“Let me see,” Ella requested against her better judgment, stretching her hand out to Jamal. Tentatively, he handed her the phone. She tapped the volume icon and restarted the video. The next few minutes filled her mouth with retch.

The video started as any other in a modern war scene far away from the homeland; the recorder panning her phone to capture a set of shell-shocked people, filthy and disheveled. Only this scene took place in the States, in a typical gym. The group moved into another room and that was when she nearly puked, gagging excessively as she remembered a similar sight from the Radiant Tower. Piles of unrecognizable body parts and disfigured corpses littered the floor, pools of blood and human remains pooling about.

The recorder pointed her phone at a particular female corpse that still had a recognizable face, albeit with fangs as teeth lining jaws that extended to its ears.

“This is what the government is hiding,” the recorder said, her voice shaky and laced with fear. “HAVEN, the cops… our so-called superheroes. This is what they are hiding from us. We go out every day to work and feed our families while demonic fiends run unchecked in our city. Do the people in charge even care about us common folk anymore? We are left to deal with a threat we didn’t even fucking know existed while they scamper behind their tall fences inside bunkers. Look at this young girl. See what the demons have done to her.”

Then the woman panned her phone, showing every man and woman standing with her. Some vomited, the violent scene too much to handle, while most cast doomed gazes at their feet. “If not for a hero who came to our aid, each and every one of us would have been killed by that demon, our corpses then used to reign more terror on the good people of this city. Who will be held accountable for this travesty? Who do we look to, to pay for the lives of these silent people, dying quiet, brutal deaths only for their plights to be covered up? No more! No more fucking lies! We demand answers! We must know why our government has failed us! This will be swept under a rug no longer!”

Then the screen went blank. Ella minimized the video to see that it was uploaded on Twitter three days ago, now spotting millions of views. A further analysis showed that it wasn’t even the original upload, which got deleted, but a re-upload amongst countless others. Like a proverbial pandora’s box, a door had been opened and there was no returning to the darkness.

“What do we do?” Sasha asked, breaking the tense silence.

To that question, no one dared answer. For Ella, her mind pondered the ramifications of the city being overrun by demons. Even if she was powerful enough to remain unaffected, her heart still ached at the millions of people this impacted. How many people had already died, their truth never to see the light of day?

Aunt Darcy. Caleb.

She returned Jamal’s phone and reached for hers, chastising herself for not checking in with her cousins earlier. As she scrolled down her contact list, she first sent a profound thank you to her brother for protecting Aunt Darcy and her family, and Caleb. Knowing Jalen, he was probably thorough in that endeavor, so she did not need to worry much. Afterward, she sent a text to Jessica, checking in on how her family was doing. Caleb received a text along the same lines. Only then did she take a deep breath and look up from her phone. It turned out everyone else had the same idea, tapping into their phones with serious intent.

Jamal got up and excused himself to make a call. Ella’s phone chimed, alluding to a received message. When she checked it, she found a message from Caleb.

“I’m doing fine, actually, compared to the rest of the city. Seriously, check the news! My mom said it hadn’t been like this since the demons first appeared. Thanks to Jalen, my brother’s spoken for the first time in years and is growing stronger each day. I can never thank both of you for everything you have done in my lifetime. Stay safe, Ella.”

As she tried to formulate a response, Jamal returned wearing a tense expression.

“I’m sorry to have soured the mood of this celebratory outing and then ask for a leave so soon,” Jamal said. “But my mom’s having a panic attack and I want to be by her side.”

Bohdan offered him a fist bump. “No apologies needed, bro. We can’t be dining while the city burns down around us, anyway. Go see your mother.”

As soon as Jamal struck his fist with Bohdan, he was out the door.

Seconds later, Priya and another woman returned with trays of their food. However, Ella couldn’t speak for the others, but her appetite had vanished no matter how tantalizing the spicy aromas enticing them were.

Priya cast a questioning glance at the door. “I hope it isn’t something too serious.”

“I’m afraid it is,” Ella said. “I think you should close and head home, Priya. Now’s a terrible time to be out and about in this city.”

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“Well, I do not let bad apples dictate my actions.”

Her eyes heavy with worry, she pleaded. “These are not humans we are talking about, but demons. They lack the moral compass even the hardest criminals possess.”

After placing their food down, Priya shook her head stubbornly. “As was the case six years ago, the heroes will swiftly put an end to this threat. I refuse to live in perpetual fear.” Priya performed the sign of the cross, her expression steadfast. “When one entrusts their life to Christ, nothing in this world holds power over them. The demons possess no dominion—”

“Sorry, ma’am,” Bohdan interjected, pointing at something behind Ella. “Can you turn up the volume?”

