary and prose that sometimes it takes a long time, but it's good to know when someone goes out of their way to really appreciate it :) I'm trying hard to work on it especially this year- I want to look at publishing opportunities! It was taking me so long to write this chapter and gets the words right I was really struggling and you really gave me a happy boost I needed with your sweet words, thank you! You are truly beautiful!

Also big thanks to all of you who took time out of your days to give me the feedback I cherish and love! Where would I be without you::: mrssparklypinklips, Miss Leidi, ROCuevas, 15TSchultz (no promises, wink wink ;P) RowdyPuff, buttercuprocks101, AwesomeNumber0, JinxyClover, Shoma, Kimarys Adriana, Sammi, Fancyunicorn, Ahdaze, pancakelover32, CuriousFox99, How 'Bout It, xxcandylover23xx, CherryPieLovesU, Buttercup99x, kimkat201, emerje and all my guests!

I'm sorry sometimes I don't take the time out to thank you all personally but usually at this point I'm in such a rush to hit 'publish' I get impatient. Anyway, on with the reading :) Again please excuse any mistakes, they are usually fixed within the next day or so when I am (in a panic) re-reading!

Love you all!


...

Caught up in this madness too blind to see
Woke animal feelings in me
Took over my sense and I lost control
I'll taste your blood tonight

'Scream'- Avenged Sevenfold

...


...

~25 years earlier~

"Professor! Professor Utonium!"

The Professor, with a head of thick black hair and donning his best white lab coat, turned in the busy hallway of his college. He was a few minutes ahead of schedule to his next class anyway, so he didn't mind being held up. Once he saw a head of strawberry blonde hair weaving in the crowds of the hallway, he only smiled.

"Lailah!" A young girl, the cause of the shouting, stumbled to a halt in front of him and hurriedly tried to catch her breath. The Professor's smile only widened. "I thought you'd dropped out, I hadn't seen you in any of my classes lately-"

The girl beamed up at him. She was short, and clearly young to be a student at the college. Her long strawberry blonde hair hung around her rounded freckled face, her plump pink lips swelling over her bright white teeth in a dazzling smile. Despite the clear confusion that showed in her grades, the girl's energy alone caught the Professor's attention. She could put anyone in a happy mood.

"I just wanted to thank you!" Lailah presented the Professor with a box of chocolates. "I didn't really understand all the formulas and stuff, but the way you spoke of your studies into Chemical X and the possibilities of superhuman strength and saving the world, it really inspired me!" Her eyes dazzled as she gushed at him breathlessly. "I transferred into nursing school! It's already so fun, helping people. I feel like I'm really making a difference!"

"That's great, Lailah." The Professor gave a genuine smile. When the young girl had withdrawn from his lectures he felt personally as if he had trampled her spirit failing her, but knowing he'd done some good and put her on the right path restored his faith. "As long as you do what makes you happy!"

"Exactly!" She beamed at him before glancing over his shoulder. Her cyan-coloured eyes widened in worry. "I better get back to my class though, I'm in the other building now. Thanks again, Professor!"

As she turned and darted through the hallway, the Professor only grinned and waved at her retreating back, his spirits lifting despite the dreary Monday that lay ahead.

As the stream of strawberry blonde hair drifted out of his sight, the Professor turned his own way into the lecture theatre behind him. A pair of bright red eyes watched him go before flicking back to the girl, watching her skipping away to her own class. Students milled around the menacing hooded figure without a pause or second glance, almost as though they couldn't see him. The red eyes narrowed greedily in on the girl as she flounced away, hugging her books to her chest.

"You're mine." Bane growled after her.

...


Present Day


.

Butch

.

The silence was so thick throughout the park it was ringing in my ears. I couldn't even focus on tracking anyone, all I could hear was the rushing of blood under my own skin.

I took a drag of my cigarette, surveying the way the early morning dew clung to the beaten down grass of the fields. The central park of Townsville had changed a lot in the last few years. Graffiti decorated the paths and bridges, the trees were swaying limply in the breeze and all of the playground equipment was close to breaking off.

"Where is everybody?" Boomer growled from beside me.

Usually a place so thick with demons you almost had to wade through, it was closer to a graveyard with Boomer and I on guard. Even the moonlight seemed to be hiding from us. It illuminated eerily from behind the clouds in the dark, casting black shadows across the dying grass.

"Probably heard we were coming…" A stream of smoke escaped my lips. I couldn't muster up any energy to get excited about it, I was tense enough. There was a steady drumming of pain of a promising hangover in my skull and my muscles were taught with strain. I just wanted to be back in bed. "Look, there aren't many humans left in the city limits anyway, Boomer. Those who are, probably have already been recruited by the Punks. I don't know why you wanna track them down anyway."

"I just don't want a massacre." Boomer snarled.

My head tilted. "What do you call hunting?"

"Shut it…" Boomer hissed over me, kicking at the nearest tree. "You know I don't aim for human blood."

"That's what you like to think." I leaned against his kicked tree, finding a spark of enjoyment in how much I was ticking him off. "Whether your demon side agrees with you… that's another thing."

I was expecting another snarl, but his eyes only darkened and lips twisted, apparently too burned up to comprehend his anger through words. He kicked at the tree again and the trunk tilted at the force. I pushed myself off and took another drag of my cigarette.

"I guess people are expanding to other cities…" Boomer grumbled, folding his arms in thought. "Demons are following their pray, of course."

"A bit suspicious, that they're running out on our city." I hissed, my heart fluttering in panic in my chest. "How will we know if they're coming after Blayze again?"

"Gotta trust our protections sometime Butch." Boomer rolled his eyes. "Besides, what other demons do you know have chemical X like we do? It's not like they can fly, or manipulate energy or anything."

"Oh yeah? Tell that to Blayze, he's still healing." I hissed at him.

"I keep telling you, Blayze was attacked by a girl!" Boomer snarled at me. "It was one of the first things he said!"

"Yeah, well he's not talking anymore." My heart was almost aching with how hard it seemed to throb. The thought of my kid and the fact he'd been avoiding me the last week caused me so much hurt I could barely take it. It was bad enough losing my temper in front of him, I couldn't take back what I said. I tried to say sorry, he could barely look me in the eye- and when I did, the hurt in his eyes was too much. It's like losing his mother all over again.

"You need to sort it out." Boomer dropped his snarl and his tone. "Just give it some time. Time heals everything."

"Not this." My stomach dropped as I stared at my feet, eyes burning up. I didn't want to cry, but I felt some sort of despair leak through. "I fucking failed at being a Dad."

Boomer slapped down on my back- hard. "Don't say that, man. It's not your fault-"

"It is." I shook him off and stared up at the stars again, the specks blurring before me. I didn't need to say anything else, but Boomer's hard gaze seemed to be burning a hole in the back of my head. I heard him shuffle up beside me, his shoulder meeting mine.

"...What happened, Butch? Like... really? With you and..." He seemed to take a deep breath, and my teeth clenched together hard without my permission. I grew cold at the very shadow of her name. "I mean, I know she's…" He dropped off, clearing his throat. "But why? How did you do it?"

"I did something bad, okay?" My voice was a depressing croak, but it was all I could manage. I couldn't bear to hear it again. She's dead. She's gone. "Something I regret..."

I stared up at the sky, trying hard not to think about that horrible night, when I went after her. It sat deep in my chest and seemed to expand, almost willing to explode out of me. It had been so long, but at the same time it felt like only last night. When I drank too much, whenever I allowed my mind to sneak passed the barrier I'd set up long ago- I think of her. I remember her smile, and her laugh, the way she'd hug me and sigh at night in her sleep...

Then I remember how warm her blood was on my hands, her screaming and the feeling of her nails clawing into me, her crying, begging...

"Something I think about every day."

.


.

While there was a depressing, dark gleam that seemed to suffocate the very air of the Underworld, it was far from the fire and brimstone that everyone loves to imagine. Locked safely in the Second Circle, however, was another story entirely. Him was happy where he was, sitting on a throne while sinners and demons roamed around him, weaving in and out through the endless depths of the spiritual realm. Sometimes there were screams of horror, other times groans of pleasure, sometimes there was maniacal laughter… either way the red-skinned demon basked in the pleasure of knowing it wasn't his problem. He was only a visitor, and he took pride in the fact he could move through realms with no consequence. Despite he was more than six feet under, down in the Second Circle he felt on top of the world.

"Boss!"

He whirled around on his seat, a cloud of smoke frothing before him to reveal a small servant at his feet- the same tiny horns, though with greyish skin and blackened eyes. He trotted up obediently, his eyes wide.

"I have news…from…from below."

"Below?" Him sat up a little higher, his voice echoing in that eerie coo. He clicked his claws with interest. "Go on…"

"The ninth circle…" The servant spoke in a hoarse whisper. "It's been opened."

Him seemed to choke on the very air around him, twitching in spasms and coughing in alarm as he grabbed the tiny creature roughly. "WHAT?!"

"The ninth circle! It's been opened!" The demon itself was in awe, hardly noticing the claw around his arm. "I only just heard-"

"But, when did this happen? How did I not know?!" Him hissed angrily, snapping his claws and gritting his pointed teeth. His body seemed to burn with sudden heat. His mind worked in a frenzy. The Ninth Circle was only reserved for the worst of the worst, the worst of all sins-

Betrayal. The very Archangel himself was sent there. He certainly could never step foot near it- no demon would ever dare. Nobody gets in unless they commit the most ultimate of sins, prove their black hearts and souls. Nobody gets out. Ever.

"How did they do it?" He wondered out loud. The demon beside him shook his head, empty eyes rolling in their sockets. "Who was it?"

"No word, Boss. The news comes from below-"

"Wait." Him whirled around, eyes blazing. "You've had news from below?" he crept closer, almost purring. "Have you heard, from-"

"He's nowhere, Boss."

"Nowhere?!" Him howled in fury. "How can he be nowhere? He died didn't he?!"

The servant nodded, but twitched uncomfortably. "He did… but he was a-a pretty powerful demon, boss-"

"Hardly." Him's teeth flashed in a growl, but his eyes were narrowed with concern. "While he had connections, it is clear in the records I've found the family line is restricted to this circle-"

"-And he has ties- he- he couldn't descend. Like normal. That's all I heard. He's wanted… "

Him's eyes widened. "Wanted? Bane?"

The servant nodded once more, this time slowly, gravely. "In the Lower Circles."

"Wh-"

"There must be a piece of him, back on the physical plane." The smaller demon looked disturbed at the mere thought. "How he's avoided them, I'll never know-"

Him rose from his chair, staring up at the black, swirling sky. It seemed to burn and crack with flashes of lightning and thunder.

"It seems I need to re-visit my beloved physical realm." Him cooed lovingly, eyes glazing over at the thought. "I'm sure my boys will enjoy this piece of information…"

"But there's more." The demon beside him piped up once more. "There's…more news from above, Boss."

Him looked on eagerly, but his face seemed to fall at the look his servant was giving him.

"…I don't think you're going to like it."

.


Butch


.

Boomer and I both got home after our 'duty' early in the morning, about three. My bumbling blond brother immediately hurried off to his wife in bed, probably to convince her to try for another kid, or at least 'practice'.

I shuddered as I wandered down the hallway on the top floor, lost in thought.

I'm happy for them. I tried to tell myself that every time I heard mention of their own families growing. First it was with Brick, now seeing Blossom so pregnant with his second child, it was becoming more of a reality... a reality it looked like I would never get.

