"This is... impossible!" May shouts, still distraught from the actions of her father.

  "I know, May... I'm sorry..." Silo said comfortingly as he looked up at her, perching himself on the shoulder of the couch next to the unconscious body of Restavel.

  Ephram and Silvia looked to each other for answers, but neither one could think of anything. It was a bleak and horrible situation they now found themselves in, something neither of them knew they could handle. An enemy as powerful as Aberlain was like a fish making an enemy of water. It simply could not be done.

  As he looked down at Restavel lying upon the couch, he thought to himself what was to come next. It was only a matter of time until the demons reached them, their home in Oregon was only a few hours away by flight from Los Angeles. It had already been several hours since they had watched the events unfold on the TV, there was no telling what could happen next for them all. The sun had already begun to set, and Ephram watched as it slowly fell beneath the horizon. He knew that he wasn't strong enough to protect them from hordes of demons and cursed himself for still being so weak and useless.

  "What do we do now? If what that monster said is true, those demons will be on top of us in just a few more hours! We don't have time!" Silvia yelled frustratedly, trying to control her fear as her entire body shook.

  "I... I don't know..." Ephram said quietly, his voice barely reaching her as he sat upon the other shoulder of the couch opposite from Silo.

  The four of them stayed in silence for quite some time, looking down at the maid upon the couch with uncertainty. If Restavel were still awake, perhaps she could give some insight as to what was going on in Hell. Her collapsing spelled the worst outcome, that being the demons of Hell had found themselves under Aberlain's control, storming through Palace Estella and into Earth through the sigil in his study.

  As they all thought to themselves of how bleak the situation had become, a robotic voice echoed down the street loudly, growing in volume as it reached their home. Investigating the voice, Ephram got up from his seated position upon the shoulder of the couch and looked through the window between a few boards. An all-white van with large speakers strapped to the top was rolling slowly through the street, the automated booming voice echoing from the same speakers.

  "All residents, please go inside and lock the doors. If you have any weapons, arm yourselves." It shouted, repeating the phrase over and over again as the van rolled down the street and out of view.

  A thick fog had begun to roll in after the van, as if it were chasing the driver. Ephram watched from the window as the fog began covering the ground, seeping into the graveyard across the street. He felt the fear rise up within himself as he scanned the surroundings of the house, peering into the darkness now that the sun had finally gone down. The only light he could now see was that of the clouded moon trying desperately to shine through the dark clouds above, and the flickering lamp post near the house as it whispered uncertain rays of light through the fog.

  As soon as he was to turn away from the window, something sent a chill up Ephram's spine as he peered out towards the graveyard. A tall and lanky figure stood unmoving near one of the headstones, but its unnatural body shape screamed at him to be afraid of the figure. At first, he had thought it to be Silvia's father back once again to mourn the loss of his daughter, but the shape of the creature was simply too demonic to be that of an elderly human man.

  Its dark skin hung loosely to its bones as it looked around confusingly for something, seemingly sniffing the air like a bloodhound in search of prey. It seemed to have caught the scent of something, and as Ephram watched the creature stumble around in the darkness of the night, his blood went cold as the creature's head snapped towards the direction of the house. It possessed four large eyes, all a faint orange color. A large swinging jaw hung loosely from the creature's head, filled with rows of bloodied sharp canine-like teeth. The demon must've already found others before them, and it hadn't ended too well for them.

  "Shit! Everyone!" Ephram hissed, gesturing to the window as Silvia and May came over to get a good look.

  Silvia covered her mouth with one hand in fright as the lanky and tall demon took a few steps forward, as if it were confused as to what it was smelling. The creature seemed to be alone, which was the only good thing any of them seemed to notice about the situation. The bad thing, however, was that it was getting closer and closer to the house with every step it took. If it were to realize they had been holed up inside, there was no telling what could happen if a fight broke out. Restavel was completely vulnerable now, Silvia was scared half to death, and Silo wouldn't be much help in a physical altercation. It was up to Ephram and May now, and both of them were unsure if they could take the demon out quietly enough to not attract others. If there was one here now, there were bound to be more.

  "What should we do?" May whispered to Ephram, drawing him slightly away from the window.

  "There's no other choice... we have to stop it in the graveyard. We can't let it get any closer." He said, nodding towards Restavel and Silo upon the couch.

  Silvia took notice of their whispering and had decided to join in, trying not to be left behind. She knew she wouldn't be too useful if it came down to fighting with the demon, but she could at least support them from the rear.

