I poured milk into the two mugs of coffee on the counter before tucking it into the fridge. I stirred both drinks, a strange sense of displacement coming over me.

Twenty minutes ago, I’d nearly been killed.

Now here I was preparing coffee.

I picked up the mugs and took them into the lounge room. Weiss was sitting on the edge of our lounge, leaning forward, staring at nothing. Her white hair was streaked with ash and her face was streaked with tears. Her eyes were rimmed with red and her presence was faded. It was like she was only half there…and the half that was, didn’t want to be. I put the mug down on the coffee table in front of her, knowing she couldn’t miss its presence and handed the other to E.J. He was standing by the faux mantle and made an attempt at a smile…which only served to send splinters of agony into my heart.

Now that the most burning question in their minds was answered, that I had survived, they had to face the horror of losing everything that they had invested into.

“I know it’s not much compared to the loss,” I said weakly, “but the information once stored in the filing cabinets, is in the database I built.”

“That’s a good thing, Sam.” E.J. nodded. “A very good thing.”

“All those books…” Weiss’ voice was hollow and aching. I never knew how much sorrow a simple statement could hold. “All those stories…gone.”

“Not gone, Adele,” E.J. sat next to her and took her hands, “just our copies of them. They still exist in the world. We can rebuild…”

His resolve was less than convincing.

Weiss’ eyes shimmered. “Not all that was lost can be recovered…”

I licked my lips and retrieved the copies of ‘Birth’ and ‘Death’ from the kitchen. In their shocked state, neither E.J. nor Weiss had noticed I had them. I laid them on the coffee table.

“The switchboard opened at the last second so I grabbed them as I ran.” I said almost apologetically, knowing that there would be mixed feelings about their preservation.

“It was designed to do that in the event of a fire.” E.J. explained. “An emergency retrieval override.”

“Of all the stories that survived…” Weiss’ mouth turned down and she stood up, fury blazing across her features. “Damn things should have burned with the rest of the store!”

“Weiss!” E.J. cried as she went to storm out. “It was a big risk that Sam took to save them.”

“And it wasn’t without purpose.” I insisted, realising the moment had come. “I…I think you need to sit down…because I’ve got a story to tell you now.”

I told them about finding ‘Second Chance’ and about meeting Walter Preston.

I explained how I put together some of the random information I found out about Shiloh which directed me to the Holocaust Project website.

I read them the email that I forwarded on to Walter Preston which prompted the trip into the city only that afternoon.

Then I showed them the letter and the notes Shiloh had compiled on the third book.

Weiss read the letter, a sheen of unbroken tears in her eyes.

She put it down and breathed out shakily.

“Shiloh…”

“Is there anything in the manuscript about a possible ending?” E.J. asked.

“I haven’t read it…although, I think Inferus has.” I told them about my ‘vision’ and how I woke up in ‘Beyond The Page’. “I think he was as curious as I if Shiloh had come up with a means to defeat him or an explanation…or anything…but it was all from Inferus’ perspective, just before the end of the second book but intended to be the introduction to the third.”

“And it still does not end.” Weiss’ shoulders sagged. “Never ending, relentless battering upon the rocks…”

I looked at E.J., somewhat alarmed at the way Weiss’ tone was mimicking Shiloh’s suicide letter.

I opened my mouth to try to inject some hope when the door to the flat flew open and mum ran in.

“Sam? Sam!” She wrapped her arms around me. “I saw on the news! About the fire! There are police and fire trucks everywhere and I knew sometimes you work late or for E.J. after hours…”

“Mum, I’m sorry, my phone got soaked with sewer water…”

“Sewer water?”

“I escaped through the trap door into the drains beneath…”

“Escaped!”

“Mum!” I cried softly and took her hands, turning her towards the ash smeared, tear streaked, shell shocked company in our living room. “You remember E.J.? And this is Adele Weiss, the owner of what was ‘Beyond The Page’.”

Mum’s alarm melted in a heartbeat.

“Oh…oh my…your home…your bookstore…”

The heartfelt sympathy looked like it was going to break them both in half.

“Mum,” I said, interjecting myself as a sort of emotional barrier between them and the tenderness of my mum, “they don’t have anywhere to go.”

“They must stay with us,” mum looked at the both of them, “of course you must stay. Don’t think anything of it. You need somewhere safe and you’re more than welcome here.”

Weiss was unable to respond. E.J. managed to muster a smile. “Thank you, Mrs Baker.”

Mum nodded. “I just need to duck out briefly but I’ll be back. You’ll look after them, won’t you Sam?”

“Yeah, of course.” I reassured mum that I’d fill her in on all the details later. After she left I went back into the lounge room and, upon seeing the coffees were undrunk, suggested that they get some rest. “Here,” I said, leading them to my room, “you can take my room.”

E.J. glanced at Weiss. “Ah…who?”

“It’s a double bed, you can share.”

E.J.’s jaw dropped and Weiss’ face flushed pink.

“Sam!”

I pressed my fingers to my eyes. “Enough already with the drawn out attraction tension! Over a decade is pushing it!” I looked at Weiss. “Look, E.J. is in love with you and E.J.,” I turned to him, “Weiss is in love with you. You’re in love with each other! I mean, seriously, figure it out!” I swallowed. “If you thought about it for even a moment, you’d realise that while you’ve both lost so much…you still have each other…so have each other. Take this moment and make it precious in what you do have…cause Inferus couldn’t take it from you.” Neither Weiss nor E.J. could look at each other. “Look, I’m groggy from being possessed, in shock from nearly being killed and I stink. I’m going to have a shower and then I’m gonna sleep on the lounge.” I turned and strode into the bathroom, closing the door sharply behind myself.

Of course, after my impassioned and rather poignant speech, punctuated by my abrupt exit, I realised that I needed a towel. I peeked out of the bathroom and saw that my bedroom door was shut. I opened the linen cupboard, cursing the door’s squeakiness, and dug around on the shelves for a clean towel. The cupboard was butted up against my room and thanks to the thin building materials used by cheap contractors, I could hear the conversation on the other side.

“Is it true?” Weiss asked.

“True?”

“That you love me?”

“How can you ask me that?”

“I knew it could not be…”

Then there was silence and I found myself straining to hear what was said next.

“Does that tell you what all the words in the world couldn’t?”

“Why? Why do you love me?”

“How can you ask me why?”

“All my life has ever done is to make yours miserable.”

“With you, I am happy.”

“I ruined your work, your life…your prospects…”

“Adele, Sam’s right. With all that I’ve just lost…it’s nothing compared to if I lost you.”

I could hear Weiss sobbing. “I do not deserve you…”

“If you think that’s going to stop me from kissing you again…”

I hastily shut the linen cupboard and bolted back to the bathroom, taking a long shower. When I emerged, quite a while later, I crept down to the lounge room, curled up on the cushions and fell asleep surprisingly quickly.

To be honest, I was surprised that I’d spoken so forcefully and bluntly to E.J. and Weiss about the nature of their, unconfessed, attraction. Even more so that, after my tiny bit of eavesdropping on them the night before, they responded to it and to each other.

This triumph only made my awkwardness the next morning surge to stammering, red faced levels.