My head began to spin at the thought, my stomach clenching as a jolt of fresh pain shot through me. It became harder, seeing her like that. I couldn't help but think of Buttercup, if we had gotten along and lived together- if we would have let our own family grow... what she would have been like, what she would have looked like, with my child inside her again. I didn't get to see Blayze grow and her so happy with him. It hit me every time I let my mind wander, my hopes would soar at the pictures forming in my head... and reality would seem colder as soon as it all came back to me.

Every second I found myself wishing my reality was different. That she was a part of my reality.

I dawdled around my bedroom door for a split second before I zoomed upward instead, hovering in the air and heading up towards my favourite hidden spot. It was becoming an addiction- being around her things, like I was in her room…like we were teenagers again. It was an escape.

The door opened and I looked up to find a pair of narrowed apple green eyes at me. For a moment I thought it had finally happened and she had come back, just to haunt me. But after my heartrate calmed I saw it was Blayze staring daggers at where I was.

Reality came crashing back down in a whirlwind.

"What are you doing here?" He snarled at me. It was hard to make out in the dark, but his pale face seemed to shine through the shadows and his rough voice cut through the darkness like a knife. "I thought you wouldn't care about all this stuff, if she's dead."

He said it with such venom, almost spitting at me. I thought I could make out the last word- dead- almost squeaking in his throat, but those cold eyes wouldn't let up. They were cold, almost an icy grey. That stare wasn't his. It bore down on me with full force and seemed to suffocate me, and suddenly it seemed as though I was drowning in the darkness, her things, her possessions and her son almost choking me with how many memories of her crashed within me and a wave of despair hit me hard.

I managed a shrug.

"I thought I'd keep her alive as much as possible." I blinked at how cold my voice was, but remained still for his sake.

He stared at me with determination, but as my eyes adjusted to the room, I could see in his own stare the tell-tale bloodshot lines that mixed in with the green. I felt numb, a trickle of fear pierced my chest with a new panic.

He can't know. Not now.

"You didn't tell me." His voice was firm, hard and deliberate. He swallowed, but his lips quivered. "I wanna know how come. Why didn't you tell me she was dead?"

I matched his stare. My voice stayed hard, with my lips barely moving. I tried to remove myself, but it was hard to talk about her without her face springing into my mind, into my raw heart.

"You need to forget about her, Blayze." I squared my stiff shoulders. "There's no use getting upset over something you can't change."

For a long moment, neither one of us moved. While the rest of the house creaked with activity, the room we were in was stifled in a tension-fraught silence. I could almost feel his heart thud away in my ears. His eyes strayed, down to the ground. I watched as his long black hair swept into his face. He looked defeated, beaten down. I thought about hugging him, maybe bringing him closer and telling him it was going to be okay… but I couldn't. The numbness had frozen my feet and I was trying hard not to let go myself, a flood of pathetic sobs might escape me if I did. They were buried deep within the caverns of my chest, wrapped in my heart- cold and dead now. All I could do was watch as my baby seemed to fall apart, weighed down with what I'd given him.

I opened my mouth to say something- anything- to break the coldness of the room… but before words had even crossed my lips his head suddenly flicked back up again, his eyes now a sharp, apple crisp green- and narrowed. His hands snapped into fists and he arched forward, ready to fight.

"WHY!?" He hollered at me, red cheeks streaked with tears now. "YOU NEVER TOLD ME! YOU JUST LET ME THINK SHE WAS COMING BACK!"

"I never said that!" I hissed back at him, but my voice was drowned out.

"YOU NEVER TOLD ME ANYTHING!" His voice was so loud a shrill ring pierced my skull, my eyes snapping closed. But his screams echoed in the room, rattling me to the core. "YOU NEVER DID, YOU LIED! YOU ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS LIE!"

"BLAYZE!" I fought through his screams to stumble back to him, scrambling at some control. It was all too real, and too true, and he didn't even know it. "I didn't lie! Just fucking listen to me, for one second-"

He pointed at me then, his face screwed up and his chest heaving at the force within him. His eyes were darkening now, to such a sharp, glassy green that they pierced through me as though I was water.

"You can't tell me to forget her…" His voice was dangerously deep now, detached, older. I froze, heart stilling altogether. He held his arms out. "You never did!"

I fell back numbly to let him by. Faintly, I heard him stomp past and slam the door behind me. Every step he took felt like another stab at my heart. Then I was alone again, my heart racing in my ears and a lonely heaviness to my heart that I couldn't shake off.

.


Buttercup


.

I woke up early the next morning with a promising ache dwelling in the back of my head. It seemed as though I got less sleep every night, and the temptation of my pillow almost drew me back into slumber.

But, I couldn't resist a dainty finger poking into my cheek, my daughter's tinkling laugh in my ear. Within a few moments I was tugging on my jeans and Emerald was jumping excitedly around the tent with her football clenched in her hands.

"Hurry up, Mama!"

"I'm comin', I'm comin'" I stifled a yawn as I tugged on my boots, trying to ignore the pounding in my head. "You going to check if the coast is clear?"

She stopped bouncing, her face stilling into her serious expression before carrying out her formal duties. She slipped open the tent cover and stuck her head out and around. She leaned back and beamed at me.

"All clear!"

"Good girl." I patted down my jeans and crawled out of the tent flap myself. Immediately an icy breeze hit my face and I scuffed my hair to cover my ears. My hair was getting long, the very tips reached my elbows. While I thought back wistfully at my teenage years, where I didn't think or even care about my chopped hair, I was growing attached to my long locks. While some mornings I looked like that girl from The Ring, it was easy to use as a makeshift scarf in chilly times.

"Hey!"

At the sound of Cass' sleepy grumble, I stumbled back through the zipper to poke my head through. A tuft of brown hair and lidded dark eyes glared back at me from the mountain of blankets she hogged.

"You're not leaving without me, are ya?"

"Of course not." I cackled at her, shaking my head. "Rise and shine, cupcake."

I stood guard at the tent, hands dug deep into my hoodie, as Cass rustled around to get dressed behind me. Emerald roamed around the campfire, gathering as much food as she could without drawing attention to herself.

"Ugh, it's so cold all of a sudden…" Cass complained in a muffled groan as she stepped out from behind me, her hood covering her messed-up hair. "Why is it so cold?"

"More importantly…" I cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why are you suddenly so keen to meet up for some demon training?"

Cass scoffed, her mouth staying open in emphasis of how offended she was. "Excuse me, I'm always up for learning more demon tactics!"

"Of course you are." I slapped her a little harder than necessary on the back. "And first thing in the morning, too!"

She whined loudly and followed me to the campfire. "Yeah…I can think of nothing better."

As soon as we neared the warmth of the flames, Tyler met us. He too looked dishevelled, his own hood up and a pistol tucked into the waistband of his sweatpants.

"Morning, guys…" He groaned through a yawn, scratching at the stubble on his face. "Are you up for a watch tonight?"

Cass stifled another loud groan, but I gave him an assuring smile.

"Of course, don't you worry."

"Not that I'm worried with you two around." Tyler grumbled at us, lips twitching into a reluctant smirk. "Just a bit annoyed, that's all. Two of the guys last night fell asleep at the watch, got spooked."

"Spooked, huh?"

"Yeah." Tyler shuffled, his hands going from his pockets to folding across his chest. "They woke up with blood all over them- no idea how it happened…not their own blood, thank God. But still…"

Cass and I exchanged glances, but luckily Tyler didn't pick up on it. He continued to look troubled. I thought briefly about putting him out of his misery and letting him know it was probably our 'friendly' demon pair getting bored throughout their night of not sleeping. It was probably nothing but a 'harmless' prank, but I caught Cass's eye again. Instead of the dark irises lidded with repressed laughter, they had widened at something over my shoulder.

I stared around- and almost felt my skeleton leap from my own skin.

Jayden was standing behind me, but he looked like a ghoul- sicker than I'd ever seen him before. He was so pale his skin was a dull grey, there were deep purple shadows under his faded eyes and his entire figure seemed to shrink and hunch. He was moving slow, looking so frail it took him a few seconds just to blink. His eyes widened at the sight of me, recoiling from my horrified gaze.

"What the Hell happened to you?!" I burst out before I could stop myself. Tyler glared at me reproachfully. He of all people should know how untactful I was- but Jayden looked as though he'd been through Hell. A three day old corpse looked livelier than he did.

"Nothing happened to him!" Tyler grumbled at me. "He just hasn't been feeling well, that's all."

I barely heard him. "You look like death!"

"Buttercup! Be nice!" Cass hissed, slapping me across the arm. Her head tilted back to Jayden thoughtfully, and her own face paled. "You do still have a pulse, though… haven't you?"

"Gee, thanks." Jayden choked at her, breaking out into a coughing fit. He shook his head once he recovered, face drooping in misery. "I feel like shit though, this is the worst I've ever felt..." he swallowed, lowering his eyes and adding in a low whimper, "It's like cold turkey all over again."

I had to pity Jayden, then. He looked pretty pathetic. I tilted my lips to show him I was at least holding back from teasing him. Cass was a lot kinder.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Jay. Maybe you should sleep it off-"

"I can't sleep." Jayden snapped weakly. "I can't eat, I can't do anything! I don't know what's wrong with me."

"I'm sure it'll pass." Tyler assured him. "It's just a bug, or something."

"I'm sure that's all it is." I looked out towards the woods, nudging Cass. Emerald had run to the edge of the trail into the forest, her sweatshirt bulging with what I hoped was food. She sent me a brief wink in the form of her signal. "We better be off, then. Have some training to do."

That earned me a scrutinising glare from Tyler and a sorrowful look from Jayden. "It's not demon training is it?" Tyler grumbled at me.

"I'm not that ugly." Jayden pouted.

"No, Jayden. You're just as hideous as when we first met. And actually Tyler, as a matter of fact, it is." I raised my eyebrows. "You're welcome to come, if you like."

"I'll pass..." He grumbled again coldly. "I need to watch the camp, anyway."

"They're alright, you know Ty." Cass tried. "They promised to teach BC some stuff, and it's actually come in handy-"

"Just be careful, okay?" Tyler told us, eyes narrowed. "I've been attacked by enough demons to know they can't be trusted."

I saluted him. "We won't let you down, boss. Promise."

Despite his stern glare, a flicker of a smile quivered on his lips. "Ha, ha."

Jayden's eyes were widening at us hopefully and he shuffled on his feet. But he remained silent as we trekked away, following Emerald into the thicket of trees.

.


Blossom


.

I blinked awake but immediately cringed, my entire face puckering up into my pillow. Waves of sickness radiated from my stomach, to my head, to what felt like every square-inch of my body. It wasn't the sharp pain I was used to either, it was the horrible throbs of nausea that always ended with me clawing into the bathroom for the fourth month in a row.

"Coooome oooooon." I begged weakly at my belly, my hands sliding down to feel the sizeable bump sticking out from my shirt. Now at about five months, the baby was kicking and nudging a lot more than Bruiser ever did- but at the same time I noticed the little being inside of me was a lot stronger than I first felt… with the prolonged morning sickness to prove it. Bruiser was never this difficult. "Please just once give me a break. Let me sleep!"

"I always let you sleep. The fuck are you on about?"

My eyes jumped open and eyed my bedside table in a panic before I rolled over, my body heaving in agony. Brick was at the side of the bed, leering over me with that cursed overbearing height of his, along with his eyebrow cocked and a condescending sneer on his face. Despite his look of annoyance, my eyes trailed down to see a cup of steaming tea in his fist. I blinked dully at the sight, sure I was seeing things.

