4 weeks and 3 days. That's all. January 25th to February 28th. 4 weeks and 3 days of planning and plotting and crying and sweating and panicking. 4 weeks and 3 days, that's all it took for the 5 teens to plan their death.

Or as Ryan put it, "The defeat of evil, once and for all."

You could bet he earned a bunch of snickers after than, which he returned with an ever gracious middle finger.

School had begun again in Kingswood. (And the new principle had even changed that godforsaken sound of a bell!) The halls of Kingswood high were filled with laughter again, the students who had cried and screamed over their lost friends were now happy again.

Well, as happy as high-schoolers could be.

Now don't get me wrong, the killings still haven't stopped. Only now, they'd turned into missing cases. Every now and then a new leaflet with a new missing face will be pasted on lampposts and walls on buildings.

A grandfather, gone missing when he stepped our of the house to buy his wife some medicines.

A teen boy, gone missing when he snuck out his house to go see his lover.

A single mother of 3, gone missing during one of her extra night shits.

And on and on the list goes, one after the other, faces after faces, names after names. Faded posters after faded posters.

"How was school?" Mr. Adam's asked as he flicked through the TV channels, each one talking about the weather or some other thing.

"Good," Kylie replied as she ate the last bit of her pasta. "Hey you remember Layla right? Can I bring her over on day?" She continued, pushing her dinner plate away and glancing at the wall clock.

7:59 p.m.

"Yeah sure Kylie," Mrs. Adam's replied from the corner of the dining table. "She's been helping you with your studies right?"

"Yeah...studies."

"How's the orange juice?" Ryan interrupted, his palms turning sweaty as he fidgeted in his seat.

"It's good," Mr. Adam's replied as he smiled at his son. "Maybe tomorrow or something I could make something for you all."

That's if we live to see tomorrow . Ryan thought. But instead of voicing it out he just replied with a tight lipped smile.

"Anyways I'm gonna go to bed." Kylie said as she stood up, "oh and Ry I need your help so come for a bit." She added.

"Are you sure you drugged them?" Kylie whispered once they were in her room. "I'm not happy about it but-"

"Yes, yes I did. I added 2 pills to both their glasses." Ryan replied with wave of his hand. "Just give it a while. I'll text the others and see if it's working for them." He added before pulling out his phone.

* * *

"I just wanted to say I love you guys."

"Why so suddenly?" Mrs. Williams said with a laugh as she slipped into bed beside her husband. "First you made us brownies and now this."

"Jee I just want to show some affection. Is that so bad?" Cathy replied, her face already red enough.

"No no it's great actually." Said Mr. Williams. He paused to stifle a yawn before continuing. "We love you too Cathy."

"More than you think." Mrs. Williams added with a smile.

* * *
"Well maybe I wouldn't hate you if aren't always trying to control me!" Alexa screamed as she stood up. "And I get that my marks aren't that great but can't you see that I'm trying. Cuz I really am for God's sake."

"Don't lie you didn't try at all. All you did was-"

"Yeah what did I do dad?" Asked Alexa. Her eyes stinging with tears. "I mean it's not that I expect you to know. You're never around. And even when you are, you don't care." She said. Her voice cracking at the end.

Inhaling deeply. She gestured to the glasses of juice in her parents hands. "I bet even this wasn't enough for you. I'm going to bed.

And with that, she turned around darted up the stairs, taking taking each two at a time as her mom yelled at her father in the dining room.

As if she's any better.

* * *

"Good night mom, dad. " Anther said as he stared at the sleeping forms of his parents. "You too Analise." He smiled as he brushed a lock off the 5 year old's forehead.

Walking out of the dark room. Anther sighed as he shut the door. Making sure to be as quiet as possible. He made his way down the stairs and out the front door, the lock clicking back in place once it was shut.

Turning around, his sea blue eyes took a long hard look at his home before darting to the line of houses beside it. All their lights were off.

All the parents are asleep.

All of the teens are awake.

* * *

Cathy walked as fast as should towards St. Bridget's Church. Her black hoodie was pulled down and her brown hair was tied into a tiny high ponytail as she pit foot after foot in front of her. Finally stopping near the location they'd selected, Cathy inhaled deeply as she wrapped her arms around her. Even though the days were getting hotter and hotter, the nights still held a trace of winter.

