Chapter 3

Daniel turned on the TV the next morning. It had been hard to focus since the dream and the incident with the gauntlet. It was on the same channel it had been on the morning before.

"Massacre at a nearby mall has all school closed and everyone inside their houses. Last night, several hundred people were killed in the mall. They either had been gruesomely slaughtered. Police right now are finding the names of all the victims. Two people were eye witnesses to the slaughter as they had locked themselves in a store. Here are their stories." It showed a couple that were wrapped heavily in blankets. One was a man that rocked back and forth while his wife rubbed his shoulder.

"The shadows, they came alive and took form. There must've been at least fifty. No they couldn't have been shadows. Demons, that's it. Demons. They attacked everyone they could. After we saw several of our friends attacked we went into a store and pulled down the metal screen. Then a second kind of demon appeared. The air shimmered and he just appeared. He had a partner along with him. They struck both human and shadow, but for some reason they stopped. It looked like there weapons were effective but after they had killed at least four they shimmered and disappeared again. Me and wife found a backroom and locked ourselves in it until the authority's arr-." The man had been cut off by Daniel turning off the TV. No school and he was forced to stay indoors. There was nothing to do inside his house. Again he went upstairs and into the guestroom. He shut and locked the door behind him. He looked at the entrance to the attic and pulled it down. He made his way his way up. Again he starred at the gantlet. He strode over to it and began to examine it.

"So odd. Everything in here seems to be connected to these creatures. They seem to be from somewhere else, some planet." Daniel looked at the planet on the ceiling. "From there. It's the only possible explanation." Daniel connected the gauntlet to his arm. He expected it to be lightweight but found it heavier than he expected. He still managed to lift it. After a couple times lifting it up and down, his arm became accustomed to the weight. Daniel saw several books on a nearby desk and flipped them open. In it were several sketches. One of the crescent headed creatures. Several pictures of the humanoids and creatures having ferocious battles. The next picture was of a lone humanoid. Daniel scanned the picture from head to toe. Then he saw something he recognized quite well. The gauntlet it was wearing was none other than the one Daniel was wearing on his wrist. "So that demon the recording spoke of, it was one of these beings. And he said something about seven cylinders." Then it hit Daniel like a ton of bricks. This had all happened a hundred years ago.

They had been here before. As well as likely in the past. Daniel shuddered. So these things came every one hundred years. What for though? Just to kill one another? Just to see who was better? Or was it something that he didn't comprehend? He shook off the feeling and continued to look through the sketches that someone who was very talented had drawn. The final drawing spooked him. It showed a human boarding a craft with the humanoids. Smoke rolled out of it. The humanoids and the human were silhouetted. Another shiver went up Daniel spine. Daniel turned back to the humanoid and starred at its portrait. There was no mistaking it. This was the same demon he saw fighting in his nightmare the other night. Again he starred at the gauntlet it wore. Two blades protruded out of it. Daniel looked at his and saw no blades in his. They must've been removed. Daniel sighed and shut the book. It wasn't long before he heard a ring. He became puzzled. He hadn't put anything in the microwave or set any timers. After the third ring he realized what it was. It was the doorbell.

Daniel left the attic and shut it behind him. He ran to the door. He was about to answer it when he realized the gauntlet was still on him. He quickly removed it and put it under the couch. No body could miss him wearing it. He turned the doorknob and opened it. There in the doorway stood Jordan.

"What are you doing here? Don't you know that all civilians have been ordered to stay inside? You could get in some serious trouble." Jordan shrugged and stepped in.

"I thought if I was gonna be stuck anywhere its going to be with my friend." Jordan plopped under the couch in which the gauntlet lay under. Daniel prayed it wouldn't be crushed as he plopped into a chair. "So did you hear the news about the cylinders?" Daniel looked at him. The last thing he ever heard about the cylinders is when they had landed on that farmer's property.

"Isn't that old news?" Jordan looked at him dumbfounded.

"Are you insane? They just found it open. How is it old news?" Daniel stood straight up.

"What do you mean they're open?"

"I mean whatever was inside came out. I heard the officers talking about it. They got the farmer that lived there in a body bag. They say whatever came killed him in a really gruesome manner." Each thing that happened in this strange turn of events sent shivers up Daniel's spine. Like something was about to happen. Then all hell broke loose outside. It started with a bloodcurdling scream that made Daniel and Jordan open the door to see what was going on. Several of the creatures were coming up the streets. There had to be at least fifteen. There jet black bodies shining in the rain. Daniel and Jordan slammed the door, catching the attention of two of the creatures. "What the hell are those things out there?"

"I have no clue," said Daniel reaching under the couch and pulling out the gauntlet. "But I think they're demons." Daniel was amazed the gauntlet was still intact. He strapped it on tightly. It didn't feel as heavy as it had the first time, but it was still a little weighty.

"Demons!?! You mean from like the bible and stuff?" Jordan was beginning to panic. Daniel was wished he could tell Jordan he was scarred out of his skin, but that wouldn't help them. "Maybe you should wake up your dad."

"You know my dad. He won't wake up for anyone or anyth-." Daniel's sentence was interrupted by the smashing of his front window. One of the creatures sprawled to the floor and tried to pick itself up. "Upstairs quickly." The two quickly ran to the guest room and shut the door. Jordan turned the lock and there was a loud thud against the door. That means they had just narrowly missed it. Daniel got on the bed and pulled down the entrance to the attic.

"You got to be kidding me, you want us to hide in your attic?" There was another thud as the creature began to hurl itself at the door.

"Well its that or you could try and talk that creature into stop killing you."

"I'm up for plan A." Jordan scrambled up the ladder followed by Daniel. Daniel pulled it shut and with Jordan's help, moved the desk over the entrance. The two sat on it to put on some extra weight. Jordan looked around the candle lit basement. "I didn't know you had a basement."

"Neither did I until recently." There was a loud crash downstairs followed by shouting. The creature had obviously succeeded in bashing the door down, but it had woken up his parents at the same time.

"Kid, I'm gonna send you to where the sun don't shine no more." He heard the familiar creaking of his mom's and dad's bed below. He heard his dad lumber down the hall and stop at the doorway to the guestroom. Run dad run, Daniel thought. Instead he heard his father yell.

"What the hell are those?" he yelled. Those, thought Daniel. Now there was more than one!?! Obviously these were the creatures that had been at the mall. But the man said there were fifty. Were the ones coming up the street just a small detachment? It was possible, but something in the back of Daniel's mind told him that wasn't it. He heard his dad run down the hall followed by several thousand scratching noises. Then he heard a scream of pain, which probably woke his mom up and caused her to scream. There was another scream from his mom and all went silent. Well not entirely silent. They could hear the soft sounds of meat being torn from bone followed by several thousand more scratching sounds. Then all went silent. The only noise Daniel heard was Jordan's breathing and the screams from outside. Several minutes passed by like that. Finally Jordan spoke up.

"What do you think happened down there?" Daniel looked at Jordan. He was already on the verge of tears.

"Do you really have to ask? I think we all know went on down there?" And for once in five years, Daniel placed his head in his hands and wept. He had lost his parents and almost lost his own life. Were the creatures downstairs waiting for them? Daniel's sadness soon turned to anger towards the creatures. He stood up, his hands curled into a white knuckled fist. Two blades about two feet long extended from the gauntlet. Jordan yelped in surprise. "I'll kill them all. One by one if I must, but I won't let them live." Jordan stood up.

"And I'll help you." Daniel looked at Jordan and smiled. With that the two moved the desk and opened the exit. "Lets hope there gone."