"I wasn't talking to you." I nodded to the blankets up to my chest. "I was just talking to the baby."

A flash of inspiration crossed Brick's face and he appeared to slacken.

"Oh. Right." He put the cup down on the table next to him and brought up his other hand, which held a bag of what looked like cheese cubes and a jar of pickles. My heart skipped a beat. For the past few weeks, the only thing that made me feel better after a morning of vomiting was sipping lemon ginger tea and munching on cheese and pickles. "He giving you a hard time?"

I nodded dumbly as I watched him in slight awe. He closed his eyes, flexed his arms up over his head, groaning in the process as he stretched and cracked his neck. My eyes trailed the bulges in his biceps and the sharp edges of his stomach. With another dull throb of sickness echoing in my stomach, I suddenly woke up.

"Wait. He?" I cupped my stomach again, frowning. "How do you know it's a boy?"

"'Cause he's making you sick." Brick smirked at me, dropping onto the bed. It surprised me, and I barely had time to recover from the mattress jolting before his hands joined mine. "If we ever have a little girl, she has to be an angel like her Mama."

I could do nothing but blink, watching the way Brick's fingers flexed over my bare stomach. As if on cue, the little baby seemed to prod and poke at his fingertips, stretching and rippling against my skin. The baby was pretty feisty, maybe Brick was right. A wide smile grew on Brick's face. The dark circles under his eyes stood out more than ever and I felt a pang within me that had nothing to do with the baby.

What is wrong with me?

"…Thanks." I mumbled, unsure of what else I can do. The thought of a little girl, smart and bossy like the forgotten memory of who I was so long ago, hit me harder than it should have.

"But you got a little devil instead." Brick's blood red eyes met mine. "Already kicking and wrestling too. Better luck next time, huh?"

I gave a nod, lips plumping into a hesitant smile. Without warning, Brick pushed off from the bed and reached over to his bedside table, where he grabbed my tea and offered it to me.

"I still got you your shit anyway." He muttered. "From the kitchen, I mean."

"I-" My lip drooped and I felt my chest begin to slowly constrict around my thumping heart. I wasn't sure what to say. It never occurred to me Brick would even notice I was sick, nonetheless he noticed what supplies I smuggled up to my room almost every morning to recover with. "You…got all that stuff…for me?"

Brick frowned at me as though I was crazy. "Yeah… otherwise you bite my head off and cry all the time. Why else do you think I hunt this shit down for you?"

I twisted my lips, unable to do anything else but accept the mug. A relaxing warmth captured my fingers and my stomach began churning, but I doubted it was my sickness. Brick didn't seem to notice, he just picked up the jar of pickles and aggressively began unscrewing the lid.

"You have weird pregnancy cravings…" He scowled at the jar. "At least you're not eating raw hearts or some shit, I don't think I could deal with that." He gnawed at a pickle before offering me one. A laugh escaped me and he looked up in suspicious shock. To hide my smile, I numbly accepted the offered snack, my mind still racing. It had to be the hormones, but I was starting to take detailed note of how stressed out Brick was, how much he was really telling me. I couldn't be enjoying his company, though…

His eyes were still on me. I swallowed, but my throat seemed to tighten at his watchful gaze.

"Brick?" My tentative voice escaped me before I could think twice. "Are you…um…okay?"

His familiar glare snapped on me- darkening by the second with his regular sceptical scowl curling along his unshaven jawline.

"Why do you care?"

I tried not to flinch at that. Instead I began to wonder the same thing, thoughts bouncing around in my head too fast for me to catch. I cupped my stomach again, as if the small bump would offer any protection.

"I don't know…" I felt my face burning and it was easier to look at my stretched skin than at his face. "I just… thought you looked stressed. I just was curious. That's all."

He didn't reply, but I felt his eyes on me. It just caused more heat to flood my face. I clenched at my stomach as the scent of my tea seemed to drift over from his side. But when I built up the courage to actually look over at him- he was still staring at me with that suspicious glare. I cleared my throat awkwardly.

"My brothers are idiots." He snarled at me, grabbing his hat and slipping it over his hair. I tried to hold back my smile as I saw his hair- clearly unwashed and stiff with oil- plastered to his head. He must have seen me looking because he quickly scuffed it up, giving me a sheepish smirk before scowling again. "Butch has got his head in a fucking bottle of whiskey half the time, and Boomer can't be fucked leaving Bubbles. Neither of them care what fucking demons could be out there, and neither of them wanna learn."

"What demons are out there?"

"We don't know, that's the problem!" Brick seemed to be ranting without even caring who was listening. I twisted the blanket in my fingers, listening to him snap at himself. His entire face seemed to darken with every word. "We don't even know where we came from, we just know there could be demons out there who are after us, we might have made room for a total demon invasion- but we could be letting the wrong in… I don't even know!"

"I thought you knew all about this stuff…" I muttered. "I thought it was in your blood."

"I… never got a chance to ask… my Dad."

His voice actually cracked at that, and it made me look up in alarm. I thought he was choking or something, but instead he was only hunched over, shoulders slackened. He looked deep in thought and took another bite of a pickle that was a lot more vicious than necessary. A question was now burning in my mind, riding the flow of conversation. Instead of mulling it over, I just blurted it out. This pregnancy was making me reckless.

"How come you can…you can like, feel my emotions when you touch me? Can all demons do that?"

Brick's lips stopped chewing, his eyes lidding at me. The heat seemed to rise in the room so I just kept talking.

"I mean, do all demons have marriages like we do? And bonds? Or is ours…" My cheeks flushed at the word 'special' and I shut my mouth. I couldn't let that out. You're sugar coating this entire situation I told myself firmly, mentally slapping myself. There is nothing special about this. He is still BRICK. Never forget that.

But Brick seemed to fill in that blank, as his eyes squared in on my face with careful concentration. I could practically see the cogs in his mind working behind that sharp glare.

"I… actually I'm not sure." His face ticked as he frowned at me. "I admit, I haven't really seen it… out there."

I played with a loose thread on the bedspread, trying to ignore the swoops and nudges in my stomach. The baby was clearly awake and keen to cause havoc this morning. I cleared my throat in the hopes I could summon something logical, but my mind was in a morning fog.

"What's…out there?"

"Lots of death." He spoke with no emotion. "…Blood on the streets, lots of people begging, trying to prostitute… desperation, desolation…just emptiness. Demons love that, though. They wouldn't change it." I faintly felt his hand on my arm. "It would kill you, Babe. I don't want you seeing that."

I forced a nod, my eyes becoming lost in the pattern of the sheets. Suddenly I wasn't so hungry. Brick spoke up again, the lines in his face lightening.

"But that's an interesting point, Babe." His eyes swooped over me thoughtfully. "I've never thought of our relationship, whether it's a normal demon practice or not. I'll have to research that."

It seemed his own question had been burning him up inside too, because only a few seconds later he leaned closer to me, eyes tracing back to my face.

"Has he… been giving you anymore trouble?"

I felt a frown dig at my face as I saw his eyes drop to my stomach again.

Right. Anymore outbursts.

Neither of us had forgotten that, and a tiny bubble of anger seemed to well within me at the memory. It had been a month since Bruiser came to me, bloodied and crying, and it was clear his wounds had healed up but mine hadn't. Despite the fact I hadn't felt a surge of power like I did in the kitchen, Brick had backed off. Whether out of cautionary fear or the fact he was plotting something… I didn't know. But my guard was down, and I was kicking myself that I had so easily opened back up around him again. This pregnancy was messing with me more than I thought.

"No." I kept up my frown, wrapping my hands around my stomach. "… Nothing since… since then."

He leaned back, surveying me once more.

"He must be really powerful…" His eyes trailed from my face to my chest, lowering to my stomach once again. "To, you know, use power for you-"

"Blayze used to do the same thing." The words were out before I could stop myself. I was clutching my stomach protectively, suddenly alarmed I was blaming my baby for what I knew was my own doing. I was furious- extremely furious- with Brick after seeing he had hurt Bruiser in such a way, so my own mind appeared to black out of its own accord. I went into a blind rage, the fire in my stomach having nothing to do with my baby.

But Brick couldn't know that.

"Bruiser never did…" Brick still watched me closely. "You must be harnessing more power!" His eyes seemed to spark with that.

A lump rose within my throat and seemed to tremble ominously. "I just want this baby to be healthy, Brick."

Brick cocked an eyebrow, his face stilling. "As do I, Bloss."

"Not to be used as a walking grenade."

A heavy silence fell between us, but I didn't let up. I didn't let my guard down this time.

"Bloss, I can't help that." He muttered in a low growl. "You think I like Bruiser getting upset and hurt? He's a target, he needs to learn how to defend himself."

"All he's learned is that he can't rely on his father." I sniffed.

"And I bet you had nothing to do with that." He snarled at me. "We have two kids together, Bloss. It's about time we put the past behind us and work together for our kids' sake."

"Are you serious?" I hissed. He talked right over me.

"You think it's a good thing for Bruiser, seeing his parents fight all the time?"

"No. But it's not a good thing when his father encourages him to get beaten up, either."

"Alright, fine." Brick closed in on me, teeth gritted in a sneer. "You play nice with me, I'll calm down the training."

"You'll stop the training." I hissed back at him, nose to nose. Despite the fire in his eyes, I didn't even feel a drop of fear. In fact, I felt a spark of energy ignite within the depths of my stomach again. "He's too young."

"I can't stop it!" Brick leaned back, eyes wide. "He has to know, we could be attacked, babe."

"Are we seriously in any danger?" I growled at him, my own lips twisting. "Or are you just paranoid? Nobody knows we're even here, how could they know about our kids?"

"Oh, and what happened to Blayze was just an accident?" Brick tilted his head. "Face it babe, when you're in a position like we are, all kinds of evil is out there. We have to be prepared."

"Fine!" I bit back. "But no more beating him up! Teach him things, rather than just punching him until he punches back! Agreed?"

Brick leaned back again, looking as though he was chewing his tongue. His face had darkened, and I could tell just how much he'd aged since I first slept in this bed. He had a lot more stubble on his jaw, too. His eyes had darkened and there were prominent shadows under them. A new scar was across his cheek as well. His hair was chopped short and uneven, he just hacked at it whenever it annoyed him. The only sign of the kid I once knew was the baseball cap on his head- it was the only thing holding back from being officially classed as a weathered adult. I may have no idea what's going on out there, but from his appearance I could guess it was a battlefield. He closed back in on me, his nose grazing mine, but I refused to show weakness. I didn't back down.

"Agreed." His bared teeth stretched into a smile and his eyes lidded, looking down into mine. The same lump rose in my throat again but I gulped it down, staring into his darkening eyes. Without warning, he pushed his rough face into mine, his stubble grazing my cheek and his lips capturing mine in a bruising kiss. He bit down on my bottom lip and a puppy-like yelp escaped my throat. He pulled away and smacked his lips. "Gotta admit, I'm looking forward to seeing you play good wife."

I jumped again as his warm hand curled over my stomach again, my baby nudging his hand through the thin skin of my stomach.

In that moment, it was hard to think about if I was doing the right thing or not.

.


Buttercup


.

Emmy ran laps around us while we hiked through that familiar trail through the forest, Cass and I taking turns throwing her football for her and munching on the jerky she had snatched. To be fair, we stole the jerky- we found an old convenience store and managed to get into some of the packs. Jerky never went off, so it was a great find.

