Warnings in this part for violence, as usual and mentions of human bigotry, racism, colonization and so on.

I'm genuinely surprised and disappointed that we don't yet have a meme of Dodge in the crown and threatening the Locke children by throwing that car in season 1, episode 10, a meme that says, "Everyone's a badass until the demon has the Crown of Shadows and sends a car flying across the front lawn."

Demon's Downfall

Part two

A Temporary Victory

Chapter three

Mistress of Shadows-Part two-Triumph

Dodge's assault on Key House commenced, the shadows spreading out along the gravel of the driveway, edging closer to the old and proud structure.

The three Locke children had descended inside.

Dodge made her shadows spread out in multitudes and they fell upon the house.

Dodge knew from what Lucas remembered, that there were two fuse boxes in the house-or around the house, anyway.

One of them was outside the house. This was the one she had already damaged, but most likely was repaired by now. The second one was in the basement.

She would damage both of them.

She extended the shadows out.

The convenient thing about the Shadow Key and its crown, was that the wearer and the one that gave their orders to the shadows, could see through the eyes of their shadow minions.

In other words, anything her shadows did, anything she ordered them to do, she would be able to see it happen. Even if she wasn't inside the building.

She took over the shadows and watched through their eyes as they seemed into the darkest room on the ground floor. The living room. All the lights were out and it was dark enough for the shadows to grow.

She saw the dark red urn on the mantel, between the two swords.

She cursed herself. She had seen that urn, not but almost three days ago, when she had stabbed Sam Lesser and had left him to die.

She could have taken the urn at any time, but she had chosen not to.

Sure, one could argue, how could she have known? But in hindsight, it seemed obvious. Where else would Rendell have put something he had trusted no one else with the existence or information of?

Still, here she was. Here was the urn and Dodge had the Crown of Shadows and the Shadow key. So, why waste it?

She had her shadow servant creep into the room, climb up to the mantel and pick the urn up, uncapping it.

Kinsey called for Tyler a couple of times, Tyler came over to her and Bode, armed with a glowing toy sword with a cone shaped "blade," joined them.

They watched as the shadow intruder emptied their father's ashes out of the urn.

While Dodge would normally relish the reactions they might have to seeing such a thing, she had her mission. And as she watched the sea of ashes spill out of the dark red urn, Dodge could feel her frustration build. It wasn't here.

Which meant that one of the Locke children most likely had it.

Dodge had been worried about this as a possibility, after she found out that Rendell had been cremated.

While not solely responsible for a good portion of the hardships the Lockes were going through, she still had done her part.

However, she had no doubt, that even without her "help," the Lockes would have gotten into plenty of shenanigans on their own.

Which meant it was entirely plausible, that some nonsense or other had led to the urn being smashed and then repaired with the Mending key, if they had found that one already, or the urn had spilled its contents in one altercation or another. Which meant, either way, they would have found the Omega key in the urn.

One of the kids had the Omega key. It was just a question of which of them it was.

Obviously, someone didn't like it too much that she was emptying out his father's ashes, because Tyler screamed suddenly, "Stop!"

He ran over to attack the shadow, but the shadow in the shape of Dodge interfered and she pinned Tyler to the wall, had around the stupid young man's throat.

Kinsey screamed out Tyler's name, fearing for him.

As Dodge held Tyler against the wall, applying only a little pressure. Stupid or not, she didn't want to risk killing him, not if he knew where the Omega key was.

Again, Dodge needed a moment to process just how foolish Tyler was.

He had attacked a shadow.

What exactly had he hoped to accomplish by doing so?

If he had bothered to pay attention at all, he'd know that no physical being could hurt a shadow, but shadows manipulated by the Crown of Shadows and by the Shadow key?

That was another story. Shadows manipulated by the key and the crown, were deadly weapons. But on one could hurt those shadows, not physically, anyway.

Dodge held Tyler up. "Where is it?" She growled at the stupid young man.

The one problem with this, and one she hadn't seen coming, but really should have, had been that while Tyler was stupid, his little brother unfortunately, was not.

Bode turned on the lights, expelling Dodge and the rest of the shadows from the room. The urn fell down to the floor, smashing to pieces.

Dodge snarled as she heard Kinsey and Bode come to the realization that it was the lights.

They then went to turn on as many lights as they could.

Dodge tried to have one shadow being lunge at Kinsey and restrain her.

But Kinsey was too quick. She snapped on the light, before Dodge's shadow servant could grab her.

Tyler moved quickly too. He snapped a light on before Dodge could have one of her servants knock the light down and destroy it.

She then had her shadows look everywhere in the kitchen.

Did she actually believe that the Omega key would be placed in all places, the kitchen? No. But was there a chance that the Omega key might be there? Yes. It was a slim chance, but there was a chance, nonetheless.

As her servants pulled out drawers and turned them upside down, rifled through different pieces of furniture, the Locke children came in and turned on the lights.

Light flooded the room and the shadows were dispelled. However, there was still plenty of darkness in the hallway, and Dodge listened in with the shadows she controlled.

