Song: Where's My Love by SYML (Alternate Version)

Hours must have passed and I slowly opened my eyes. I touched my cheek then my hands trailed to my lips where the stranger in my dream touched them. I swore I heard my cousin speaking in my room. I swept my gaze around the guest room I was staying in. Nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary. I rubbed my eyes before getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom connected to the guest room.

"She won't hate me. Instead, she will fall in love with me."

These words continue to ring in my head over and over again. It's like a broken record, I can't get it out of my head. These words were like lyrics to a song that refused to leave your mind.

I finished washing my face and brushing my teeth and left the bathroom. I opened my duffel bag and took out an off the shoulder top and black shorts.

A knock surprised me. Ethan stepped into the guest room. "Hi," I smiled, greeting him. "Were you able to sleep last night?"

I regretted asking him, the second the words left my mouth. It was obvious he didn't. The dark circles that usually donned his features seemed darker. He even looked guilty.

"I had the weirdest dream last night." I started, "I swore you were in it too."

"Hm." Ethan mused. "What was I doing in the dream?"

"That's the thing," I began suspiciously. "I don't know if it was a dream or not. I think I was half asleep but I heard you talking to someone."

Ethan sat on my bed with his arms crossed. "That's weird. I was in the living room the entire time."

I ran my hands through my long hair flustered. I must be so exhausted I keep dreaming of one of Daemon's favorite hobbies; haunting me. How does my cousin fit into my dream?

Who was I going to fall in love with?

Ethan broke me out of my thoughts. "It's time to summon Aurelio." he informed me. "Ted confessed that the flash drive has everything related to his worst sin."

I didn't believe Ethan. I ran outside and saw Ted sitting outside the patio, drinking a bottle of vodka at nine in the morning.

"Is it true? Is the flash drive really your object for the game?" I asked out of breath. Ted didn't look at me, his eyes focused on the traffic and bustle of the streets of LA overlooking his patio.

He tilted the bottle of vodka higher until he finished every single drop and then threw it to his side. The bottle shattered into many crystal pieces on the tiled floor. Ted continued to ignore me and walked past me as if I was never even there.

"Ted?" I tried again. Walking inside the mansion I searched for him to no avail. It was like he disappeared.

I took a step back and my back hit a hard chest. "Call him," Ted said tonelessly, void of the spark of life that glazed his eyes. I nodded, accepting his decision.

I walked to the kitchen and grabbed a kitchen knife. My left hand was shaking and my entire body screamed for me to stop what I was doing and walk away. Before I allowed my cowardice to overcome me, I carved the outline of the rune into the palm of my hand wincing. The pain stung and my blood dripped on the floor slowly. I used my thumb to draw the rune that Daemon taught me to summon him. I wasn't sure if it would work on Aurelio but then again, there aren't many ways to summon a demon. My blood wasn't red, it was gold instead that turned a dark navy blue when oxygen touched it.

"Aurelio, King of the Nether Realm I summon thee!" I said out loud, drawing the rune using my blood.

"Aurelio, Demon King of the Night, I summon thee!" I said louder, drawing the run over and over again.

I stopped, exhausted and a little freaked out that the color of my blood was gold instead of a normal red.

I looked at Ethan with tired eyes. I lost my balance for a bit and his strong hands kept me steady. He embraced me, as I held myself back from crying because of fear. The scent of pine trees and then smoke filled the room. Aurelio appeared before us with flames surrounding his feet outlining the shape of a star. He saw Ethan's arms around me and his expression darkened. I almost thought that he looked jealous. I shook the thought away, that would be impossible.

"I'm impressed," he said with amusement clapping his hands slowly. "All of you found the hidden artifact for Teddy Bear in less than 48 hours."

I pulled away from Ethan's embrace and stepped towards Aurelio. I handed him the flash drive. "Here's what you wanted." I said tonelessly before taking a step back. Aurelio touched the flash drive softly and then he sighed. He stepped out of his ring of fire and walked towards me.

"Unfortunately, this wasn't the item for the scavenger hunt." he looked at me then my friends. In a swift move, he grabbed Ted by the neck and his leg snapped forward. It all happened so fast that I wasn't able to inhale another breath. Ted cried out in pain and he screamed when Aurelio broke his arms.

"I was planning a slow painful death, but that's been overdone in the movies don't you agree, Celeste?" Aurelio said, smirking.

"Stop! Stop it! This wasn't what we agreed to." I sobbed grabbing onto Aurelio's arms.

"But it was, love." he whispered to my ear. I shivered, his last word reminded me of my dream.

"Teddy Bear didn't tell you the entire truth of his worst sin. Therefore, his soul is mine."