"Hey," A voice said from behind, making Cathy turn around with a ghost of a smile. "Where are the others?"

"I saw Alexa sneak out the same time as me. She should be here in a minute."

"I'm here," said a voice not a minute later and Alexa came jogging into view. Her hair was tied into a bun and the red streaks she'd dyed around the time of Kylie and Ryan's birthday (which ended up in getting her phone taken away for 2 weeks and a severe talk down from her parents) were faintly visible, poking through the gaps.

And no sooner, two 17 year olds came running up to them.

And one by one, grunt after grunt, the 5 teens climbed up the 8 foot fence. The bells of St. Bridget's Church being the sound around them.

And the minute trecked on after that, with idle chatter and a few silences that included all of them holding their breaths because one heard a sound, only for it to end up being a bat or a harmless porcupine.

"Hey guys..." Kylie started after a minute of silence. "Incase something does go wrong, have you told anyone where we are?"

"So you're suggesting that I actually have friends besides you guys?" Cathy said with a laugh.

"Yeah we lonely." Added Alexa. "But no why would we?"

"Oh so you're lonely." Ryan said. "What about Julian huh?"

"Oh didn't I tel you? I punched him in the face that day?" Replied Alexa with a sigh.

"Wait why?" Asked Anther, a smile on his lips as he wiggled his eyebrows at Ryan.

"He tried to kiss me. And I panicked and punched him." Alexa said, oblivious to how hard Ryan and Anther were trying to contain their laughter. Cathy poked Anther in the ribs gently with a roll of her eyes, but she couldn't hide the fact that she too was smiling. "Yeah I didn't know he liked me like that." Alexa continued. "Anyways this was in the parking lot after practise and his mom saw and walked up to us and started scolding him."

At this, Ryan and Anther finally started laughing while Kylie muttered, "You two are a bunch of sadists," the same time Cathy said "It's getting cold-"

And then, their bodies were pulled in all angles.

Alexa felt her neck snap with a deafening crack, Anther felt himself topple over; the contents of his dinner reaching his throat, Cathy could swear her arm was snapped in two like a twig while Kylie felt her hair being yanked so hard she thought it would come out like a wig.

And then they were falling. Tumbling and tumbling into a never ending abyss of black so dark Anther thought he'd gone blind.

And then he hit the ground. And man was it hard. The pain shot straight up his spine and went straight to his head.

Cursing out loud, Anther inhaled and exhaled deeply for a whole minute. And then he stood up and blinked.

Once. Darkness.

Then twice. Still black

And then the 3rd time around there was light.

Fireworks to be exact. All around Anther, they blasted, flowers of colour.

"Pretty great innit Anther?"

And then Anther was staring at himself laughing along with 2 other boys.

This is just like before. Anther thought, his mind flickering to their time in the hospital. But those were actual memories...

"Yeah not gonna lie London is pretty amazing." Anther watched as the mirror image of himself spoke. "And so far the New Year is off to a great start."

Anther felt his throat go dry as he realised the boy in front of him looked older. He had a shadow of stubble growing from his cheeks and his hair was shorter, and instead of a hoodie he was dressed in a light blue button down.

"And LBS is as amazing as I thought it would be." 18 year old Anther went on.

And then it clicked. London. LBS. London Business School. College. Far, far away from wreched Kingswood.

Anther gulped. The scene befolding in front of him is all he's ever wanted.

And then the guy that had his arm around the older Anther turned his head until his eyes were locked with present Anther. "You know," he began, his brown eyes turning redder and redder. "If you want something you have to reach out and get it."

And Anther wanted to reach out.

"Come on." The man said, his previous buffed physique turning more and more slender while his almond coloured skin turned black until it no longer looked like skin at all. "Just a bit more." His eyes glowed red.

* * *

"What the f-"

Alexa stopped mid sentence when her eyes registered her surroundings.

And that made he curse even more as she scooted backwards on her butt, not bothering to stand up.

She saw a black haired girl with stormy greg eyes being embraced by her parents. The girl grinned wide, her dark hair swinging in a ponytail as she dusted her grey T-shirt, the back of it flashing a bright blue 9.

Her football jersy.

"We're so proud of you." Alexa watched her parents say to the girl that was an exact clone of herself.

Her parents had never said that to her.

