In mid-crawl, the creature sprang to its feet. Standing so tall its head nearly hit the ceiling, it had scaly, grayish skin, and contrary to the carnage proving its voracity, was thin to the point of emaciation. The demon’s piercing screech rent the air as it lunged at Rodrigo.

Self-preservation overrode shock, forcing him to stumble back. Still, the creature’s claws tore through his jacket and raked down his shoulder, slicing it into a gory mess. The pain didn’t register immediately. But as the creature licked his blood from its claws, its eyes rolling back into its head in euphoria, Rodrigo collapsed. He screamed at a pitch he hadn’t been able to reach since hitting puberty. His shoulder felt like it was on fire, far eclipsing any pain he had ever experienced.

Rodrigo clutched his shoulder, like that would keep it from splitting apart. The blood flowing down his chest, the blinking overhead light, and the nauseating reek of death and decay were paralyzing.

“Exit the building, now!” Resent commanded. The desperate shout echoing in his head wrenched him back from the brink of despair.

Jett was trembling, crossing himself in prayer repeatedly as he edged farther up the hallway to help somehow.

Rodrigo scrambled away from the creature and onto his feet. Willing his quivering lips to form words, he choked out, “No! Find another way out, away from the kids!”

Jett bolted back downstairs. Ignoring his cousin, the twitching creature slashed at Rodrigo again. The taste of fresh blood must have driven it berserk, because it swung wildly at his head and missed, burying its claws deep in the wall. He was backing away at a glacial pace, watching the frenzied creature in horrified fascination.

“Down here!” Jett shouted as the creature ripped its claws out and escaped.

Rodrigo made a break for the staircase, but tripped over a severed arm so small it must have belonged to a child half his brother’s age. He pitched forward and tumbled down the steps, spitting out a string of the worst curses in his vocabulary.

“Ruy!” Jett yelled, turning back for him.

“Keep going!” Rodrigo got up and ran. He could hear the creature in pursuit as it dragged its claws against the walls, and now, it was hissing. He saw the window Jett had opened and vaulted over the windowsill after him, not daring to look back. “Take the kids and run!”

“Oh God! Don’t die, man,” Jett said as he rushed away.

The creature crashed through the raised windowpane, shattering it, and landing nimbly on its bare feet, not looking hurt in the slightest. It trampled over shards of glass toward Rodrigo and slashed down at him. He smashed the nebulae into the ground, just in time to ascend out of the way. But with the monster’s height and hands that reached its knees, a hop was enough to rob any notion of the sky granting him safety.

Rodrigo cried out in agony as the creature’s claws gouged a chunk of flesh out of his left thigh. He smacked into the pavement, bleeding profusely from his leg as darkness threatened to overtake his vision. This thing was going to murder and eat him.

The creature craned its neck up, sniffing the air like a bloodhound, and turning to where Raquel and Carlito last were.

“I must have been deranged to think you could be useful and kill it,” Resent said as he took the reins. “Eyes over here, you putrid beast!”

The creature hissed and spun, dashing at Resent with its claws set low enough to gut him. Resent dodged and attempted to sweep its feet from under it, but the monster was faster. It cackled as it caught Resent by his ankle in a crushing grip, hoisted him over its head, and slammed him into the concrete.

The prince recovered within a second, rolling into a heel kick to the creature’s wrist that broke its hold on his other leg. He engulfed his right fist in the nebulae, and slid between the creature’s legs. The creature whirled as Resent rose behind it and swung at its chest. It ignored the approaching attack and stabbed for Resent’s throat. However, the strike was powerful enough to send it spinning backward as something in its sternum audibly cracked and its claws missed.

Resent’s eyes gleamed with exhilaration, his typical hubris replaced with something far more primal. “Come on then. You’ve gone and stirred my bloodlust. Don’t disappoint me now.”

For a moment, the creature wavered. It couldn’t have been used to its prey putting up such a fight. But it quickly regained its ferocity and rushed at Resent. Before clashing with Resent’s punch, the creature’s claws veered under his fist, slicing the tendons and ligaments in his wrist.

Resent growled as he jumped backward. He coiled nebulae tightly around the wound to form a makeshift bandage, aiming to avoid hemorrhaging as it regenerated. Beneath the tattered, bloodied fabric of his jacket, Rodrigo’s shoulder could already be seen eerily mending itself back together, as if rewinding time.

Resent put his left arm under his crippled right. His nebulae shot forward, trying to trap the creature inside a twister, but it slipped away. Then the creature squatted, stuck its long claws into the ground, and waited for it to subside. Rodrigo was wondering if that attack ever worked, when something clicked.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

“If we switched right now, would the twister keep going?” Rodrigo wasn’t sure. Every time he had traded places with the prince, his nebulae had dissipated. “I’ve got an idea.”

Resent hesitated for a long moment. “Fine. Don’t get me killed.”

As Rodrigo was returned control, greeted by a fresh wave of mind-numbing pain from his lacerated wrist, Raquel and Carlito climbed through the broken window. They must have heard Rodrigo and Jett screaming at the top of their lungs and come to investigate. He just hoped they spared themselves the nightmare fuel of the second floor.

