The last thing she thought about before darkness enveloped her was her father and how she didn't get a chance to say goodbye. Then, a fierce thud came that carried with it the weight of an unconscious sin, followed by silence. Several figures stood over the crumpled remains of what used to be a bright, young girl who now laid still in the moist concrete next to a dumpster. The void left behind by the sudden and abrupt end of a life that burned so brightly moments ago left every witness in shock...no body dared breath. Then, just as quickly as the void grew, it was replaced just as fast by a cacophony of panicked cries. In the darkened alleyway of a city wrapped in the blanket of midnight, evil returned. 

"Shit! Shit, shit, shit!"

"Why the hell did you do that!?"

  Standing over the body is four figures, all in varying states of panic.  Three of the wavering frames were wearing blue and white varsity jackets; one of them was clutching his head erratically, another was vomiting on a nearby wall and the last stood motionless as he held a crowbar, the tip splashed with blood. Nearby, a girl with long, blonde hair and a cheerleader uniform. In contrast to the expressions of grief and disbelief on the three boys in front of her, she merely expressed discomfort and irritation as she bit her nail before shouting out with exasperation. 

"This can't be happening...this isn't what I wanted!! Chad, what are you going to do about this??"

     Two of the jocks turn over to stare at the one holding the crowbar who continues to remain motionless. Even as the cheerleader called out his name, for once in his life, he didn't respond.

[THE SMELL OF IRON SEEPS WITHIN HER LUNGS, LIGHTS FLICKER IN AND OUT IN THE HORIZON AS HER VISION BLURS AND SWIRLS. A WAVE OF MIND NUMBING COLD FLOODS HER BODY, DOWN TO HER VERY CORE.]

"Chad...Chad!! Wake up!! This is REALLY not the time to disassociate to La-La Land!"

"H-huh?"

     As the sound of his name echoes in his hairs, Chad looks down to wet floor, blinking repeatedly as he sees a puddle forming around the body. The back of her head had been cracked wide open like a peach putted by a golf club, with bits of brain matter speckled across the pavement within the pool of blood.  Chad looks from the gory display to the tip of his crowbar as he finally starts to peace together what happened...

"Did...did I just do that?"

"Y-Y-Yes you did, you i-i-i-idiot!"

"Hey, shut it! Don't talk to him like that!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I should treat Mr. Serial Killer with a bit more respect then!?"

[A MASS JUMBLE OF MEMORIES FILLS HER MIND IN SPORADIC FLASHES. HER MIND CAN'T UNDERSTAND WHAT IS HAPPENING. WAS SHE DYING? SHE TRIED TO BREATH BUT NO AIR WENT INTO HER NOSTRILS. SHE TRIED TO OPEN HER MOUTH BUT IT REFUSED. THERE WAS NOTHING SHE COULD DO.]

     Tensions were rising as time continued to march ever forward. As the shouting continued to escalate, one lone outcast was left out of the raucous debate. A small teen with his limbs bound in zip ties and duck tape struggled to break free, hoping to take advantage of the chaos and escape. He couldn't stay here and become another victim...not again. He needed to get away...for her! He has to do something!

     As one child makes his desperate act of defiance in secret, one of the jocks makes their own plea. He had braided hair, his cold sweat dripping down his ebony face. He wipes the vomit off his lips and clears his throat, looking around nervously at the shaken group before him.

"We can't just sit here doing nothing...We need to call the police."

"The hell we are! Are you crazy!? Do you know what'll happen if the cops get involved!? Do you???"

     The frantic cheerleader was becoming more unhinged as her voice grew louder and louder. 

"I...well..."

"The cops will question us on everything that happened! We'll be cooked and grilled for every little bit of info we got! And you know what THAT means!? You can forget about making it to university or even homecoming, we'll be thrown in jail! Our lives will be over! Our parent's lives will be over! Everything you ever worked and fought for will be gone, as if it never happened!! Do you really want to go through with that, Ray!?"

[IT WAS AS IF HER SOUL WAS LEAVING HER BODY. SHE COULD SEE THE WHOLE SCENE FROM SKYS ABOVE AS SHE FLOATED HIGHER AND HIGHER. SHE LOOKED BACK DOWN AND SAW THE GOREY CRIME SCENE BELOW. 

