“No, you’re not.”

Out of all the great comebacks I could have fired back at her, all I had to produce was some pathetic, childish denial.

Noelle seemed pleased at my sudden discomfort. “Yes, I am the president.”

“Prove it,” I said, “I don’t believe you.”

I mean, how could I even believe her? Noelle was just so…so…urghhh! How could anyone follow her orders? 

There was no way she was capable of managing such a large organization.

No way in hell.

“Hey, guys?”

Noelle sneered at me, “I know you’re hurt because I’ve accomplished far more in my life than you ever will.”

“Guys?”

The nerve of that bitch! How dare she bring up all my past failures, as well as brag about her stupid self? 

She really was asking for another one of our childhood brawls. Except this time, one of us was going to leave with much more than just a broken nose.

“GUYS!” Tony shouted, much louder than his previous attempts.

“What?!” Noelle and I simultaneously retorted, annoyed by his constant interruption. Like, who did he think he was, talking over us while we politely discussed our opinions?

“The captain is dead and the rest of the demons have retreated,” Tony said, gesturing at the bloody, broken pile of bones and flesh that rested in a grotesque way on the ground, “I think we’re done here.”

Noelle approached him and inspected the body. “You’re right. He’s gone. When did it happen?”

“While you and Jude were having a dialogue, I pounced on his back and ripped his body into shreds. It was pretty simple, to be honest.”

The way he could say such things with a straight face, and not appear bothered at all about life in general, was still one of the greatest mysteries of this world. 

Seriously, I was beginning to suspect there was something wrong with this boy’s head.

“Good job, Tony,” Noelle said, “However, always remember that –”

“Even with your eyes sewed shut, your ears clogged with spiders, your feet tied and your hands chopped off, you could have done it yourself,” Tony sighed, “I know.”

Noelle raised an eyebrow, but did not say anything else. 

After a while, the bodies began to disintegrate.

“What should we do about the cabin?” I asked, turning to what was left of the place Nicolas had generously offered me to reside in.

“Yeah, Nicolas is going to freak out,” Tony added, “Especially once his parents discover it too.”

Noelle double-tapped the side of the gun against the palm of her hand, and it instantly morphed back into a dull-looking stone. “We’ll figure it out along the way,” she said, while sliding the rock inside her pouch, “Let’s go.”

“Where are we going?” I asked, still skeptical.

Noelle and I had never gotten along, let alone trusted each other. Moreover, she had mentioned what her true intentions were, and what she would do if I failed to pacify Damian.

She was not someone I could turn my back to, for obvious reasons. Yet again, I was not too keen on having to trail behind her.

Noelle rolled her eyes so far back, I wondered if she had managed to see whatever was left of her decreasing brain cells. “You mentioned you wanted proof about my being the president, yes?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Right now, we're going to find some motel to spend the rest of the night in. Tomorrow morning, we’re going to get that proof. We’re going to the Infinity.”

                                                               * * *

“What. The. Fuck?”

Nothing could have prepared me for what I witnessed. 

All the years I spent trying to gather clues about the Infinity, all the times I had tried to open the coffer my parents had kept in their room, it was all to brace me for this fateful moment. 

Everything was used as a platform for the day the mystery would be uncovered.

I had always imagined the company to be a tall, dark building, able to assimilate within other big companies of the city, but still standing out in its own ways. 

I had also believed there were thousands of workers, people who had to wear suits and sunglasses, in order to appear as mysteriously cool as possible to random onlookers.

I really did believe they were some sort of mafia group, whose members worked directly under a powerful sorcerer, and who also owned loads of money. 

Except, what lied in front of me was not anything I had imagined.

The infamous Infinity Company was nothing more than a colorful, balloon-infested toy store.

“Is this a joke?” I asked, trying to process down the revelation I had just been hit with. No, not hit. Trampled on, grilled, eaten, chewed and spat out of. That would be a more appropriate description.

“What do you mean?” Tony asked, fixing the cuff of his black blouse.

I pulled at the collar of my own shirt. 

Earlier this morning, we had gone shopping with Noelle around a secluded part of town, in order to change out of our bloody outfits. The shopkeeper did not even seem fazed by our terrible appearance.

Perhaps, it had something to do with my glowing red eyes and the stacks of paper bills Noelle had dumped on the counter.

