NADIA

I passed the doorway into the courtyard and approached Sophia facing out into the backyard. “I was so hoping to run into your bleach-blonde bitch ass again.”

“Did you enjoy the treat I sent you? It was the strangest thing.” Sophia turned to me, more amused than curious. “I was watching from afar and you should have been perfectly alone when my black knight arrived.”

I tried to hold back my laughter. “If that's the best you got, you might want to level up. Trust, you don’t want none of this.”

Sophia tilted her head to the side and smiled. “Some things require a firmer hand.” She rushed forward and backhanded me hard.

I flew back and hit a wall, but the stone actually softened upon impact. It stayed malleable until I pushed off the surface. A small laugh escaped me and I wiped the blood from my mouth. "Oh, you better hope you kill me."

I quickly turned around and summoned a rolling wheel of fire at Sophia. She almost deflected the flames before letting out a shriek. The silver glove on her right arm burnt through to the flesh. With her other hand, Sophia shot a stream of black energy in my direction. I slid out of the way of the attack and fired some of my best bolts that hit her square in the face. She flew backward and I felt a small spark of nostalgia from our first fight. Good times.

I was about to send another bolt, but someone screamed from the third-story balcony above us. Looking up, a young woman leapt over the edge. She never made it to the ground. From behind her, a dark shadowy figure grabbed her mid-drop and disappeared back onto the balcony. I looked away when her screams suddenly mixed with gurgling. I turned back, but Sophia was gone “You can run bi--oh, crap, Lana!”

I ran inside to sheer pandemonium as screaming people ran in every direction. The fire-breathers were incinerating the same men and women who, just minutes ago, had been entranced by their skills. The acrobats were tossing people from one to another. One held onto a man's hands, while another acrobat caught the man’s legs. Before I had a chance to do anything, the two swung in opposite directions and ripped the man apart. The frantic people below ignored the rain of blood and entrails. I, on the other hand, vomited into a nearby plant.

A scream from the second floor caught my attention and I immediately recognized it as Lana’s. I moved toward the staircase as a very concerned Dominick came running toward me through the crowd. We need to get out of here. I looked up towards the exit at the top of the staircase and saw Sophia standing in the middle of it. Behind her, a black hole dropped out an endless number of the ugliest looking grey monsters, one of which headed straight for Dominick and me. “Aidan!”

***

AIDAN

Mr. Serious was deep in thought towards our next course of action when I heard it. Nadia’s voice came rushing into my head like she was right next to me. I could hear terror and desperation in the way she screamed my name followed by images of mayhem and chaos flashing through my mind.

No, no, no, no, no.

Mr. Serious must have sensed my anxiety because he broke his concentration to turn to me. “Aidan, what is it?”

Without another thought, I grabbed him by his collar and used everything I had to take us to Nadia.