"What do you mean, he didn't tell us the entire truth?" I asked with a low voice. Aurelio dropped Ted's body as if it were a bag of potatoes. "Are you going to tell them or should I deliver this...nasty dishonorable sin?"

Ted groaned in pain unable to utter a single word.

Aurelio kicked him in his stomach multiple times. The more I begged him to stop the harder he kicked Ted. Out of nowhere, me and my friends were all sitting down on the comfortable couches of Ted's house. Aurelio threw the flash drive on the coffee table. "Ted here..." Aurelio began to speak. Flames danced on Ted's skin causing him to scream out loud. "Didn't just attempt to molest his baby cousin, he actually molested her and other children."

My friends and I looked at Ted in disbelief. It was a hard confession for us to accept. I was disappointed and I felt helpless. It's as if the walls were caving around me. "Ted, how could you?" Brittany said in disbelief. Her lip quivered. And I don't blame her. We all thought that Ted would never be capable of heinous actions like this.

It all happened so fast.

With a flick of Aurelio's hand, Ted's legs snapped in a weird angle and his body collapsed on the floor.

Brittany screamed. Her outcry pierced my heart and I became dizzy all of a sudden. "I'm only playing by the rules, Celeste." Aurelio reminded me gently, taking my hands to his. I pulled them away disgusted. "I hate you."

Aurelio smiled. "Good."

His sly grin was short-lived when he groaned in surprise. A wooden cross was stuck and plunged into his back. He pulled it out slowly and stood up. It was Daniel who stabbed him. Aurelio growled, his features becoming more demonic. Crimson light appeared in his hands and pushed Daniel back against the wall.

"Idiots." Aurelio growled. His hands curled up into a fist and his eyes blazed with fury. He snapped his fingers and fire encircled my friends and me closer together. Ted, on the other hand, was outside the circle of fire. Aurelio had a sick glint in his eyes when he raised his hand again for Ted's body to be high up in the air and pushed against the wall. Nails appeared out of nowhere and pinned Ted to the wall. I screamed for Aurelio to stop until my throat was raw and I couldn't scream anymore.

I stood up and was about to run past the ring of fire that kept us imprisoned when someone's nails dug through my arms and pulled me back away from the heat. Ethan and Brittany pulled me back, tears streaking down their faces. I pulled harder away from them as Aurelio walked closer towards Ted.

Ted was begging for his life. "Please don't kill me, please I'm begging you!" he cried. The nails embedded on the palms of his hands dug deeper. Aurelio gave a soft chuckle as if he was amused with everything that was happening around us.

He turned towards us. "I want you to see a preview of how we punish molesters like him in the Nether Realm. In fact, molesters like Teddy Bear here, belong to the third circle of the Nether Realm." Aurelio sliced off three fingers from Ted's left hand.

"No! Daemon please, don't do this!" I begged this time. I covered my mouth when I realized my mistake. I called him, Daemon.

Aurelio stalked towards me tilting his head. He knelt down to our eye level and reached for my face, ignoring the hiss of fire around us. "I am abiding by the rules of the game, Celeste." he said as he gripped my chin tightly. "Teddy Bear lost. This is the price to pay when your souls belong to me." he grinned. Tears continued to fall down my eyes like waterfalls.

Aurelio continued to analyze my face for a few more seconds before standing up and returning to his latest victim. The fire that encircled us grew larger in height that it would be nearly impossible to jump over it. Ethan grabbed my wrist. "Don't even think about it, Celeste." he said as if reading my mind.

"We can't just stand there!" I exclaimed as Daniel pulled me towards his chest and I sobbed uncontrollably. This moment will forever be scarred into my mind. Brittany only sat on the floor, never taking her eyes off Ted's bleeding body. She was rocking herself back and forth. For a brief moment, I saw a hint of jealousy flashing through Aurelio's eyes. It disappeared as quickly as it showed.

"I'm sorry, Celeste." Ted let out one final breath and I cried harder.

"You should be apologizing to the victims you scarred, Teddy Bear." Aurelio huffed before he sliced off three more fingers from Ted's right hand. I covered my mouth, seeing one of my closest friends suffering a slow painful death will forever remain imprinted in my mind.

"Better luck next time, right?" Aurelio said. "And before I leave and take Teddy Bear here with me, the next item I want would be an item stolen from those underserved." He smirked before scanning all of us within the fire. "I'll be nice this time and give all of you an easier object to retrieve."

"You have 72 hours." And with a strong gust of wind and smoke, Aurelio disappeared with Ted. The fire that imprisoned us died down and all that was left in Ted's house was the pool of blood and six of his fingers.