  "Let me come too! Three of us are better than two, right? Silo can stay here and watch over Restavel, I can do this! I can't run away anymore!" She whispered, trying to control the volume of her voice as she pleaded with both Ephram and May.

  "Fine, but if it goes south out there you need to run... promise me that." Ephram said sternly, not wanting his wife to get hurt.

  As she nodded in response, the three of them slowly made their way outside and onto the front porch with Ephram in the lead. The demon didn't seem to notice them just yet as they crossed the fog covered street and entered the graveyard through the opened swinging black gate. It was only when they set foot within the cemetery that the demon's body stiffened up as if it sensed their presence, turning around slowly to face the three unknown creatures before it.

  Its rotting dark flesh stunk of sulfur and blood, the irony taste of metal and rotten eggs filling their lungs as they approached the demon. Ephram held out his hands to stop Silvia from approaching any further, not wanting her to get any closer to the dangerous beast as May and himself continued on.

  "What are you doing here?" He said to the demon, trying to reason with it before making any rash decisions.

  Instead of a verbal response, however, Ephram received something much more horrific. A smile began crawling its way onto the four eyed demon's face, the jaw of the creature clicking loudly as if it weren't used to making the facial expression. Its orange eyes glowed furiously at the three of them, and the demon began bending down on all fours like a wild dog about to circle its prey. The spine and ribs of the creature stuck out horrifyingly amidst its sagging skin, holding on desperately to keep itself from falling apart entirely. Even the sunken collar bone of the creature seemed to be loosely connected, like a crumbling brick wall about to collapse.

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  "I said..." Ephram began, but quickly stopped as the demon began sprinting towards him on all fours.

  Its jaw opened wider than before as it sped towards him, leaping at him through the air with its sharp teeth bared. As soon as it was about to land atop him, however, it was pushed back into a nearby headstone from May, who had used the wind to force the creature away from the three of them.

  "Dammit! I knew this would happen!" She shouted, allowing the air around her to attack the creature once more.

  As she began slicing at the demon upon the ground with blades of wind, its skin ripping open with every motion of her hand, the demon began laughing hysterically at the sudden turn of events.

  "Shut UP!" May shouted angrily, allowing her frustrations to be taken out on the vile beast below her as she whipped it relentlessly with the invisible force of her anger.

  Ephram took a few steps forward as he was about to comfort May, but as he watched the events unfold, he soon began to scream out in rage.

  Another demon hiding amongst the shadows had lunged forward, impaling May through her back as it ripped its large claws through her midsection, heaving her up into the air with unholy strength. Looking down at where she had been impaled, May began to choke on her own blood as she tried to wriggle away from the demon behind her. Trying to catch a glimpse of what had done this to her, she strained her neck to see behind her at the demon.

  It was similar to the other four eyed demon, except its jaw was clenched tightly with a wide grin encompassing its face. The only other difference was the skin of the creature, its dark pitch black skin ended upon its torso reaching its limbs, which turned a dark grayish hue up to its pointed knife-like fingertips.

  "NO!" Ephram yelled, rushing forward and tackling the creature to the ground.

  As he brought the creature down towards the fog covered and muddied grass of the graveyard, May had finally slipped free from the creature's grasp. As he brought his tight fists down upon the demon relentlessly, Ephram watched from his peripheral vision as she crawled pathetically across the ground over to Silvia, leaving a trail of dark blood behind her. His wife bent down to help May as they tried to make their escape, but it was too late for that. The slack jawed demon rose from the ground hurriedly, quickly blocking their path towards freedom as it stared angrily down at both Silvia and May.

  Ephram couldn't believe what was happening now, it just couldn't be true. There was no way reality was cruel enough to condemn those whom he cared about to a fate worse than death. The demons attacking them now were horrifyingly strong, and he realized this fact much too late.

  Bringing down his fist once more against the bony flesh of the demon underneath him, he felt the tides of the battle shift. He wasn't getting anywhere by just hitting this demon, and it became apparent to him that none of them were going to get out of this fight alive. The demon with the knife-like hands screamed a guttural and animalistic roar in his face, shoving Ephram off of it with an astounding amount of force.

  Knocking backwards into a headstone and shattering it upon impact, Ephram felt his hat fly off his head as he crumbled to the ground. The only thing he could focus on now was the white scarf Silvia had given him before wrapped tightly around his neck.

  "STOP IT!" He screamed, reaching out desperately for the two demons to cease their torment.