"Come on, Mama!" She was burning off a lot of energy, that kid, but still she sparked with energy and seemed to vibrate with excitement. She screeched to a halt in front of me, football spinning in her fingertips. "Higher this time!"

"We can't go too high, you know that." I took the ball from her nonetheless. She rolled her eyes at me, twirling around and skipping ahead. She yelled out to me bossily.

"We can now, Cain and Rome look out for us!"

I stopped in my chewing, my hand frozen on the ball. "Emmy…" I made to scold her. "You know you can't rely on them like that-"

"I don't, Mama." Emerald tilted her head at me in what looked like confusion, her eyes widening. She was hovering a few inches off the ground. "I just know."

I cocked an eyebrow at that, but there was no arguing with her. She skipped ahead and twirled and pirouetted, as gracefully as Cain had (not very). It was clear that despite my best efforts to watch out for her, the pair of demons surrounding us had done a better job.

We delved deeper into the thicket of untouched forest and surely enough came across Rome, lounging lazily against a large oak. His eyes were closed and I jumped forward eagerly.

"Ha! Caught you! You do sleep!"

"No..." Rome grumbled at me, eyes opening to reveal his fresh blood eyes. His left eye twitched in annoyance at my teasing. "I'm just meditating. Unless you want me in a violent rage-"

"No, that's fine." I shrugged, scoffing at his pompous tone. "Meditate away your PMS, whatever works for you."

"It's not-" A flash went through his eyes and he snapped them closed again, breathing heavily through his nose. "Fucking humans-"

Cain gleefully interrupted him, bounding out of his own hiding place with the attitude of an enthusiastic dog.

"Morning!" He chirped. Cass and I could only blink at his chipper tone. "What are we doing today? Are we practicing blocking? Because I love doing that."

I turned to Rome for an explanation, but he only rolled his eyes.

"He's just on a blood high."

"Blood-"

"When you kill something, it gives you a high." Rome pushed himself off the ground gracefully, dusting himself off. "It's the closest thing a Lust Demon can get to demonic euphoria, other than sex." His eyes glazed over me. "But you wouldn't know anything about that, huh?"

Cass looked intrigued, but I only grumbled. For some reason my face suddenly heated.

"Can we move on? We came here to train!"

"Right." Rome picked his crossbow up from the ground and looked it over before hoisting it over his shoulder. "I kinda forgot."

"Forgot?" I hissed at him with a lot more fury than I expected. For some reason, I really trusted Rome when he promised he'd help me against the Ruffs. I really didn't want Tyler to be right in this scenario.

"Last night was a big night!" Rome growled at me. "There was a bunch of random demon soldiers scouting the place, and your human guards were no help at all- they were asleep!"

"So that's why you decided to pour blood all over them?" Cass scoffed. "For a wakeup call?"

Rome shrugged carelessly. "I bet they won't fall asleep on the job now. They were with the Ruffs, and they could feel energy here." He looked pointedly at me. "You guys must be drawing too much attention with too much power."

"Me?" I growled back at him. "I haven't been showing any power until it came to you, getting me into a frenzy and a murder spree!"

"What?" Cass eyed me beadily. "What do you mean? You didn't tell me about that-"

My mouth slanted at the admission. I hadn't told Cass, the last thing I wanted to tell her was that I could lose control in a fight. Giving into demonic urges, despite the power boost, was still a loss of control.

"The other day, when we went out to a bar- an abandoned bar-" I clarified quickly, seeing the look on her face. "We ran into a few demons, had to fight ourselves out."

"A few were Ruff soldiers. She lost herself for a bit, thankfully, and fought them off." Rome nodded at me, before narrowing his eyes. "You better watch that, by the way."

I looked over to see Rome was staring at me sternly again, his eyes darkening as he looked me over.

"Watch what?"

"When you lose yourself, you could connect with the Ruffs." He told me bluntly. "You're seriously underestimating what relationship mates have. It's nothing short of bizarre you've cut all contact off from your mate- usually the connection is so strong they can't escape each other."

"Wait, what?" I lidded my eyes at him, trying to ignore Cass' own panicked glare. "We don't have a connection! He killed me!"

"Yeah, that's what is so weird." Rome shrugged. "Mates are bound together- the fact he went against a sacred bond and tried to kill you is incredible. Maybe 'cause you died briefly, the connection was severed one way, or something. But there's a part of him that will be forever connected to you. That's what a mate means. Without your mate, you suffer."

"Suffer?" I choked on the word, trying to make sense of it. Rome didn't appear to be joking- his face was deadpan with a hint of annoyance, as usual. "What do you mean? I haven't suffered-"

"You're not as connected as mates normally are, so you may not feel it." Rome's head tilted with thought, his voice trailing off. "But he must be going insane, you know. Maybe he's tried to cut you out of his head, so he can't connect with you… but it must be driving him mad. A part of him isn't there. That's why we're on such an alert now." He shifted his head over to Cain, who was watching us with wide, excited eyes. Still hyper. "Cain was in frenzy, we did a 20 mile radius."

My head was starting to really pound now, and Cass' face was growing whiter.

"You can't escape the bonds of mateship, you know." Rome glared pointedly at me, lips thinning. "It's for eternity."

My lungs seemed to seize at that, my face felt aflame. Cass' voice seemed to cut into my stupor.

"So what's the point of getting a mate, then?" Cass asked him. "If all it does is weaken you? You're tied down by someone else... I don't get it… can you not be with anyone else? Do you have to get a mate, or something?"

Rome scoffed at her. "You don't have to be with anyone. Demons are free to fuck whoever they want- as long as it follows the laws. Having a mate is optional…" His face seemed to darken and twitch, eyes rolling towards the ground. "…Mostly."

"So why-"

"Having a mate increases your power." Cain smirked smugly from his position, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "After I met Jayden, I had a lot more adrenaline. Comes from within. It's your motivation. It's like… your fire. They balance out your emotions, too."

"Yeah, well. That's debatable." Rome sneered at his brother, causing Cain's grin to fade. "Having a mate might stabilise you, but it makes you weak, too."

"Is that why Jayden looks so sick?" I asked him, my own brow furrowing.

Cain's glare quickly widened, turning around in panic.

"Is he okay?"

"I bet Jayden looks like shit right now." Rome smirked, looking too pleased at the idea. Cain shot him a murderous look through narrowed eyes, but Rome just stared back at him brightly. "Have you seen him lately?"

Cain began to tremble and his hands shot into tight fists, but when he answered Cass his voice was small.

"I tried to warn him. I don't think he believed me."

"Moron." Rome grumbled off to the side. Cain's head briefly snapped to his before turning back to us, looking down and avoiding our eyes.

"New mates can't be separated from each other for too long…" He admitted glumly. "They kinda lose themselves…They get really sick-"

"Like a drug." Rome answered with pep. "But it's not like the brat isn't used that. He's fine. Now, onto more important matters-"

"My mate is important!" Cain barked at his brother through gritted teeth. "The only reason I'm not sick is 'cause I'm on a blood high, he must be really bad-"

"He told you to stay away. You have to honour that. It's not my fault you chose an idiot for a mate."

"He's not-!"

"Anyway." I punctuated the sentence with a firm snarl, knocking both of the brothers out of an impending argument. "You were saying, about demons nearby?"

Rome was still matching Cain's glare, but turned to me anyway.

"I spotted a few skulking around when I checked out the club last night. I didn't go in, just the area around..." He trailed off again, an ugly expression on his face. "Filthy half-demons..."

I rubbed at my scalp, the pounding in my head subsiding but a new nervousness creeping over me. My stomach seemed to clench at how close we were to a plan- to actually see the Ruffs was a thought that seemed to clench at my stomach and twist it, a tension capturing my back and shoulders.

"I scoped out the club. It's called Lust funnily enough and it's in the centre of the city- in an area that never sleeps. It'll be hard to sneak into…" His eyes sparked mischievously. "But not impossible, if you look the part."

Cass and I both frowned. "Look the part?"

Rome gave us a mischievous smirk but avoided saying anything more.

.


Brick


.

There shrieks are heard, there lamentations, moans,
And blasphemies 'gainst the good Power in Heaven.
I understood, that to this torment sad
The carnal sinners are condmen'd in whom
Reason by lust is sway'd. As, in large troops
And multitudinous, when winter reigns,
The starlings on their wings are borne abroad;
So bears the tyrannous gust those evil souls

.

"Boss?"

I hardly heard the door open, but a voice hovering over me finally managed to tear my gaze away from the faded text folded over my lap. I stared up to see Knox standing hesitantly off to the side, eyeing the books that surrounded me with clear suspicion and confusion.

"What?"

He shook himself and turned back to me, eyes shifting. "I… uh… have some news regarding some attacks nearby."

I had to cock an eyebrow as a sliver of annoyance ticked through me. I hated to be interrupted reading, especially when I was just getting somewhere. Where were my brothers, anyway? Was I seriously the only one who cared about staying alive in this fucked up world?

"I see…" I growled. "And none of my brothers are around to deal with it?"

Knox's lips twitched, but he shook his head. I slammed the book closed but slid it carefully between the cushions of my armchair.

"Well?"

"The…there's been a massacre." Knox scratched the back of his head. "A…A big one. The guys and I…" He glanced back to the door, where no doubt the rest of the demons were waiting for my input. "We think you better come down, it's pretty serious."

I jumped to my feet, fingers curling into my palms. Massacre? The word set my teeth on edge, and I unclenched them with difficulty.

"How many?"

"About seventeen or so…" Knox admitted. "All…demons."

I felt all feeling and heat drain from my face, my head in a spin. "What?"

Knox nodded gravely. "And…there's something else, Boss."

I rubbed hard at the back of my neck, a strong ache pounding beneath the skin. At the look on the demon's face, I tugged on the ends of my hair, anything to take away from the anxious chill that rocketed through me.

"What?"

"Him's found out, and he's on his way."

.


Buttercup


.

Rome delivered blows hard. There was no way he was holding back. For every punch he threw my own arm flew out to throw him off, but another one came within seconds. My arms and fingers were numb with pain, but I kept up my glare- refusing a wince or a sound to escape. His eyes were darkening with every hit that connected and every time I took a step back, he followed me.

"You can't back off." He hissed at me through gritted teeth as he lashed out at my head. "A demon senses weakness like an animal- even if it's tactical you need full force. Aggression always wins with a demon."

"So what?" I could his fist before throwing him back. He barely budged. "I just throw myself in front of them and that'll work?"

"Scare 'em off, show your teeth, stick out your tongue." He aimed a punch at my face and I dodged, heaving my elbow down and connecting with his arm. "Demons are closer to animal than human, you know."

I took this to heart and as soon as I saw an opening in his hits, pushed forward and shoved into him roughly. He was caught off guard and stumbled back, eyes widening but a sly smirk growing on his face.

"Better…" He cooed at me, tilting his head. "You're getting faster."

I couldn't resist a smile.

"Gotta let loose, though." He pointed at me. "A little demonic rage is where you unleash the most force."

My eyebrows twitched at that one. "I'm not a big fan of losing control…"

"Your instincts will kick in, you'll be able to tell the difference between an enemy and an ally." He tilted his head the other way. "You know you'll have to mask yourself with your demonic instinct when we go undercover, right?"

I lidded my eyes. "And what do you mean by that?"