SHE CAN'T EVEN RECOGNIZE HERSELF. NOTHING SHE SEES RESEMBLES HERSELF ANYMORE. SHE FEELS SAD THAT HER DAD WILL HAVE TO SEE THIS LATER. SHE WISHED SHE COULD'VE DONE BETTER FOR HIM. 

FOR MOM.

BUT IT WAS OVER NOW. 

THERE'S NOTHING LEFT TO DO NOW BUT FLY.]

     As the weight of the situation grew heavier and heavier on the group of high school students, with the prospects of their futures being reduced to ashes in front of their eyes, Ray remains quiet for a moment. Unable to find the right words, he simply stands firm on what his heart says.

"It's the right thing to do...we have to do this."

"Oh, so now you wanna be a precious little boy scout? Because that's what Jesus would want? Wake up jackass, reality is calling and it wants to hand you a prison jumpsuit! You may think you can handle throwing your life away, but WE sure as hell don't! Ain't that right, Chad?"

     As Ray spins his head, he finds himself facing down the incoming Chad who simply walks slowly towards him with a heated, demented scowl.

"Yeah...Yeah! I can't go down like this! I'm gonna be somebody, Ray! I can't let my story end in high school! My parents will kill me! Don't even think about telling anyone about this! Or else..."

"Or else what, Chad? You gonna kill me too? Is that it? You think that crowbar makes you God now??"

"Shut up! T-that's not what I - "

"If you're not a killer, then put down the bar and let's talk to the police. Maybe it's not too late. Maybe the paramedics can still save her..."

[SHE REACHES HIGHER AND HIGHER, THE CITY BELOW HER BECOMING SMALLER AND SMALLER. THE CLOUDS ABOVE ARE GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER.]

     At that moment, the cheerleader shouts out in a panic as her eyes widen in fear.

"You're crazy! Do you SEE all that blood?! I literally saw her brains scrambled across the dumpster! That chick is DEAD and WE are responsible for this! All of us! There's only one way to fix this mess..."

     Ray's eyes narrow, not willing to believe what he was about to hear.

"Bee, you're not seriously suggesting we - "

"The only way we can leave tonight with our lives intact is to dispose the evidence."

[THE CLOUDS WERE SO CLOSE, SHE COULD ALMOST TASTE THEM.]

"What the hell does that mean, Bee!? We dump her body in that dumpster!? You can't be serious! C'mon guys, you can't listen to her!"

     Ray looks over to his teammates, the same guys he's played with for so long and trusted for over a year, trying his best to stare in their eyes. However, they simply turned away, refusing to return his gaze.

"Chad...Chest...this is crazy! This isn't right, it's cruel!"

[SHE REACHED OUT TO THE HEAVENS WITH HER FINGERS OUTSTRETCHED, HER FINGERS INCHING CLOSER AND CLOSER]

     Chad and the other remaining jock, Chest, stand together as they walk onward, standing alongside Bea. They dragged their feet as their eyes shook, their resolves to preserve their futures overtaking their own morality.

"Ray...just back off...and promise that you'll never say anything about this every again...Alright? Please?"

"Chad, you can't do this! Chester, back me up here, man!"

"Can't do that, Ray...I can't let my little bro see my mugshot on the news..."

"Thanks for making the right choice, boys...now lets grab that body and dump it over - HEY! That dweeb is getting away!"

[SHE IS READY TO GET OUT OF THIS DUMP. SHE CAN FINALLY CLOSE HER EYES AND TAKE THAT NAP SHE'S ALWAYS WANTED. SHE'S SO TIRED.]

"STOP! GET AWAY FROM HIM!"

     As Ray lunged forward to pull back Bee, Chest tackled him down to the ground, splashing on the nearby puddle mixed with gutter water and blood. As Ray struggles to break free from his friend's grasp, he makes one more plea for reason. 

"No no no, let him go! He doesn't have anything to do with this!"