I had no idea what went on and I wasn’t going to ask. There did seem to be a calmness about them, which, given the destruction of their life, was nothing less than staggering…yet deeply reassuring at the same time.

Thankfully, mum had no such inhibitions, possibly because she thought E.J. and Weiss had long been a couple.

“Have you given any thought to what you’re going to do today?” Mum asked gently over a very late breakfast. We’d all slept in.

E.J. swallowed his coffee. “I need to head into the Agency that I work for.”

“I thought you were a private detective?”

“My little agency was an offshoot of a larger organisation.” E.J. explained discreetly.

“Will they be able to help you get back on your feet?”

He glanced at me and I felt the hidden doubt about whether or not he would even be an agent anymore. I suspected that, given the fact that Inferus was clearly roaming the city, well and truly beyond E.J.’s designated area, the Agency might take a dismissing eye to E.J.’s employment.

“I hope so.” E.J. glanced at the clock and picked up his plate and cup, taking them to the sink. “I should go now. Hopefully the New Year’s Eve morning rush will be over.”

“At least your car survived…” I said softly, knowing how he doted over his classic car.

“Yeah, it did.”

“And Adele, do you know what you’re going to do today?” Mum looked at Weiss.

She shook her head. “No, I do not.” She said softly.

I wanted to start crying just out of sympathy.

“Did any of your clothing survive other than what you’re wearing?” Weiss shook her head. “Why don’t you and I go to my church’s charity shop. I’m sure we’ll be able to get you some clothes.” Mum looked at E.J. “You too.”

“Thanks Mrs B.” E.J. dug into his pocket and pulled out a card. “There’s money on this for some supplies as well.”

“Oh, that’s not necessary…” E.J. gave my mum a firm look and slid it across the table.

Mum tactfully acquiesced and picked it up.

“You want me to go with you?” I asked E.J.

“Actually, would you go to Kingsbury Aged Care?”

“Jeanette?”

“While I doubt she would have seen the news last night, it’s probably all over the newspapers and morning tv shows by now. She’ll be worried.”

“I can do that.” I nodded, happy to be given a job. I didn’t have the first idea of how to help either of them. But visiting Jean would mean I got to talk things through with the steady elderly lady. She was a fixture, someone I had come to rely upon to always be wholesome and soft despite the raging world around her.

E.J. dropped me at the taxi stand at the shopping complex, taking a roundabout route to avoid the intersection of the charred remains of the store and home.

I grabbed the first taxi I could, avoiding the New Years Eve shopping crowds of people who were sure they were going to run out of milk, bread, tomato sauce and goodness knows what else in the twenty four hours the stores would be closed tomorrow.

The taxi pulled up at the Aged Care Nursing Home and I paid the driver and quickly climbed out. At the desk a new young woman looked up at me with the expectation that I would know what I wanted and how to achieve it because she hadn’t been there long enough to respond to anything more than a polite ‘how do you do?’.

“Sam Baker. I’m just going up to see Jean Miller.” I announced.

“I’ll just need to check your details.”

The experienced staff knew me by sight. I tried not to tap my foot or huff impatiently. That kind of asinine behaviour had been driven out of me by my mother…ish.

“Jean Miller?”

“Yes.”

She paused, her face contorting with concern. Given my heightened sense of doom and despair, my heart went from languid to racing in, well, a heartbeat.

“One moment.” She stood up, opened a door behind her and spoke to someone beyond. I craned my neck, hoping to catch a snippet of conversation before a different woman, one I’d seen behind the desk before, appeared.

“Sam, I’m sorry, you weren’t down as an emergency contact so we didn’t think to let you know…”

My knees tried to buckle. I hoped my lean against the counter was taken as interest and not as an attempt to keep my legs from crumbling beneath me.

“Know what?”

The woman gave me a practiced yet not insincere look of compassion. “Jeanette…she was found at the bottom of the stairs a day ago. We don’t know why she was using them when she always took the elevator…”

The blood must have drained from my face because she was out from behind the counter, gently urging me to sit on a foyer chair before I collapsed. I looked at her, dumbfounded.

“Is she…”

“She was rushed to Ashfield Hospital, unconscious and I haven’t received anything from the doctors to say she died from her injuries,” her face flickered with unrehearsed pain this time and I knew Jeanette’s kindly manner had endeared her to the staff of Kingsbury Aged Care, “but it is the week between Christmas and New Years. Hospitals are overwhelmed.”

“I see,” I stood up, too soon for her liking or my stability but I couldn’t stay there, “I’ll go to Ashfield and find out…”

“It’s not far, only a few blocks away…”

“Yeah…thanks.” In my dazed state I probably left her wondering if I would even make it to the hospital but I couldn’t sit and think or wait. I had to move, walk…do something.

The distance between Kingsbury Aged Care and the hospital passed in a blur, my fingers itching to call E.J. but, because of its dunking in the sewer water yet again, my phone was still in a bag of rice. One of these days it would refuse to turn on due to the abuse it suffered with me as its owner.

I walked into the main foyer of the hospital and asked after Jean Miller at the desk.

“Who?”

“Jean Miller?”

“You’ll have to speak up.”

I realised I’d been talking softly, my voice as dazed as I was feeling. “Sorry,” I snapped myself out of the funk I was in, “Jean Miller, from Aged Care. She had a bad fall. I’m family.”

“I have a J Miller in ICU,” the man at the desk looked at his computer, “you’ll need to inquire at the nurse’s station which bed. It’s down the second corridor. Follow the signs.”

“Thanks.”

I did as I was told, arriving at the sealed doors of the ICU. I peered through the windows but couldn’t see anything. I pressed the door button and someone appeared at the nurse’s station and let me in.

“I’m looking for Jean Miller.”

“And you are?”

“Sam Baker.”

“Friend or family?”

I didn’t hesitate. “Family. I just went to visit her in her nursing home…they said she was here…that she’d fallen…”

“I can give you five minutes.”

I did the disinfecting routine and strapped a mask onto my face. The nurse took me past several beds, shielded from prying eyes by curtains to a bed at the back. She drew the curtain aside and I nearly inhaled my mask as I gasped.

Jean’s plump, little body was lying on the bed, covered in a sheet up to her armpits and her head lying on a pillow. Her pale blonde hair was tied loosely away from her face, her skin ashen and bleak. There was a large piece of gauze on her forehead and her right wrist was strapped with a bandage. There was a cluster of monitors and machines around her, each one attached to Jean in various ways including one that had a breathing mask over the bottom half of her mouth. The beeping on the machine that monitored her heart was alarmingly soft and the beeping, slow.

The nurse, possibly feeling obligated to do something while I was there, picked up her chart as I sank onto a stool.

“She has a broken wrist and a sprained ankle and a bad bump on her head.”

“Is she…” I licked my lips. “Will she wake up?”

“I don’t know,” the nurse replied honestly, “the staff at the aged care don’t know how long she was unconscious for and she has yet to regain consciousness.”

I ran my hand through my hair, scraping my scalp. My eyes looked over Jean’s frail body, feeling helpless and hopeless.

“Hey…what’s that?” I asked, pointing to another piece of gauze on her arm. “Did she cut herself?”

