Testimony

“Move idiot!”

I felt my strength return and rolled out of the closet just before the creature could grab me. The other arm reached out but I dove through the lower bunk bed into the middle of the room.

“Angie what do I do? Please take over, I can't deal with this!”

“Less talking, more running!”

The demon was too tall for the room and was hunched over the only exit. I had no choice but to go right through it.

I charged forward screaming in absolute terror. The creature extended its arms to grab me at point blank range, but then something indescribably happened—

The demon stopped frozen as if confused. At the same time I felt a strong feeling rise up in me that I’d never felt before that I was later able to label as “righteous indignation.”

I slid underneath its legs into the hallway.

“Okay how about now Angie…”

Holy shit…

The hallway was filled with the top-hatted demons. Some poked their heads out of the rooms, alerted to my presence. Were they specifically looking for me?

”It’s not that simple, I need to play defense to keep their terror away. You got this girl, just don’t stop moving and remember what you felt when you tapped into your kanon the first time in this hallway. Just not as crazy this time okay?”

That’s right... I had spoken out a curse against the upperclassmen and it had manifested into that dark ugly side of me.

All around me I was surrounded by evil that thirsted for my soul. What could I do against so much darkness? After all I’m just…

“Don’t believe their lies, I believe in you! I know who you are! Now believe in yourself for a change!”

Last time I had created a curse, now I needed a blessing.

I felt not just her voice in my heart but her arm round my shoulder. Inside of me I felt the warm burning of a small light—

“COME, LIGHT!”

The overflowing feeling of electricity surged across my body. The darkness was burned away with a startling shriek. The tall demons near me evaporated and the rest shrank away, covering their faceless heads.

Angie didn’t have to tell me this time, I ran with all my might down the hall towards the third story elevators. My body felt light as a feather. I was moving at incredible speeds I never dreamed of!

However behind me I could hear the darkness pursuing. They weren't going to give up so easily.

“You’re doing great, but you don’t have to hold your breath.”

Huh? Oh…

I had been holding my breath and my body collapsed mid stride without any oxygen.

Oof!

I fell head first to the floor and slid up to the elevator doors carried by momentum. If I grew up playing baseball, I’d say I would have stole base. Then the elevator opened—

Several Tall Men demons in the elevator laughed and taunted me.

“YuO cAN’t EScapE DEathhh…”

”Left side emergency stairs, go!”

I rolled and dodged away before they could grab me. They’re getting faster—hungrier, but more frustrated.

In fact the entire atmosphere was so thick in emotions it was like the words and concepts themselves were becoming a physical thing. There was no time to comprehend or analyze it, only running!

Inside the stairwell it looked clear of them but when I looked up my heart sank—

“This isn’t a stairwell!” I protested.

Indeed, it was a ladder system, and I would have to climb… a lot!

“You’re right how silly of me.” She said sarcastically, “Since you’re feeling up to it, let's fight it out in the elevator.”

“Son of a—”

“Language Angelica, language.” She joked.

The door leading in was ripped cleanly from its hinges. A long arm extended to grab me.

“—Bitch!”

››››››››››››››››››››››››››› / △ \ ‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹‹

The last thing Sable wanted to think about before she died was not her father, but the demon made sure to make her suffer until the very end. All she heard in her head was how disappointed the general was in everything she ever accomplished.

The Tall Man brought her up to its formless void of a face. This was it, she would be consumed—mind, body, and soul.

She felt her soul and the weight of her sins laid bare. The pain that shot out felt like her flesh was being peeled away—starting from her scalp.

One last thought crossed her mind, “I wonder what happened to that insufferable girl? What was her name again? Ah, Ange…”

And then a miracle happened, the insufferable girl tackled the demon.

Both screamed though Angelica’s yell was supposed to be a battle cry. The Tall Man however was angry, this human girl had interrupted its meal before the climax. It roared with fury.

Sable was too weak to move, but out of the corner of her eye she could see somebody fighting the demon hand to hand.

“Impossible. I must be hallucinating.”

Angelica hopped on top of the oval tables to dodge a grabbing arm. She backflipped just before a third arm broke the table into splinters.

“How am I doing this Angie? I’ve never done these moves before! What do you mean it’s a long story?”

To anyone else in the room it would have looked like Angelica was talking to herself.

While arguing with Angie one of the long arms slashed her. Angelica shrugged it off and charged it, decapitating the demon with a flying kick.