"Your eyes." He pointed to my face, and to his. "You know as well as I do lower level demons can't hide their power, which shows their immaturity. Higher levels can mask them with human features- like coloured eyes. It's immediately a power indicator- one you can't afford to be seen with. Women are rarely powerful, you'll be wanted."

I twisted my lips in thought. "The last thing I want is attention-"

Rome nodded. "You want to blend in. Masking yourself as a demon is the only way, it gives off regular demonic energy too- you'll fit in with all the other bottom feeders."

I felt Cass' eyes watch me closely from the sidelines. Her face was crumpling with worry and her fingers were winding together out of nervousness. Before she had a chance to speak up at my look, Cain and Emerald came bounding in from the other side of the forest, Cain panting at my daughter's speed. Emerald was suddenly beside her, bouncing with excitement.

"I win! I win!" She was clapping and laughing as Cain collapsed next to Cass, breathing hard.

I had to laugh at her smile. It had been a while since I'd seen her look so happy. "Did you kick butt, Emmy?"

Cain threw me a glare, his face a bright pink, but Emerald ran circles around us.

"I beat him in five races!"

"She cheated!" Cain whined loudly. Cass only rolled her eyes, tongue between her teeth. Rome cocked an eyebrow.

"You were beaten by a five year old?"

Cain jumped up, puffing out his chest. "I demand a re-match!"

"I'll race you." I smirked at him, a warm flutter in my chest as my little girl squealed in delight. "Emmy and I, we'll both kick your butt."

"Challenge accepted!" Cain pointed at both of us, eyes narrowing. "Just let me stretch first."

He dropped down to immediately stretch, lips twisting in concentration. Emerald jumped down next to him, matching his movements. Even though she couldn't stretch quite like he could- she tried her best. Watching my little girl matching Cain with such a smile on her face, with Cain pouting at her, it stirred something within me. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but watching them playing together, even though Emerald probably had a lot more maturity than Cain did, it was almost as though it was father and daughter. It struck me then the only people Emerald ever had to play with, to be happy with, was Cass and I. She never had a male to watch over her like we did- never a male to protect and love her…

Like her own father should.

I dwelled on that thought more than I should have, watching the two play together with a dorky smile on my face… So much so that I began to picture Butch in place of Cain. The blonde hair darkened to black, but the dopey smile stayed the same, with Emerald's laughter still in place. It was so surreal, yet a very real warmth filled my chest, my heart, all the way down to the tips of my toes. The cold breeze around me became a welcoming wave of warmth- and even the trees around me seemed to shift and blur- meld into one colour. Different trees seemed to take shape, a different dirt under my feet swam underneath me, tempting me. Voices filled my head, though they seemed far away…

"You've already slackened enough, we've gotta start training harder…"

"I warned you for months this could happen-"

"ARE YOU KEEPING UP OR WHAT?"

"Buttercup!"

A snap of fingers and a rough shove knocked me hard, and whatever warm stupor I fell into I was pulled into a sharp coldness- like I'd been ripped from a bubble bath. I took in a hard breath as Rome shoved me, hard, and knocked me back into reality. His eyes were narrowed, darker than they had been before.

"Are you still with us?"

"I-"

I was suddenly breathless, but Emerald was tugging on my hand. "Come on, Mama! Are you ready?"

"She's ready!" Cain jumped up too, and took off down a steep descent and into the trees. "On your marks get set go!"

"Hey! NO FAIR!" Emerald whined after him, taking off at a sprint. "Come on Mommy! Let's go play!"

The words bubbled in my throat. "Emerald, we're not play-" But I stopped, staring after her. She spun around to shake her fingers in a panic. Her eyes were still dancing, happy and childlike with the same innocence I hoped she always had. We were losing, and to her that was the worst thing in the world to a kid- losing a race. "…Okay, I'm coming Em! We'll beat him this time!"

I took off at a run and with a flash of her bright smile she kept up with me, running alongside me with her shrill laugh echoing happily in my ears.

.


Butch


.

Brick was pissed when he dragged me out of my room only after two hours sleep, and it was doing nothing for my already dangerous mood. I was pissed from lack of sleep, I was depressed from Blayze screaming at me, and I was in no mood for my bossy brother's self-righteous rants… especially without any alcoholic beverages around.

"So you got dragged in here too, huh?"

Boomer slumped down into the armchair next to me, the shadows under his eyes mirroring mine. His eyes had darkened considerably, too. Always a danger sign. I only rolled my eyes around to stare at my redheaded brother, who was watching over both of us with his teeth gritted firmly. I sat back against my chair, wishing I'd thought to bring a bottle of bourbon or something along.

"This better be good." Boomer snarled at him. Brick cocked an eyebrow, almost trembling.

"This better be good? Fuck you both." Brick hissed at us. "Him is coming, and you two idiots don't even know why."

"Please, enlighten us." Boomer snapped, in a voice I rarely head. "I've had enough of his fucking bullshit, he's underground- he doesn't do shit!"

"Oh, really?" Brick drawled. "Because he apparently hears about what goes on up here better than I do!"

"What now, Brick?" I growled into my arm, my head buried into my shoulder as I tried to burrow into a half-sleep. "If this is some stupid meeting by Him, I'm gonna be pissed-"

"Apparently you dumbasses have a lot of explaining to do!" Brick had raised his voice now, growing dangerously rough. "You missed a big massacre last night!"

My head snapped up as Boomer beside me shifted entirely, jumping in his seat. "WHAT!"

"A. Massacre. Seventeen. Demons." Brick hissed through gritted teeth, his face burning up in fury. His fists were by his sides, but I could definitely see they were trembling. "All DEAD! Members of our army, too."

"Who can take out that many demons?!" Boomer spluttered angrily, turning to me as if I did it. "That doesn't make any fucking sense!"

"Actually, my boys, you'll find it does."

All three of us stiffened at that voice- deep but syrupy in that dark, mocking coo. Surely enough, we spun around to see Him gliding through the door to us, a wide smile on his face and his yellow eyes drinking us in. We stayed silent as the clicking of his boots echoed against the hardwood floor, our eyes on his glowing eyes. He took a graceful seat across from us and even Brick resentfully backed out of his way- so we were before him like the obedient little sons we used to be.

"Someone clearly isn't happy with the way we're running things, boys." Him crossed his legs and leaned back in his chair, examining his pincers. "I have to say, I'm inclined to agree with them… none of you picked up on this little uprising, hmm?"

"We've had nothing but success with our leadership." Brick growled over him, folding his arms. "If anything, this could be the work of a demon hunter. Boomer pointed them out to us months ago."

"A human responsible for a mass demon slaughter?" Him gave a high pitched giggle. "Please! Brick, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one."

Brick's lips twisted in fury but he was stumped into silence.

"This is blatant rebellion, and it must be stifled immediately." Him continued, his tone darkening. "This is to be expectant with political regimes, I will admit… but such an act of open defiance cannot be accepted. You will be perceived as weak, and it has already reached the Underworld."

"Do they know who did it?" Boomer sneered, still moody. "If they're the 'all-knowing' after all-"

Him stroked his beared, face twitching in irritation. "I have not received word-"

"Typical." Brick scoffed. "You're all nice and safe down there, after all. You have no idea what it's like up here- actually defending your rule!"

"You are supposed to be all powerful!" Him's voice boomed around us and he jumped to his feet, matching our height. "You are not supposed to be pushed around! If you were out there hunting, pushing down all counter-attacks, you would have only blind submission!"

"We are out there!" I growled out, my own anger bubbling to a boiling point. "We're out there every night, and our associates-"

"Perhaps if you spent less time on your Puffs you would have reached a new level of power by now…" Him's voice heightened again to that mocking coo, his eyelashes fluttering at us. "You're showing your weaknesses, boys."

"You are the one that said procreation is the key to survival." Brick snarled at him. "You said our power was in our DNA!"

"As it very much is!" Him's pincers snapped in irritation. "But those were your father's words, not mine!"

"Our father's-?"

"Bane's, if you must know." Him grumbled under his breath. "He was adamant that would keep you alive, he managed to see the power in the next generation."

At the mention of our father, all three of us seemed to wilt. Him's voice rose at our silence.

"You must track down this threat and eliminate them, or the defiance will only grow! They are like weeds, and you must cut them down if you're attempting to make any sense of this new world."

"We'll take care of it." Brick ground out. He gritted his teeth, eyes flashing darkly. "We're heading out to the site now, see if we can't track down the threat."

"Excellent idea." Him simpered. "Perhaps it can show you more of what you are up against."

"And I take it you're not coming with us?" Boomer huffed, folding his own arms and slumping in his chair.

"I have to return to the Circle." Him waved his arms carelessly and heaved a sigh. "I have my own battles down there, as you recall. Some demons are keen to arrive on Earth to cause havoc, it takes a lot to keep them at bay."

"Right…" I rose to my feet to match Brick's stance, so at least then it felt like two against one. "We'll get on it."

"You better…" Him's voice lowered to a rough growl again as he headed back towards the door. "A rebellion may be rising, but this is just the right time to establish your power. Don't screw this up, boys."

Without another word and with a flick of his wrist, he strutted out of the open door. We heard a few scattered footsteps hurrying after him, before the house once again slipped into a dark silence. The words to sum up Him's visit came to me too perfectly, in a low growl that radiated from my chest.

"We need to kill that fucker."

Boomer nodded in agreement, whereas Brick only scoffed and took centre stage once more.

"He's right though. We may need a new army." He scratched his chin and tugged at his hair. "Faster, harder demon blood. I've been reading about the circles, we may need lower than the Third Circle here if we want a fight."

"Didn't Him say that higher level demons would be less likely to follow us?" Boomer growled. "I don't want anyone we can't trust-"

"They're not after leadership, they're after blood." Brick countered. "Besides, we're a different type of demon. Guaranteed no other demon has Chemical X in their blood. We're the only ones out there who have the powers we've got."

All I could do was nod. Blayze's outburst was still thumping hard in my aching skull, and on top of Him's visit I was feeling crappier by the second. I slumped over and needed booze. I rubbed at my head, talking through my groan of pain.

"So are we all going, or should someone stay behind and watch the place?"

"I'll stay!" Boomer volunteered almost immediately. I rubbed at my face, glaring over my fingers at the pleading look on my little brother's face. Pathetic.

"You just want to stay to see if you can impregnate your Bubs." I hissed at him, nose wrinkling. He shot me a dark glare, eyes hardening to a navy.

"Shut up!"

"Both of you shut up!" Brick barked over us. "We'll need everyone on this. Gather up Edge and the others and be ready to go in five minutes."

.


Cass


.

"You're human, you can't sit with us."

Mocking Rome's voice into Mean Girls made me feel a bit better. Being human in this world already made you a target, but it was worse always getting left behind. I collapsed and sat back against Rome's favourite tree, my shotgun by my side but my fingers instead pulling out grass by the handful. Every now and then I heard a whoop or a shrill giggle, but only when I heard footsteps I sat up straight, grabbing my gun barrel and ducked behind a large tree root. Surely enough, Rome had returned, drenched in drying sweat and his pale cheeks a flushed pink.

I stood off to the side, staring at him and trying my best to sum up my fiercest glare. Buttercup always told me I had one- especially in school where I would eye people off in the hallways. Always the tough girls, side-by-side we were. Most of the guys in school were too scared to even approach us. I had to get some of that back. He was just another guy. Since when did they scare me?

