As haunting as her words sounded, Cris didn’t believe the girl in front of him. She was just a little kid. He knew what little kids could be like. They didn’t realize the things they were saying, and they would say things to get a reaction. That’s all this girl wanted. Her friends had probably put her up to it. Or better yet…an older student.

  “You should watch your mouth, kid,” Cris snarled, trying to stand taller and look as intimidating as possible. “I don’t like little brats.”

  “Please call me Anna, Icarus.”

  “Don’t call me Icarus.”

  “Very well. Cris, then?” Anna smiled in a sickeningly sweet way. Her eyes were bright red, and as she pulled back the hood that had been over her head from her black cloak, Cris noticed how horribly pale she was.

  “Are you…okay?” Cris couldn’t help but ask. This girl looked like she needed some sun and maybe a couple pints of blood.

  “Hmm…that depends on how this goes, I think. Would you mind following me?” She turned, her cloak blowing in the breeze momentarily. As Cris stared at it, though, his eyes widened as he was sure he noticed it appearing to warp in the air.

  Was it stupid to follow? Maybe it was. Nonetheless, he did.

  “Where is it you want to go?” he asked as he followed the girl down a street heading towards an Egyptian stretch of the city.

  “Somewhere a little more private…” Anna glanced back at him, her eyes glowing as they walked between two buildings producing a little more shade. Suddenly, the air was colder. It felt thicker. Cris noticed the weird warping again as he tried to focus.

  A moment later, they were somewhere else. Well, they were and they weren’t. Cris could still see the city around them. He could even reach out and touch the building they were next to. But there was a…tint to the world around them. And a chill. Along the ground, thick, black shadows swirled around like snakes. Above them, a dull, red glow filtered from the sky.

  “I can’t pull you directly into Hell, but you are able to temporarily walk through the barrier between realms.”

  “Directly into what? Walk in the what between what?” Cris spun around, trying to take in the strange sights, sounds and sensations around him. It was…bizarre. And so cold, but also so hot. Almost like the shadows were trying to both burn and freeze him. Only the warmth in his chest seemed to regulate it, and he focused on that.

  Anna studied him closely, narrowing her glowing red eyes. “Interesting. I’d hoped you’d be a little more off balance. Already fighting off Hell’s Shadow with your Spirit Guide.”

  “No idea what that means,” Cris said, returning the glare. “So what’s this? A little trick from your Spirit Guide?”

  Anna smiled. “Something like that.”

  Cris clenched his fists, glancing around once more, before turning his gaze back to the little girl. He supposed this was a little more than a little kid trying to get a reaction out of him after all. “Okay, I guess you are a little freak, huh? So what is it you did to David? I saw a demon with him that night. Not you. So why are you claiming to have done it?”

  Anna sighed, twirling a finger through her hair. “I don’t really feel like getting into all that, Icarus.”

  “Cris.”

  “Right. I apologize.” The way she spoke was very unnerving. She enunciated better than most adults. It was somewhat infantilizing.

  “You introduced yourself saying you killed David. So you might as well tell me what you mean.” Cris felt his hand slipping into his bag where the dagger he’d bought earlier was sitting.

  Anna noticed, watching his hand, but not appearing particularly bothered. “I take responsibility for the actions of my pets. Well, mostly due to the fact that they act on my orders.”

  “So you claim to control demons?” Cris laughed, although given what he’d suggested to Heidi, part of him was nervous. “I’m told that’s impossible.”

  “Your kind believes too much in the purity of spirits.”

  “I’m not exactly grouped into their kind yet,” Cris said quickly. He finally pulled out his dagger. As he did, a shadow seemed to dart up from the ground, he reflexively slashed at it. It hissed and dissipated as he did so.

  Anna watched in interest. “I’m glad to hear that.”

  “And why is that?” Cris held the dagger tightly, narrowing his eyes as he looked up at her.

  Anna smiled, the glow in her eyes dimming somewhat as she did so. She almost looked like a normal little girl. The pale, almost bloodless skin didn’t help, though. “I would very much like you to be our kind.”

  “You claim to have killed my best friend,” Cris pointed out. “That’s not a very good recruitment pitch.”

  Anna nodded. “Indeed.” There was a low growl in the distance behind her, lurking deep within the thickest shadows. “Hush…” Anna whispered, glancing back.

  “I thought demons couldn’t enter Babylon.” Cris’ eyes darted around, trying to find where the creature was.