And then the scene changed.

Again and again.

But in all instances, they was crystal clear love coating Alexa's parents' faces as they spoke to her.

And then the scene changed again.

But this time Ryan was in it.

Or atleast Alexa thought it was him. It was a boy for sure, but his features were mostly a blur, his faint blode hair being the only thing distinguishable.

And then the boy started speaking. "I love you okay?" He was saying as he gripped the girl's shoulder and shook her gently.

Alexa felt her throat tighten.

"And no I'm not gonna leave."

She couldn't breathe.

"Do you hear me?"

I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe.

"I love you. I love you Alexa."

Alexa screamed as her head pounded. It was as if her head was being picked apart, piece by piece, until her mind was left bare, for everyone to see.

For her desires to be left in the light.

Her desperate want to just be loved.

And then the boy was looking at her. Alexa inhaled and exhaled deeply, her chest rising and falling with every breath. Her eyes left the boy to glance up at the two figures emerging from behind him.

"Come on Alexa," she heard her dad's voice sat. "We're gonna go home."

Alexa rose to her feet and stared. And then she took a step forward.

"Everything is going to be okay," her mom said, extending a fair hand.

* * *

Ryan groaned as his head collided with the hard ground. He rubbed his eyes and stood up and glanced around, his neck moving from side to side before his eyes landed a spot of light in the distance.

Debating on whether or not to move. Will it be dangerous or not? In the end Ryan sighed before walking towards the light. It was better than just staying in the dark.

And then the light came into focus and Ryan stopped in his tracks.

"No way," he muttered as he watched a duplicate of himself walk on to a stage, dressed graduation cape and cap while grinning as wide as possible.

But I'm failing almost all my classes...

And then the scene changed.

This time Ryan was shaking hands with someone. And he looked older too, probably around 23 or so. And the fact that he was dressed in a pressed grey suit with a tie didn't help him look younger.

And then as if someone was getting annoyed of his slow brain not working, Ryan felt a zap at the side of his forehead before a voice entered.

You graduated.

You have a job.

You're stable in life.

Just come closer. Just a bit and you can have all of that.

Ryan blinked. He'd a be fool not to take up such an opportunity.

* * *

Kylie groaned out loud as her body collided with the ground. The pain shot up her spine and make her head throb, muttering to herself, she stood up and dusted the dirt off her jeans.

"We're trapped again. Wohoo!" She mumbled with a frown before lifting her head to meet a pair of green eyes. They were as bright as the forest in summer, a burst of colour.

And then Kylie took back a step, or maybe two or three, whole screaming her head off.

The girl infront of her just continued shaking from head to two, her fists balled up.

Kylie inhaled and exhaled deeply before looking around, the familiar white walls and beige coach and dinning table making her hammering heart quieten for a moment.
"I'm bisexual." The blonde infront of Kylie blurted. Tiny drops of tears falling on the carpet while her head remained cast down.

And then Kylie heard a voice behind her, making her jump in fear even higher than last time.

But then all the negative emotions went away when she saw her parents walk up to her clone and hug her.

"Kylie it's alright..." Mrs. Adams said. "We love you just the way you are."

And now it was real Kylie's turn to shake.

What in the world is happening?

But her mouth didn't say a word. Instead she just watched as her parents accepted a fake replica of herself. Showing her with love and hugging her while she cried in their arms, a smile on her lips.

"You just need to come closer Kylie," she heard her dad say.

"Just come to us." He said, his eyes fixed on her. Not the clone, her. "And everything will be okay."

And his voice sounded so calm, and loving, and kind. "Yes dad."

* * *

"I'm too tired to get up." Cathy sighed. Her chest rising as she placed her on top of her stomach, her body flat agaisnt the cold hard ground of blackness.

Well I doubt you'd fancy being killed so get moving.

Mentally squirming, Cathy rose to her feet and scanned her surroundings, left, right, front, back, left, right, front, back.

And then she spotted it.

A burst of flame, not white light, but an orange gleaming fire. More than. 40 feet away.

And Cathy was probably gonna regret it if she didn't move closer so she started waking. One foot infront of the other.

Curiosity killed the cat what the hell are you doing?!

Well satisfaction brought it back so what do you think I'm doing?!

The girl's been through a lot okay? So let's not judge her for this.