Bode assured both Kinsey and Tyler that the key was well hidden.

Bode then made a weapon. Out of his plastic sword and the Matchstick key, by taping the Matchstick key to the tip of his sword.

Dodge almost laughed when she had heard this.

Ah, Bode. It was such a shame that she most likely would have to one day kill him.

He would have been deeply valued in a demon army.

Unlike his brother, Bode and his sister were actual warriors.

Bode then went running out into the doorway, aiming his sword out in front of him and yelled, "Come and get me, shadow monsters!"

Dodge still had to hold back a laugh, as she started to extend her power, sending her shadows out towards both the fuse box outside of the house and the fuse box in the basement and she allowed the shadows to drag out along the ceiling, beginning to manipulate one to look like herself again and stretch it towards where Bode stood.

Bode wanted to fight? So be it.

Who was she to deny the little warrior his battle?

She flicked her power, and both the shadows outside of the house and the shadows in the basement did as she commanded, ripping the wires in both fuse boxes, turning the power out.

Every light in the house then was knocked out.

Bode had to have realized the danger, because he mumbled, fear in his eyes, "Uh-oh."

"Fuse box," Tyler said.

"The second one is in the basement," Kinsey said, turning to a drawer and opening it, pulling out a flashlight. "I'll go turn the other fuse box back on," she looked at Tyler, "You distract Dodge."

Dodge smirked. They obviously hadn't figured out yet that she could hear and see everything they did and said.

As Tyler and Bode headed out through the living room, Dodge came up with her own distraction, making a shadow look like her and walk towards the brothers. "Give me the key," her shadow-self demanded, as Tyler and Bode ran, looking for more flashlights.

In the meantime, Dodge focused more of her shadows on staying in the basement and hiding in wait behind the wooden staircase for when Kinsey started to descend the stairs.

When Kinsey began her descent, one foot getting particularly close to where one of Dodge's shadows lurked, it was then that Dodge acted.

Despite how much she felt her cold, dark little heart clench in pain at doing this, she needed Kinsey incapacitated.

She had her shadow reach out and swipe it around Kinsey's ankle, tripping her up and sending her flying down the stairs.

She hit the floor hard, and Dodge clenched her teeth as she could practically feel the impact.

She watched through the shadows as Kinsey landed and stilled only for a moment.

She tried to ignore the pang that hit her, seeing Kinsey like that. (You seriously could have hurt her,) some part of Dodge's mind hissed at her.

Not again. She would not do this again.

She'd…she'd just keep Kinsey from reaching the fuse box, until it was time, anyway.

As Kinsey slowly got up-her head did, anyway, and she reached for the flashlight, Dodge acted again. She extended her shadow out and it grabbed Kinsey's legs, pulling her under the platform of the stairs.

Kinsey screamed as she was dragged.

Dodge allowed Kinsey to get her bearings only for a few seconds, as her shadows began to circle around her.

She had the shadows then grab her and pull her and restrain her. Nothing that would actually hurt her.

However, Kinsey wasn't going to stand for that.

She pulled out some matches and struck one after the other, dispelling the shadows, before using her flashlight and doing away with them.

Dodge hissed.

Now, it seemed, was time to enact her plan.

She wasn't going to find the key this way.

Might as well get this phase of the mission completed and dispose of Ellie.

The fact that Bode had taped the Matchstick key to the end of his plastic sword added a very convenient layer to all this.

It was just enough for him to believe that he had efficiently destroyed her.

If only temporarily.

She sent out her shadow, making sure to make it look as demonic as possible, as it confronted Bode.

Bode was in the upstairs hallway, and she had her shadow-self walk into the hallway, demanding, "Where is the key?"

She let loose a roar of anger and frustration, and Bode took the bait. Because of course he would.

Young and naïve. A dangerous combination.

Bode screamed, thrusting the sword forward, "You're not gonna to hurt us anymore!"

Dodge snarled as she lunged forward, allowing her shadow-self to be impaled by Bode's sword and the Matchstick key.

Dodge barely even felt a tingle as the Matchstick key slowly set the shadow alight.

Now? Now, she had to make it look like they had actually succeeded.

She had the last of the shadow collapse in a dump over the wooden railings. And that was when Dodge had the shadows pick up the unconscious Ellie and bring her out to the living room, laying the unconscious woman, who looked so much like Dodge herself out, on the white and black linoleum tiled floor.

She had the shadows all recede and smirked, looking down at the unconscious Ellie, Ellie, who now, thanks to the Identity key, looked just like the Locke family's dread enemy, "Dodge."

Dodge left the house, lurking in the shadows, to spy on the three Locke children as the power came back on.

They didn't understand what Bode had done to Dodge, but they all looked down at the unconscious woman on their floor, all convinced that it was Dodge.

Bode had the Matchstick key and said he was going to go check on Rufus.

Tyler snatched the key away, but Bode still grabbed his helmet and moved out.

Tyler had said to Bode, "Just don't do anything stupid."