“It didn’t look fall related, more like an untreated welt and it’s not the only one. Her nails were a concern too,” she lifted Jean’s hand gently and I saw blood at the cuticle line that was alarmingly familiar, “as though she suffered an acute form of neglect.”

I’m sure the nurse was trying to hint to me that Jean’s condition was a result of neglect on behalf of Kingsbury Aged Care, but I knew otherwise.

It wasn’t neglect.

It was abuse.

Hateful, possessive, violent, insidious abuse.

I stood up. “I have to go. Can I leave my number as a contact for if she wakes up?” With that done I glanced back at Jean. “I’ll be back, Jeanette…and I’ll bring homemade biscuits…so you’ve got to wake up. Do you hear me?”

I walked out to the foyer, deflated and discouraged. I spied a bank of public phones on the wall and glanced at E.J.’s number scrawled on the back of my hand. My phone was enjoying a rice bath at home. I knew E.J. was probably standing in front of the Oversight of the Agency…but I needed to talk to him, to hear his voice and to be reassured that everything would be alright. I had been looking forward to speaking with Jean for that exact reason but now the constant rock of cream biscuit loving, tea drinking, handwriting marvel, was lying in a bed, unconscious after an evil that no one seemed to be able to withstand, attacked her.

I’d never used a public phone before. I used my card to pay for the call and jabbed the numbers on the keypad. I listened to the ringing go on and on, probably irritating everyone in the Agency. After thirty seconds I hung up.

There seemed nothing more for me to do but head home.

As I walked to the doors I felt a shudder rising from my feet. I looked around and saw a few concerned faces who had felt it too. A lady pushing a man in a wheelchair met my eyes and I opened my mouth to speak…then the entire hospital rocked with the largest earthquake I could remember. I was standing furthest from any walls, struggling to remain standing as the ground shifted violently beneath me. The lights flickered and alarms started to whine in a cacophony of sound, drowning out the calls for people to remain calm. I half fell over, trying to reach a doorway but unable to maintain my footing. It was like being on one of those ‘fun fair’ rides where the ground never stopped moving but at least in that, you could learn to predict the motion and prepare yourself for the shifts.

This was nothing like that. Small shudders kept me off balance so that when a large one came, I was promptly thrown in the opposite direction to where my feet were, striking tile and trying to get up again.

There was a shimmer of chimes and I looked up, seeing the large glass ceiling above that allowed the foyer to be flooded with beautiful, natural light.

Clearly this had been pre-terrorist train bombing built and had not yet been replaced with opaque slabs of beige panelling and horrible fluorescent lighting. The earthquake, building up to a big finish, bent the metal framework holding the glass in place. A big chunk of glass fell not three metres from where I was. Suddenly I didn’t care if I was filmed and plastered all over the internet, running like an ungainly newborn giraffe as I tried desperately to get under cover.

“Help me!”

I spun to see the woman trying desperately to move the wheelchair, the brakes locked on. She was fighting against panic and her husband’s insistence that she run for cover.

The next thing I knew, I was by her side, wrenching the brakes out of locked position.

It wasn’t a conscious decision. One seconds I was inches from safety, the next I was directly beneath the threat of quivering glass.

“Run!” I yelled as I pushed the chair across the ground heading for solid cover, yanked this way and that just as the earthquake gave an almighty crescendo of a finish…and the rest of the panels of glass caved in, shattering into billions of deadly shards, scattering the length and breadth of the foyer and beyond.

Because the earthquake had rocked Ashfield Hospital so badly, all the security measures slammed into place which meant all automatic doors went into lockdown. The only way to leave was through security exits that could be manually opened but first, hundreds of kilos of glass had to be swept out of the way. Even before those within the hospital could get out, ambulances began to arrive with people wounded from prangs and crashes and structural collapses.

In the heat of the moment, I hadn’t realised a flying shard of glass had narrowly missed my eye, striking my cheek, causing to run down in a rivulet down to my chin. Oddly enough it was the wife of the man in the wheelchair who noticed it, immediately offering a clean handkerchief. Because I was wounded, there was the usual obligation to do what they could for me even though I was anxious to leave. I asked about the ICU ward and was told that the generators hadn’t missed a beat and that all patients were unharmed.

Finally, late in the afternoon, I convinced a harassed and tired looking nurse that I wouldn’t collapse on the way home and, sporting two strips holding the edges of the cut on my cheek together, escaped by a security exit. I had to wait for a taxi and then the route he took to get me home was convoluted. He apologised profusely, pointing to his radio.

“I’m getting congestion updates all the time. That earthquake busted the freeway so all the traffic is coming through the city and there are derailed trains blocking main roads…”

“Whichever way it takes to get home.” I said, slumping into my seat.

It seemed E.J. had suffered the same congestion issues, pulling into the carpark of the housing commission project just as I was making for the door.

“Well…that was fun.” He said dryly then spied the strips across the cut on my cheek. “Sam?”

I swallowed down the lump in my throat, not worried at all about my injuries. “Jean’s in Ashfield Hospital ICU.” E.J.’s face paled. “Inferus possessed her…and threw her down the stairs.” E.J.’s face darkened and his eyes glowered with a dangerous ire. He swore, his fists clenched so tight his knuckled cracked. “That’s exactly how I felt when I found out.”

“But are you sure? Did she tell you as much?”

“She’s unconscious and they don’t know if she’ll wake up…but she had the signs, the bloodied fingernails and welts on her skin.”

“She must have been resisting him.” E.J. muttered as we headed into the building, climbing the stairs with the same length of stride. “Inferus wouldn’t have tossed her down the stairs if she was passive about his possession.”

“He might have been making a point,” I sighed, “her right wrist is broken.”

“So she can’t put him or anyone else back in their place.” E.J. looked at me. “Did you feel the earthquake?”

“Uh…duh! The ceiling of the hospital fell in.” I paused. “What happened at the Agency?”

“Lots of ‘I told you so’ looks and condescension…”

“Did you tell them that Inferus came out before Weiss?”

We reached the landing and walked down the corridor to my flat. “I don’t think they care at this point. Incursions have risen beyond the control of the agents.”

I looked up from putting my keys in the lock. “What does that mean?”

E.J.’s face was grim. “We either stop Inferus from recruiting a demonic army…or all hell breaks loose.”

I shook my head. “But he can only open one tear at a time and one book at a time through an individual he infests. How is it suddenly surging out of control?”

“You’re thinking in the last few days, Sam. Inferus, in the books and in this world too, plans long term.” E.J. swallowed. “I don’t doubt that he started stock piling evil hoards the moment he figured out how to manufacture a tear.”

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“So where have they been hiding all this time?” I rolled my eyes. “Underground…” I opened the door and we went in, walking down to the lounge room. I turned on the lights. The room was unusually dark for a late summer’s afternoon. “Is that what the earthquake was about?”

“If he brought something big enough through…”

“Why does my lighter seem rather insignificant now?” I muttered, scraping up a note from the table. “Mum got a shift at work…she’ll be back for dinner…she hopes the clothes she found at the seconds store fit.”