By now more and more Tall Men were cramming into the classroom.

“Shut up, we don’t have a choice, Sable is hurt.”

Sable thought she heard her name and weakly opened her eyes. She thought saw the fuzzy outline of a student standing on a desk—

Then the whole room went a dazzling warm white. It was like the entire world had melted away. She wondered if she had died and was seeing heaven.

Sable felt the light gave her strength and she was able to sit upright. Everywhere as far as the eye could see was a white with a warm light wrapping around from every direction.

Then a hand lowered down from above, she must have died after all. God must be bringing her to heaven.

She reached up her hand and grasped it. “I wonder what God looks like,” she wondered. She was about to find out. The hand pulled her up and the white began fading to reveal the face of—

An angel! She has kind blue eyes. The color of the ocean. I feel myself getting pulled into the eyes and her warm face…

No wait—

Angel.

Angel?

That girl?

THAT girl!

That girl smiled a cheerful warm greeting.

“Are you okay Sable?”

Sable was flabbergasted. Her eyes widened in surprise, then shock, then embarrassment.

Her brain malfunctioned and the logic circuits ceased its operation. All she could do was hold her mouth open trying to find the words to explain the cosmic ironic absurdity of being saved by the second most hated person in the world.

No words existed, so she stuttered a bumbling reply.

”W-w-wha-a-t, are you doing?”

Angelica, confident that Sable was more or less safe, ran back out into the hallway to prepare a defense. The horde had caught up, long arms reached around the corner of the hall.

“Angel?”

Angelica turned around, it was Lyla.

”Lyla, what are you doing here? It’s not safe!”

“There’s no way I’m running away. I may be small but I can support my friend.”

Angelica tried arguing with her but the ashen haired girl was stubborn. Besides, anyone could see that Lyla’s dull amber eyes were now burning hot with emotion. Despite her size, her kanon field was so strong it shimmered in the visible spectrum.

The two stopped arguing when Sable walked out in front and stood facing the approaching demon horde.

“You two fourth-years. If you’re going to run, then run. If you’re going to fight—then shut up and get behind me.”

The trio prepared and readied themselves for the fight of their lives. They knew that if anything got passed them the student body would be in danger.

Sable took in a deep breath and exhaled out. Her kanon sparked an even more brilliant shimmer than when she had fought Angelica. For the first time in her life, she had a significant goal—a task that needed her to win no matter what the cost.

Sable’s kanon energy took domain across the entire hallway and the air seemed to be sucked in towards her—building up.

Angelica was awestruck by the beauty of it. Before Sable could release a hand reached from behind and—

Patted her on the head. Angelica received a head pat too.

“That will be enough. Stand down.”

Rook strolled out in front.

The next moments were a blur: Rook appeared to lower his body and suddenly disappeared from view.

In the next millisecond the entire hallway of demons exploded from the inside into dozens of chunks. Even more surprising, Principal Rook was now on the other side of the obliterated horde, completely dry of blood—except for an ornate dagger he held.

Before the trio had a chance to react, gunshots rang out from the other side of the hallway. One of the demons fell from the corner of the hallway. It tried to get up by a dark skinned woman emptied a handgun point blank range into its head.

It was dead. The mysterious woman turned around and disappeared around the corner.

Principal Rook walked through the pile of gore yet his shoes and clothes remained clean.

“Angel.” He stopped in front of her. “Your panties are showing.”

Angelica blushed and tried to cover up her exposed underwear. She hadn’t noticed her skirt had been ripped off during the fight!

“All of you take a shower and get changed. You smell disgusting.”

He continued walking past them without heed.

“Report to my office tonight at exactly 20:00 hours. Use this keycard.”

He flicked behind him a swirling keycard that would have flown straight into her eye if Angie had not caught it between her fingers. Angie’s eyes flashed red from behind Angelica.

Rook paused, “Just you Angel, the rest of you are dismissed.”

“But sir,” Angelica asked, “The lower levels are still filled with those… things.”

The principal stopped and turned, a slight demented glee flashed in his eye for a single moment, but it was there.

“The situation has been resolved.”

The principal walked away.

The three of them exchanged uneasy glances. The numerous bodies of the Tall Men remained in that blood soaked hallway. A testament to the man’s awesome and mysterious strength.

Angelica wondered who Rook really was. She had a lot of questions tonight and, after a thorough shower, she hoped she would finally get some answers.

Just one problem.

That was her last clean uniform…