"You either," Bode threw back and Dodge almost laughed.

Tyler was the weakest of the three Locke children. Definitely. Why had he even taken the Matchstick key from Bode, anyway? Didn't Tyler know Bode was much safer with the Matchstick key on his person? Oh, well.

When Bode left, Kinsey and Tyler decided that they needed help. And they were going to contact people to help them get rid of the demon in their house.

That was when Dodge used the Anywhere key.

Dodge pulled out the Anywhere key, as she got rid of all the shadows with the Crown of Shadows and the Shadow key and reached the basement door of the house, using the Anywhere key to get out of there.

She pictured the cliffside house, got there, changed out of her clothes and hid the crown and Shadow key, changed into Gabe, put on Gabe's clothes, grabbed the burner phone she used while being Gabe, then used the Anywhere key to go back to a rough space between the school and Kinsey's place.

Dodge went past some of the houses, receiving a text on Gabe's phone. She pulled it out and looked at the texts. Kinsey was asking for help. She said that she knew she had no right to ask help for this. But she was asking anyway-her words, not Gabe's. Kinsey said that there was an enemy who had been causing harm to her and her family for a while, a demon, and she and her brother needed help throwing the demon into a portal.

That was the short version of what Kinsey had said.

And Dodge? Well, how decent Gabe could possibly be if he didn't help Kinsey with this?

Dodge smirked, going to Scot's place, imagining that Scot had received the same text.

Dodge's victory was at hand. Being rid of Rufus, as soon as Ellie wasn't his guardian. Being rid of Ellie. And the Locke family truly believing that they were rid of the woman who had been their enemy.

There was no way she couldn't win.

Dodge painted a decent and gentle look on Gabe's face as she had Gabe approach Scot.

Scot, looking at his phone along the sidewalk in front of his house, looked worried, and when Gabe approached, Scot lifted his head and looked at Gabe, startled.

"You got the same text?" Dodge had Gabe ask.

Scot nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "You know about this?"

Dodge shook Gabe's head as she said with his voice, "Not much. Just what Kinsey said in her texts. That she and Tyler need to get rid of some demon menace. Do you think Kinsey would make this up? Or that it's made up at all? When there are magic keys that we know about?"

Scot nodded. He didn't doubt Kinsey's words any more than Dodge was having Gabe doubt those words.

Dodge decided to lay on the sweetness to make Scot think that Gabe was just an average, decent all-American boy.

"I know I shouldn't be asking if we're alright," She had Gabe say softly to Scot, "But for Kinsey's sake, can we work together to help her?"

Scot looked surprised, but nodded.

"Yeah," he said, smiling, "I think we can do that."

Dodge had Gabe smile widely and they began heading together to Key House. Eventually, Scot sent a text to the rest of the Savinis, informing Gabe that Eden would also be getting that text.

Dodge had Gabe snort, "Ah, yes, I imagine Eden will be more than eager to help."

Scot chuckled, agreeing.

However, they got a surprise. Though Zadie and Douglas hadn't come to help, Eden and her friend, Jackie Veda had arrived, saying that they were willing to help.

Dodge lifted Gabe's eyebrows as Eden and Jackie joined them. Jackie wasn't that big of a surprise. Even if she and Tyler had a rocky relationship right now, Jackie was obviously a good person.

Eden, though? Dodge wasn't sure what to think of her presence here.

Eden just gave a simple answer to Scot's questioning look, "I think I can throw Locke a bone. I might as well, since I feel a little soft after the other morning."

Dodge fought a laugh.

There were many things that she felt could be associated with Eden Hawkins.

Softness was not one of those things.

The four of them eventually reached Key House.

They knocked on the door and Kinsey answered.

Scot and Gabe smiled at her from the doorway.

Scot spoke first, "Demon Disposal Service. You rang?"

"Thanks for coming," Kinsey said, smiling.

"No problem," Dodge had Gabe say, "We brought backup too."

Dodge and Scot both looked behind them as Jackie showed up, standing between them.

"Scot told us you needed help," Jackie said.

Eden stood by Jackie, showing herself to Kinsey as she said, "Yeah, and the FOMO was real."

Dodge almost rolled Gabe's eyes. She had no idea what modern teenagers' terminology meant. Lucas's memories told her almost nothing, as he had been raised in a different time.

There was different terminology for different generations.

As they filed inside, Kinsey told Eden that she had not been expecting this.

Eden answered nonchalantly, "Well, I was feeling a little bit generous after my brush with death. Plus, I don't know who this bitch is, but I'm not about to let some rando demons run through my town."

Dodge had to hold a dark laugh at that. She understood what "rando" meant. It was easy to figure out it was a short and supposedly "hip" version of the word "random."

She had no misgivings about Eden referring to her as a bitch. Dodge had been called much, much worse over the years. And besides, she likely had earned every one of those insults.

No, what almost made Dodge bark a dark, cynical laugh from Gabe, was that last part Eden had said.