  His words fell upon deaf ears as they approached both Silvia and May, cornering them into one of the pine trees overlooking the graveyard. It was over with a flash, quicker than anything Ephram had witnessed before. The two demons lunged forward at both of them, bringing Silvia to the ground next to May as the two of them began bleeding profusely.

  Laughing hysterically, the demon with the slack jaw bent down towards Silvia with strings of drool beginning to escape its mouth. Biting down hard upon her shoulder, it began to lift her into the air with its jaws as she screamed out for mercy. Dark red blood wept from her wound and into the mouth of the monstrous demon, who began slurping her blood from her body like a juice pouch.

  Ephram could do nothing but watch as he struggled to come back to his feet, trying desperately to stand up once more. The light he carried within his heart shone brighter than any darkness these demons could bring upon him, and he would use that light to burn their very souls to ash.

  "Get the hell away from them!!" He bellowed, standing up shakily as he attempted to sprint over to the demons.

  The demon with the knife-like hands noticed his approach and waited until Ephram was in range to impale him in the same manner it had done to May. As he felt his feet lift off the ground and the air punched out of his lungs, Ephram knew that this could very well be the end of him and all that he loved. The blessing Silvia had given him as an angel must've worn off by now, causing his nearly impenetrable skin to return to the regular flesh of an ordinary demon. He thought to himself how unfair this situation was, and why it had to have happened now.

  His vision began to blur as he stared down at the demon hoisting him in the air, ripping through his abdomen with its sharp claws. Blood seeped from his torso like an atrocious waterfall, soaking the arm of the demon below him as he tried desperately to escape its grasp. His fingers slipped and stumbled over one another from the wet blood they were now covered in, and he began to slide down the arm of the demon as gravity took hold of him. It was out of his hands now, the future was no longer of any concern to him. If this was the way he were to die, perhaps Aberlain was right.

  "Victor..." Silvia called out softly, her eyes rolling to the back of her head as she passed out from the loss of blood the demon had been sucking from her body.

  As soon as Ephram heard the name of his human self, he began to feel something change within. A fire burning like no other took hold of his soul, its raging flames carrying his soul forward through the march of time. Time may wait for no one, but for Ephram, he would force it to make an exception.

  Gripping the arm of the demon firmly, ignoring his own blood soaking him to the bones, he began slowly heaving himself off of the demon's arm and back onto the ground. Stumbling about for a moment but ultimately regaining his footing, he wasted no time hurling himself at the demon killing his wife before his eyes. Tackling it just as he had done to the other demon before, he shoved his hands into the maw of the creature to rip them open so his wife would fall out.

  Succeeding in his small victory, he decided not to let go of the demon's jaws as it stared at him with wide and confused eyes. Ephram began pulling with whatever strength he had left at the jaws of the creature, slowly tearing at the loose flesh holding the bones of the monster together. Screaming out angrily, he stared down into the four eyes of the demon as he ripped its lower jaw clean off.

  The other demon tried to lunge at Ephram as he tore through the now jawless demon on the ground, but he whirled around quickly to stop it. Using the demon's jaw as a bludgeon, he brought it down upon the head of the other demon. With both of them now reeling from the surprising force Ephram commanded, he saw his opportunity.

  Bringing the demon's jaw down to its own head, he began cracking its skull open like bringing a hammer down to a rock. Furiously swinging the jaw above his own head and down upon the head of the demon, he made sure it wasn't moving before moving on to his next attacker. The demon with the knife-like hands groggily sat up, still slightly dazed from before. It had no time to react as Ephram brought the jaw of its companion to its head, crushing its skull in one quick strike as the jaw lodged itself within the brain of the creature.

  As soon as it was over, Ephram realized he could fight no longer. Every ounce of adrenaline pumping through his bloodstream had exited through the gaping hole in the center of his abdomen. As he shuffled his way over to a nearby gravestone, propping himself upon it, he looked over to Silvia and May as they both laid unconscious on the ground beneath the tree. They seemed to still be breathing, and as he watched their lungs fill with air, he knew he had won. Somehow, someway, he had defied the will of reality. Absolutely no one could take from him what he held most dear, and as he looked down at the bloodied hole in his torso, he realized what he'd truly become.

  If only he had noticed the dozens of other shadowy figures approaching them from the other side of the graveyard. If only he had looked away from his wife and May one second sooner, maybe the future would've been different, and maybe they all would have survived.