“Look, I’ll lay it down for ya.” The girl sighed. “Main things you gotta know are that I’m in a band called Trik Mystik me and two other girls. We were playing a show at a music festival in Alabama. Just as the three of us were geared up to start playing, one of those portals on the news started playing And a bunch of demonic imp creatures started pouring out of it.”

“And your bandmates were killed, I’m guessing?” Ulrich sighed. “Sorry to hear that.”

“Nah, that’s the thing.” The girl replied with a head shake. “I don’t think the demons killed anyone. Or if they did, I didn’t see it happen.”

“Wait, they didn’t kill anyone?” Ulrich asked.

“Well, I didn’t see anybody get killed.” She continued. “One of the girls tried punching it, and her hand got…stuck inside the demon, or something. Then it absorbed me and the third girl and dragged us back into the portal. Think that’s what happened to everyone who got caught, too.”

“So wait, nobodies dead?” Ulrich asked. “In terms of my town, all the demons just killed people. Only two other people survived the whole thing.”

“The other two in here as well?”

“Nah. This is gonna sound ridiculous, but it’s all true. Some Icelandic chick showed up to my house looking for an acquaintance of mine. She ended up dropping a pair of gloves, too. Turns out these gloves let me shoot fire. Once the girl finds out about that, she leaves me to defend my entire hometown. Goes horribly, and then I end up here.”

“Shit, dude.” The girl sighed with eyes widened. “Sorry to hear that.”

“But anyway, I went on a tangent there. How’d the demon get inside you?”

“Oh, that.” She said with a finger snap. “So basically, the demon spits us out in what I can only describe as like…a pocket dimension, or something. It’s just an endless purple void of some sort. The demons all start gathering around somebody, and then this massive lug just comes out of the centre. He looked strong, but also like some kind of average guy. Just super tall and muscular. So I ran towards him looking for answers, with my guitar in my hand to deal some damage. And just as I swing it, he punches my guitar, and I can barely hold onto it. Then the guy punches me in the stomach so hard I end up flying out of the portal. And by the time I wake up, the demon’s looking over me.”

“Got it, got it.” Ulrich nodded. The main thing he needed to know was that she wasn’t working for the demons, and now that was out of the way.

“So, does the demon try attacking you?” Was the next thing he asked.

“Nah. Maybe it thinks I’m it’s mother or something. But as long as I feed it some fruit or granola or something, it seems happy. But enough about the demon here. I wanna see the flame, man.”

Ulrich nodded, putting on the gloves. He clasped his hands together, and when he undid it a small stream of fire connected his gloves.

“Nice one.” She replied. “So, you’re gonna wait for the girl or what?”

“She said she’d come back for me, so I’ll guess I’ll wait for that. I’d track her down, but she could be literally anywhere.”

“Ooh, that sucks, but I got a question for you.”

“Hit me.”

“Can I come with?”

“Wait, what?” Ulrich asked. “I’m assuming we’re fighting off the demons.”

“Yeah, I know. Look man, my only options are teaming up with you, or hanging back with my grandmother while hoping you guys would be able to fight the demons off. To be honest, I was gonna try find something out by myself.”

“Are you even able to fight?” Ulrich asked

“Well, I got a demon, a knife, and a pretty mean left hook.” She replied, kissing her knuckle.

“Look, if you wanna join me I won’t stop you.” Ulrich sighed. “Welcome to the team, I guess.”

Just as the decision was made, Ulrich’s phone rang. Ulrich answered it, and the same voice rang out to him. The same Icelandic accent that would forever be burned into his memory.

“Is this Ulrich Hart?” She asked.

“Yeah.” Ulrich replied.

“Ah, good. You survived.”

“Barely! Lady, I was lying on the concrete for three days.”

“And you survived. We know what we’re doing. Now, if you and Elenore would come outside the hotel so I could meet you and discuss further, that would be great. And bring the gloves.

As quickly as she called, she hung up. Leaving Ulrich with an answer, and several more questions.