"My town." As if the town belonged to Eden. Dodge understood the "my town" sentiment was more a way of someone saying, "my home," but it still felt ridiculous to hear.

This town was so far from Eden's town that it wasn't even funny. So many different families had tried to make this town their home before her. Thousands of European colonizers tried to. And before them, several Native American tribes that the colonizers brutalized and deceived upon arrival.

And before the Native Americans' ancestors came to North America in different migrations, eventually spreading out throughout the centuries and forming into different Native American tribes, this land had belonged to demons.

In other words, this land never belonged to Eden. Ever. There were several, several degrees of separation between her and several different previous owners.

Truly, Dodge never would be able to wrap her mind around the hubris of some humans.

Scot, however, simply said, "Well put."

Dodge fought another snort. Well, she supposed Scot was nothing, if not good at sucking up to those he needed the assistance of.

Dodge decided to have Gabe give some input. She said, "Yeah, we would've called the rest of the Savinis, but you know, they still have a bit of "Cave PTSD," so…," Dodge had Gabe smile and Kinsey nodded, smiling back. She walked past Gabe, Scot and Eden, getting ready.

Jackie and Tyler were talking, and apparently Tyler had been keeping this key issue quiet for a while from her.

Dodge personally wasn't sure he would have told her anyway. The less people knew, the less likely that that information would get to other children, who could potentially grab the keys and misuse them. Children like Tyler's so-called "friends." But if Tyler chose to share that information with Jackie, she supposed that was his mistake.

Scot interrupted Tyler and Jackie's talk, apologizing and then saying that they had a demon to be dealing with and asked where that demon was.

Scot then added, "He-it-I don't know what the pronoun is, demon non-binary. What are we doing?"

Dodge fought a smirk on Gabe's face.

That had to be the single smart thing she had ever heard Scot say.

He wasn't exactly wrong. Biological sex and gender identity were complicated, both amongst humans and amongst demons.

The difference was that demons were much less apologetic or shameful of it.

Demons went to war with each other in their world all the time.

Just not over the stupid reasons humans did. Nothing over disability, race, religion, gender identity, sexuality, hatred for women or desire to control women or anything like that. They went to war over other things. Just not over those ridiculously stupid bigoted reasons like humans did.

Humans and their biases were bizarre.

Dodge if anything had at least one bias that she was sure was true. Humans were inferior to demons. Simple as that.

Best that demons take over. Humans wouldn't have to worry about their disgusting prejudices when the demons were making choices for them.

Kinsey led Gabe and the others into the next room over, where they had dragged Ellie, disguised as Dodge into, with a light beige sheet wrapped around her middle, under her as well, obviously to act as a stretcher of sorts to carry her to the portal in the sea caves.

Kinsey reached Ellie's head and stood by her. Dodge, Scot, Jackie and Eden walked over, circling around the unconscious woman.

Dodge decided to make Gabe give a skeptical statement, "Not exactly what I picture when I think of "formidable demon." Best Gabe gave off an air of being unable to comprehend how deceitful demons could be.

Scot asked, "Really? Pretty much exactly what I was expecting."

Dodge paused. Hmm. Perhaps Scot had more brains in his skull than she originally had thought.

Dodge had Gabe smirk at Scot and say, "Oh, come on. Where are the fangs? Where are the horns?"

Dodge knew how humans thought of demons. Lucas's memories had told her as such after she had first possessed him. It was an ignorant mental image. Demons didn't have horns. Many of them had fangs. But there were few actual, legitimate demons that had horns.

It was again an ignorant stereotype that Christians had invented, hoping to demonize the deities of other religions-in other words, Christians were cowards. The Greek god, Pan, he was the one that had suffered the most from this myth. That demons had ram's horns.

Dodge's demon form had absolutely no horns to speak of. Fangs, yes. But no horns.

But Dodge had Gabe continue, "Where are the-?"

Scot cut Gabe off, "No, no, this is all-this is all meant to lull you into a false sense of security. You know, the perfect bone structure and the impeccable style-"

Kinsey said, "Guys, can we focus?"

Dodge eyed Scot, now amused, before looking back to the unconscious Ellie, hands folding together.

She had been going to say, before Scot had cut her off, "Where are the wings? And where is the tail."

Horns might have been rare amongst demons. Wings and tails on the other hand, were not.

Not all demons had tails. Her species didn't. But wings were quite common. Her own wings had grown in on her twentieth year and she would fold them whenever she needed to land and speak with one of her underlings.

She had misjudged Scot's intelligence. He was smarter than she had given him credit for.

And it was amusing to hear what he thought of Dodge's physical form and style of dress.

A pity he now knew what that form looked like so she couldn't use it against him.

"Where'd you put the flashlights?" Tyler asked Kinsey.

Kinsey said she'd go get them and left to go retrieve the flashlights.

Eden turned her phone on and snapped a photo.

Receiving a look from all four Gabe, Scot, Jackie and Tyler, Eden shrugged and said, "What?"

"Do not post that," Jackie said darkly.

Eden scoffed, putting her phone away. "Fine," she said.