“Oh, of course, dear.” Priya went to a stand under a television that hung on the wall, retrieved a remote, and increased its volume.

By that time, Ella and Sasha had turned to view the television. On its screen panned a massive crowd holding up signs and banners written in blood-red paint.

“We demand answers!” They shouted in unison, raising their signs. “We demand the truth! Where are the heroes meant to save us?”

The scene switched to a helicopter view, which showed the protesters in their entirety as a long line of human mass snaked down the horizon.

Jesus!

Once more, the perspective shifted, revealing the front of a massive protest where the most livid and loud people were leading the charge, only to be stopped by a barricade. Behind the barricade stood ranks of riot police in heavy protective gear and riot shields. Behind the police were two large armored vehicles with sweeping water cannons mounted on their roofs. Further back was a tall iron fence that wrapped around a Gothic manor.

Among the police stood some superheroes who received the full ire of the crowd. One particular woman holding a ‘Superheroes, the masked cowards’ sign, barked at the superhero closest to her.

“Where is my son, you imbecile? Produce him this very second or his death will be paid in your blood! Liar! Coward! Remove that mask so we can see the traitor hiding beneath!”

From the hollering of the other protesters around the woman, they agreed with everything she said. The superhero she addressed, dressed in a red and yellow form-fitting suit, stood still like a statue as their verbal onslaught descended on him.

Enraged by his stoicism, the woman hurled a stone at him. Yet the superhero effortlessly deflected it with a swift swipe of his arm. Emboldened by the woman’s audacity, a floodgate of animosity burst open, causing torrents of hatred to rain down upon him. The enraged protesters flung anything within reach, ranging from shoes and tomatoes to glass bottles and stones. Faced with this onslaught, the superhero quickly retreated, backpedaling away from the relentless assault. In a display of determination, a few resourceful protesters even dared to scale the barricade, intent on pursuing him.

At last, the two armored vehicles spooled awake, directing their cannons at the unruly protesters, and unleashed two streams of high-pressure water. The crowd scattered, screaming at the immense pressure that pushed them back. Some lay prone on the wet ground, huddling up. But as soon as the cannons relented, the protesters returned with just as much anger, picking up their fallen brethren.

The scene switched again. This time, a woman—talking into her earpiece and holding a microphone—came into view, the chaotic protest continuing as her backdrop. Seconds later, she looked up and raised her microphone.

“Good evening.” Her spiking tone was almost drowned by the loud chanting of the protesters. “I’m Jenny Thompson from the Hermosville Herald, reporting live from outside the mayor’s compound in Midtown, where a massive protest has erupted, as you can see. The people are demanding answers and accountability from their government, following shocking revelations about the true cause of the recent wave of missing people revealed by a gruesome video uploaded late Wednesday to X, former Twitter.

“For weeks, the grim shadow of death has loomed over Hermosville, with hundreds of residents perishing under mysterious circumstances daily. Initially, HAVEN’s officials attributed the carnage to a rogue superhuman, allegedly responsible for the massacre at Sterling Foods Corporation. However, as the death toll mounted and spread beyond the first factory’s walls, the narrative began to shift. The government’s story changed from superhuman culpability to a series of unconnected violent incidents, but the city’s beleaguered populace remained unconvinced.

“The tipping point came when the aforementioned shocking video surfaced online, showing the mutilated corpses of what can only be described as a grotesque and gut-wrenching situation. In the footage, the woman recording, reveals these grotesque creatures as humans turned mindless slaves of a demon who is the true perpetrator behind the mass slaughter. As of this morning, HAVEN has confirmed these claims.

“So it is easy to see why as dawn broke, the area around the mayor’s compound was transformed into a volatile protest zone. And as I speak, the Genesis Empowerment Center is also currently dealing with a mass protest that descended on the place only two hours ago. The protesters’ demands are clear: they want full transparency about the ongoing demonic threat, accountability from the government, especially HAVEN, for their failure to protect the city, and immediate measures to combat the ongoing menace.

“Mayor Hansen has yet to make a public appearance this week, adding fuel to the already raging fire of public outrage. Sources inside City Hall, speaking on condition of anonymity, reveal a frantic scramble among officials to address the crisis and contain the fallout from the video’s release. Here with me is the brave woman, Hayley, who recorded and uploaded the monumental video that shocked the nation.”

Jenny nodded as a blonde-haired woman, with a sign in hand, walked up to her.

“What a steaming piled shitshow this is,” Ella muttered.