I watched as he reached up- arms reaching over his head and grabbing the back of his shirt. As it slid over his shoulders, sweeping up and tousling his black and red hair, my stomach seemed to lurch and tighten.

Deep, purple-red scars ran along the length of his back, tainting his otherwise flawless tanned skin. Two identical parallel lines on either side of his spine. They stuck out pretty bad, I started wondering how I hadn't seen them before.

I shook my head, pulling my brain back into the task at hand.

I rolled my shoulders back, filling my lungs with air as I drew in the deepest breath I could. Holding my stance, I strode up to him, head held high so I could actually stare into his face.

"Rome?"

Rome's entire back tensed, his skin rippling against the swollen muscles in his back. He whirled around to glare at me, his shoulders squaring. He already had dark features, but he seemed downright murderous at my presence near him. There was a tick to his jaw and the corner of his lip turned up to show his sharpened teeth. I bet if he thought he could get away with it, he'd rip my face off. His darkened eyes dragged up- from my boots to my wool beanie- and stopped on my face.

"You just can't stay away from me, can you?"

I dug my teeth into my tongue at that one.

"Look, I know you don't like me." I hissed at him. "Not that I can help it, it's not like I can stop being human."

"Exactly." He grumbled under his breath. He folded his arms and gave me another glare. I only heaved a sigh and puffed myself up again. I couldn't let him get to me.

I made to approach him, but he immediately took a step back. He didn't want to be anywhere near me. My lips twisted. How can you kiss someone and then not want to be near them? That doesn't make any sense. What a jerk. My head jolted and shook at that thought too. Demons never make any sense.

"Look, I just need your help. I haven't exactly fought a demon by myself before-"

"The fuck you telling me for?" Rome gritted his teeth, his eyes narrowing. "I don't care. Your friend can help you out."

"I don't want to worry her."

"Then don't come." Rome's cold eyes rolled to the trees as he callously turned his shoulder on me. "We don't need you there."

The band that already felt looped around my chest seemed to tighten, cutting off my air and causing my face to drain of all heat. It made it hard to swallow.

"I told you." I tried hard to talk through my own clenched teeth. "I want to help."

Rome heaved a great sigh, rolling his eyes again for good measure. "Humans can't help. You're the weaker species. Food, entertainment. I'd sooner send out a cut of medium-rare steak out to battle."

"Okay, would you just stop?" I hissed at him, clenching my fists. "Why are you concerned if I die or not? The quicker I die the quicker I'm out of your hair, so you should be happy I'm helping you out."

Rome's eyes flickered before me as they stared hard into my face. He spoke in an eerily calm, quiet voice. "You want to die?"

"No, I don't want to!" I spat at him in a huff. "But I'm ready to, to protect my friend!"

"Don't say that!" He hissed at me suddenly, grabbing my arm with a lot more force than I was expecting. I jolted back, but he held on tight. "Your life isn't something to just throw away!"

I was ready to snarl back at him, match the exact same hiss he was throwing at me. But I stared up into his face and was immediately captured by the intensity of his eyes. Usually such a deep, bloody crimson they were suddenly a lot lighter- more movement and depth than usual. They seemed to glimmer and ripple at me, like flecks of burnt gold caught in the sunlight. I couldn't tear my gaze away, it was like I was caught in a trance.

"Rome! What are you doing? Let go of her."

His hand ripped from my arm and the loss of warmth knocked me out of whatever stupor I was in. I tore my gaze away and rubbed my eyes, faintly making out Cain's figure appearing beside me. He was giving Rome a narrowed glare, which Rome happily returned. Without another word he shoved right through us and stomped off in the direction Cain came from, his shoulders hunched. I was still in awe I could piss the guy off that much.

"Don't worry about him." Cain scoffed at me as though reading my mind. "He's been weird, since he met you, actually."

My traitorous heart skipped a beat. I tried to shake it off.

"Since…he met me?"

"Yeah." Cain frowned, twisting his lips in contemplation. "Well, he's always been weird of course, but since-"

His wide blue eyes jumped on me again, blinking rapidly. His lips twitched into a guilty smirk.

"-But I probably shouldn't be telling you this."

He looked too happy. It immediately riled me up.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nuthin'" Cain sniggered, before tilting his head at me. "You don't know much about demons, do you?"

"No…" I narrowed my eyes, an unfamiliar cold running over me. "Why? What makes you say that?"

But Cain only gave me that infuriating cheeky smirk back, his head tilted and his teeth buried in his bottom lip. I wanted to stomp my feet.

"Cain! Just tell me! I want to know what I did to make him so angry at me, all the time!"

"You didn't do anything." Cain snickered happily, tilting his head. "You're just there."

"Well… I can't not be here." I huffed. "I'm helping my best friend, and I'm not about to leave her side just because some demon decides to hate me!"

"He doesn't hate you."

"It sure feels like it." I glared up at him, but he still had that smile pushed up onto his face, eyes glistening. His red-tipped hair fell into his face too, making him look all-too-innocent.

"Just trust me, he's my brother. We shared a womb, I just know these things."

I cocked an eyebrow. "You guys are twins?"

"Actually…" His face seemed to slacken. "No."

"Wh-"

"But you just have to trust me on this…" Cain talked over me easily. "Rome's pretty hard to get along with, but that's just how he's been raised. We had to fight, you know. It wasn't easy…" his face darkened as he considered it. "He's pretty afraid of turning into our Dad, to be honest."

The look of fury brewing behind his eyes kinda froze me up into silence. Cain breathed heavily through his nose for a few seconds before turning back to me, his eyes brightening.

"Your friend hasn't told you about lust demons, has she?"

"Buttercup?" My eyes narrowed.

"How we…move around, and everything?"

"Oh… that you can transport to someone you have a connection to." I forced a careless shrug. "She did tell me that, yeah."

"Well…" Cain swayed on the balls of his feet, his eyes rolling around. "Rome couldn't get to me that fast, last time."

My cheek twitched, brows furrowing once more. "…He couldn't… get to you?"

"As fast as he usually can." Cain turned back onto me, shimmering eyes lighting up as his lips twitched. "Something was holding him back."

"What?"

Cain really snorted then, his bright grin stretching up his cheeks once again.

"Someone else he had a connection to, clearly."

I stared at him, thinking hard. Without another word, the blonde demon gave me a mischievous cackle and skipped away from me, looking all-too-happy at my look of horror.

.


Butch


.

Our flight to the ransacked bar took us over the city and a few miles to the outside of town- along the highway out of town. To get there quicker all three of us carried one of the demons with us. I got Edge, and as soon as we landed he collapsed on all fours and started retching.

"I don't know how you fuckers can fly that fast." The demon hissed at me through gags. "I can't stand that flying shit-"

I had to smirk as both brothers landed beside us, Knox and Talon thrown next to us too. They also looked green. "It'll pass."

Brute also touched down next to me, scattering a bunch of dust. She looked excited and her face was flushed from the flight, but she still held a club at the ready. She suited a demonic life, too happy at the thought of blood.

"So which way to this bar?" She asked Brick, who was straightening his hat. He gave her an impatient growl, but pointed down toward the highway, where the ground began to slant towards a depression of shrubs.

"Down there is the parking lot…" He crept forward, eyes narrowed and alert. "I just didn't know if anyone would be staking out the place-"

"I'll check it out!" She declared, before taking off again brazenly. I repressed an eye roll. Brute could be so openly annoying, her lazy sisters were almost preferable.

Boomer let out his own groan, cracking his neck as he spied the place through the trunks of the trees. "Is this gonna take long? Butch and I were out all night-"

Brick spun around, his eyes darkening to a sickly black. As he stomped over to Boomer, a strange feeling seemed to sink over me- like an egg cracking over my head and drowning me in warmth. I felt my feet almost melt into the soft dirt under me, my head cleared of all thought.

"You've already slackened enough, we've gotta start training harder…"

Boomer snapped back, voice thick with venom. "I warned you for months this could happen!"

Before he could get on too much of a tirade, Brute's voice floated over from the stretch of asphalt. It was an ear-splitting yell that cut into whatever had fogged up my brain. I spun around to see what was behind me as she screamed out at us.

"ARE YOU KEEPING UP OR WHAT?"

"Yeah, yeah!" Brick shouted back, throwing her a snarl. "You blew whatever cover we had anyway…" he muttered darkly.

Brick smacked away the hanging shrubs and Boomer followed behind, along with the still-woozy Edge, Talon and Knox. They'd taken a few steps before Edge turned back to me, head tilting.

"You coming?"

I shook off the heat that still clung to my skin, unsure of where it came from. The winter breeze that weaved through the trees was chilly, after all. I could have sworn, in that split second through the trees, that someone was right behind me.

"Yeah." I jogged to jump down with him, heading across the parking lot to the boarded-up bar and trying to shake of the numb warmth that had suddenly come over me.

.


Bubbles


.

It was noon by the time I finally slid out of bed. While it was tempting to wallow in my own depressing mood, I had to move my numb legs at one point or another. Arguing with Boomer, despite the fact it gave me a rush of the authority I missed so much, left a weight within me that was hard to drag around. Perhaps it was loneliness, made worse with not seeing my sister for a few days. If I didn't know any better, I would say that was Boomer's doing.

I dragged my feet down the hallway and poked my head to spy in our own little library. It was empty, and I tried to hold in a sigh. There was a faint hunger clawing at the inner walls of my stomach, so I made my way to our own miniature kitchen that was at the end of our floor. While there wasn't much, there was a fridge with a few scattered supplies and non-perishables stacked in a few cupboards to keep us going when we were left alone on our secure floor. Enough to survive, anyway.

I grabbed a box of crackers and started munching, leaning against the rough table and mindlessly chewing.

I felt like a zombie- so tired yet spending most of my time with my eyes closed. Boomers words constantly rang through my head. I'd heard his voice so many times in the last few days I'd forgotten what anyone else sounded like.

The door opened and my heart seemed to leap into my throat as well as a piece of cracker lodging in my windpipe. I choked, hacking and coughing, only to swallow and see that it was Blayze who had walked in. His eyes were wide at me, blinking slowly.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine, Blayze." I dusted off the cracker on my shirt and gave him a weak smile, not feeling very hungry anymore. "Thanks."

He shrugged at me moodily. For a moment I didn't expect any other interaction- Blayze was a lot like me these days in the form of zombie-like behaviour. To my surprise he actually slid up to sit beside me on the counter, his head lowered.

"I wanna hear about my Mom again."

I tried to ignore the almost painful throb of my heart.

"What, uh… do you want to know, Blayze?"

"Anything." He growled at me. "I don't care."

Giving a little timid cough, I racked my brain for what felt like distant pieces of a dream.

"She…um… could curl her tongue." I winced at how I sounded, but tried to dig deeper. Both of us stared straight. "She could punch harder than any other boy I knew… she used to stand up for me in school- when the other kids would tease me." Despite myself, the corners of my mouth twitched up into a smile. It had been a while since I'd really thought of her, remembered her.

"She sounds really nice…" For some reason, Blayze sounded glum. I nudged him slightly.

"She was pretty tough, but she wasn't always nice. Anyone who annoyed her, she let them know. She could be a bit of a bully, your Mum."

He seemed to perk up, his shoulders lifting. "Really?"

"Yeah…" I stared back down at my feet. "Nobody ever got the last word with her, and she never would admit defeat. She was a fighter, through and through. The strongest person I ever knew."

I saw out of the corner of my eye Blayze give a brief smile. It twitched up on his cheeks before dropping once again.

