I used to think this was a nightmare.

But, then I started to like it.

I realized what I had to do and why.

All of this is for the sake of revenge?

Right?

Right…

You’re doing this because you promised.

I promised all of you.

…

9:35 AM. Springcrook High School.

“Haha, you’re a goof son.”

“Nah bro, I’m telling you. I went smack in them cheeks.”

“Yeah, aight. You need to stop cappin’ man.”

Two high school friends were goofing off in the middle of class. Both of them from separate classrooms were fooling around in the hall, holding their Student Handbook. A security guard soon walked past the two and nodded.

“Ladies' room is that way, gentlemen.” He said with a chuckle as he passed them.

“Haha, very funny.”

“He cool peeps man, he’s just messing.”

“Yeah, well I need to get back to class before Ms Daniels is on my ass again.”

9:40 AM. Ms Daniels’ Classroom.

This morning the class was going over computer programming. It was a very hard class for the students to return to. He hadn’t been getting good grades on it, but he wanted to make his family proud.

He wanted to show them that he could get good grades and give himself a bright future. He didn’t have to end up like most of the neighborhood. He was going to rise and overcome adversity.

“Chester.”

The teacher called his name. She wanted him to come up with the answer on the board. Any input at all would have been sufficient. But, he froze. He just couldn’t answer what was being discussed. In fact, he didn’t even know what the class was talking about.

“Talk to me after class young man.” She said in a stern voice.

He sighed and nodded. “Yes ma’am.”

Once the bell rang and dismissed class she closed the door and approached the young man.

“You’re failing this class.”

“I know…”

“You skip periods, you never do any of the work. If you don’t pull it together you’ll have to retake it.”

“...”

“What would your parents think of you?”

“That I’m a failure.”

“...”

“It’s not like I try to be, but… before I wanted to learn about computers and programming. But, now… I just don’t vibe with this anymore. My brain can’t comprehend it that’s why I…”

“That’s why you don’t take things seriously?”

“Yeah. This ain’t me. Fuck these computers and shit.”

“Language.”

“My bad, ma’am.”

“You have two options, young man. You can either put in the work to try and pass this class, or you can fail.”

“...”

“This is what high school is about. Finding the person you are meant to become. It’s a journey and we as teachers are happy to help you accomplish this.”

Chester’s eyes watered a bit upon hearing this. He moved his hand to rub his chin before nodding. “I want to put in the work. From here on out, I won’t skip another cl-”

This could have been the start of something beautiful. A young boy sprouting to become a man. But, instead, everything was cut short. Because he had to be in the same vicinity as a demon. Out of nowhere, the atmosphere of the room changed.

“Chester… do you feel that…?” The teacher gasped.

Whatever it was… it was evil.

Outside of the school. A pale-skinned man stood outside as his blood-red hues stared at the entrance of the building. He was wearing formal attire, black dress pants, and a white button-up polo shirt with a black tie.

His blue hair was messy but tied back into a ponytail. However, some strands of hair were left untied. The man merely looked unhinged. He could be seen inhaling the smoke from a lit-up cigarette before he tossed the remains onto the ground.

In order to fulfill my promise.

In order to fulfill our promise.

I have to continue being who I’m meant to be.

I have to be…

A DEMON!

Abaddon!

He was oozing with bloodlust. It was thick enough to alert those inside the building. Over time humans have become aware of what this feeling was. A demon was after them and they had to be ready.

Of course, this was nothing but speculation, but the laws state even if it is just a hunch. One must follow procedures and head into lockdown. Teachers were barring themselves into their classrooms.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Others were heading down to the gym as quickly as possible. Their main priority is to protect the younger generation from this unknown threat. Hopefully, they were just being paranoid. But, it never hurts to exert caution.

The pale-skinned man entered the building… and once he did so he immediately began looking for any source of prey. His eyes were like that of a feral monster and these kids were his prey. He was going to snuff the life out of them because…

He knew that the task Belial wanted of him would be risky. He wasn’t going to fail his mission. He needed things to go well in order for him to gain approval. Because of that, he was going to kill everybody here with pride.

Unfortunately… Two girls were walking through the hall after coming from the nurses and saw the mysterious man in the middle of the hallway. Their classroom was down the hall and up the stairs on the second floor.

But, they wouldn’t be able to go there now that they were on a path to death. One of the girls instantly became petrified as she saw him.

“W-”

That was all that could be muttered out of the girl’s mouth. In an instant, the pale-skinned man had appeared in front of her and had gripped her forehead with his hand. In an instant, she was gone.

The vice-like grip was strong enough to crack her skull and force blood to come leaking out from the holes that his fingers had formed in her dome. It was like an orange being squeezed and bursting, leaking out with that acidic liquid.