Tyler bent down and through the sheet over the Dodge double's face, covering her up.

When Kinsey came back with the flashlights, everyone began to move around the unconscious supposed demon, leaned down and picked her up by the sheet, lifting her up off the carpeted floor and carrying her off out the door, towards the sea caves.

As they walked through the dark forest, noisy with nightlife from insects, to fox cries to owl hoots, Scot must have gotten nervous, because he said, "I guess it makes sense really, doesn't it? Demons have to be disposed of properly. So, throwing them behind a big demon door just seems logical, doesn't it?"

He then laughed and added, "You know, that being said, I don't know, I feel like this is a little bit doomed, you know? I'm not saying like it is doomed, but I definitely feel like we're walking towards the Gates of Mordor."

"Can I ask a question?" Eden asked, "Besides, Scot, can you stop talking?"

"Yes," Dodge said, "Eden, go." For once, Dodge was actually grateful for Eden's obnoxiousness. How had no one threatened to cut out Scot's tongue yet?

Sure, threatening to cut out one's tongues or other forms of communication were quite normal in the demon world. Either because a demon was offended by someone's words or because they wanted information to be kept hidden, but for Scot-it was just out of purely being annoying. Goodness. Though he wasn't exactly wrong.

This mission WAS doomed. But not for the reasons that Scot thought they were.

And it was very much like reaching the Gates of Mordor. After all, they were about to open a literal demon door.

Eden then asked her question, "So, what happens if she wakes up? Like, do we have a plan for that?"

Tyler said, "I brought I knife."

Dodge almost rolled her eyes. Almost. A knife would do nothing. Well, not to her, anyway. Ellie? Ellie it would kill. But Dodge was sure that Ellie wouldn't wake up.

If Ellie woke up and they killed her, they'd immediately know something was wrong if their supposed dread enemy, had been killed by a knife.

Eden expressed her disbelief, "Oh, you're gonna have a knife-fight with the demon?"

Kinsey, thankfully, was more intelligent than her older brother. She said, "You can't kill her with a knife."

Tyler said, "Might at least give us a head start. Okay, any more questions?"

"Yeah," Jackie said, worried, "Can we just get this over with?"

As they reached the cliffs, getting very close to the edge, seeing the threatening water below thrash against the rocks.

"How's the tides situation?" Kinsey asked.

Tyler, who had been checking his phone, answered, "It's just past full-low. We're okay if we go now."

Dodge fought a grimace. Time worked differently in those caves.

If they were there only for about ten minutes, then they should be alright. Even if it was as long as twenty or so minutes. But longer than that and they were tempting fate.

Scot asked, "Are we?"

Dodge had Gabe look back at Scot, looking neutral, then looking to Kinsey, but Dodge internally snickered.

This was a very distinct trait of Scot. He was unreliable.

Kinsey deserved better.

"Look," Kinsey said, "No one has to go down there."

"No, we're going," Dodge had Gabe say, wanting to be supportive of Kins-no, wanting to appear supportive of Kinsey, "I mean, at least, I am."

Jackie nodded, looking at Tyler as she said, "Me too."

Eden answered, "Yeah, of course."

A seagull cried out as Dodge looked ahead, then noticed the others looking back and she looked back at Scot, realizing that everyone else was awaiting Scot's decision.

Scot looked defensive and said, "Not one to resist some good, old-fashioned peer pressure, am I?" He looked at Kinsey, "I'm in."

Again, Dodge felt like she had simply been proven right.

Scot was weak. She knew passive aggressiveness when she heard it. Granted, she only knew of that from Lucas's memories. Lucas's maternal grandmother had been a master at passive aggressiveness.

And Scot? Scot was good at using that same passive aggressiveness. Not an admirable trait.

If you were angry at someone, you said it. You didn't hide behind a veneer of polite cynicism.

But that was just who Scot was. Weak. Unreliable.

Even Eden had agreed before Scot had.

Dodge practically had Gabe nod at her own conviction.

Kinsey deserved better than a weakling like Scot.

How did someone as strong, practically steel strong like Kinsey, ever find interest in someone as flimsy as Scot?

Dodge frowned with Gabe's lips as she and the others went down the stairs towards the caves.

Why was she getting so annoyed by Scot? He was weak, yes. He was unreliable and flimsy. But that was just the average human, right? Why was Scot getting on her nerves more than usual?

And why did she feel her dislike of Scot mounting every time she saw Kinsey and Scot interact?

They reached the caves, walking through the tight canal made up of bulky, sharp rocks.

"It's even worse than last time," Scot said, and Dodge tried not to roll Gabe's eyes again.

It was the same as last time.

They kept walking, carrying Ellie through the cave.

They grumbled quietly and moved, and turned a corner.

Tyler mumbled about rumbling outside, and Dodge knew they were getting close to the Black Gate.

Kinsey was across from Gabe, as Gabe was supporting the left side of Ellie's upper torso, and so when Kinsey reached into her jacket pocket and pulled something out, Dodge had to fight the impulse to widen Gabe's eyes.

