The Demons Return

Ulrich and Lainey looked back at the voice. The tall British guy Dominic described was there, alongside Gene.

“Ulrich!” Gene yelled out. “You going to the portal?”

“Yeah!” Ulrich yelled back. “I’m not leaving an entire town to die!”

“Well, we got a car, so you better head in!” Gene yelled back, more intense.

The five ran into the car, a white 2004 Toyota Corolla, where Vivian was waiting shotgun. Bartholomew got behind the wheel while Ulrich, Lainey, and Gene sat on the back, with Dominic sitting on the floor. And before they could even put their seatbelts on, the car took off.

“Update on the new girl?” Bartholomew asked.

“She’s on the way.” Vivian nodded. “Should be a little under an hour.”

“Dammit, I just don’t get why you guys are so obsessed with saving everyone in front of you.” Vivian muttered. “We’ll end up saving more people if we just get the gems and stop the demons before they can attack everyone. For gods sake, we don’t even have Gene’s power unlocked yet!”

“That doesn’t matter.” Bartholomew replied calmly. “I’m the new king of England. And I don’t think I’ll be able to face my people if I just let so many die so quickly.”

“Besides, Ulrich and his friends are gonna do it anyway!” Gene yelled. “So we have some extra hands this time to make it go smoother.”

Just before Vivian could retort further, the car stopped, and the six of them got out and stood in front of the town.

Immediately, three demons leapt out at them. Vivian quickly shot a blast of ice through two demons, while Bartholomew wrapped his hands in energy and punched one into atoms.

Ulrich looked up at the portal. It felt way bigger than the one that hit his hometown, but it was directly below a series of tall apartment buildings.

Meaning the portal could be reached. And the only thing standing between them was a hundred demons.

“Ulrich?” Lainey whispered to him, clutching his arm. “You see that shadow at the top?”

Ulrich looked again, and right below the portal was something that wasn’t a demon. The figure seemed to be moving without an ounce of fear. Casually looking around at what was happening below it.

“That figure at the top. Is that the boss you mentioned, Lainey?”

Lainey nodded slowly.

“Leader? So if we beat this guy, we save the world! Right?” Dominic asked, slamming his fists together.

“I hope it’s that simple.” Vivian nodded. “Now then, let’s go.”

The six of them all bolted into the small town, separated by narrow streets and shops, which were naturally all locked down, with several people desperately trying to get inside, and mauled by the demons. Bartholomew covered his fists in the white energy, flying straight into a demon, who's head exploded into the particles, which flew back into the portal. Vivian also effortlessly shot an icicle out of each of the fingers on her right hand, with all of them plunging deep into five demons' heads, causing them to explode.

"I'll take care of these guys!" Bartholomew yelled out to Gene. "You lead these guys to the boss!"

"I'll take care of the clean-up too!" Dominic yelled out. "Make sure not to die!"

Lainey looked back at them, gave a half-hearted thumbs-up, and ran up to the apartment with Ulrich, Gene, and Vivian. Lainey shook her guitar, and her demon came out, which caused Vivian to glare at her, before the four of them went to a fork in the road.

Gene looked up and saw that whatever was up there either didn’t notice them, or was waiting for them to show themselves. Standing on top of the building and watching the demons wreak havoc upon the townsfolk.

"I feel it appropriate to split up." Vivian announced. "In the event that he notices us, then we can at least surprise him with the other five."

"Five?" Ulrich asked. "If we split into two, then it would be me, Lainey, Dominic and Bart, right?"

"I've got into contact with someone else. God's trump card, more or less. And she'll be here shortly."

"God still has more people?" Lainey asked. "Didn't your prophecy say there were only four people?"

"It did. But his works may never make sense until fully complete." Vivian responded, smirking about the quality of her employer.

"Sure, we'll split up" Ulrich replied through gritted teeth. "Me and Lainey, you and Gene?"

The four split into their groups, with Lainey standing closer to Ulrich than usual.

"You doin' okay?" He asked.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Lainey muttered. Ulrich noticed that the demons seemed to be ignoring them. This didn't seem to be happening to Gene and Vivian, who he could hear fighting the demons on the other side of the street, only separated by a few rows of houses.

"H-hey." Lainey piped up again. "Could you get closer to me?"

"Uh, sure." Ulrich inched closer until their shoulders were a few millimetres away.

"Don't get any ideas from this, I've just noticed that whenever my demon is out, the demons don't attack me. Just stay with me until we get to the top."

After a couple of awkward minutes, the two of them reached the base of the apartment block, with Gene and Vivian following up.

"So, we ready?" Gene asked, sword in hand, with his voice quivering slightly.

"Yeah, yeah." Lainey replied, moving away from Ulrich. "Totally."

Vivian stepped up to Lainey, grabbing her by her jacket.

"If you don't think you're capable of doing this, then step back."

Silently, Lainey swung upon the door, quickly making her way through the apartment building, and the other three followed.

Inside the apartment building, the four could hear muffled crying, people talking on the phone to their relatives, parents trying to calm their children. All against the backdrop of beige walls and long hallways.

Eventually, the four of them were at the door, where the sound of the wind from the portal was also boisterous, with the sound of the rocks hitting against it even louder.

"Right, let's go in." Lainey said, a look of angered determination all over her face.

"I guess so." Ulrich replied.

But before he, Gene, or Vivian could say anything, Lainey swung the door open.

"Guess who's back, bitch?"