Incessantly tapping his fingers on his desk and viciously gnawing on his pencil, Pepito anxiously waited for Todd. The bell was going to ring in less than a minute and his amigo still hadn't shown up. His mind was buzzing with all the possibilities of his absence: He got beat up again and was trying to limp the rest of the way to school, he was attacked by his locker and shoved inside of it, he was abducted by aliens last night and they haven't brought him back yet...

The possibilities got more ridiculous with each ticking second.

He practically leaped out of his seat when the bell had rung and his teacher had walked in. A couple of kids gawked at him as he chewed his pencil in half and slammed his fist on the desk. Todd had never missed a day of school unless something bad happened. The feeling that was brewing deep in his gut told him that something had gone horribly wrong.

"Pepito! If you're done causing a scene, I'd appreciate it if you kept quiet and took notes like a good little monkey!"

Narrowing his eyes and growling, he ripped out his notebook and pretended to take notes. He really just doodled and scribbled, completely ignoring everyone around him, especially the teacher. He hadn't taken notes or done any homework since being enrolled in this damned sorry excuse for a public school. Any work he got done was due to Todd pushing him or simply copying what he had. They were best friends, so it was O.K. for him to do that.

But class seemed to drag on forever for the Anti-Christ, because every time he felt like class was almost over, he'd look at the clock and see that only a few minutes had passed. Gritting his teeth and glaring up at the blackboard, he thought that maybe listening to the lecture would distract him. However, after about thirty seconds or so, he quickly lost interest and dropped his head onto his desk. Fuck this bullshit.

He closed his eyes and drifted off into an unpleasant dream. He couldn't remember the specifics or any details, but when the bell rang and he woke up, he was sweating slightly. Some of his classmates mocked him for it, but he was too stressed out to care. He threw all of his stuff in his bag and bolted out of the room.

He rounded corners and ran down stretches of hallway until he reached his buddy's locker. Not even bothering with the combination, he ripped the door open. There was no one inside - just Todd's other text books and a little red jacket. He was only slightly relieved until he realized that that meant Todd was somewhere else. Somewhere else that he didn't even know where to begin to look.

Now being completely fed up with the painful sensation surging within him, Pepito threw his bag in Todd's locker, slammed the door, and ran towards the front entrance. School could kiss his ass today, because finding Todd was more important right now. Showing him the file would have to wait until later.

Running down the street in the direction he knew Todd took every day, Pepito kept his eye out for his comrade. He checked every trash can, alleyway, and manhole he saw, but he still found nothing. There was no backpack, books, shoes or other articles of clothing, and there most certainly wasn't a Todd anywhere on this route.

So out of breath, Pepito stopped to rest for a moment. He knew from the moment he woke up that something was wrong today. His mother was late making breakfast and his father kept giving him curious glances. At first, he thought he might have known about him snatching the file. However, if that was the case, he would have been punished on the spot. And when he tried asking what he found so interesting, Mr. Satan just told him that it was nothing. He would have pressed the issue further, but he had to get to school.

And then Todd didn't show up.

Fishing some change out his pocket, Pepito wandered around in search of a payphone. He found one by the local coffee shop and practically pushed some lady over to get to it first. She cursed at him, but he just stuck out his middle finger and listened as she was appalled and stormed off. Smirking, he dropped in his money and dialed his home phone.

When his mother answered, he demanded to speak to his father. She said that he wasn't home, but Pepito told her to yank him out of the basement, by force if she had to, because he knew he was working down there. Complying with his wishes, she set the phone down and went off in search for him. Pepito tapped his foot impatiently until a very unhappy Senior Diablo picked up the phone.

"You better have a damn good reason for sending your mother to the basement to get me."

"I do. Why were you giving me such weird looks this morning?"

"Is that what this is about? You little shithead, I-"

"Answer me! I've had a weird feeling all morning and it all started with you. Todd didn't show up for Skool today and I can't find him anywhere!"

Silence followed on the other end of the line and Pepito glared daggers at the phone like it would actually do something.

"Son... I think you should let this go."

"No, father, he's my amigo and I know something has happened to him!"

"You care too much for humans. I think I need to have you work with me some more to readjust you."

"I don't want to hear that from you, seeing as how you married a human. Either tell me what you know or I'll find out on my own."

Senior Diablo knew his son was hell-bent on rescuing his friend. Of course he knew where Todd was and what happened to him, he was the devil after all. He had files on everyone, Todd included. Just because he wasn't being condemned to the fiery pits of Hell, didn't mean he didn't have a record. The only thing that Heaven and Hell had in common was an impeccable filing system - they knew everything about everyone.

Becoming increasingly irritated, Mr. Satan told Pepito that Todd was beyond his help now and hung up the phone. And now completely infuriated, Pepito slammed the phone back on the hook, thereby breaking it, and stormed off. He decided to continue in pursuit of his friend, hopeless or not. He had to know what happened to Todd and who was responsible. He wanted to believe that his father was just playing mind games and being a jackass because he took him away from work, but he knew he wasn't.

So with only one option left, he took off in the direction of his friend's house, trying to mentally prepare himself for whatever he might see or come across. He knew a lot of kids bullied him and that his parents didn't give a damn about him, but he couldn't imagine anyone wanting to seriously hurt Todd. The kid was too nice and sincere for that.

Todd was the kind of kid that you could beat up one day and ask for help with homework the next and he'd do it. He'd walk you through everything step-by-step or do it all for you so you wouldn't pound him right then and there. You could cut him in line, take the last semi-edible food, and the last chocolate milk and he still wouldn't hate you.

And Pepito supposed that it was that extreme kindness and overwhelming innocence that made him want to be his friend in the first place. Being the Anti-Christ didn't mean that he couldn't appreciate someone who was truly genuine. Todd might have been mortified by him at first, but even he didn't shut out the weird kid with horns and demonic powers. That had to say something about his character.

And besides, if Todd was cruel and satanic, then he'd probably end up like everyone else who lined up with his father's ideals: Too cocky and dead. Everyone who thought they were better than everyone else has always found some way to fuck up their lives and die some gruesome and tragic death. They became arrogant and ignorant to their own stupidity and started taking matters into their own hands. When they started dipping into God and the devil's territory, they were no longer worthy of his time.

But then Todd comes into the picture, the complete opposite of everyone he was told to socialize with. His unusual withdrawn and shy personality led Pepito to believe he was a ticking time bomb just waiting to explode on all of the assholes that had ever fucked with him. Yet even after all of these years, Todd didn't even appear to have a fuse in which to light up. He wasn't all rainbows and sunshine, or anything stupid like that, but he was just... good. Todd was someone who would stick by him no matter what. He almost acted like his voice of reason. The human boy had so much influence in his life and he hadn't even realized it until he went missing.

So walking up the little path to his front door, Pepito knocked on it harshly. If no one answered, he would just walk in anyway. And as he waited, all he could do was wonder what smelled so bad.

"A/N: What, another sudden update? It's like it's that time of the year to write creepy and horrifying stuff or something! Yeah, Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and all of the "scary" movies and whatnot have gotten me in the mood to write more for this and get to all of the good parts. However, I refuse to rush this, so you'll have to settle for plot development. Also, just so you know, I've already started writing the part where Johnny is introduced. I won't tell you anymore than that other than you'll soon get to know what happens with him. Please review!"