"Don't listen to him, boys. This guy here is a witness and I don't think he'd be too happy to listen to us...Chad, rough him up a little. We can 'persuade' him to to think twice about ever trying to rat us out."

[SHE TOUCHES THE CLOUD, HER EYES OPEN WIDE AS HER PUPILS ARE SUDDENLY HORIZONTAL. A FORCE DRAGS HER FROM THE CLOUDS, PLUMMETING BACK DOWN TO EARTH.]

Chad lifts up the tied up boy, knocking his glasses off his face as he holds him up against a wall with no remorse.

"Don't try to leave, freak! We're buddies here! You weren't trying to rat us out, were you!? I'd be really angry if you did!"

     As the helpless child tries desperately to shake his head, his eyes watering in fear, Chad raises his shaking fist with anticipation.

"It looks like you don't really understand what it means to be a good friend...real bros know how to play rough with each other...brotherly bonding, yeah? Well, just sit still and this'll all be over."

"CHAD, NO!!"

[ SHE SLAMS BACK DOWN INTO HER BODY AS AN ERUPTION OF UNTOLD SCALE ERUPTS FROM HER BODY. A FAINT WHISPER IS HEARD, ONE THAT IS BOTH FAMILAR YET FOREIGN TO HER.

"LET THIS ONE BE THE DEVIL." ]

     All at once, everything changes. As Ray pleads with Chad to stop beating on his new victim, he suddenly freezes. Chest is left confused, before looking up and stopping in his tracks as well. Bee shouts at Chest to keep pinning down Ray until she turns over to what they were seeing, her mouth left agape as she softly releases an incredulous gasp. As Chad pauses his pummeling, he realizes just how quiet everyone got. 

"Hey Bea, what the hell's goin' on? Did the cops show u-"

     Before he could finish his sentence, Chad saw exactly his friends were seeing. The girl who he had smacked with a crowbar moments ago, the one whose skull he cracked open and left to bleed out on the concrete, had risen back up. 

"J-Jess?...H-How?"

     As Chad calls out her name, the girl once known as Jess suddenly contorts her body, her bones cracking and bending in multiple places as an ear splitting screech fills the air. The teens clap their ears as the head splitting shout coming from the body reverberated against the walls, spreading out across the city and shattering glass throughout it. 

     Chad's ears begin to bleed as Bee passes out. Ray can barely stay conscious as Chest screams in excruciating pain. The body continues to shriek as large bumps begin to protrude from the sides of its head and back. The yell becomes even louder as a pair of large, bat-like wings extend out from its back, piercing through its clothes as it stretches out across the alley wall. Simultaneously, a pair of antlers burst forth from its skull. The antlers are bright red, still fresh and covered in pieces of flesh and broken skin. Blood splatters across its face as, from its eyes, tears drip down past its cheeks.

     The space surrounding the creature shifts and swirls, shining as if it were mirrors as the colors of the environment change. The alleyway becomes bright red as the moon becomes as crimson as its blood. An aura of miasma rises from the beast as the city itself seems to cower back in fear of it. 

     As this gruesome transformation reaches its apex, a hooked tail shouts out from it's behind and unfurls out as the creature rises from the ground, hovering in the air as if a force was pushing it away from the Earth. Chad sees this terrifying display and panics, grabbing the crowbar he had dropped nearby and lunging forward towards it.

[ THE FIRE INSIDE IS LIT, THE SOOT FILLS IT'S LUNGS. THE CALL OF THE MOON REACHES OUT TO IT AS THE DESIRE TO ERUPT FILLS EVERY INCH OF ITS BEING. IT WILL NOT BE CONTAINED ANYMORE. IT WILL NOT DIE. IT LIVES, AND SO IT WILL BE ALIVE.] 

     However, despite putting all his strength into that blow, the crowbar simply bent and cracked against the creature as if he had tried to strike diamond. The blowback from the strike nearly cracked his hand as Chad cried out in pain, falling on the floor and crawling backwards as tears fell down from his face. The once proud captain of the Notre Dame Highschool football team was reduced to a wallowing mess before this incomprehensible, unimaginable sight.

"W-WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU!? YOU...YOU'RE A MONSTER!!"

[I AM THE DEVIL.]

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