"I miss her."

I reached out and wrapped my arm around him. He fell into me and when he sighed, his entire body seemed to sink into me. I looked down to see he was quietly crying again, tears dripping from his eyes and dropping from his chin,

"I…I just wish she wasn't dead."

I stopped, my heart freezing and swelling within my chest. Memories, dreams, of my sister appeared before me in a dazzling flash- specifically Buttercup in hospital, holding Blayze as a newborn and promising me that everything would be okay. It took a few long seconds to form the words that spewed out of my lips.

"Who...who told you she was dead, Blayze?"

"Dad did..." My nephew answered glumly. My mind turned this over and over in my head, rattling around painfully in my skull. All I could do was grip Blayze tighter as my chest tightened in frightened, panicked breaths. The kitchen seemed to fade and wobble as I gripped Blayze hard, pulling him against me. His chest shuddered in a shaky sigh, but it was all I could do to hold him close, trying to anchor myself to reality and out of the whirring, spiralling panic that clawed within me.

.


Butch


.

The bar reeked of rotted, congealed blood and mould. As soon as we stepped in, we all seemed to recoil at the heat of the bodies piled up around the tables and chairs. We knew there'd be a lot, but this was something else. There was a certain tingle in the air that sent shivers down my spine. I could tell my brothers felt it too, sort of a hanging stale air of excitement and bloodlust that still stuck in the room. I allowed my eyes to wander the blood splattered floor, up the walls, even spots on the ceiling.

...Lots of enthusiasm when it came to slaughtering our own kind. It was hard to believe a human was this psychotic.

Talon let out a choking sound, like something was stuck in his throat. Boomer turned to him, eyes narrowed with impatience.

"You're not seriously grossed out by this are you?" He scoffed.

Talon shook his big head, his eyes suddenly wide. He held out a shaky finger and pointed at one of the closest bodies- their face mangled beyond recognition.

"They have marks..." He mumbled.

All of us turned and our heads tilted and noses wrinkled at the words. But collectively, both Edge and Knox took a step back.

"Shit."

"Woah…"

"What the fuck are you on about?" Brick looked ready to blow, he was already under pressure from Him undermining his authority. Now he was faced with information he didn't know- which was a rarity. He was shaking with frustration and his eyes had darkened considerably. "Black marks? Where?"

Instead of glancing at the still body again, Knox pointed to his own neck. I turned back to the body. Once you've seen a corpse, you've seem 'em all... but on second glance I did see the marks that stamped over the pale skin. Amongst the stains of blood and the shrivelled veins- there was a dark, almost charred-looking mark along the neckline. It stuck out against the skin like a raised burn and seemed to pulse in anger, leaving burned, crisped skin underneath. Another shiver shot through me. I had to bite my tongue just to fight it down.

"They have black scars..." Knox was mumbling with hesitation. "It takes a lot… to scar a demon's skin-"

"No human did this." Edge growled. "I only ever saw this once in the lower circles… back when I was running with Wrath demons." His face seemed to be paling by the second. "This… this is bad, guys."

"What do you mean?" Brick's eyes darted from the demon to the body, eyes narrowing further into little slits. "The fuck are you on about?"

"They're… marks of suffering." Edge answered after a long pause, sounding like his voice was nothing higher than a whisper. "They didn't die, they were sent somewhere-"

"Sent somewhere? Sent where?" Boomer piped up, his own eyes narrowing.

"I dunno…" Edge muttered, but he pointed to the marks again. "But those marks are there for a reason."

"Only the deepest circles of Hell could've done that, though…" Knox shook his head. "It had to be a weapon, right? They're inflicting pain and suffering on another demon, they prayed on them. They didn't feed on them, they just killed to curse them."

"How can you tell it's a demon?" Boomer's own eyes widened at his words. "Maybe it's just a human that got a hold of a demonic weapon or something-"

"I've only ever heard of this in Hell." Edge's voice was nothing but a choked whisper now. "And even then- I wasn't allowed to know. There are some things you just don't want to know...punishments, eternal suffering… the guards would rip your soul to pieces, you'd never feel anything other than horror-"

"Guards?"

"Of prisons." Knox muttered. All three previously hulking demons had been reduced to pathetic meek kittens.

"There are prisons in Hell?" I scoffed. "I thought it was one big prison, why-"

"You don't want to get sent there, no demon does." Edge seemed to be fighting back a shiver. "You hear stories about it, only the worst get sent below, when they're really fucked up-"

"There are demons imprisoned in Hell?" Boomer stared around at the bodies, suddenly looking sick. "So what is this? What does it mean?"

"I don't know." Edge swallowed hard. "But… these marks… nobody I know- nobody I've even met can cause this. I don't know what circle they're from, but they're not supposed to be here. I didn't even think it was possible on Earth..."

Brick let out a hiss through his clenched teeth. My heart raced in my ears. "So who the fuck did this? What do they want?"

Edge hesitated again before mumbling. "I don't know, man. But whoever did this, they're not even close to being on the same level as us-"

"Same level?" It was my turn to glare. It was impossible for a demon on Earth to have more power than us. We had fucking Chemical X in our blood- if it had worked on all of the villains around here, it could tackle anything that dared walk on our world, right? "We have something that no other demon fucking has. I'd like to see them try and challenge us."

"The thing is…it's clearly a demon." Edge told me, his eyes darkening gravely. "And whoever they are, they drew these guys in just to torture them."

"And whoever this fucker is, had to know they were working with us." Brick hissed darkly, his eyes now darkening to the endless black I knew so well. "This means war!"

.


Buttercup


.

I was actually out of breath, my throat searing as I gulped down cold air. Surprisingly without my growing strength in Chemical X and my ability to fly, I actually had to build a lot of stamina when it came to running. But I was getting better. Both Emmy and I had beaten Cain, but he'd recovered quickly and wandered off again. I, however, had to catch my breath as I rested beside Emerald. I had to work on my cardio, clearly.

Emerald was buzzing with so much energy she'd climbed onto Cain's shoulders and was rambling in his ear within a few seconds of his return.

"I can show you how far I can throw my football. I can get it back in under three seconds and that's when I haven't even warmed up-"

"That's nothin'." Cain scoffed back. "I once strung up two demons at the same time- their hearts had stopped beating within two seconds. Beat that."

"That's not even possible!" Emerald scolded him. She sounded so much like Blossom when she was ready to argue.

"Yeah it is!" Cain retorted.

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah-huh!"

I had to smile at how excited she was. While Cain was nowhere near her age, at least she'd finally found a friend that had a similar mind to her. Cass appeared from the trail Cain had taken, looking irritated. Cass was a hard person to annoy, so I jumped up almost instantly, forgetting my breathlessness and rushing over to her.

"You okay?"

She brushed off my concern. For a moment I began to fret that I left her alone to run off with Cain and Emmy, but she immediately pulled me back and spoke sternly in my ear.

"What did they mean when they said Butch was your mate? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know!" I whispered back, eyes widening at the distrust in her face. "I mean, I always knew I had a mark, but I thought it was just a scar."

"But you have a connection to him…" She shook her head. "It's so scary to think about, that he can sense where you are-"

"But you heard Rome." I told her, trying to smile. "The connection must have been broken when I died. Otherwise I'd be dead now, Cass."

"Yeah, well-" For some reason, her cheeks flushed and she gave a loud huff. "I wouldn't trust anything of what that asshole says."

I heard a shriek and looked over to see Cain throwing Emerald up into the air. Not the cute three inches regular children might achieve with their parents, my new demon friend was literally heaving my little girl up into the treetops as hard as he could- Emerald laughing in glee as she let herself fall back into his arms.

"This is surprisingly a good weight for a workout." He lifted her over his shoulder (like a javelin) and hurled her back up about 15 feet into the air again- Emerald letting out a whee- before she fell heavily back into the other hand, only for him to do it again. Cass and I watched a few more throws before she turned to me again.

"Are you really going to go to the club? Undercover? To look for Chemical X?" She lowered her voice even more and glanced down at my shoes. "I mean, you know they could be there…Are you sure you're ready to face them…him again?"

Despite being uttered in that low, gentle voice- the words hit me hard. Like any mention of Butch, it brought my heartrate up ten-fold and caused my entire body to freeze in an eerie numbness where I could only hear the dreadful, hard thumps of my panicking heart. I was supposed to be stronger than this, full of hate and vengeance…but when his name catches me off guard, I physically had to shake myself from the very hold of his memory.

"Don't worry about me, Cass." I told her, after I'd given myself a mental slap. "I know how to fight- it's all I know how to do… You really don't expect me to spend another five years training, do you? I can't sit back and do nothing while the Ruffs' empire keeps growing."

"Funny." To my surprise, she gave me a sheepish smile. "I was thinking the same thing."

"No." I got in her face too, just to show her my serious glare. "Cass, I'm barely strong enough to go against the Ruffs with these guys, you don't under-"

"You really think I'm going to be happy sitting in my tent? No!" Cass scoffed back at me, unafraid. "I'm going, Buttercup. I'm with you until the end, even if it kills me."

"It'll never come to that, Cass." My face flushed in a prickling embarrassment and I even felt my voice warble at the thought. "I don't know what I'd do without you, if anything happens-"

"Save the mushy stuff for the demons, BC. I can learn just as much as you can." Cass laughed at me, slapping me on the arm as she walked away. "Hanging out with you all these years, I've picked up a few of your stubborn streaks… it comes in handy."

.


Cain


.

Cain had thrown Emerald as much as he could (a few hundred reps) before he finally put her down and was coerced into throwing her ball for her. He threw it a lot harder than her mother could, so she tried for another few records before eventually he took the ball hostage, narrowing his eyes at her once he realised no adults were in earshot.

"Did you tell your Mum about the necklace you gave me?"

Emerald pouted at that. She couldn't ignore the sudden knot in her stomach, tightening with guilt.

"…Nooo… "

Cain cocked an eyebrow, slipping the aforementioned necklace out of his pocket and giving it another long, thoughtful look as it sat in his palm. Emerald piped up again, widening her eyes and batting her lashes innocently.

"I will though!"

Cain rolled his eyes and, with the stone burning in his hand, slipped the chain around his head. "She won't be mad, you know-"

Emerald looked down at the ground, scuffing her feet. "But I stole it."

"But you fought off a demon, she should be proud of you!"

Emerald pouted, kicking at the dirt. Eventually she heaved a great sigh, rolling her eyes to stare up at the blond reluctantly.

"I'll tell her tonight- promise."

"That'a girl." He held out his balled-up fist for her to bump and she met it, giving him a smile. "You better get back to your Mum though, I bet she's worried about you."

"Okay…" She glanced thoughtfully over her shoulder, but turned to give him one last look. "Thanks, Cain."

A thud of pain went through Cain's brain, so strong it flickered over his face. A twitch captured his eye, and he flinched for a moment before he looked back at the small girl.

"That's okay, Emmy."

He faintly made out her black hair bouncing away as she ran off, a thin trail of bright green light behind her. Another thud of pain went through him, and the world seemed to fog and blur. His skin felt as though it was on fire, suddenly scalding. His back hit a tree and he slid down, the world slipping with him. His head suddenly jerked from his shoulder and he stared around at the forest- which was leering at him with such a ghostly presence he felt as though he was slipping through the earth. He was sure this wasn't normal. This wasn't right. A sickness had suddenly set within him, hardening his stomach and capturing his entire body in a chilling numbness.