Her friend could barely comprehend what had just happened. But, when she did she attempted to run. Even if it was futile she had to try. She had to try and live.

Suddenly she tripped… to her it was like something unseen had grabbed her leg. But, it was because Abaddon used his Either to conjure a thread-like material that had latched onto her.

With both of them in his grasp, he did what he had come here to do and that was to absorb their Either.

Their supple skin lost its luster. Ripe young age became brittle and weak. Their skin became pale and wrinkly. All of their life force was being siphoned into this demon and it was making him that much stronger.

Upon seeing this he couldn’t help but cackle.

“This never gets old! Now I have an entire playground. I think I’ll add these kids to my collection.”

Chester and Ms. Daniel were hiding behind her desk. The lights were off and they didn’t dare make a peep. Chester was terrified as now their hunch was correct. There was a demon here. But, it was all right, because the proper law enforcement would be called.

Everyone here just had to survive.

“Heeelp me!!”

A voice echoed out within the hall. Monstrous grunts were heard. It had only been a few minutes and yet this school had become a bloodbath. Death lurked at every corner.

Bodies were littered within the halls. Teacher and student dead together, but together forever. The sound of gunfire was even heard a few times, but…

They had no effect. Instead, it only caused their deaths to be more painful. Those who didn’t meet the monster’s criteria died in the most brutal fashion. Head’s completely imploded. Brain matter and blood spread throughout the grounds.

Those who were foolish enough to try and run to the entrance were instantly beheaded.

The only light that was seen in Ms. Daniels’ Classroom was the light emitting from Chester's phone. He knew he was going to die and wanted to text his parents goodbye. The text read:

‘Hey Mom and Dad, I’m sorry. Sorry for everything. I know I haven’t been the best son to deal with, but I was trying to make you guys proud of me. I'd rather you hear this from me than the news, but I don’t think I’m going to make it. Demons have invaded our school…’

In a way, the teacher knew and was doing the same, but soon anger welled up inside of her.

“No!”

“What?”

“We aren’t going to die here, Chester. We can’t let this vile being take everything we’ve worked so hard for.”

“We can’t stop a demon… we all knew this was a possibility. It’s why we had those safety drills…”

“We can’t stop them. They are a force that goes against nature. We can only prolong the inevitable.”

Chester sighed as he held his hands against his head and began to cry out in fear. “This shit crazy! We’re… we’re really going to DIE!!”

Outside of the school was a live chopper with live footage of the event. This was being broadcast as a special report. Everyone who was watching it was going mad. This was a horror that nobody wanted to speak of.

“Right now we are watching one of Silver Spring’s best high schools crumble. A demon invasion has plagued this school.” The male reporter mentioned while staring at the audience through a screen.

“It’s a sad sight to see… teachers, faculty and students alike will all meet a grim end.” The female reporter sighed.

“These demons are not a fairy tale. They are very real.”

“Remember if you suspect that a demon is lurking in the area it is your best bet to run. Alert the proper authorities and get to safety as soon as possible.”

“Nowhere is really safe. This won’t end until these monsters are killed. This… is a war upon humanity.”

Police car after police car was filling up at the high school. However, nobody wanted to die. That would most likely be the case if they entered the school right now.

“How much longer until the SWAT team is called in?”

“Don’t worry too much about that bucko, we have strict orders to not let that demon out of sight. He must be eliminated.”

“Bold for one demon to do this on his own. You don’t think we are dealing with a Lord do ya?”

“Most aren’t this crazy to do this. He’s dead as soon as he steps foot outside. Barricade the entrances and exits. Keep an eye on all windows. If you see any movement, fire at will.”

“Ok, chief.”

“Wait… what the hell is that? Do you see THAT!?”

“It looks like some kind of yellow light… it’s coming closer.”

“It’s fast! Is it a demon!? Should we shoo-”

“Hold on… this looks familiar. Prepare your guns, but don’t fire unless I give the order.” The chief stated.

The yellow stream of energy soon stopped in front of them as a familiar young man appeared amongst them. His hair was blowing crazy with the strong gust of wind that he brought with him and upon seeing the guns pointed at him he held his hands up.

“Don’t shoot yo!”

“Who the fuck are you? Demon?”

“Don’t compare me to those things. I’m a genome.”

“A genome…?”

The chief stroked his beard upon hearing this before he shook his head. “I’ve heard rumors about them. They are a part of Vin-Sync… personally, I think it’s all a scheme, but…”

“You should know that I’m the best safety measure against these monsters. Please, you all have families to go back to. I can tell you for certain if you go into that school, most of you will die.” Oasis said with a somber tone.

