Reiver leads us through the narrow hallways towards the side exit of the school. Our group of just over thirty students and staff silently followed behind him, desperate for his protection. Despite Reiver’s nonchalance, everybody else is incredibly jumpy. Fortunately, no fiend made it close to us before Reiver gunned it down. Usually, the first sign of a fiend's approach is the gunshot that dispatches it. I do not know what Reiver’s power is, but with it, he is easily protecting us without seeming to be alert to his surroundings at all. When fiends try to attack from behind our group, they are still unable to sneak up on us even though he is not looking in their direction until a moment before he fires.

As we round another corner, the door to freedom comes into view. Hope and relief finally become the dominant emotion on everyone's faces. Unfortunately, my growing confidence in our guardian is quickly crushed.

“FUCK!” Reiver yells. Spinning around, he wrenches the door to one of the classrooms open, “Get in there and lie down on the ground. NOW!”

A moment of confused glances suddenly turns into panic as a deafening bestial shriek fills the air. Everybody begins rushing for the classroom as the sound of automatic gunfire picks up from just outside. Then something that sounds like a passing freight train comes down from above us; the concrete walls crack as whatever made the noise rushes down the outside of the building.

Reiver had been rushing toward the door but suddenly jumped to the side, plastering himself against the wall. At the same time, I see a shadowy line pass through my side. The last of the well of power dissipates as the shadow moves just slightly so that it is outside my body before it vanishes.

Several cracking sounds fill the air as, in rapid succession, four holes are punched through the door. Most of the bullets fly into the wall, sending dust flying, but one of the stray bullets zips through the air right where the shadowy line last was, narrowly missing me. I almost got shot! I stand there for a moment, shocked, as the well of power slightly increases.

What snaps me out of my astonishment is Robin's pained gasp. I turn around to see them reeling backwards with a long red gash on their left bicep. Robin got hit! Damn it, the bullet missed me just to hit them.

I rush over to their side to try and help them. I did not even realise Reiver was running over as well until he arrived by our sides.

“Damnit,” he says, “What were those idiots thinking!? They knew we were in here.”

“Yerre! Robin!” I support them as they lean heavily against the wall.

They start to cry as they slide down to the ground, “It hurts.”

“Move aside, It looks like just a grazing hit. Can you help get their jacket off?” Reiver asks.

I nod and begin helping Robin take off their now bloodstained blue corduroy jacket that I know is one of their favourites as Reiver pulls a first aid kit out from under his trench coat.

“Ek sal die fokker moord wie het jou seergemaak,” I snarl earning a confused glance from Reiver as he cuts the sleeve off Robin’s blouse. I am momentarily startled at the subtle sensation of an immaterial connection being made.

Robin whimpers as Reiver applies an antiseptic to the wound.

The well of power starts sporadically growing in small bursts. As I focus on the feeling of the power increasing, I can sense that it is coming from whatever that connection is. Suddenly, I feel the power’s growth massively spike as a scream comes from outside. The door out of the school is violently smashed open, knocked entirely off its hinges. A body is thrown through it, smacking limply into a wall before crumpling to the floor.

There is already a sizable pool of blood as he is almost entirely bisected at the waist, and the armoured vest on his chest is buckled in. The person is either already dead or will be in a matter of seconds. More noticeable, however, is the ethereal purple thorny vines wrapped around him. As the vines quickly wilt away, so does the connection I felt form just a moment ago.

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“Shit, that’s bad,” Reiver comments. After recollecting himself, he turns toward me as I stare in horror at the spectacle, “He’s dead. There’s nothing you can do about it, just keep staying down,” he says firmly, before pausing in bewilderment. “Wait, what the fuck, you got powers? Your eyes are fucking glowing.”

“The vines. They came back,” I say weakly.

“What are you talking about? What vines?”

“I summoned them. And they got him killed. I killed him,” I stammer out, “Fuck, I killed him. I killed him.”

“What do you mean? The fiend killed him. You did nothing.”

“NO!” I yell, “I got angry and made the vines. The vines made him die. It was me… What have I done?” I continue staring blankly at the corpse.

“Huh? How did you know to get angry at him?”

“What?”

“How did you know he was the one who shot your friend?”

This finally makes me look his way, “What? He was the one who shot Robin?”

“Yeah, I can see through walls and shit and I saw him do it. But how did you know, let alone make the fiend hurt him?”

“I just got angry that someone shot Robin, and then I cursed whoever did it. Wait… cursed? I also cursed Abby this morning. The vines are a curse. I cursed them, and my curse got him killed. Fuck, fuck, fuck…”

“What are you talking about? What curse? What vines?” Reiver snaps.

“My powers… I accidentally cursed him. He died because of my curse, because of me.”

“OK, I think I’m slightly less confused, but this is not the time for this. There’s a big fucking fiend outside, and you and your friend are in danger. They’re all patched up, but I’m going to need you to get them into one of these rooms to hide, so I can go help out with the fiend.”

I nod numbly in response. However, as if on cue, I am interrupted by the terrifying noise of harsh scratching, creaking, and hissing as a mass of bony blades and massive chitin plates writhes into view outside of the broken doorway. Shortly after seeing the alarming display begin, the creature suddenly surges toward the open door, hissing in unintelligible fury.

“GOD FUCKING DAMNIT!” Reiver shouts, drawing his pistol, “Why the hell is such a big fiend in this rift? I’m not equipped for this bastard.”

The creature crashes into the doorway, cracking the concrete walls and bending the metal frame. Fortunately, it is too wide to fit entirely through, but it does reach two unnaturally long segmented limbs down the hallway, each ending in a huge bone scythe. It claws the floor, walls, and ceiling trying to reach for us.

Reiver opens fire on the creature, but his bullets ricochet harmlessly off its black and green carapace as it pulls itself further down the hall.

I scream. Go away, go away! Then I think of the curses. Could I curse it? “DIE!” I cry. I can feel a connection being made, but it does not seem to be taking. “Please fucking work,” I silently plead, focusing as much as possible on strengthening the curse’s connection to the monster. A splitting headache starts to take root in my mind. Abruptly, something gives way, and the connection stabilises as ethereal vines start growing out of the giant fiend and wrapping around it. I can see the flare of purple light reflecting in my glasses.

Reiver’s next bullet hits with a crunch as the fiend’s shell cracks slightly, and my well of power grows. The next bullet lands with the same effect for both the fiend and me. Reiver glances my way before taking more precise aim at where the cracks are appearing. Each consecutive hit increases my power slightly. On the sixth shot, the shell splinters and buckles, causing the creature's shrieks to change from furious to pained. He continues firing again and again. Orange blood splatters out from the wound.

Despite the now entrenched connection, I still have to maintain my focus to make sure it stays that way.

Reiver's pistols click empty, and he begins to reload them. The fiend is now acting sluggishly and is trying to extricate itself from the doorway it has wedged itself in. Even its weakening cries were still loud enough to be felt in my chest.

Reiver begins firing again, and the beast slowly stops writhing as violently and eventually falls completely still. The ethereal vines begin to wilt, and the connection fades. The well of power overflowing.

“It’s dead,” I say with relief. Then, the headache returns with a vengeance. I clutch my head, groaning in agony. The edges of my vision grow dark.

Reiver rushes toward me as the darkness encroaches ever further into my vision. I can feel my legs refusing to keep me standing anymore, and I begin to fall before everything goes black.