Here's wishin' all of y'all a happy Friday (even though it may still be Thursday in the US. Fridays here are like paradise to me because it means that it's the longest possible time I have to NOT be back at work again…oh well…

chyp: Appreciate your reviews, man. What were those black balls, indeed… I think you'll find out in this chapter, but if you don't, probably in the next chapter, then…

Days had passed and Invision had not shown his face since his first and only encounter with the Complete. In fact, no other demons or warlock had attacked them either. It seemed that they were having a sort of dry spell, devoid of any evil beings. Although they weren't being confronted by supernatural enemies, other things had been happening to them. Since meeting Invision, all three brothers had been cursed with an extreme bout of bad luck. They never traced it back to Invision. They had never known that he had infected them with those three balls of black energy. Actually, despite the fact that they were worried because Invision had not made any moves in so long, they had more pressing things to worry about. They could barely get around the campus without anything unlucky happening to them. It was almost crippling.

One particular day, Wesley had fallen down a flight of stairs on the way to the laundry room. One of the stairs, he claimed, had magically shifted from under his foot, throwing him off balance. He went to the dining hall to get some ice, but on his way out he slipped on puddle of spilled water and single-handedly managed to get everyone's undivided attention. Inconspicuous giggles turned into raucous laughter, with applause in between. He had been having the worst few days of his life.

Matthew couldn't keep himself upright for more than ten seconds, it seemed. Whenever he would sit down, either the chair would give way or he would just miss the chair. It happened not only in classes, but in the dining hall, the library, the gymnasium, and his dorm room of course. If he wasn't busy picking himself up off the ground, he was trying not to trip on anything. Between falling out of chairs and tripping over nothing, Matthew figured that things couldn't get any worse than they were.

James was not having any better of a time than his brothers. He had been having a hard enough time as it was just to stay on his feet, but in his down time he was always losing things. Since facing Invision, he had lost his car keys five times, three homework assignments, countless stationary items, and even the Book of Light on one occasion! Like his brothers, he was having an extremely hard time to move back and forth between classes, due to his constant bouts of bad luck.

Now, it had been a full week since Invision's encounter. Things seemed to get even worse as the days progressed. They had no idea that once they had been infected with bad luck, it would only escalate until it became fatal.

"Something is definitely going on," Matthew announced to his brothers as they congregated in James' dorm room. "This isn't natural."

"I know," Wesley said. "People think I'm crazy or something."

"Isn't it a little peculiar, though?" Matthew asked. "First we get our asses kicked by this winged…thing. Then he's a no show for a week. No other demons or warlocks have attacked since then. Now we're having the worst luck of our lives."

"Okay?" James asked.

"Do you really not see where he's going with this?" Wesley asked, rolling his eyes. "He thinks that Invision has something to do with what's happening with us."

"Which means," Matthew concluded, "that we need to get to the bottom of things, starting with who, or what, the hell he is."

"But we've looked in the Book before," Wesley said. "There's nothing in there about him."

"So we're back at step one," James said. "Must be our favorite place."

"Well," Matthew hypothesized, "I think that if there's nothing in the Book about this guy, then that means that nobody in our family has gone up against him."

"If that's the case," James said, "then we're in trouble, because we don't know what we're dealing with."

"We know that he has something to do with this bad luck," Wesley said. "I know I'm not the most coordinated person in the world, but this is ridiculous."

"It's a start," Matthew said. "So now we should try to figure out what kind of demon he is."

"Maybe we should ask Lina," Wesley suggested under his breath. "I'm sure she knows."

"Wesley…" Jimmy uttered.

"Okay, okay," Wesley said, retracting his statement. "Don't hit me."

Matthew reached for the Book of Light (which they had found earlier that day under James' sink) and lost his balance, falling onto James' desk. Any other time it would have presented itself as a humorous opportunity, but nobody laughed, not even Wesley. He eventually got the Book and the three opted to sit on the floor to minimize their chances for bad luck.

"Why don't we make a spell?" Wesley asked. "You know, for getting rid of the bad luck."

"Because it won't work," James said. "Not with all the luck we're having."

"How much worse could it get?" Wesley argued. "Look at us! We're at rock bottom!"

"Just how I like 'em," a warlock said, blinking into the room.

"Crap," Wesley murmured as he and his brothers sprang to their feet as best as they could.

The warlock, resembling an average human, looked to be the same age as they were: late teens to early twenties. He had short, black hair and wore black jeans that were well worn, along with a black leather jacket. His eyes were a piercing gray in color and his face overall had a dark feature to it.

He opened his palm and a small flame appeared. He thrust his hand forward and the small flame rapidly grew into a stream of fire that extended from his hand towards the brothers. James reacted quickly and waved his hand, but something went wrong.

Oh my goodness, what in the hell could possibly go wrong now? With their extreme run of bad luck recently, it seems like nothing else could happen to them. Basic "Bad Luck 101," when you're at rock bottom, the only way to go is up! Perhaps Jimmy and company haven't hit the bottom yet, but I'm not gon' say…