“... He’s right. But, we can’t let those kids die. We’ll risk our lives no matter the outcome.”

“You don’t have to do that. That’s why I’m here. I just need you guys to make sure that demon doesn’t get away. But, please leave the rest to me.” Oasis said as he stared at the entrance of the school.

“...”

“If you don’t agree with this then I’ll knock all of you out just to be safe.”

“Fine kid. Just go. If you think you’re a match for those demons be my guest. But you have five minutes before we follow up. The SWAT team will be here very soon to assist and mow these bastards down.”

“I’m glad there are others still fighting. I won’t let you guys down.”

—

“Once we get out of this… you better make sure you study hard, Chester.”

“I will. I promise. If we come out alive, I’ll end the year with all A’s.”

“If we just stay in here then I’m sure someone will save us.”

“Yeah.”

The two were still stationed in the classroom. But, danger was lurking for them. The sound of a familiar voice could be heard.

“Help me…! Chester, bro!”

The voice was the same one that belonged to Chester’s friend. Hearing this caused the boy to shoot up, but the teacher attempted to pull him back down.

“What are you doing!?”

“I heard my friend, Jabree! I gotta go!”

“No, it could be a trap!”

“Ms. Daniel’s!”

“Chester think about this. How would he know we are even hiding here?”

“What if he doesn’t and is trying to desperately find help? I gotta save my bro!”

Chester ran off, unlocking and opening the door as he ran out into the open of the darkened halls. He looked around and yelled for his friend while Ms. Daniels shook her head and followed behind in a panic.

“Jabree!! Where you at-”

Something fast shot out at him, grabbing him by the face as it forced him into the wall of the hallway. The thud was loud and he swore he could hear something in his back pop. He couldn’t even gasp out for air due to how tight this monster’s grip was on him.

“Your friend Jabree thanks you.” The monster said with a smirk on his face. His hands were entirely coated with the red as he was now wiping it on the boy’s clothes. Upon seeing this the teacher screamed and ran back into the classroom.

“...!” Chester kicked and squirmed, but he could barely move.

Humans are such pussies. I swear they always run in the face of death. It’s a little boring.

Demons do too, I suppose. Dying has to be scary.

We’ve already died once, so we don’t have anything to fear, right?

Right.

“You’re going to be my shield. I’ve filled up my aura reserves already. I think I’ve done enough here. The others in the basement get to live.”

“...!” Chester wanted to speak… he wanted to scream. He didn’t know what the hell was going on. He just knew a lunatic was most likely going to kill him.

“I promised your friend that I would assimilate you. You can be one with us, that way I won’t feel as bad.”

“Arrrrrgggghhhhh!” The teacher yelled as she came back out with a desk chair. Swinging it violently at the pale-skinned man. Sadly he didn’t even pay her any attention and merely shielded himself with his Either.

As soon as the chair landed against him it shattered to pieces. Only then did he turn his head to look at her with disgust. In one swift motion, he kneed Chester in the gut to disable his movements. The poor boy collapsed from the pain and nearly passed out.

He then shifted his body to face the teacher. He merely allowed his thumb to cover his middle finger as he inched closer to her. She was stunned with horror, afraid of him. Afraid of what he could do.

So boring. Humans are so fucking boring.

This is too easy.

He allowed his thumb to lower, letting his middle finger flick the woman directly in the face. This small action packed enough force to break her nose, causing blood to violently gush out while also sending her flying back.

The teacher tried to raise her head, but her eyes rolled into the back of her head as she passed out from the absurdity of it all. This left Chester on the verge of losing consciousness himself.

“Time to die.” He muttered as he grabbed the boy and held his face with both of his hands. His Either started to emit from solely his hands as he prepared to start siphoning the life force from him.

At this moment… Chester wished that somebody would save him. Then he lost consciousness. Abaddon wouldn’t have taken long to feed off of him. But, at that exact moment, he felt something strike him directly against his face.

The force of the blow was so impactful that it broke a few of his teeth and caused his face to contort into a caricature. He was then sent flying back, his body bouncing and rolling against the ground until he landed against the wall toward the end of the hall.

He passed out for a brief moment and when he came to…

What the hell…

I had my guard down and something hit me…

His blood-red hues saw a hero in front of him… a genome that was cradling the young human boy who figured he was going to die. In that moment the genome had become Chester’s angel. Even when asleep he wanted to comfort him.

“It’s going to be ok now. You’re safe. I’ll save you and your teacher. I’ll save them from this bastard.” Oasis said as he took a stand, clenching his fists as he stared at the monster lurking among them.

Abaddon’s eyes widened upon seeing this and a crooked smile appeared on his face. He slowly stood up and licked his lips.

“You look like you’ll be a lot of FUN!”