“Oh,” E.J. peered into one of the half dozen bags on the lounge, “well…if your mum and Weiss went shopping and came back here…”

“Where is Weiss now?” I asked. E.J.’s expression stiffened as he and I had the same thought. “She’s taken off, hasn’t she?”

E.J. pushed his hands through his dark grey curls and groaned. “I should have known better. I shouldn’t have left her on her own!”

“You don’t think she’d confront Inferus…do you?”

“Unsure of herself, Weiss will do what Weiss has always done.”

I sighed. “Run…” E.J. nodded. I could see he was more than worried. “Hey, maybe it’s for the best, staying as far away from Inferus as possible...not that I think for a moment she’d turn on us but if we’re going to send him back from whence he came, there’s gonna be fire involved and she can’t be anywhere near that.”

“True,” E.J. rubbed the back of his neck, still worried, “did you say ‘whence’?”

“I guess I did.” I shook my head. “The problem is still how to deal with Inferus without hurting someone.”

“The Agency said they’d been working on some ideas…why is it so dark?”

“I haven’t got a clue what the time is to be honest.” I would have looked at the microwave clock but it was about as likely to be accurate as my random guess. The power went out so often, mum and I had stopped bothering to set it. As E.J. went to the window, because that’s how you told the time when you were as old as he was, I braved attempting to turn my phone on. The battery light showed 1% before it shut off but I caught sight of the time. “It’s a little after five…is it overcast?”

E.J. shook his head, not taking his eyes off the sky.

“No, it’s not.” He swallowed. “I think Inferus has just released his flying monkeys.”

I stared at him for a moment then dashed to the window.

You know, when I think of flying monkeys, I imagine a dozen maybe at most.

I feel like my hopeful estimation was a little out…cause there were thousands.

Big monkey creatures with large wings were crossing the sky, mostly black in colour and they were casting a huge shadow across the ground. E.J. and I stepped back as the shadow blanketed the housing estate. We both held our breaths…thinking they were going to attack…

When someone knocked on the door.

To say we jumped out of our skin was an understatement. I went to the door and E.J. hid behind it, spark grenade in hand. He looked at me and nodded.

I felt very commando in that moment.

I yanked the door open, Ryder half slipping across the threshold, falling to his knees.

“Elton,” he gasped, “where’s…”

“I’m here.” E.J. helped Ryder to stand. “What are you doing here?”

Ryder’s eyes were red rimmed and he swallowed. “I…have to give you a message.”

“From the Agency? Why didn’t they call?”

I stared at Ryder. “No…not from the Agency.”

Ryder shook his head, not looking anything like the roguish, competent man who tried to convert me to the Agency’s ways.

“He made me swear to get you a message…” Ryder’s face crumpled a little in pain. “He…he said he wouldn’t hurt me anymore…”

“What’s the message?” E.J. asked.

“He’s waiting for you…on the promenade. At the Ferris wheel.”

E.J. looked at me. “Ferris wheel?”

In my mind’s eye I could see the contraption in the tower of Aeternus, the three golden rings high above the city.

“He’s trying to recreate the end of book two.” I murmured.

E.J.’s face became deathly grim. “Then it’s begun. No more hiding. No more recruiting. He’s going to start the New Year…without a shred of the old still in it.” We looked at Ryder who was standing up on his own now, although he leaned against the wall. “Is that all of the message?” Ryder nodded. “Well…at least we know where he’ll be.”

E.J. strode past us and out of the flat. I ran after him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” I demanded, my voice echoing down the stairs.

“I’m going to kill Inferus.”

“What, on your own?”

“Sam,” E.J. looked up at me, “this is so far beyond your payrate, it isn’t funny.”

“No, it’s hilarious.” I muttered, my voice dripping with sarcasm. I sprinted after him and shoved open the door. We cast no shadows. There was no direct sunlight. The sky looked like it was covered over with clouds. “You can’t do this on your own!”

“Flying monkeys are child’s play compared to the horrors in some books.” E.J. lifted the boot lid of his car and pulled out his emergency bag. “Just because they’re highly flammable, doesn’t mean they can’t kill you.”

“And if Inferus beats you and he starts wiping out humanity…what then?” I grabbed hold of the bag. “He’s already made it clear that my mum, despite being generous, kind, compassionate and a bit obsessed with gravy, doesn’t have a place in his empire. I’m not going to let this world turn into a place where someone like she doesn’t have a right to live.”

E.J.’s jaw was tight but I could see doubt in his eyes.

“Don’t treat me like some kid now.” I said gently.

E.J. didn’t answer except to nod his head.

“I’m going with you too.” Ryder stumbled out of the building.

“In that state?” E.J. shook his head.

“You could use an extra pair of eyes to get you to the promenade.” He lifted his head and tried to stand steadily. “You’ve got to get there.”

E.J. rolled his eyes. “Fine. Get in.”

The engine roared to life and we left the carpark, heading towards the city.

In the housing estate, residents were probably watching from their windows but as we hit suburbia before the turn off to the highway, lots of people were out of their houses, standing on the pavement and roads, their phones held up to the sky as darkness crept across it.

I wanted to scream at them to get inside but I doubted anyone would listen.

And at this stage, the monkeys weren’t attacking. They were just blotting out light.

“Why?” I asked as E.J. drove like a madman onto the highway. “Why block out the sun?”

“A great many creatures can’t handle sunlight.” Ryder explained.

“Inferus is maximising incursion impact.” E.J. lurched his car this way and that, darting in and around the other cars and trucks on the road. I glanced at him, his face grim.

I was relieved that Weiss didn’t know where Inferus was planning the final showdown.

She couldn’t possibly find us there…even if she hadn’t run.

I hoped she was on the other side of the continent by now.

It was strange.

We were racing up the highway, weaving through traffic like there was a pregnant lady in the backseat about to give birth…yet the rest of the world was almost…peaceful.

Didn’t they know?

Couldn’t they see the signs?

Some cars had pulled over to the side of the road so that their occupants could get out and film the dark blanket that was stretching across the sky. But everyone else had somewhere to go, something to do and a New Year’s Even party to get to so they just kept driving.

Where was the exciting car chase music?

Why did it all feel so serene?

I realised I’d thought too soon when E.J. swore, skidding out of his high powered drive. A bank up of cars lay ahead of us.

Ryder opened the door and perched on the lip to see ahead. “There’s been a multi car crack up about three hundred metres away. We’re at a standstill.”

“I don’t have time for this!” E.J. muttered and swung the car towards the nearest exit. We flew down the exit ramp, now negotiating through suburbia at the same pace as before.

“You’re going to do more damage than Inferus at this rate!” I yelped between rapid turns.

E.J. was going to say something, I saw his mouth open to no doubt cut me down to size, when a manhole cover over a block away shot into the air, sent skyborne by an explosion. And then the next one closer to us…and then the next one.

“Get off the road!” Ryder yelled.

“You think?” E.J. snapped back, swerving right, the manhole popping nearest the back wheel popping up, striking the back of the car. We were sent into a spin before stalling, facing the manhole that just tried to kill us. E.J. grunted and tried to start the car. “Come on…come on…”

“E.J…you got any of those flash grenades?” I blurted, seeing dark shapes rising out of the smoke.