The Omega key.

Kinsey was holding the Omega key in her hand.

Dodge swallowed. The Omega key. It was within her reach.

But of course, she couldn't take the key from Kinsey. Not while it was in Kinsey's hand.

That pesky magical rule that one of the Locke family's ancestral aunts had put in, supposedly to protect any descendants of hers or any of her sister's or brother's descendants from demons.

Kinsey walked away from the group and Dodge was positive, that despite Scot using Gabe in a ridiculous movie, she was a very good actress, because she was able to keep herself from following Kinsey, tracking where the Omega key was. She just kept Gabe looking at the others next to her.

Only when the group moved forward, did Dodge turn Gabe's head to look at where Kinsey was walking.

They eventually reached the Black Gate, and the neon blue glow around its outline.

Kinsey got close to the gate and tried to ignore the overwhelming feeling of being safe.

She knew it wasn't a good thing that she felt safe in front of this door. But she did, nonetheless. It felt safe. Familiar.

It felt…it was hard to explain. But it felt…almost like home.

And Kinsey hated that.

She knew it was dangerous for her to feel that way about the door.

This door was dangerous. Or rather, what was behind the door was dangerous.

Kinsey and Tyler had been told what was behind this door. They had been told by Ellie.

There were demons behind this door. Hordes and hordes of them.

And yet, she felt drawn to what was on the other side of the door, the safety she felt it provided.

And she didn't know why.

It was disturbing, to say the least, that she and Tyler felt safe around this door, despite what was behind it.

Thankfully her thoughts were interrupted.

Scot said, "What do you suppose is on the other side of this?"

Eden pretty much summed up what Kinsey and Tyler already knew, "Nothing good."

"Yup," Gabe agreed, "Well, unless you're a demon."

"Let's just do this and get out of here," Tyler said.

All at once, everything that could possibly go wrong went to the front of Kinsey's mind.

This felt too easy.

And even if it wasn't, could they really risk opening the door? What if demons got out? That meant that there would be more demons to deal with.

"I don't think we should," Kinsey said, unable to help her unease.

"It was your idea," Tyler protested.

Kinsey felt nervous. She turned to Tyler. "Does this feel right to you?" She asked. Because it didn't feel right to her. Wasn't this too easy? The demon woman being taken down by Bode with the Matchstick key? Wasn't that just too easy?

And it hadn't even been the demon woman herself. It had been a shadow version of her.

None of this made sense to Kinsey. Kinsey walked over to Tyler and Tyler whispered to her, "If you got any better ideas, I'm all ears."

"Best-available idea doesn't make something a good idea," Kinsey pointed out and again, Kinsey moved to the other possibility. Even if disposing of Dodge by throwing her through the Black Door worked, what about all the other demons that might get out if they opened the door?

Was opening the Black Door really the best option? It was locked for a reason.

And Ellie had told Kinsey and Tyler what that reason was. Just one of the beings behind that door, had killed two of their father's friends, had possessed another one, had eventually gotten their father killed and had put their rest of their lives in jeopardy.

What would several of those demons do?

Scot then said, "Uh, okay, I hate to break up a good old sibling squabble, but I am very worried about these tides and I do have some experience to back that up," he looked right at Kinsey when he said that and Kinsey tried to ignore the pang of guilt at that statement.

Tyler checked the phone and said, "Shit. Yeah, we should hurry."

Kinsey frowned. Why did it feel like time moved fast here as opposed to the outside?

Jackie snapped at Tyler, "That is not what you said before."

Tyler grumbled, "Yeah, it took a lot longer to get down here than I thought."

There was movement behind the group and Jackie asked, "Is she waking up?"

Scot panicked as he circled around the unconscious Dodge and Kinsey whirled, looking at where Dodge lay. Scot mumbled, "Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no."

They pulled the sheets back from Dodge's face and Dodge was indeed slowly coming to.

She wasn't awake yet, but her head moved back and forth, indicating that she was slowly going to wake up.

Kinsey hissed. It was odd, feeling uneasy when she didn't have her fear. But she still had her common sense. And her intelligence. There was something very wrong here, and she wasn't sure she could quite pinpoint what it was.

Even though she didn't have her fear, her instincts were telling her that something was just off.

As Tyler walked forward, Kinsey grabbed Tyler's left hand and pulled him back, looking at him.

"Are you sure?" She asked.

Because Kinsey knew, she just knew, that if they opened the Black Door, they couldn't take it back.

After all, their father had opened up the Black Door, and they had seen what had happened.

Their father sure as hell hadn't been able to take that decision back.

Kinsey emphasized this as she said to Tyler, "We can't take it back."

"Kinsey," Tyler protested, "We're here. We can end this…for dad."

Kinsey looked back at the door. Tyler had a point.

But something still didn't feel right.

Would their dad have wanted to risk opening that door like he and his friends had?

Still, she looked back at Tyler, realizing that they probably would never have another chance like this and said, "Alright."

Tyler patted her shoulder as he said, "Okay."

