Turning their heads, they saw only emptiness — no signs of a fight, and Ruby was gone.
"Maybe she already went to Alaric," Elijah said.
"Do you still have strength to run?" Lucien asked, already preparing himself.
"Not really, but if needed, I won't fall behind," Elijah replied.
Ignoring exhaustion, they dashed forward. Several dozen minutes passed before they finally saw Alaric standing at the entrance to the mansion grounds.
"Where is Ruby?" Lucien exhaled.
"I don't know. I already finished all the work, although there wasn't a demon with me," Alaric replied.
Looking at the boys, desperately gasping for air, it hit him that this was deliberately arranged.
"It can't be… we were split up on purpose, to take us out one by one," Alaric whispered with wide eyes.
"How could I let this happen… I failed to protect anyone again. Could it be that very demon from that cabin?„ flashed through his mind.
Elijah collapsed onto the ground.
"Damn… who could've thought we'd be fooled like little kids. We relaxed too much."
Lucien stepped closer to Alaric, grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him toward himself:
"What do we do? How can we find her?" Lucien asked with crazed eyes.
"That, I don't know. The chance of finding her is almost zero," Alaric replied.
After several minutes of complete silence, they decided to return to the organization, hoping to find Ruby there.
On the way, not a single word was spoken. Each of them drowned in their own thoughts — how could they let this happen.
Upon arriving at the organization, they rushed straight to Ruby's room, but opening the door only brought disappointment — it was empty.
"Damn… the thing I didn't want to believe in has happened," Alaric muttered. His face was empty, and his soul crushed.
"NO! We can't give up! I'll tear all of them apart!" Lucien shouted and punched the wall.
"Calm down, Lucien. There's nothing we can do… Ruby is probably no longer alive," Elijah replied.
"Shut up! I won't give up anyway. I will find her and bring her back to us!" Lucien shouted and headed to his room.
Elijah looked around — but Alaric was already gone.
"He probably went to his laboratory,„ flashed through his mind.
A couple minutes later, Elijah was in his own room. Entering, he saw Lucien staring intently out the window.
"Waiting for her to return?" he asked.
No answer — only dead silence.
An hour passed in complete stillness. Elijah sat at the table drawing something, while Lucien kept staring out the window.
In sixty minutes, they didn't once look at each other.
Suddenly, Lucien broke the silence:
"I'm heading back to that bridge. Are you coming, Elijah?"
Elijah leaned his head back, resting against the chair, and replied:
"What's the point? We won't find her. You heard the teacher — he said the chances are very small."
"I see," Lucien said and left the room.
Walking through several colorful corridors, he remembered he had forgotten his book before stepping outside.
"Without it, demons will sense my energy from miles away,„ he thought.
Returning, he felt a horrible smell of blood near the door.
"Blood?„ Lucien thought and abruptly opened the door.
In the middle of the room — a large pool of blood seeping into the fox-fur carpet.
Next to it lay Elijah. His stomach was pierced through, his eyes frozen in an expression of shock, and in his hands he clutched a small piece of paper.
"No… no! Don't die, do you hear me?! Elijah!" Lucien muttered, lifting his friend's body.
But Elijah Blackthorn was already dead — at the age of sixteen, at 13:13.
Carrying the lifeless body, Lucien's eyes shimmered faintly.
He rushed to Alaric's laboratory. Thoughts crushed him along the way:
"This is your fault… you left him alone. Your selfishness killed Elijah.„
Reaching the door, he shouted as loud as he could, but no one came out. His strength fading, he dropped Elijah's body to the floor and threw the door open.
Inside, a new blow awaited him. Seeing the horrific sight, he collapsed to his knees.
Alaric, unable to bear the fact that he once again failed to protect those dear to him, had hanged himself.
Alaric Thorn died at the age of twenty — at 13:10.
Lucien's eyes widened even more. He pressed his hands to the floor, unable to believe what he saw.
A rustle caught his attention. Behind Alaric stood Ruby — but no longer in human form.
Pale skin, four arms, two of them covered in blood up to the elbows.
But her eyes… those same scarlet eyes were still human. Tears streamed from them.
The last thing she managed to say before plunging the broken chair leg into her own heart was:
"Forgive me, Lucien… I didn't want to kill them… they forced me."
Ruby Ashbell died at the age of sixteen — at 13:16.
Unable to withstand such overwhelming psychological pressure, Lucien's body ignited with flames.
Boards, stones — everything melted in seconds.
At the last moment, other exorcists and the head of the organization burst into the room.
Seeing the scene, Volbus immediately ordered a girl named Fiyuki to disable him.
Lucien didn't even have time to see her move — her speed was inhuman.
He only felt a light touch on his neck, and the light in his eyes began to fade.
The last thing he heard were the words of old Volbus:
"We were too late… unfortunately."
Opening his eyes, Lucien saw Volbus sitting opposite, reading another line from a new book.
"Old man… what happened? What about the guys?" Lucien asked, holding his head.
"To be direct, Lucien. No one from your group survived. They all died," he replied without lifting his eyes from the book.
"How?.. What?.. Wait! What do you mean 'no one'? I don't believe you, old man, don't talk nonsense! Tell me it's just a bad dream, right?!" Lucien said, barely holding back tears.
"Unfortunately, no. I wish I could say something different, but I can't. Listen, Lucien," Volbus said, putting the book aside. He looked straight into Lucien's eyes and added:
"What happened was something I couldn't foresee. These were not ordinary demons — but some of the highest. They knew exactly what they were doing.
All this time I wasn't just reading these books, I was searching for matches. And this is what I found: most likely there are three of them — Valtorius, Syntherion, and Abizar.
I never told you about your past. The organization found you just after birth, and near you — only bones. Presumably your parents. But there's one thing: a newborn wouldn't survive alone for so long. That means you were born while they were still alive, and then something happened… and nothing remained of them but bones.
Now I'm searching for the answer: why only bones remained from them, and how you managed to survive," Volbus said, pacing the room.
"I don't care about my past! Tell me, old man, is there a way to bring them back? They were so young… and each had their own goals," Lucien said.
"No," Volbus answered coldly, but firmly.
"DAMN IT! I'll destroy those damn demons!" Lucien shouted, slamming his fist on the table.
Volbus approached, placed his palm on Lucien's head and quietly said:
"Calm down. This won't help. Give me time — I'll fix everything."
Lucien leaned his head back, his gaze fixed on the ceiling. For the first time, he didn't know what to do or how to act.
Suddenly, a knock sounded at the front door.
Thank you for reading the chapter. I'll be glad for every comment and will gladly answer your questions. You can learn more on the Discord server. I'm really looking forward to seeing each of you there.