Ryder shoved the bag at me from the backseat and I activated one and tossed it, the sparks fizzing in their pretty way, causing several bright flashes amidst the smoke…but there were more coming and the car was refusing to start.

“Start!” E.J. shouted at it, turning the key, hearing the pained whir of an engine that was resentful of the manner in which it had been treated. “Come on girl…please…”

It turns out manners really can move mountains, as my mum always insisted, because in the next instant, the engine rumbled into life and E.J. put his foot down, doing a burnout U-turn…but we weren’t quite fast enough.

I don’t know what they were, some kind of orc or goblin with sharp teeth and hungry eyes, about three foot high, but there were dozens of them. They clambered onto the back of the car, clinging on as the car lurched forward. We lost a few in the sharpness of the momentum but at least five were still attached.

“Ryder!” I gave him a grenade. “Deal!”

Ryder attempted to wind down the window but was jolted out of his seat. I looked forward and saw the bonnet of the car was covered in the creatures that had come out of the other manholes. E.J. swerved left and right, trying to shake the little blighters off but they were more than tenacious.

“I can’t see where I’m going!”

I wound down the window and got a grenade ready. A goblin reached through and grabbed at me. I gave him the grenade instead and he looked at it, puzzled…before it lit up, taking him and his comrades with him. E.J.’s vision was suddenly clear and he tried to get up some speed but we were still in suburbia. There were more cars, houses and people…and there were goblins, orcs and trolls appearing everywhere. Thankfully, most people had run back inside and shut their doors…so the dim-witted but no less deadly creatures focused their attention on the one fast moving object…us.

The car glanced off the side of a cyclops, spearing us into someone’s garden before we got control of the car again and made it back onto the road.

“We have to get back onto the highway!” Ryder yelled. “This is crazy!”

“I’m trying!” E.J. bellowed, seeing the highway sign and driving towards it.

We actually gained air, leaping from the top of the highway entrance, onto the slip road, shaking off the last of the goblins that had managed to hold on.

We were ahead of the car accident but it seemed that more and more people were starting to realise the darkness was not benign…and it was getting closer. I peered out of the window.

“Are those bats?”

“Evil bats.” E.J. grunted.

“Incoming!”

It turned out that the bats were kamikaze bats, diving into the windscreens of cars, turning the highway into a giant deadly gauntlet. E.J. pushed past stalled and broken cars, dodging around the people who were running and screaming, flapping their hands, trying to get the bats out of their hair. The air was filled with the sound of a million wings beating rapidly.

“Shouldn’t we help these people?”

“If we can’t stop Inferus, they’ll all be dead tomorrow!” E.J. replied grimly.

“You might want to step on it!” Ryder barked.

I looked over my shoulder. I kind of wish I hadn’t.

I apologise for my lack of knowledge about mythological creatures...because while I could name a few, there were dozens I couldn’t…

It looked like an infantry of minotaur, werewolves, manticores, goblins and centaurs were advancing on us…only there were human and animal combinations I’d never seen before, never even contemplated! Some of these things might have had human faces or bodies but their counterparts were all wild and dangerous and there was no kindness in any of their eyes. They only had one purpose, to kill.

As I turned back to the front, E.J. slammed on the brakes.

“Run!”

“What?”

“I can’t drive fast enough! Run!”

We leapt out of the car and sprinted, dodging around the stationary cars. No one could drive anywhere anymore. Nothing could plough through the field of metal.

I glanced backwards. You’d think I’d have learnt my lesson but no and saw the fictional infantry thunder over the cars, leaping with strong legs, smashing E.J.’s vintage delight, crushing beneath their hooves.

I turned back, seeing’s E.J.’s face. He’s seen what had happened to his precious car.

More than ever I was glad Weiss was no where near this.

Cause if he lost her, he’d have lost everything.

No matter how fast we ran, joining the people that had realised the army of mythological creatures was not your normal congestion issue, we couldn’t outrun the cavalry. I could hear them getting closer and closer, thundering upon our heels.

“Ready your ammunition!” E.J. yelled.

“Wait!” Ryder cried, trying to reach us, falling behind a car and disappearing…then a minotaur ran over exactly where he’d fallen.

There was no time to grieve. I flicked my grenade into my hand, already knowing if I wanted to survive this, I’d have to hold onto it, the sparks igniting the creatures as they bore down on me. I just hoped it would flash burn them before I was killed.

Then, suddenly, from behind, a blaze of fire ripped across the creatures and started a chain reactions of flash incinerations. E.J. grabbed me and I had a sudden memory of him saving my life the same way in a sewer. He didn’t need to tell me. I sucked in a lungful of air and flattened myself onto the ground.

A second later, the cavalry was vanquished.

We got up and saw an armoured truck approaching with a reinforced metal plough on the front. Perched on top was a man whose bulk was vaguely familiar, sitting on the back of a mobile flame thrower. He flicked up his goggles and chuckled.

“Were you really going to vanquish all those creatures with those pathetic little spark grenades?”

E.J. folded his arms. “Oddly enough, the Agency never even told me about its armoured truck division, let alone let me have one.”

“Not really your style, E.J.” Patch waved from the driver’s seat. “Get in you two.”

The door on the side slid open and we ran towards it. Goliath helped us in.

“Nick of time, I see.” He said in his deep voice.

“At least we were trying.” I retorted.

“Wait…Ryder?”

“I’m here.” He stumbled out from behind the car. “Sorry…I…couldn’t keep up.”

From what he’d said, Inferus had been pretty cruel to him before letting him go to deliver the message. It made sense that he was struggling to keep up with his former running partner. E.J. hauled him in and Goliath shut the door.

“Go Patch!” The metal plough on the front of the truck forced the stationary cars out of our way. Goliath looked around at us. “Talk to me.”

“Inferus has been stockpiling a demonic army of creatures beneath the city and he’s about to unleash the ‘cleansing’ of this world from his ‘throne’ which is at the end of the promenade.” E.J. summed up succinctly, strapping himself into a seat and jabbing at me to do the same.

“I see…” Goliath looked at all three of us. “And just when were you going to share this vital information?”

“Uh gee, when we stopped running for our lives?” I retorted. “Where the hell are the other agents? Surely you can’t be it?”

“They’re being sent to protect civilians. We need to deal with the source.”

“Unless you’re willing to burn a human being to do so…”

Goliath opened a bag and held out, what looked like, a standard spark or percussion grenade.

“The Agency’s untested prototype. It’s a flash grenade.”

“Flash?”

We all held on as Patch pushed aside a large truck, heading towards the promenade.

“It sends out a single flash of fire, almost exactly like the reaction when an interloper incinerates.”

“Big enough to encompass Inferus?” E.J. asked.

“That’s the theory.”

“And kill the host?” I demanded.

“It’s over so fast the only thing that burns is Inferus. At worst, we believe that the host might loose their eyebrows and eyelashes.” He saw my look. “I know it’s not perfect but a light singeing is better than prolonged possession.”

“I’ll second that.” Ryder muttered.

“Be aware that these are not the rapid machine gun fire of a spark grenade. There’s one chance for each flash grenade before it’s basically a paperweight of uselessness,” Goliath warned, “and we’ve got a dozen.”