“Hey.” Ulrich turned to the girl. “Your name wouldn’t happen to be Elenore, would it?”

“It…is.” Elenore replied. “Wait, nobody uses my actual name! What the hell is going on here?”

“The Icelandic lady I was talking about. That was her. And she wants to meet you.”

“For real? Look, give me a minute to get ready.”

“And you really wanna join us on…whatever this is?”

“Beats living with my grandmother for three months, I can tell ya that. Tell her I’ll be there in ten.”

Ulrich stepped outside and sitting on a bench right outside the hotel was the girl. She was eating a croissant. She walked across the street the second she saw him. Her walk was nothing short of graceful, and it felt that if a speeding car were to approach her, it would simply swerve around her by itself in her divine presence.

“Where’s Elenore?” She asked as soon as she approached Ulrich.

“She’s getting ready. How did you know her, anyway?”

“I have connections.” She replied casually, taking another bite of her croissant.

“What kind of connections, exactly?”

“Look, once we get to England, I’ll explain everything to you, got it?”

Ulrich stood in silent resentment for a few minutes until Elenore came out. Sporting her leather jacket and combat boots, smoking an electronic cigarette with her left hand, and holding her guitar case with her right.

“So, you’re Elenore.” The girl said calmly, looking her up and down.

“Look, everyone I respect just calls me Lainey, kay?”

“Lainey? Whatever you wish.” The girl nodded. “My name is for later, anyway.”

The girl directed the three of them to a dark alleyway, and once she was sure nobody was watching them, she placed a hand on both Ulrich and Lainey’s foreheads. A circle of light lit up around them, eventually getting so blinding that Ulrich was forced to shut his eyes as tight as he could.

“The lights gone, Ulrich.” The girl’s voice announced calmly.

Ulrich opened his eyes, and he was in a house. Beige walls with some leather couches against the wall. The walls lined with pictures of things like cityscapes and bridges. He recognized the Empire State building, not many of the other ones.

“Where is this?” Lainey asked.

“A small house in England. It’s where we’ll be staying for the next few days. “Ulrich, you’ll be taking a couch. Lainey, you can take a couch or share a bed with me.”

“Couch.” Lainey replied without a second of hesitation.

“Understood.” The girl replied with a quick nod. “Now, I have a man getting us pizza, and he’ll probably be here in a few minutes.”

Just as she said that Gene walked in the door carrying a small stack of pizza boxes. Same short blonde hair, but with a slightly different outfit. Plain black t-shirt, with a smart white button up shirt over it.

“Ulrich!” Gene yelled. “You made it.”

“Sure…did.” Ulrich replied quietly, forcing himself to answer.

“Great, great!” Gene replied excitedly. “Anyway, I got pizza! Pepperoni and mushrooms, your favourite!”

“That’s nice, anyway.” Ulrich sighed wearily while forcing a smile.

“And as for you, Elenore-“

“She prefers Lainey.” The girl interrupted quickly.

“Oh, right. Lainey then. Anyway, I got you some jalapeno and mozzarella, your favourite. I know London probably can’t compare to New York, but it’s something, right?”

“It…certainly is.” Lainey replied, looking over at Ulrich. “How did you know I like this pizza, exactly?”

“Oh, Vivi told me.”

Ulrich looked over at the girl. “I’m guessing you’re Vivi?”

“Vivian, yes. And if you’re wondering, I was told what pizza you liked.”

“Told?” Lainey asked. “What does that mean, exactly?”

“Oh, it’s probably God.” Gene replied casually, taking a bite out of his plain cheese pizza.

“God?” Ulrich asked. Gene didn’t seem like he was joking, just casually eating his pizza like he said something completely normal.

Vivian put her pizza down and looked at Lainey, walking straight up to her. Out of some weird instinct, Lainey put her food down and stood up to match her. Her one exposed brown eye matched her blue eyes perfectly. And once they were aligned, Vivian shot a hand out so quickly Lainey jumped back a little.

“Vivian. Agent of the enlightened one. Pleasure to meet you, fellow chosen one.”