  “They can’t,” Anna said quickly. “What you’re hearing is from across the boundary. If I summoned a demon through, it would die very quickly. Even faster if I brought us fully back into Babylon.”

  Cris unfortunately wasn’t sure what he could believe. Still, he supposed if this girl wanted to kill him, and could kill him, he wouldn’t be standing here right now. He looked around again, trying to focus enough to see the streets of Babylon. He could see people passing by, but they didn’t seem to notice either him or Anna.

  “I could bring him back, you know…”

  “Huh?” Cris glared at the girl again. “What are you saying?”

  “Heaven and Hell are very real places,” Anna explained. “As is Purgatory. In fact, we are in something a little similar to Purgatory right now.” She smiled softly, shaking her head. “Never mind that, though. We could find David easily enough, you and I. Bring him back.”

  “And what would he be like if we did that?” Cris wasn’t stupid. He’d read stories where heroes tried to bring back the dead. It never worked out. He was pretty sure this was no different.

  “Oh, he’d be…changed. Certainly changed.” Anna placed a hand on her chest, almost as though she were truly sorry. “Marked by Hell…his soul cannot simply be brought back in one piece.”

  “What does that mean?” Cris took a step forward, ignoring the growl from the shadows.

  Anna giggled in an extremely creepy way. Like some kind of horror movie child. In a way, that’s exactly what she was. The giggle even echoed around them. “David was in the process of Awakening his Spirit Guide. In his final moments, he did manage to reach out to it. But as you’ve seen, it’s not so easy. He consumed too much power at once, leaving himself weak and vulnerable. My pet was able to consume much of his Spirit Guide and…leave a little room.”

  Cris lunged forward, grabbing Anna quickly, even causing the girl to gasp in surprise. He held her cloak, just underneath her throat. “What the hell are you saying, you little bitch?”

  “That’s not the kind of thing you say to a sweet little girl like me, Cris,” Anna said with a smile. She snapped her fingers.

  “AGH!” Cris suddenly found himself writhing on the ground. His chest was screaming in pain. His brain felt like it was on fire. All he could see was white light. Flashes came before his eyes. He saw himself as a baby reaching out to empty space. He saw his first foster parent kicking him aside. He saw himself lying in the street, beaten and bloodied. He saw David’s dead body. He saw Finn and Elsa thrown aside by the demon at the convenience store. He saw Heidi’s pained face as she told him about her mother.

  It stopped as soon as it began.

  Panting, Cris scrambled to his feet, grabbing at his dagger quickly, seeing that it had dropped. He held it up again, realizing he’d rolled further away from Anna. “What the hell was that?”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  “The Fury’s Wrath.” Anna narrowed her eyes. “You held out quite well, Cris. You’ve become numb to the horrors of your past. Very interesting to see what troubles you in your present, however. I thought you saw yourself as a lone wolf.”

  “Meaning?”

  “There’s a great deal of…devotion in you.” Anna sounded older now. And very unimpressed.

  “Yeah, I’m devoted to beating the hell out of you.”

  “An interesting saying.” Anna smirked again, wagging her fingers and manipulating the shadows around herself. “Wrath. One of the great sins. To be used to combat a demonic soul…”

  “You sure like to talk.” Cris raised his dagger higher. “Now what the hell did you do to David?”

  Anna rolled her eyes. “Oh nothing much. His soul is simply unable to pass into Heaven. When a Spirit Guide is consumed in such a way…well…he’ll be lingering in Purgatory until Hell grasps at his now marked soul. Then, I suspect he will become a demon.”

  Cris’ eyes widened. “He’ll become a…what?”

  “It’s not what I wish,” Anna said, eyeing Cris carefully. “We can recover him. Like I said. But he will need…something to fill the gap of his Spirit Guide.”

  “And then what?” Cris felt tears sting his eyes, but he knew he couldn’t let whatever Anna was talking about happen. “And then he becomes something like you?”

  Anna smiled, appearing quite excited. “Ah! You figured it out!”

  “I don’t really know what I’ve figured out,” Cris said. “I can tell you’re a twisted little shit, though.”

  “Now now…let’s be nice.” Anna waved her hand, sending away the shadows that were swirling around her. “It’s up to you what we do with David. I’ll leave his soul be for now. He’ll be in Purgatory for many years regardless. What I’m really here for, Cris, is you.”

  “You want me to join you.”

  “Yes. Definitely.”

  “I’m not going to.”

  Anna sighed. “That is regrettable. Please do think about it, though. At the very least, I hope you know this place is not right for you.”