“Twelve chances to kill this bastard.” E.J. said darkly as Goliath handed them out, nodding.

I waited to receive mine…but was passed over.

“Hey!”

“No offence, Sam,” Goliath said, carefully avoiding the term ‘kid’, “but you shouldn’t even be here.”

“I know enough to know something needs to be done.” I retorted. “When are you doing to stop treating me like a child?”

“Where’s Weiss?” Goliath avoided my demand, turning to E.J.

“Nowhere near here.”

“No offense…but good.”

“Taking the Southbank exit. It’s a narrow road and there’s traffic so hold on.” Patch called.

Hold on turned out to be an understatement…cause at that moment another earthquake struck so powerfully that it felt as though it was trying to rip the city in two. And we were on a bridge.

I heard the supports crack beneath us and the armoured truck slipped sideways. We were a tangle of arms and legs as Patch fought to keep the truck from slipping off the edge…then we heard her swear.

“Can’t hold it! Taylor!”

Thankfully it was a slip road…not a bridge of sizeable proportions suspended a vertigo triggering height above the ground…but quite honestly a drop of three feet was terrifying, let alone thirty. I think Patch had attempted to keep the truck on the road even as it dropped so in the end, it might have only been a fall of ten feet but it was the longest ten feet in the world.

I may have had a little black out and when I woke, I was caught in a net of seatbelt. Had I not been wearing it, I would have been bruised, broken and bloody on the opposite side of the truck.

“Sam!” I looked up and saw E.J. reaching down through the sliding door. “Grab my hand with one of yours then unbuckle the seatbelt.”

I nodded and did exactly that. Goliath grabbed my free arm and hauled me out of the truck. There was rubble all around from where the slip road had collapsed. Ryder leaned on his knees, looking pale and worse for wear. Patch had a bruise already forming on her face but she was intact and to my astonishment, Taylor, who had been on top of the truck, had survived!

“I jumped clear,” Taylor said as he strapped on his mobile flame thrower, “I’m gonna have some mighty fine bruises but I’m still in one piece.”

“We’ve got about five kilometres to the promenade. Let’s move.” Goliath ordered.

“And let’s move quickly,” E.J. grabbed my scruff and forced me to run, “because if the last earthquake is any indication, Inferus has something rather big planned for us!”

“What do you mean?” Patch demanded, sprinting to keep up.

“Inferus has been hiding a fictional army beneath the city,” I panted, “all the earthquakes we’ve been having…he’s been forcing open tears in reality and bringing creatures through.”

“So the one earlier today was probably the cavalry we saved you from?” Yep, that’s Taylor. Gracious to the end. Ass.

“One big earthquake means…one big…thing?”

“Or one big thing finally breaking through to the surface!”

“Please not a dragon. Please not a dragon!” I begged.

“I’d have a dragon over a hydra!” Patch called.

“I’d have a dragon over a gorgon!” Taylor added.

“I’d have a dragon over zombies!” Goliath retorted.

“You guys are weird, you know that?!” I shouted as we ran.

The trouble was, for all the time it had taken us to reach this point, the sun was well on its way to setting. It would be dark soon which meant the flying monkeys no longer had to block the sunlight and began their rampage across the city. And with buildings all around us, it was already dark where we were running. We heard them before we saw them, thousands of ghouls, ghost like creatures, shrieking harpies, bats and flying monkeys all bearing down on us.

“Don’t use your flash grenades!” Goliath bellowed as we tried to fend off the creatures, surrounding us like a twister.

“Everyone, to me!” Taylor yelled and we dove to his feet, his flame thrower bursting into life, cutting through them all in brilliant flashes of light.

Not for the first time in the last year did I find myself wondering, what brought me to this moment, cowering for my life, face pressed into the hot tarmac of road while evil fictional creatures tried to kill me and end civilisation as we know it.

It took someone shaking my shoulder to snap me out of my oddly displaced rear reflective contemplation. E.J. looked pale.

“We have to keep moving.” He said.

“Are we even going to make it there?” I asked.

E.J. didn’t look so sure. That frightened me more than anything.

Taylor swore. “Damn harpy clipped the spray housing.” He dropped the flame thrower pack on the ground. “Useless.”

“Maybe the worst of it is behind us?” Patch offered half heartedly. “I mean, big earthquake and some ghouls fly out? That’s not so bad.” Then she stiffened and looked around in alarm. “Earthquake!”

No, not an earthquake…something even bigger.

“Giant!”

Oh yeah…he was giant. This guy would have had to leaned down to look through the window of our flat in the housing estate. No doubt the hole he’d left in the ground where he’d broken through would look like a crater. And he came with his very own sledgehammer.

“Run!”

“Duh!”

Why do people always say run?

I mean, what do they think I’m going to do?

Stop and take pictures with my phone?

…oh…yeah…that’s my generation in a nutshell, isn’t it?

We ran as hard as we could, reaching the parking district for the promenade. We were pretty much in a tunnel and the giant had insider information. He wasn’t getting too close and what he lacked in aim, he made up for with powerful overarm bowling talent.

Cars began to soar overhead, breaking up tarmac. E.J. and I had the same idea at the same time, running for one of the carpark entrances but a transit van smashed into the pavement, and we speared off, instinctively trying to put more distance between us and it.

“Can’t…out run…it!” Ryder gasped. “Deal with it!”

“How do you propose we do that?”

“Guys!”

We turned and saw the giant had picked up a semi-trailer. We all had the same thought at the same time. It was going to be impossible to dodge. E.J. stood in front of me, as if he could be any defence against it but I appreciated the gesture.

Suddenly a veil of darkness poured out from every conceivable direction, the sound of countless wings flapping, surging towards the giant. He began to swat at himself, battering his body, even flinging the semi-trailer about as if it was no more than a Hot Wheels toy. The darkness rippled over and around, consuming him before a figure of black ripped through the haze and the ground thundered as the giant collapsed, the truck crumpling like paper on the tarmac beside him.

We stood, staring, unable to comprehend when the cloud of shifting darkness surged towards us. E.J. and I lunged towards Goliath, Patch and Taylor.

“Stop, stop!” E.J. cried.

“But…”

The veil surrounded us then drew back to shift endlessly around a deathly black figure with a long scythe and glowing red eyes.

“It’s Weiss.”

We watched as she looked at us grimly before kneeling, shafts of light circling her as she stood and put the scythe back, taking up the Huntress state instead. The wolf pelt draped over her shoulder, her face painted with gold symbols and a large hammer in her hand.

She gazed at us impassively with emerald green eyes.

E.J. swallowed and came close.

“I thought…you’d run.” He said softly.

Her eyes softened. “I wanted to make sure the community was safe.”

E.J. gave a little huff and ran his hand through his hair. “I should have realised that would be your first priority. Panic makes people so dumb sometimes.”

Not just panic, I thought to myself as I looked between the two of them. Love did a good job of addling the brain and for longer periods of time.

“Adele Weiss,” Goliath approached and I saw Weiss’ jaw tighten, “not that I’m not grateful for your help…but you can understand my concern with your being here.”

“Yes, I can.” She acceded.