Tyler kept his hand on Kinsey's shoulder, trying to reassure her as he said, "Kinsey will unlock the door, the rest of you, stay on it. If something happens, just close it."

Again, Kinsey couldn't help but feel like this was too simple. Just close the door? It couldn't be that simple.

Tyler walked over to the others and Kinsey tried to ignore the spiking feeling that they were missing something here.

Tyler said, looking down at Dodge, "I'll carry Dodge to the edge and throw her through."

"And if anything exits that door when we open it?" Kinsey asked, again, unable to help but see how dangerous this was.

"Wait, hold on," Gabe said, "Anything like what?" He looked as worried as Kinsey felt.

Kinsey said, trying to emphasize the danger here, "Ellie said they were like glowing bullets. Just don't let them hit you, okay?"

That was really all the advice Kinsey could give. If they were really about to open up that door, there was little else Kinsey could do, except warn them.

The group all nodded and murmured.

Kinsey slowly turned around and walked over to the door.

She heard the others walk close behind her.

As she leaned forward and looked through the keyhole, neon blue light coming out, she heard the whispers, like she had before.

She tried not to shiver. Some instinct part of her, knew that the whispering wasn't coming from the metal that the doorknob and the lock were made out of. Somehow, she knew innately, that the whispering was coming from behind the door.

Coming from the demons.

She fought another shiver.

Why did that whispering make her feel calm? Why did it make her feel safe?

It was strange. It was like it was something Kinsey knew-a deep, deep instinct, hidden behind a fog of unknown.

It was like some part of her SHOULD know why the whispering felt familiar and made her feel safe, but she didn't know why.

Hesitantly, Kinsey raised the Omega key up and slipped it into the front of the doorknob, turning it in the lock and Kinsey swore, she could practically swear, that she felt something inside her pull when the lock clicked and the door began to open.

Kinsey backed up as an ocean of neon blue spilled out, and this time, she was unable to fight a shudder when she felt something strange pull inside her as the door opened up.

It felt like…satisfaction. Like some part of her was pleased that the door was opened.

Kinsey tried to ignore that part of her. Why would she feel like that?

She pulled the key out, seeing that she had unlocked the door.

The door was slightly open, but it still need to have itself be pulled all the way open for Kinsey and the others to do what they needed to do.

She leaned forward and grabbed the doorknob. The others leaned forward too, grabbing the door and trying to help.

Kinsey fought a smile, grateful for their help.

They slowly pulled the hulking, heavy door all the way open.

The blinding pale blue light spilled out all over them.

"That's…..," Scot said.

"What is that?" Gabe asked.

Kinsey's eyes widened at the sight.

Again, to her unease, she got the distinct sense that she was looking at something familiar, as she looked at the writhing masses of dark blue and limbs all over.

Writhing mounds of flesh, tendrils moving.

It all looked…it all seemed so familiar.

Then two glowing orange balls of light began to form in the sea of neon blue, and one of them fired out.

Like a bullet.

Kinsey gasped as she and the others jumped out of the way, the glowing demon-bullet thing going past them and collapsing to the ground, no longer glowing after only a few seconds.

It bounced against the cave wall, then dropped to the cave floor, and almost melted, the orange glow leaving it.

It was kind of like watching an ember losing its light.

Kinsey knew she couldn't hesitate anymore. She and Tyler had to act now. Nothing they could do now. The door was open. Might as well take advantage of it.

Kinsey pocketed the Omega key and went over to where Dodge lay and she leaned down and picked up Dodge by her legs and Tyler picked her up by the shoulders and they hefted her up, towards the door.

The real Dodge, or as she called herself at the moment, "Gabe," stood by the door. When the door had been opened, Dodge had watched Kinsey, curious. She had seen the look on Kinsey's face. What she had seen had not been repulsion. Now, Kinsey lacked her fear, so naturally, she couldn't feel afraid of the demon world and the demons that came out of it. But surely, she still had her common sense.

Even without fear, humans knew to stay away from demons.

And yet, Dodge had seen no revulsion on Kinsey's face over the sight of the demon world.

Interesting.

When Dodge's brethren began to fire out of the demon world, Dodge had tensed, unable to help herself.

As Kinsey and Tyler started carrying Ellie to the door, Dodge thought to herself as the second one flew out and hit the wall and most likely died, (Brothers, sisters, stop. You'll die.)

Now, Dodge wanted the door closed, but for a very different reason than why Kinsey hadn't wanted to open it.

Demons couldn't live in the human world without possessing a human body.

Without hosts, they died in the human world.

Again, not for the first time, Dodge couldn't help but wonder what she was doing.

She could take the key now.

Did Kinsey have it? Yes. But she had put it in her pocket, when she had gone to carry Ellie to the portal.

Could Dodge kill everyone in this group and then take the key off Kinsey's corpse? Yes. Yes, she could.

Could she kill everyone else, except for Kinsey, and take the key while Kinsey was incapacitated? Again, yes.

So, why wasn't Dodge doing that?