  Cris laughed. “Seems like it’s where I’m supposed to be actually.”

  Anna shook her head, an angry glow in her eyes. “This is a warning from Hell, Cris. Take it very seriously. It is not in anyone’s best interest to have you in Babylon.”

  “Care to explain why? I get the feeling that if it’s a bad thing for you that I’m here, then it’s actually a good thing.” Cris tightened his hold on the dagger and focused on the warmth in his chest. The blade began to glow.

  Anna flinched somewhat. It was barely noticeable, but it made Cris smile. “I will return, Cris,” she said. “You will not be welcome here very soon. Do be careful of flying too close to the sun.”

  Cris blinked, and she was gone. And suddenly, the world around him was normal again. No red glow in the sky. No shadows lurking around. No demons growling in the distance. Just the hustle and bustle of Babylon.

  He quickly put his dagger away, looking around for any kind of sign of Anna being somewhere, or something that could lead him to her. He was conflicted, fear of whatever she was capable of, and a hunger for vengeance if she truly was the one responsible for David’s death.

  She must be responsible, he thought.

  How could she not be? She’d taken him into some kind of other world. A barrier or whatever she’d called it. She’d controlled those evil shadows. There was the now familiar sound of a demon in the distance.

  “I was right,” he said aloud. “There are things that can control demons.”

  Surely there was someone who knew about this possibility. Why was there this weird obsession with saying it was not possible? Why were people so sure that something that just made logical sense couldn’t happen? Was it taboo? Did they think it was some kind of bad luck thing to acknowledge it?

  Maybe there just wasn’t enough information. He knew of plenty of situations where lack of information was enough to make people not want to acknowledge something that was still likely a problem. If someone didn’t know something, it was scarier. Thus, simply telling themselves it wasn’t there was a way to protect from that darkness.

  Cris knew he needed to get more information. He needed to find Anna. He needed to take her prisoner somehow. He could use his dagger. He wasn’t sure what trick she had played to knock him down before, but he could figure a way out of it. He had to do this. Not just for David. Anna wanted something. And for some reason, it had something to do with Cris.

  He took off. He wasn’t sure where he was looking, but he found himself searching everywhere. He looked inside shops, restaurants and even glanced through the windows of houses. He crossed street after street and into a different section of the city, not even noticing what style it was designed in.

  There was no sign of Anna, or anything that could lead Cris to her. However, he did spot something that could help him. Or rather…someone.

  “Finn!”

  “Huh? Oh, hey man!”

  Finn looked delighted for some reason, turning around when Cris called his name and waving. He had a burger in his hand, along with a bag full of various trinkets. Cris supposed he’d been having a good day shopping.

  “I need you to help me with something.”

  Finn blinked in surprise and stared dumbfounded at Cris. “You want me to what now? The Cris Parker is asking me for help?” He grinned. “Is this about your date with Heidi?”

  “What?” Cris narrowed his eyes. “How’d you know I was with her?” Finn made a clicking sound in response and Cris rolled his eyes. “Whatever, never mind that. I just met a little girl. A really creepy little girl.”

  “They’re the worst,” Finn said with a nod, taking a bite of his burger. “Shum of jem leave jeh whole workjop in a mesh.”

  Cris backed up a step, avoiding the food spraying from Finn’s mouth. “I don’t mean that. She said…she said she killed David.”

  Finn’s expression became serious in a flash. “What?”

  Cris nodded. “And she…she did something that made me think she wasn’t just messing around.” He explained the shadowy otherworld that they’d been brought to, Finn’s face turning more pale the longer the explanation went on.

  “What in the…” Finn dropped his burger. “How…”

  “Can you find her?” Cris asked. “With your echolocation?”

  Finn bit his lip nervously. “I don’t know. I don’t really know what I’m looking for.” He closed his eyes and started making clicking noises.

  “Just look for a little girl,” Cris snapped. “We’ll narrow it down.”

  Finn opened one eye. “Try to pick your words more carefully dude.” He closed his eye again and continued clicking. After a moment, he paused. “Weird…”

  “Find something?” Cris asked.

  Finn nodded. “I found a kid…” He clicked a few more times. “There’s someone…AGH!”

  Cris jumped back as Finn suddenly fell to the ground. “Whoa! You all right?” Cris reached out, helping Finn back to his feet as he shook his head.

  “Yeah, I…” Finn blinked a few times and shook his head once more. “Something…interfered. I don’t know…it was like a high pitched noise and then felt like a flash in my head. But it was dark? Kind of weird.”