“Can we trust you to help the civilians as you trust us to deal with Inferus?”

Weiss turned to E.J. and gave him a tender smile. “I trust E.J.”

Goliath nodded. “That’s good enough for me.”

“But you still do not know how.”

That was a good point. E.J. explained about the flash grenade. Weiss frowned.

“Will it be enough to remove him from the host?”

“It will if you can make Inferus angry.” I interjected and they all looked at me. “Inferus prefers a willing host to control. An unwilling host is harder to control so he has to concentrate.”

“Making him angry breaks his concentration and he gets slippery?” Taylor asked.

“That’s what I’ve read and what Lucas experienced.” I nodded.

“That’s excellent advice.” I felt a little bump of pride at the praise. Finally I felt like I’d contributed in a much more productive way that sarcastic commentary.

“I will clear a path to the promenade.” Weiss offered. “It will be up to you to traverse it.”

“We can do that.” E.J. nodded. She gave him a longing look and I thought, for a moment, she was going to kiss him. Not that he would have minded in front of everyone but she stepped back instead and hunched down, dragging the wolf pelt over herself, transforming herself into the giant hound.

She gave a growl and took off.

“We’re going to have to run fast if we’re to keep up.” Ryder pointed out.

“Oh good. More running.” Ah yes, that was me doing what I did best.

With Weiss clearing the way, after one of us remembered that we needed to deal with the giant before we did anything else, the path to the promenade was just a sprint. When we reached it, we decided to split into two groups, one to go up Northbank and the other up Southbank.

Goliath, Ryder and myself took Northbank. I gave E.J. a look and he nodded.

He either trusted Goliath and Ryder to take care of me…or was entrusting me to be the kind of agent E.J. had always been.

My team crossed over the bridge to the north side of the river. Two kilometres into the city the river was much narrower and the bridge was traversed quickly. We made our way along the pavement as fast as our weary legs could carry us.

And as quickly as we could pick our way through the bodies strewn all over the ground.

There was no blood, nothing to explain their collapse except a bite mark in their necks. Had there been two side by side, I might have freaked out but there was only one. Goliath knelt and checked a pulse.

“Alive,” he stood up, “I think they all are.”

“Some kind of sting?”

“Inferus used something to incapacitate them,” Ryder looked at us grimly, “he didn’t want the unclean of this world getting in his way.”

“So many…” I whispered as we jogged towards the end of the river that emptied into the bay. “Do you think they’ll live?”

“Once we deal with Inferus we can focus on the creatures he’s brought in. If they’re gone, their ‘unnatural’ effects should dissipate.”

“You know very little is certain about you guys and what you do.” I muttered.

“Sam, at this point in time, you are experiencing something in this world that has never happened before. Certainty is a rare and wonderful privilege.”

We ran up the promenade, making excellent time. We could even see the other team for a while then, as the river widened and several boats lay adrift in the water, we lost sight of them.

I couldn’t believe how many people were unconscious.

“What were they doing here?” Ryder demanded.

“Is New Year’s Eve a fictional construct in the Agency?” I was meaning to be funny but he shot me a dirty look. Clearly he hadn’t finished being a complete and total ass. “They were all here for the massive party to see the New Year in. Fireworks, drinking, partying…”

“Lots of casualties, the first victims of Inferus’ reign.” Goliath said softly.

It wasn’t long before the Ferris wheel came into view. But that’s because it was so big, not because we were running like gazelles. And it was inevitable, really that we were attacked at some point…by human beings bred with scorpions.

“Aqrabuamelu!”

“What?” I demanded.

Goliath pointed at the scorpion men. “Aqrabuamelu!”

“Oh…well that clears that up!”

Though the body of the man was normal sized, the body of the scorpion it was fixed in at the waist was rather larger than your average sized scorpion. Their legs didn’t have feet, but giant javelins that they perched upon and as they descended onto the promenade, it was more than likely that they’d stab someone.

Goliath pushed me behind a stand and handed me his flash grenades. I looked at him in astonishment.

“Get to that bridge and stop Inferus.” He ordered.

“You suddenly trust me?”

“Hey, if making Inferus angry is the key to defeating him, then you’re uniquely qualified with your level of sass. Now go!”

If I thought about that for a moment, I’d have realised it was more of a backhanded compliment that a pat on the shoulder.

But I didn’t.

I sprinted for the bridge, leaving Goliath and Ryder to try and distract the Aqra…Aqrab…bluemen…oh forget it, look it up for yourselves.

At the base of the bridge where it met the Northbank, I came across giant cats, each one with wings on its back, guarding the stairs. I felt wretched, so close yet so far.

Then it occurred to me. They’re cats!

I’d watched enough funny cat videos to know that even mythological ones wouldn’t be able to resist a rolly polly ball.

I rolled a spark grenade towards them, saw their green eyes flash with delight in their black fur faces and then watched them pounce…and the next thing I knew I was blinking spots from my eyes, the way across the bridge clear.

“Nicely handled.” Ryder coughed, wiping blood from his face.

“Where’s Goliath?”

“He got the Aqrabuamelu cornered and flashed them with a grenade…but he was stabbed in the leg doing so. He’s alright but he can’t walk.”

“I guess it’s just you and me then.”

We jogged up the stairs and started to run across the bridge. I couldn’t see any sign of the other team. Part of me was hoping they’d already done the job, sent Inferus back into the bleak beyond and had gone home for a nice cup of tea.

The other part of me, the other still governed by reality, began to wonder if they’d made it at all.

The base of the Ferris wheel loomed close, the enormity of the bulk of it above our heads. It was quite a terrifying thought to know that so much metal and glass was suspended above us. But then, if I looked down, I would have had to face the terrifying notion that we were also suspended over the river…and at a distance that made my head swim.

Ryder and I looked around the area Inferus had directed us to.

“We’re here,” I turned, “where is he?” I turned to Ryder. “Was there anything more to his message?”

“No, just that he said to meet him here.” Ryder shrugged.

“Then what’s he waiting for?” I demanded softly, looking around. “What’s…Weiss…he’s waiting for Weiss.”

Ryder nodded. “He knows she’ll come.”

“No she won’t.” I shook my head. “No way.”

“I think she will,” suddenly his hand was around my throat and I twisted to see self righteous fire burning in his pale blue eyes, “she just needs the right motivation.”

As panic induced as I was, I remembered the flash grenades and I had one in my hand already. However, Ryder plucked it from my grasp, tutting at me, imbued with strength beyond his physical presence as he walked to the edge of the bridge.

“Thank you for explaining, so fully and emphatically, your puerile plan to dispatch me.” My feet were hanging over nothing…except water and it was a long, long way down. Ryder smiled and dropped the first flash grenade then fished around in my pockets, pulling the others out and discarding them too. “It was a calculated risk that I would not be incinerated by one of your spark grenades or flash bombs or that fool with his flame thrower…but I felt it was worth it.”

I fought his grasp, my throat attempting to swallow and my legs, kicking and writhing. Inferus was unphased although I could see the toll it was taking on Ryder. Inferus was killing him quickly. Billows of smoke were beginning to erupt around him, like toxic waste and blood trickled out of his nose.