“Bro, w-what’s going on h-here?” Carlito stammered, his tan face drained of color. The monster with its claws plunged into the ground, the twister of nebulae, and his brother covered in blood must have made quite the picture.

“Who? Who the hell is that?” Raquel demanded, aiming her phone at the creature like she was filming a Tiktok video. “Is this a prank? Payback for us calling you chickens?”

Woozy from blood loss, Rodrigo didn’t have time to explain or drive them away. While the twister was ongoing, the creature was defenseless. He brought a shaky left hand up in front of him and focused. A nebulous sphere the size of a handball burst from his palm and launched forward.

“This was your grand plan? Have you not been paying...” Resent stopped as two black tendrils protruded from the sphere. Rodrigo had envisioned the spiked tips stabbing through the the crook of the creature’s elbows, making it lose its grip on the ground. Instead, using only its claws for balance, the creature lifted and held its entire body weight in the air. Raising both legs high, with its heels, the creature kicked the pair of spikes downward, straight into the concrete.

Raquel’s phone clattered to the ground. “Am I crazy? Could’ve swore I just saw...”

As the twister dissipated, the creature yanked its claws free and got to its feet.

Carlito had retreated through the window, and was crouching as he peeked out from inside the house.

“For God’s sake, come on, you two!” Jett shouted as he came around the corner. “The only reason Ruy’s not running is to give you a chance to stay alive!”

“Fat chance of me leaving my brother behind.” Raquel picked up one of the house’s loose bricks and chucked it at the creature’s head. As if composed of rubber, the brick ricocheted off the monstrous face. The creature’s eyes darted onto her and she shuddered, taking a big step back. Her determination evaporated by the time the creature hissed, striding in her direction. The sound alone made Raquel trip and sent her crawling backward until she hit the wall.

Now that the creature was mere meters away, and any delusions it was a giant homeless lunatic were torpedoed, Carlito shrieked and disappeared into the house, sprinting faster than Rodrigo ever thought his brother could.

Generating his electric armor, Jett dashed toward the creature in a blur of brilliant emerald light, and did a baseball slide that knocked it down.

Raquel wiped away welled up tears as she tried to steady her breathing. “Jett, t-that you?”

“Yeah! Now, get outta here before it kills—”

Rodrigo never heard the rest of what his cousin was shouting. Pain detonated in the back of his head and spine. The creature had bounced up and tackled him to the ground, kneeling over him with its claws hanging above his skull. He was a nanosecond from death as its rancid breath assailed his nostrils. Its near-perpetual snarl had curved into a grin, fangs parted for a feast.

A scorching blast of flame struck the creature’s hand, melting it. Rodrigo screamed as its liquefied flesh dripped on his face, scalding him. The creature leaped off him with a screech and bounded in the opposite direction until it was out of sight.

Rodrigo couldn’t even stand as he tried to unravel what had occurred. Blinking back tears of pain, he looked over his shoulder. As he saw the masked figure standing there, it was like he had traded one circle of Hell for another.

“Uh, Ruy, you know this guy?” Jett asked as he helped Rodrigo to his feet.

“You could say that. This is the demon that burned our house down.”

“Whoa, whoa,” Raquel said. “Demons? What are you talking about? They’re not real.”

“What else would you call that monster?” Carlito murmured. Though he was referring to the creature, his eyes were locked on Flint.

“Could’ve been some kind of rare animal...like Bigfoot or—”

“Hush,” Flint ordered as he passed Raquel by. He was making a beeline for Rodrigo. “Is your better half asleep on the job? That’s the only reason I can fathom you would be allowed to fight something of that caliber.”

Resent took over, and Flint stopped in his tracks.

“I figured as much,” Resent said.

“What?”

“In our last fight, the thrill of being in battle after so long made it difficult to think with clarity. In hindsight, I was struck by how odd it was you avoided hand-to-hand combat when I took control. Yet again, once we switched, you decided to keep your distance. Even after unleashing the full potential of this boy’s body, the competent demon you present yourself as should be strong enough to overpower me.”

Flint clapped slowly, seeming impressed by Resent’s deduction. “I never expected you to see through me. Good to know you weren’t just lounging around your castle all those years.”

“What’s happening?” Raquel asked Carlito.

“Remember when we sneaked out Friday night? The way bro told me, he was possessed by Resent...the Prince of Hell.”

Raquel stared blankly at him for a moment and then loosed a short high-pitched laugh. Carlito looked at her like she had lost her mind, but Rodrigo knew she didn’t believe him. She shook her head. “Do you know how stupid you sound right now? Maybe there was a gas leak in that house, or auntie fed us expired meat.”

“Pipe down, brats,” Resent snarled, making them both flinch, then returned his focus to Flint. “Awfully impudent for a pretender. I’ve had my share of experience with illusionists. Now, are you going to reveal yourself, or must I make you?”

“Check your arrogance. As you are, you couldn’t make me do a thing. That said, at this rate, if I leave the pair of you in the dark any longer, you’re guaranteed to get yourselves killed.” Flint reached up for the mask on his face.