His eyes rolled around in their sockets, but his head was frozen in place, his brain throbbing in his skull. Without warning, his hand rose in front of him and he was forced to look at the back of his hand, his fingers curling and flexing in front of him… as if the owner of his body was moving for the first time in years. His heart soared in his chest and a frightened yelp escaped him.

"ROME!"

His hand curled into a fist and suddenly flew at his face, knocking him back against the tree and cracking his skull on the trunk. His eyes fluttered, rolled back into his head, then closed. Somewhere in the back of his head, a few sparks of awareness were dancing at the back of his consciousness, but at the same time when his eyes opened, he wasn't the one behind them.

There was a rustling he could pick up a few hundred feet away, but he made no move to hide. He stared eerily ahead, trapped in his own skull. His arms felt like lead, and when he made to move them they didn't respond. Instead they just sat beside him heavily, his entire body feeling like an anchor against the tree.

The footsteps became louder, thumping hard against the grassy ground. Still, he didn't move. His heart was humming hard in his chest- but still he stared straight ahead, not moving.

Not good…this isn't good.

His fingers twitched against his legs, sliding down to the ground. He felt the dirt in his hands, pulling and grabbing at the grass. Still, he stared dully ahead. The footsteps stopped, dragged across the ground- the sounds echoing loudly in his senses- and suddenly appeared in front of him. A gun barrel jabbed against his temple.

"Who the fuck are you?"

A rumbling thought swelled in his frozen head.

Human.

Panic again sparked in the back of his brain, clashing with thoughts that weren't his. Dark, smoggy impressions of memory and voices clouded his brain. Heat was rising within him and what felt like an animal was growling inside his own skull. Without warning, his hand snapped down on the gun and wrenched it over his lap- a body crumpling beside him.

Again, his hand raised without permission and wrapped around a warm neck, pulses and juices flowing under his fingers, and before Cain could blink warmth splattered across his face and his mouth was rich in the taste of blood.

"The Jugular…" His mouth opened, but the voice that spoke wasn't his. "Always so messy."


Rome's frown deepened as he glanced back to the thick shrubs behind him. He was sure he had just heard a scream. He was positive it was his brother who screamed his own name.

"Rome?"

He froze, whirling back around and stiffening his arms at the ready. When his eyes met a too-familiar face, he lidded them boredly.

"Not you again." He grumbled irritably.


Cass


.

I had to scowl. While building a thick skin over the years, I still couldn't brush off the harsh glare Rome always sent me. I gave my best snarl back.

"Yes, me...We have to talk."

Rome's lip curled. "Now now." His glare trailed back over his shoulder again. His shoulders seemed to hunch and tense uncomfortably. "I have to check on something…"

"No, it can't wait!" I lost myself then, letting out a squawk. "Look, you can't keep treating me like I'm a piece of dirt just because I'm human! You should treat me with some respect, I want to learn as much as possible and I-"

Rome paid no attention and darted around to walk away, cutting me off completely. The band tightened around my chest and I felt my lungs seize.

"Can you not walk away from me when I'm talking to you?"

"Can you go away?!" Rome yelled back at me over his shoulder.

I gave up. He was impossible. In a moment of childish frustration, I picked up a rock that had jabbed my foot earlier and hurled it at him. It was a sick satisfaction that it cracked him right on the skull, halting him mid-strut and causing him to whirl around, smacking his hand against his head and issuing me a hateful glare as he stomped back over.

"Ow! What the Hell is wrong with you!?"

"You're an ass! That's what's wrong!"

His face crumpled with confusion and pain. He even glanced down at his palm before his glare flicked back down on me. Despite my better judgement, I stared straight into his eyes once again- lost in the mesmerising golden glint within them. He narrowed them on me and I was stuck in place as he edged towards me.

"I'm no ass when I'm saving yours." He hissed at me darkly.

"I haven't done anything to you, and you won't even tell me why you hate me." I snapped back at him, my voice giving a feeble squeak.

"I don't have to tell you shit."

"Why? Because you're this big, bad demon?" He was looming over me now and we were so close his hair was tickling my forehead. I tried to lean back, hold out my arms and try to challenge him. Maybe demons picked up on this stuff. I even shrugged my shoulders. "I don't care where you're from, just like you don't care about me. I just care that you treat me with respect. I'm fighting alongside you."

"It's not like you're bringing much to the party." Rome cocked an eyebrow but refused to back down, continuing to stare down at me darkly. "As your leader, I can criticise you to your benefit."

"Who says you're my leader?"

Rome scoffed -loudly- and right into my face, sending a cascade of hot breath over me. I held back a cold shiver. He took another step closer to me, the toes of his boots scraping against mine.

"I do. It's the only way I can make sure you get out of this alive."

"What if I don't care about being alive?" Against my better judgement, I pulled my chin up to meet his glare. I kept my jaw firm, teeth clenched. "The only thing I care about is making sure that if I do die, it's for a good cause."

A dark shadow seemed to be dwelling with his eyes, blackening by the second. Before I could blink, his hand snapped up to snatch my jaw, drawing me even closer to him. My chest bumped against his and my heels left the dirt. But I kept staring, keeping my glare strong to meet his. He pulled me even closer, fingers pushing into my cheeks and glare boring into me.

"Nothing." He snarled at me, lips scraping against mine. "Is a cause worth dying for."

Without warning, a rasping hiss cut the air around us and sent a deathly chill over me and I had to step back, bumps coating my skin and my breath catching in my throat. Rome stared over me, his own stare eerily empty as the voice cooed behind us again.

"Hello Romulussss..."

It was sudden, and all I could do was swallow my gasp as Rome's hulking body slammed into mine, covering and stifling me completely against the jagged bark of the tree behind me. My back hit the wood and his shoulder slammed into my face. I choked out what I could, pushing and prying at his boulder of a body.

"S-Stop! Rome! What are you-"

But he pushed deeper into my lungs, crushing me against the trunk into her further, arms out. His back was hard, spine crunching into my face. I managed to wedge myself out of his crushing hold enough to suck in a wave of fresh air, peeling my face away from his shirt and instead glancing around his side to make out the lumbering sight that was now looming closer to us.

My cold breath hitched in my throat as the dark figure watched us. It was slow and steady- but the feet of the person were dragging noisily along the ground, straight to us. I felt my heart race against Rome's crushing back and a thought fluttered desperately in my mind why Rome wasn't attacking it. He was clearly shielding me. It was then I felt a hard, loud drumming against my own shoulder.

Rome was scared. The fierce, inhuman demon leader was actually panicking!

My eyelids fluttered as I tried to look passed my own humming heartbeat to the lumbering figure. My fingers suddenly clenched in Rome's own shirt, whitening to the bone.

It was Cain. A slow, sullen and slackened Cain. He was tripping and scuffing his feet and he seemed stiff, like a zombie. His long blonde hair was across his face, but he didn't seem to notice being blinded. Rome's solid, frozen figure crushed against me harder, feet bracing against the forest floor. I heard a low growl deep in his chest as he backed up further against me, shielding me from his brother.

"Cain…" He spoke slowly, a low rumble that vibrated against my chest. "Cain? What the fuck happened to you?"

Cain sighed, his entire body heaving, but instead of a breath it sounded like a beast-like snarl. As he raised his head, the fringe of his hair swept from his eyes to his cheek and a slow, steady smile grew on his face. A smile with sharpened, pointed fangs. My chest tightened, heart freezing. I felt the ice seize my throat and chill my bones. Those eyes…like Rome's but colder, fresher…flashing with only the darkest shimmer. Instead of Cain's bright blue eyes, a deep, blood red had flooded the entirety of his eyes.

A scream rumbled swelled in my lungs, but Rome's back hit me hard- crushing me. His body was hot, scalding, and I drew in a shaky breath that rattled through my ribcage. Rome began to shake, his eyes darkening dangerously, a twitch echoing in his face, as he let out his own strangled snarl.

"…No. Not you."

Cain's body straightened, showing his full height. His now-red eyes twinkled in glee as he eyed the pair before him, before his left eye twitched with sudden excitement and a spasm crossed his face. His smile- and teeth- grew bigger. Rome jumped against me, pushing me further into the tree and pushing the scream deeper into my stomach.

"Get the fuck out of him! Cain!" Rome's screams were low, but rising with panic. I felt his heart tick all through his body, out of control. I never thought Rome could scream, I never thought he could sound so frantic and desperate. They grew higher. "CAIN! FIGHT IT!"

In a split second something seemed to tick on Cain's face- like a flash of helplessness- before flicking back to that malicious smile. His eyes seemed to swirl in a sick purple before flooding back to blood.

"What's wrong with him? Who is that?" My voice squeezed out of my chest, still being crushed against the tree. My own heart thumped hard against his chest and I found my fingernails sinking into his arm.

Something was wrong. Something was out of his control.

"What's going on?"

Rome grabbed me in a crushing grip and pulled my head to his. I weakly fell into him. His hot breath snarled in my ear.

"Get Buttercup in the church. NOW."

"Wh-"

"And get Jayden. Go!"

He let me go and I fell back, my heart still hammering in my head. I got a good look at his face- pale and tense. His eye twitched and he turned back to his brother, who still loomed closer to us like a zombie. I couldn't find my feet and I hit a few rocks as I fell back in a panic as I stared back at Rome's darkening glare. I'd never seen anyone so furious, so angry. His face curled and his chest heaved.

"Don't let her go… I'm so hungry…" Cain cooed in that rough, choked voice- like he'd been asleep for years. He was still wearing that eerie grin. His head tilted and a low growl echoed in his throat. "What's wrong? Surprised to see me?"

Rome drew himself up to his own full height, his chest was heaving and his face twitched in repressed rage. His eyes were steady, darkening, but his fists shook as he faced off against the stranger- a flood of emotions clearly going through him. It was so strong I could almost feel the heat of anger radiating from his skin.

"Bane." Rome's voice was low and rough. "I'm not fucking surprised. A cockroach can live without a head, right?"

Cain smirked at that, lopsided and manic against his face. He licked his lips, his teeth, before his eyes fell back on Rome- widening with what looked like hurt. He took a step forward, but stumbled against the tree. He pushed off and crept closer. I backed off, struggling to feel my legs.

"Now…now…" Cain was now glaring at Rome with that hungry gleam in his eye, a sickening sweet coo on his lips. "Is that any way to talk to your father?"

.


.

You know I make you wanna scream
You know I make you wanna run from me baby
but know it's too late you've wasted all your time, yeah

Relax while you're closing your eyes to me
So warm as I'm setting you free
With your arms by your side there's no struggling
Pleasure's all mine this time

...

FYI- Brick was reading 'Canto 5' from Dante's Inferno, describing the Second Circle.

And heh heh... yeah :P Bane is Rome and Cain's father- where else do you think they got their psycho from? ;) Congratulations to everyone who guessed the Ruffs and Cain/Rome were related! That's why Buttercup's hits affected Rome so much, they share the same string of blood relation, so it didn't heal straight away! And also why Emerald can connect with her uncles and know they're harmless to her ;) They share a bond a lot like Butch first shared with Blayze. Oh fickle demons :P

BANE IS BAAAACK! MUHAHAHAHAHAHA! (I know he's evil but I love my evil psycho demons!)

If anyone is interested my Wordpress has been updated with pictures of my OC's and Buttercup- I'm still looking for pictures of the Ruffs so let me know if you find any good sites/pictures to share with me (:

Until next time! (I can't wait for more blood!)

Dino xoxoxo