“Oh dear…there appears to be a boat adrift beneath us. It wouldn’t make a very soft landing for you should you,” his hand let go slightly and suddenly I grasped at him, frightened he was going to release me, “fall…”

I looked at him trying desperately to speak.

Ryder simply smiled.

“Goodbye…Sam.”

And with that he dropped me.

My arms flailed as if they could do anything to slow or stop my descent towards the boat. In games, you can change the direction of your fall and land somewhere less likely to kill you. But of course this was real life…and I was about to die.

And then a flash of light surrounded me, a hand grabbing one of my own and I heard the scream of a horse’s whinny as my vertical drop ceased, taken over by a horizontal dash before I was thrown up into the air, caught once more before being set on the bridge, trying to replace all the air that had evacuated my lungs.

My legs decided to cave beneath me and I looked up at Weiss in her Valkyrie state, her Pegasus stamping its hooves angrily, its wings causing the smoke to swirl and whip around us.

“Run…” I wheezed.

She flicked up her helmet and her eyes appeared. “I am through running.”

“It’s Ryder…” I tried to warn her.

“I know.”

I couldn’t get up. My body was in shock and exhausted. Weiss stood by me, bow in hand, eyes grimly focused, luminous against the night sky.

And then…we heard it.

“Adele Weiss…Adele Weiss…Adeleweiss…” A figure moved towards us on the bridge, shroud in smoke and shadow. “Adeleweiss…”

I looked up at Weiss, her jawline so tight so could have shot arrows from it.

“Adeleweiss…” And then…he came into view.

Weiss gasped and stepped back and I closed my eyes.

E.J. swayed lightly on his feet, his eyes full of dark purpose. Not a drop of the kind man with the vintage styling and the aversion to technology remained.

“Adeleweiss…you look happy to meet me.” He grinned and I felt my heart retreat deep inside of me, probably all the way down to the soles of my feet.

Weiss whispered his name, her resolve dissipating.

E.J. paused, directly beneath the Ferris wheel.

He gazed at Weiss.

She stared at him.

A whole world of agony existed between them.

Then he gestured to her.

“Kneel.”

And as I watched, Weiss did what I swore she would never do.

She knelt in front of Inferus…and returned to her natural state.

He put his hand on her head and her shoulders bowed in shame.

“There, that didn’t hurt, now did it?”

Tears dotted the ground from her eyes. E.J.’s gaze turned to me.

“I told you she would come,” he looked up and around, “to this place…which holds a certain…familiarity.” He smiled, his eyes freakishly pale with tiny pupils locked onto me. “I told you, it was inevitable. Adeleweiss was actually created to be my diving rod, to exact my will and to purify the world.”

“Your world.” I rasped.

“Is this world so different to yours?” Inferus asked. “You forget, Sam, that I’ve read her letter,” I shivered, thinking of Shiloh’s suicide confession, “I was born from the darkest hours of this world, from the time when purification came, not from within, but from without. This is my world. This is where I was born, in thought, in time, in moments of pure agony…oh yes…I will be very happy here,” he chuckled softly, “after I cleanse it. And I told you, Sam, you will not rank a…” Suddenly he stopped talking and his face stiffened into fury. I saw his eyes become red rimmed and shadows appeared beneath them. “Foolish human…how he fights for you.”

Some of the anger he was suppressing came out. Inferus looked down, touched Weiss under the chin and bade her to rise.

“Tell him to stop resisting me.” Weiss tried to shake her head. E.J.’s mouth turned into a snarl, a welt appearing on his neck. “Tell him…or I won’t let go until he disintegrates within my grasp.”

Weiss gave a small gasp and licked her lips. “E.J.,” she whimpered then sucked in air, forcing herself to be firm, “Elton,” she gazed into his eyes, “stop…please…I’m begging you…” Blood wept from his nose and she sobbed. “Please…”

Suddenly Inferus inhaled a lungful of air and sighed happily. “Ah…the power of love.” He wiped at the blood and looked at it, amused. “And he really does love you…so much so he’d give himself up for you in a heartbeat. I can feel the strength of his resolve…but he can’t bear to see you suffer…” Inferus laughed outright. “Such are the shackles of love!”

I sagged where I was.

He’d won. Inferus had won.

And he’d been right all along.

Weiss would kneel.

“Now, to test your resolve…” E.J.’s eyes locked onto me. “Kill the whelp.”

The threat of death forced me to my feet, clinging tightly to the bridge, watching Weiss like a hawk. She turned her opalescent eyes onto me…and I could see the damned resolve in her gaze.

Weiss walked towards me, reaching out with a shaking hand…but she hesitated.

“Wring the neck of your puppy and we will begin to erode any sense of ‘redemption’ from you.” Inferus tilted his head. “Do it…or I will rip this body apart.”

And then I knew what I needed to do.

“It’s okay, Weiss,” I said softly, “I don’t mind. For E.J.’s sake.” I took her hand and guided it to my throat. “Just make it quick.”

Weiss’ jaw tried to firm but it was quivering like crazy and tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Do it.” Inferus ordered. “Now!”

Her mouth curled into a venomous snarl and she put both her hands around my neck, the strength in her grasp enough to make me know that she could snap the life out of me like I could snap a chocolate bar.

And then…she let go and stepped back.

“No.”

“Do you love this man?”

“Yes.” She turned to Inferus. “More than life itself.”

“Then kill the kid.”

“I will not.” Weiss refused.

Inferus’ eyes filled with rage and his hands clenched.

“You will obey me!”

“No.”

“You will kill!” I saw something ghosting over E.J.’s features.

“I will not!”

He took a step towards her, shaking violently and she put her hand out, keeping me behind her, between us on the bridge.

“I am your master!”

“I will not serve you!”

“Now!” A rage filled veneer hovered above E.J.’s face.

“Never!”

“I said…”

Weiss’ arms lunged out from her sides, striking both myself and E.J. in the chest. The blow was so phenomenally powerful that we were both hurled from the bridge, well clear of any debris.

As we were launched into the air, I saw Weiss throw herself down to the ground, light circling as she thrust her arms wide, wings locking onto her back and arms.

Then I was below the line of the bridge…and for a moment, it was effortlessly peaceful.

A flare erupted from the bridge, brilliant gold and yellow and red and orange, even sparkles of pink and magenta pulsing outwards…and in the centre, imprinted on my eyes every time I closed them for an hour afterwards, was the burning white shape of a phoenix. The heat was intense, the flare’s edges pulsing out to us as we fell, my skin stinging for the briefest second as the flames rushed to meet me.

Then I hit the water…sinking deep before kicking back to the surface, every single firework exploding all at once from the bridge, around the Ferris wheel and all the way up the banks. It was so violent, so wildly out of control and brilliant that the sparks flew over the city, hailing tiny flares across the expanse of the metropolis.

I floundered to the nearest shore, collapsing without a drop of energy left. All I could do was lie on my back and stare up. The firework display was meant to last over the course of an hour. It was over in ten minutes.

It was the loudest, brightest, most incredible spectacle I’d ever seen.

And yet, over the top of it, all I could hear were the desperate cries of a man who had just lost everything.

“Adele! Adele! Adele!”