  “So she’s hiding from you?” Cris clenched his fists, looking around anxiously. “Can we find her based on what you saw?”

  “Couldn’t really narrow down where she was,” Finn said. “Just kind of towards the edge of the city. And she’ll probably have moved.”

  “If she’s still here, that’s not good.”

  “Good point, Sherlock,” Finn said. “There’s really only one thing we should do in this case.”

  “What?” Cris felt he knew the answer.

  “We need to tell Mr. Rainier.”

  Anna tilted her head as she felt the spirit energy reaching out to her. All it took was a slight wave of her hand to dismiss it. She wasn’t surprised by the pathetic attempt. She’d figured Cris would seek her out.

  Deciding she needed a little more privacy, however, she crossed back through the barrier with her prey. No little Spirit Guide tricks would reach them there.

  “Wh-Wh-What is this?” the poor soul in front of her stammered out. He was already squirming on the ground before this, begging for mercy. Now he looked even more pathetic.

  “Just a place for us to discuss next moves.”

  “N-Next moves?”

  Anna smiled, kneeling down and stroking the man’s head. “You’ve failed me, my pathetic servant. You need to redeem yourself.”

  The man froze, and Anna stood back up, grinning as she watched the shadows surround him, circling around his face, his arms, and then his legs. He screamed in terror. It was satisfying, but as much as fear and despair sated her, Anna did enjoy Cris Parker’s bravery much more in comparison. It was…different. Interesting.

  “Now…where were we?” Anna asked, tapping her chin in thought. “Yes…we have a situation on our hands.”

  “Mm! Hmm! Mmm!” the man below her mumbled in fear, his mouth bound by the shadows. Anna snapped her fingers and they melted away, although he remained bound. “I don’t…I don’t know what you need me to do…Master.”

  Anna sighed. “I must admit…your strategy and manipulations for the current plan were not…entirely the wrong approach. It keeps you useful to me at the very least, regardless of whether Parker is removed from the board in Babylon or not.”

  “Th-Then what is the problem?”

  “He is Awakening too quickly.” Anna frowned, thinking of his glowing dagger. And the hesitance of the shadows. “And when he does…”

  The man below squealed like a pig as the shadows tightened around him. “Ah! I’m sorry. I should have…known.”

  “No…you couldn’t have,” Anna murmured, the shadows still tightening. “He is…very intriguing. At any rate, he will no doubt make it through these…Academy Games. And when those councilors see his power and potential, there will be no going back.”

  The man moaned quietly and Anna finally allowed the shadows to loosen somewhat. After a moment, he weakly responded. “He…could be…made to fail.”

  “Well I certainly hope that’s the plan. However, I doubt very much you’re capable of such a thing.”

  “The games will be in the Labyrinth. The staff won’t be able to monitor everything down there. Death is not…impossible.”

  Anna was almost amused. How quickly these people were willing to turn to such violent measures to preserve their own well being. But she was actually angered by the statement, her red eyes flashing dangerously. “I do not want him dead. He’s mine. I can use him. He could be Hell’s greatest warrior.”

  “We can ensure he lives,” the man said. “W-We…can frame him for killing his companions? He’s known for his dark nature. A s-suiting boy to be your warrior.”

  Anna wasn’t sure that was as much of a compliment as the man tried to make it out to be, but she let it pass. “Too much death at this time could arouse too much suspicion.” She wasn’t against the idea completely, however.

  “Then perhaps wound his companions? Or…target him with Echoes? W-Wound him directly?”

  Anna considered the idea. “Are Echoes planned for this event?”

  “Certainly. The Labyrinth always uses Echoes.”

  “Who summons them?”

  “The council, of course. And members of the staff.”

  Anna had to admit, the idea had its merits. This man didn’t know the full extent of her abilities, though. He didn’t realize just what she would be able to do with this idea. “Can you ensure the strongest Echoes are used?”

  “I…I can do that, yes.” He was sounding too relieved, apparently thinking he had escaped her wrath. Anna tightened the shadows once more to make a point.

  “You will do this.”

  “I will.”

  Anna smiled, turning slightly as she heard a demon growling in the distance behind her. “These games are sure to be interesting.”

  Anna did like games after all. And with all these tools at her disposal, perhaps she would be able to create some interesting twists. Everything was on the table as far as she was concerned.

  “Icarus Parker…I look forward to welcoming you to Hell.”