Our group took a boat to an island fifteen minutes off the coast of Liberty City. Apparently, it's owned by the Hunter’s Association to keep prying eyes off of their activities. If you ask for my opinion, it raised red flags more than a hurricane. Of course, it would, they are literally sending people to their potential deaths with kids being among them.

Thinking about it makes my blood boil. It takes me back to a dark place in my childhood when I stayed at the orphanage. 

I shake my head.

This isn’t the time or place to think about my fucked up past. I have to stay focused on the here and now so I won’t end up as some demon’s dinner. 

The boat passed through the same kind of magic barrier that was used to hide the zombie nest. What was it that Noel called it again? Oh right, she didn’t tell me its name.

“Hey Noel, what’s the name of the magic barrier that mages use to hide things?”

“Hmm? It’s called Inanis Aegis.” 

“Does it have an easier name to pronounce?”

“Don’t be such a dullard, Ken. It’s not like you can even perform it anyways.” Noel said.

“You don’t know, maybe one day I want to learn some magic.”

“You can’t learn magic, Ken,” Harper said, face looking down at my phone. When did she even get that?

“Why not?”

“Because you lack the M-Gene, which is a rare gene that allows anybody to manipulate mana. Mana is the energy required to perform magic.”

“Um, thanks for the explanation.”

Harper glanced up from my screen and grinned at me. “You are quite welcome!”

The boat came to a stop and we got off, following Abigail to our doom. I stayed in the back just in case things go south fast. I’ll have the entire ocean to sink this entire island if push comes to shove. Or at least I think I can do it, regardless, I’ll have a near-limitless supply of water to work with.

We stopped by a large iron gate blocking the entrance to the giant old-fashioned castle off in the distance. If you squint closely, you can see another Inanis Aegis covering the castle from the gate.

“Why did they place another one of those hiding shield things if it’s already obscure from the outside world?”

“It’s not an Inanis Aegis spell, it’s a Heiliges Gefängnis spell. It’s meant to keep things inside of it.” Noel said, her skinny arms crossed over her chest.

“It means Holy Prison,” Harper said into my ear.

I nodded an appreciation at her. 

“Listen up, you bozos,” Abigail said in a loud, booming voice. “This here is called Infernal Castle. I am not going to lie to you, this will be a lot of y’alls graves. But, if you keep your wits about you, then you’ll make it out alive. I think.”

I could hear the fake laughter from the crowd. If this was an attempt to lighten the mood, then I think Abigail failed miserably. Abigail cleared her throat and continued.

“Anyways, the rules are simple, you have two hours to kill as many demons as you can. To get your demon-hunting license all you have to do is kill just one demon. I need to remind all of you that you are at risk of being killed in there, so don’t go half-cocked.”

“How are you going to know if we killed demons or not?” Some guy asked.

“We do have surveillance inside of the vicinity, so we'll know who killed demons or not. If anybody fails to kill a demon in two hours, then they fail the test.”

Abigail finally opened the gate. Upon opening, I am overwhelmed by intense heat and the smell of cinnamon like a strong wind.

“Wow! There sure are a bunch of demons in there.” Harper said.

“What was that I just experienced?” I asked, grabbing my heart to try to slow it down.

“That was a wave of demonic aura that you detected with our sixth sense. The good news is that they are all weak demons, the bad news is that everybody here is a novice.”

What is the point of sending novices to their graves? This is pure madness! Everybody doesn’t seem to mind as they all go rushing inside the walls. 

Not wanting to cause a big scene, I follow the crowd like a sheep being led by a shepherd. About twenty feet within the walls of the gate, we encountered our first demons. These are in the shape of big black dogs, with shining red eyes and razor-sharp teeth.

These things come in fast, killing three people immediately. While those three were busy eating their victims, some people took the opportunity to avenge them. One guy shot one of the dogs in the head, which killed it instantly. A woman had a katana and sliced the heads off of one of the beasts. Another guy even killed one of them with his bare hands.

Unfortunately, those three met their untimely demise to more of the hellhounds. I can’t stay in the open path like this unless I want to end up like dog food. I made a break for the woods and I heard the footsteps of dogs chasing after me.

My plan worked. I turned around and saw about five hellhounds heading straight toward me. I wanted some space between me and the others, just in case they would get caught in it. I released the breath I was holding and froze all of the dogs solid.

I look to see if I could be of help to anybody else. There doesn’t seem to be anyone in need, as there is no one left besides me, two ghost girls, and a few corpses. There is so much blood that I can smell it all the way over here. My head feels light and my heart is beating so fast that it feels like it can break my rib cage.

The world is spinning and I feel like throwing up. I have never seen carnage this bad, and I grew up in that damn orphanage! All this death happened in under a minute and there was nothing I could’ve done to prevent it. No, that is a lie, I could use the Frost sisters' powers to save everybody here. Who am I kidding, I am not a superhero. If anything, I’ll just probably end up hurting more people than helping people.

“Come along, Ken. There is nothing we can do here, let’s find some refuge and wait this out.” Noel said as she tugged at my arm.

“Yeah, sure,” I said weakly.

“We should head for the castle over there. If there is any safe spot on this island, it has to be a freaking castle.” Harper said.

“Or it could be a death trap,” I responded.

“Even so, we still have the advantage with our powers. Every demon here is just like those dogs.”

“What they lack in powers they make up for with incredible strength and speed. It was pure luck that I wasn’t caught and turned into a chewing toy.”

“Foolish, Ken,” Harper wagged her finger at me. “Not only did you inherit my sisters and my powers, but also our physical abilities as well.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that you have demonic blood in your veins.”