My costume was irritating, but at least, it did not look too bad. A royal blue tie over a black dressing shirt, with a navy blue sweater, matching dress pants and black loafers, was what my outfit consisted of.

My hair had been freshly washed and styled, my bangs slicked backwards with gel. I looked sharp and elegant, and I’m not going to lie and claim I did not enjoy the new look. 

Usually, I dressed all in white because I liked the way it made my skin appear more ghostly, giving me a more exotic appearance. But lately, I’ve been liking all these other colors.

I’ve been liking them a lot.

The only thing that ruined my new attire were the bandages who had yet to come off my injured face. 

Anyhow, I was relieved to notice I no longer resembled the pathetic, scrawny kid I'd seen on the news. If anything, we looked like two completely different people. 

It would be hard for the general public to identify me now.

Or at least, I hoped so.

I glanced over at Tony, as he now struggled to roll down his shirt sleeve. He was dressed in a similar fashion, except his black braids were styled in a half-up, half-down ponytail. A tiny, silver earring decorated his right ear.

“I mean,” I said, utterly astonished by what I was seeing, refusing to believe that I was about to penetrate a fucking rainbow, “What the hell is this awful place?”

Tony pushed the door open, and the bell on top of the door dinged a loud, joyful melody to announce our presence.

“We welcome our guests,

Our friends, and kids and pests.

Please enjoy your stay

At Happy, Toyful, Yay!

With lots of toys to buy,

And heaps of tears to dry,

At Happy, Toyful, Yay!

We are sure to make your day!”

Tony walked inside. “Are you blind? It's obviously a toy store.”

Yeah, I could see that. 

I was definitely bound to become blind if I spent one more minute in this place. 

If the neon-colored balloons didn't do the trick, than the repulsive, giggling clowns, or bright confettis and decorations plastered against the walls and shelves, would add the final touches. 

Oh, no. Dear me. I take that back. 

How could I not permanently lose my eyesight after coming into visual contact with a rainbow-colored Happy, Toyful, Yay! banner, suspended above the entrance?

Dolls, toy cars, balloons and children made up most of the store. Screaming and happy infants were all over the place. Rolling, jumping, hitting and dancing.

I do not think I ever mentioned this to anyone, but I really did not like children. As a matter of fact, I disliked those snot-nosed brats. How could some people even find them cute?  

They were obviously monsters in disguise.

As we strolled down the aisle, and as my eyes tried their utmost best to adjust to the nauseous color themes, some snot-nosed kid had the audacity to come up to me and step on my foot.

“Hello,” the pig-tailed child said, “Have you seen my Mommy?”

“Try searching in the trash,” I replied sweetly, “Maybe you'll find her in there.”

The kid seemed to think for a second. Not that she had much thinking to do, with children not having a lot of brain cells to begin with.

“Okay!” she said cheerfully.

Then, she stomped as hard as she could on my other foot and pranced away merrily. Repeatedly chanting that stupid Happy, Toyful, Yay! theme song.

Before I could go and murder the brat, Noelle's head popped out of some aisle. She motioned for Tony and me to follow her to what seemed to be the backstore.

Noelle’s own suit was only a few shades lighter than ours. To top it off, she had to show off by complimenting her looks with pink shades. 

I mean, no way would anyone find it strange for three, well-dressed teenagers to waltz down a children’s toy store in broad daylight, right? They wouldn’t happen to think that we were up to no good, right?

Though, it did appear as if no one was paying attention to us. As if we did not exist. Like we were invisible. 

Weird.

Noelle stopped in front of some concealed shelf and pulled a book out of its middle rack.

“I don’t think that’s going to –”

I stopped, swallowing back my words. Watching in complete dismay as the entire shelf of the backroom slid open. 

It seperated into two, in order to reveal a dark passageway. All the while, a song was playing. Not as carefree as the store's theme song, but it did follow the same tempo.

“We welcome Miss Noelle,

Our leader and hope from hell.

All kinds of wonderful horrors

Rests inside the Headquarters!

With lots of guns to build,

And heaps of bores to kill,

At Noelle's great Infinity,

We'll make a soup out of your enemy!”

Tony walked in first, disappearing into the tunnel. Noelle followed. 

I stayed behind, frozen from the way things had unfolded. Listening to some moronic, dark song play in the background. 

“Hurry up and move, you imbecile!” Noelle snapped.

I sighed. I might as well go along with them.

Not that I had much of a choice anyways.