An image appeared in Dodge's mind. The image was of Kinsey staring lifelessly up at the cave ceiling with her usually bright, beautiful blue eyes, those same eyes now without any light in them, all the life drained from her, her blonde and pink hair fanned out, now colored dark red, lying still in a pool of her own blood.

Dodge almost whimpered. Almost.

The sound might have been odd coming from Gabe, but understandable, considering what he was looking at, at the moment.

But for the reason why Dodge almost whimpered, it was intolerable to her.

The thought brought such pain from her that she almost couldn't bear it.

No…

No, Dodge couldn't kill Kinsey. She knew that as soon as she thought of the possibility.

She knew it wasn't a good sign that her heart hurt at the very possibility of it.

No. she could not kill Kinsey. She would not. Regardless of the reasons why, and what it meant, she knew she wouldn't do it.

Fine. She couldn't kill Kinsey. But what about killing everyone else and capturing Kinsey? Taking the Omega key from her and keeping the Black Gate open?

A mental image formed in Dodge's mind of the look on Kinsey's face if Dodge did that. If she tore herself away from the door, turned on Scot and snap his neck, then do the same to both Eden and Jackie, then go over to Tyler and kill him, then turn on Kinsey.

The look of horror that would cover Kinsey's face…

Of everyone's fear and horror, Kinsey's was not the horror or fear-if she still had that fear, that she wanted to see.

Dodge had the question in the back of her mind if she was going to kill the rest of the group, and take the Omega key from Kinsey or not.

And unfortunately, she already knew the answer.

No, she was not going to do that.

Even with an opportunity like this one. Even with the Black Gate opened, even with not one, but five human bodies for her brethren to possess, even with the Omega key within Dodge's reach.

She knew she couldn't kill this group. Not while Kinsey was here, watching.

Again, a mental image entered Dodge's mind. An image of herself covered in blood. With the dead bodies of all five Ellie, Scot, Jackie, Eden and Tyler on the cave floor in front of her, with the Black Gate open, and on the other side of the bodies, Kinsey standing there, horrified, staring at "Gabe," the boy she had thought she knew and thought that she could trust.

No. Dodge knew she would do nothing. Not right now.

She had done what she needed to and Ellie would be gone soon. And soon the Lockes would think they would be rid of Dodge.

Tyler and Kinsey carried Ellie to the portal and began swinging her back and forth, ready to throw her in.

Dodge fought a smirk as she saw Ellie wake up. Oh, good. She'd be able to relish Ellie's last moments in this world, when Ellie realized what was about to happen to her.

Tyler and Kinsey flung Ellie into the portal, and Dodge got to listen Ellie scream, "No!"

Ellie screamed this over and over again, and she grabbed Tyler's shirt, but Kinsey pulled him back and eventually Tyler freed himself from Ellie and Ellie went flying into the mass of writhing demon limbs, disappearing from view.

Dodge fought the urge to grin as she and the others closed the Black Gate.

Two last orange, flying, glowing bullets came soaring out from the portal.

One of them missed them and hit the cave wall, then dropped and died on the cave floor.

But the last one?

The last one caught Dodge's attention.

It shot past them, but brushed against Eden's arm, before shooting past the girl and slamming against the cave wall and dropping down to the cave floor, slowly losing its glow.

Dodge was unable to stop herself from smirking with Gabe's lips.

No, she couldn't take the Omega key or kill everyone else except for Kinsey and keep the door open.

But something good besides Ellie being gone and the Lockes thinking that they were safe now, had come from this day.

If she was right, then Eden would soon be completely taken over soon by one of her brethren.

Dodge helped the others close the door and she watched with envy as Kinsey locked the door with the Omega key.

Kinsey pulled away from the door and moved back, slumping down against the cave wall and crouching, gasping as the adrenaline coursed through her, pocketing the Omega key again.

Dodge restrained a sigh.

One more day without having obtained the Omega key.

But nonetheless? It seemed there was no way, no possible way that Dodge couldn't win the war in the long run. Especially now that the Lockes believed that they had rid themselves of her.

Dodge glanced at Eden as she and the others backed away from the now locked Black Gate.

Dodge made Gabe help Eden to the other wall of the cave, opposite of Kinsey, helping Eden balance herself against that wall.

And Eden? Oh, Dodge would find out about that, later.

But even as she told herself that she would, she knew already what the fate of Eden Hawkins was.

She could smell it.

Eden was slowly turning. Even if she didn't know it.

Dodge fought a satisfied smirk as she helped Eden balance against the cave wall, and Dodge turned to look back at Kinsey, who finally stood up. They all looked drained.

Soldiers recovering after an exhausting battle.

Dodge would let them have this, for the sake of making it look like they had won, all so that Dodge could snatch victory from them later.

Oh, she might not necessarily have won today, but she already had a soldier getting ready to rise and the Locke family would not be looking for her any longer. She couldn't see how she wouldn't eventually win in the end. There was just no way she couldn't win after this.

Dodge was going to keep a very close eye on Eden from now on.