Selena squeezed her eyes tightly shut when a blinding light stole her vision, painting everything in white. Her eyes slowly fluttered open when the light died down.

Her eyes widened in shock. In her hand was a gold key with a heart-shaped handle that held a ruby-red gem in the center of it. I did it. I actually was able to do it, she thought as relief flowed through her veins.

Screech!

Terror washed over Selena when the shadowy mass lunged at her, barely giving her a chance to respond to its attack. She used her right leg to propel herself to the right, avoiding losing a chuck of her body to the creature that attempted to take a bite out of her.

Crunch!

Selena bit into her lower lip when the monster slammed into a nearby tree truck, causing it to fall backward and snap in half. Alright, now should be the right time to try out a spell, she thought.

Selena sucked in a deep breath, trying her best to control the magical energy swirling around inside of herself. She exhaled and extended her hand out. "Ignite!" she shouted with determination in her eyes.

She flinched when balls of fire floated through the air, dancing around in a circulation formation. Each one zoomed toward the creature, joining together to capture the monster in a blazing prison.

Selena covered her ears when the creature let out a piercing howl. It desperately swung its limbs around, sending piles of snow all over its body. With each drop of water from the melted snow, the temperature of the flames dropped, snuffing them out.

Looks like it won't be that easy to beat it, and I barely know how to use this key properly to channel my powers. What am I going to do? Selena thought. She watched as the monster's black, sludgy body violently twitched. Bubbles formed along the surface of its body as if it were a pot of soup that had reached a boiling point.

Anxiety chewed away at her as the shadowy mass started to heal up the injuries that she had caused to it. This is just great. It can heal! she thought, taking a couple of steps back.

"You'll pay for this. You'll pay for this!" the monster hissed it out. It swung two of its limbs at her, which grew in length as it attempted to strike her at a distance.

Crap, I won't be able to dodge that or cast a spell in time, Selena thought in a panic. Her blood ran cold as its claws headed toward her in slow motion. She tried to move back, only for her heel to get caught on a tree root, causing her to land on her butt. She raised her arms up to shield herself from having to see the attack that would kill her on the spot.

Clack!

Selena peered over her arms when the monster's claw struck something harshly before it let out a howl of pain. "Huh?" she breathed out in disbelief.

A vibrant blue gem hovered in front of Selena, creating a protective barrier that prevented the creature's attack from ever reaching her. "What's up with all these hallucinations!" she screamed out in frustration. Do they want me dead or not? She thought, confused, but let out a relieved breath that she was still alive.

Selena's eyes moved away from the gem and flickered over to the monster that was growing increasingly irritated. If it can heal, then I'll need to do a spell that'll wipe it out in one shot, she thought.

Selena planted her feet firmly in place as she didn't intend to dodge the creature's attacks this time. She sucked in a shaky breath and clasped her hands together.

Screech!

The monster hissed out. It twisted its body all around into a distorted mess as it sent all four of its claws directly at her.

A bead of sweat rolled down the side of her cheek. She felt her temperature rise with each nervous shake of her panicked heart. But she dared not to move as it would ruin her concentration on the spell she was trying to cast.

The wind in the area picked up, causing bits of snow to be thrown around in every direction. "Freeze!" she screamed, only to squint her eyes when the blue gem that refused to leave her side glowed brightly.

Selena's lower lip trembled as the spell she cast didn't work. Her mind went blank as the creature's nails were inches away from tearing her limb from limb. That's it, I'm dead, she thought. She closed her eyes, accepting the death that was coming for her.

Screech?

Selena's eyes snapped open when something warm splashed on her face. Her mouth hung open in disbelief when a giant sword horizontally sliced through the monster's body, staining the snow with an inky black liquid. W-was that the spell I cast...no I cast a freezing spell, she thought, unable to explain what just happened.

Crack! Crack! Crack!

Selena stared down at the ground as multiple fractures formed on the surface. A gasp left her lips when the floor beneath her shattered as it gave in from struggling to support her weight. She felt the back of her skull slamming into something hard, causing her vision to go entirely black.

—--

Selena released a panicked gasp. Her chest heaved in and out as she hungrily devoured as much air as possible. Her nerves calmed down slightly when she saw the familiar all-white room.

"Welcome back to the world of the living, and it looks like you managed not to fail," Dante commented with a grin as he pointed at the key she held in her right hand. He walked over and undid the straps securing her wrists.

Selena let out a sigh of relief, happy to be out of the hellish nightmare. She analyzed the gold key before she nearly dropped it when someone let out a blood-curdling scream of terror.

"I-is he dead!" a woman yelled out, and she pointed at the man who was sitting next to her.

Selena's throat felt dry. Her eyes focused on the streams of blood that traveled from his nostrils, dripping into his lap.

"Well, I did say that failure equaled death, didn't I? Just be lucky the rest of you were able to survive the trial. Honestly, I would say things went pretty well since only one person died," Dante explained nonchalantly before he let out a sigh when the woman looked like she wanted to cry.

"Alright, that's the end of the trial. Why don't you all get some fresh air?" Dante suggested trying to erase the anxiety that was tainting the air with a thick, suffocating aura.

"But, before you all go. I wanted to bring up a rule that was put in place a long time ago. All first years are paired up with second years for any missions. Even if you work with others, you'll mostly be paired up with your first partner, so be sure to play nice. You'll end up meeting them later," Dante brought up.

Everyone nodded their head slightly. But, they were mostly silent after experiencing that chaotic trial and seeing someone die on day one.

I wonder if everyone experienced the same trial? But something tells me they were all different, Selena thought as she rose up from her seat. She was about to pass by Dante before she stopped when he spoke up.

"Your last name is Raven, which leads me to believe you're the daughter of those two. They were great exorcists. But if that's the case, you were born with the ability to see demons, so why did you go through the trial when you didn't need to?" Dante asked. He held a curious look in his eye as he crossed his arms.

Selena bit her lower lip before averting her gaze from him. "Yeah, that's right, they are my parents. I just wanted to attempt the trial anyways to test my skills," she admitted while leaving out the real reason why she wanted to do it.

"Well, try not to do anything too stupid that might get you killed next time when it wasn't necessary," Dante mentioned as he walked over to the man's corpse in the chair. "That reminds me, you can meet your partner in the main square in about three hours since he should be finished up with his mission by then," he brought up.

"I'll be sure to," Selena said before she walked out of the room. She was happy she didn't have to meet her partner right away since it gave her time to relax after dealing with that nightmare. I just hope this partner of mine won't cause me any trouble, she thought as she sighed out loud.

—--

After the hours flew by, Selena strolled around the main square, keeping her eyes peeled. She stopped in her tracks when she saw someone familiar not too far from her. It was the same guy who gave her directions and the one she saw in the trial hallucination.

Hearing her footsteps, the man tilted his head to the side to look over at her. "Looks like I'm being graced by a beautiful angel's presence again," he said with a sweet smile.

"Huh?" Selena said in confusion. A slight blush dusted her cheeks at his sudden flirty comment.

"Oops, I forgot to say why I'm actually here," he said. He let out a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of my neck.

"I'm Cedric Evans, you're selected partner," Cedric said with a big goofy smile.

What! Selena screamed inside her mind.