Marcus/Rocco
The moment Noah told me tear had opened near the
training grounds, I knew Darren was right.
The tears really did begin from here. But how? And
why?
I also knew we didn't have all the answers.
As Noah and I sprinted through the hallways, every
alarm in the manor continued blaring overhead.
The sound echoed through the ancient corridors like a
warning. Or a countdown.
By the time we reached the entrance, everyone else was
already gathered outside.
Callie stood beside Seraphina, her whip wrapped around
one arm. Riley gripped her metal batons and Noah moved to my side.
The air itself felt wrong. Heavy and charged. Like a
thunderstorm waiting to break.
"What happened?" Seraphina didn't waste time.
"The readings exploded minutes ago." Her expression
tight. Tense. The kind she wore before difficult hunts. Only worse.
"The tear isn't within the manor, if you're
wondering."
"Then where?"
"The old training grounds." A chill slid down my
spine. That made no sense.
The training grounds sat on the eastern side of the
estate, almost a kilometre from the manor itself. It didn't seem connected yet
I knew it was.
I glanced at Valen. He stood nearby, hands tucked into
his pockets. Watching.
"Let's move." Seraphina took off running. We followed
immediately.
The estate blurred past. Trees. Stone paths. Fields.
The familiar landscape I had spent my childhood exploring. The same grounds
where Callie and I had played hide-and-seek.
The same trails where Livia and Darren used to race
me. The same estate I'd spent years not knowing existed."
Ahead of us, the sky had changed. Dark clouds churned
above the training grounds. Red flickered inside them. Reality seemed
distorted.
Twisted. Like someone had grabbed the world and bent
it out of shape. Then we reached the clearing. And every single one of us
stopped.
The tear towered above the training grounds. It wasn't
merely large. It was monstrous. The largest tear I'd ever seen.
The largest tear Seraphina had ever seen judging by
the look on her face. A jagged wound stretched through the air itself.
Darkness poured from it. Not darkness like night. More
like something alive and hungry. The edges cracked with red energy.
The surrounding ground had split apart beneath the
pressure. Trees nearest to it had been uprooted entirely. For several seconds
we didn't speak or move.
Callie broke the silence. "That's… new?" no one could
respond.
At the edge of the clearing, near the safety of the
tree line, Darren and Livia stood beside one of the Cars. Exactly where
Seraphina had ordered them to stay.
Mostly because Darren refused to hide and demanded to
see the tear.
Darren clutched a tablet. His finger moved rapidly
across the screen. Livia stood beside him, eyes fixed on the tear. Even from
her I could see how pale she looked. I couldn't blame her. The thing was
terrifying.
Darren suddenly looked up. His face lost what little
colour remained. "Seraphina!" she turned.
"What?"
"The readings are still climbing!" my stomach dropped.
Still climbing? The tear wasn't stable.
It was growing.
Then something crawled out. A clawed hand emerged from
the darkness. Then another. Then a third. Demons began dropping into the
clearing.
One after another. Then dozens. The moment their feet
touched the ground, Seraphina drew her sword. Silver flashed across the blade.
"Positions!" everything exploded into motion. The
first demon reached me. I stepped forward instinctively. My blades moved. Steel
flashed.
The creature dissolved into black smoke. Another
replaced it. Then another. And another.
There were too many. Far too many. Callie's whip
cracked like thunder beside me.
A demon was ripped off its feet and slammed into the
ground hard enough to shatter stone.
Nearby, Noah moved through the battlefield with his
tonfas spinning. His fighting style looked effortless and fluid.
The bracelet pulsed slightly, knowing it is what's
powering everyone.
Riley fought beside him. Her metal batons flashed
repeated as she struck demons out of the air.
For a while it worked. We held the line. Then the tear
expanded again. The entire clearing shook. The ground beneath my feet cracked.
Everyone staggered. And the pressure doubled. I felt
it then. Something was coming. Much worse than the ones we've seen.
Valen felt it too. I could tell from the way his eyes
narrowed. The way his attention locked onto the tear.
The amusement he usually carried vanished completely.
That scared me more than the demons.
A scream echoed across the clearing. I turned. A demon
had knocked and scratched Riley making her hit the ground hard.
Three others rushed toward her. My heart stopped.
Callie's whip snapped forward. One demon's neck broke instantly.
Noah intercepted another. The third nearly reached
Riley before she drove a baton straight through its chest. The creature
vanished. But it had been close. Far too close.
The battle continued and slowly we started losing
ground. Because there were simply too many of them. Every time one fell,
another climbed through the tear.
Every time we gained space, we lost it again. And we
don't have unlimited stamina. We'd eventually run out of energy and then we'd
be done for.
Another shockwave erupted from the tear. Stronger than
the last. The force nearly knocked me off my feet. Across the clearing, Darren
stumbled backward into the car.
His tablet slipped from his hands. Livia grabbed his
arm before he fell. The look of pure panic on her face from watching us.
The darkness inside it shifted. I realized we weren't
looking into empty space. Something was there. Something enormous.
Watching us. My entire body went cold. The silhouette
was massive. Larger than a building. Far beyond the opening.
Waiting. I couldn't make out details. Only shape and
presence. But that was enough. Every instinct I possessed screamed the same
thing. Run.
"What is that?" I whispered to Valen who stood beside
me.
He didn't respond at first. His gaze remained fixed on
the tear. The massive shadow shifted again. Taking a single step forward.
The entire clearing trembled. My pulse hammered. Even
Seraphina had stopped fighting. She was staring. And for the first time, I saw
pure fear.
The thing beyond the tear moved closer. Not through
it, toward it. As if preparing to cross. As if testing the barrier. The
pressure became unbearable. Several demons collapsed beneath it.
Even breathing became difficult. Valen's expression
hardened. For a brief moment something flashed across his face.
Recognition. Not surprised like us. As though he knew
exactly what was staring back at us. And wished he didn't. that realization
chilled me.
"Valen." My voice sounded small. Even to me. "What is
that?"
He remained silent for a moment. Then looked at me.
And I understood how serious this was. Because Valen wasn't amused or sarcastic
or mocking. He looked genuinely concerned.
The expression vanished almost immediately. But I'd
seen it and that was enough. The massive took another step. The tear shuddered
violently.
Cracks spread through the air around it.
Then Valen spoke. And the words froze my blood.
"Rocky." His eyes never left the tear. "Tell Seraphina
to run. Towards the manor."
My heart dropped.
Because Valen never ran from anything.