Stopping infront of the fire, Cathy coughed into her sleeve before widening her eyes to get a better look.

Swirls of images rolled past her. Different colours after the other. Blue, green, brown, black; but all of them were tinted with the same orangish hue.

And then bam! The fire burst and the images were set free, whizzing past Cathy and surrounding her like the ghosts of her past.

And then they came to a halt.

Cops. Dozens of them, shooting at Malthus.

Nets, falling from airborne machines and trapping the demon.

Knives, spikes, spears, slashing through the demon.

They can see him. They know he exists.

And then the fire returned again, only for a split second this time though, soon it was an image again.

This time Cathy, along with 4 others, were on a stage. The big one right in the middle of Kingswood square. And there were tons of seats too, more than any Cathy had seen at the same time. There were cameras, lights, news reporters. All watching Cathy as she walked up the stage, the Mayor of Kingswood saying something to her before pinning a medal against her chest. The gold gleaming in the sunlight.

"And we thank these individuals from the bottom of our hearts...:

"...saved all of Kingswood."

"We must honour Miss Bethany Lester too..."

"Malthus is no more."

"...I call them heroes."

The mayor said. His voice deep and loud as it resonated all throughout. The crowd cheering at his words.

Cheering for Cathy, Anther, Alexa, Ryan and Kylie.

"Now I call you to join us." The mayor continued. "Come Cathy. And you'll get everything you want."

And Cathy almost did, blinded by some crazy greed. But just as she was about to, she stopped short, eyes fixed on the mayor's hand.

The mayor didn't have one hand, he'd lost it 2 months ago during a bombing. Cathy even remembered joking about how he gave off major Commander Erwin vibes. The same gelled and combed blonde hair and everything.

But this mayor had both his hands.

It's a trap.

"IT'S A TRAP!" Cathy yelled. Running as further away from the source of light.

"ANTHER!"

Cathy coughed again and again, she'd swallowed her heat from the fire and now it was burning her throat. Lovely.

"KYLIE!"

"RYAN! ALEXA DON'T TOUCH IT."

And then it was as if they'd all been whacked on the head with a hammer. Cathy's voice making the pounding even worse.

Alexa blinked once, then twice before stepping back. Her eyes going from her mother's face to her outstretched hand.

"You're not my mom." She said, hating the way her voice trembled at the end.

And then, without waiting for a reply. Alexa turned around and ran as fast as her body would will.

* * *

The same couldn't be said for Ryan. His hand was almost touching the light, one more centimeter and this his index finger would have made contact with it.

But I want to stay here.

"RYAN!"

It's perfect.

"GUYS DON'T TOUCH IT!"

Gritting his teeth, Ryan pulled his hand back and screamed. Curses flying everywhere. His hands went to his head and he gripped his hair tight and pulled.

Why can't I get anything I want?"

Cursing once more, he took one last look at the ball if light before turning on his heel.

* * *

"Why doesn't anything good happen to us!?"
Anther yelled as he ran. "Like we're shown everything we want and then it just turns out to be fake. Why can't we just be happy for once." He dug his nails into his palms. "We haven't even done anything wrong. So why?"

* * *

Kylie cried. Full fleged tears streamed down her cheeks as she unwillingly moved her legs. "It's isn't fair." She sobbed.

Nothing good ever happens here.

And with hate for the world, she kicked and kicked, foot after foot until there was no more ground under her, and she was falling.

All of them were falling.

Into heaven?

Into hell?

Or even worse. Back to earth?

*******
A/N

HEY!

First of all shoutout to my irl bestie for telling me to hurry up and write. U sounded like a baby rabbit trying to threaten me but it worked nonetheless<3

So here's this week's chapter. Or idk this month's. Idk when I'll update next. Anyways I'm honestly kinda happy w the way it turned out. Like normally my chaps are around 2k words but this one was 3363.

And I was able to put a whole lot of my personal thoughts into it. Like all of their desires are somehow related to mine. Even Cathy's to some extent, even though she and Anther are prolly the characters sharing the least amount of similar traits w me, but anyways in the end she just wants ppl to see that she's a good person and be validated.

So yea I hope you are able to think about the characters and form up theories and stuff.

Anyways this part is kina irrelevant so u can skip it if u want lol.

But I just wanted to say now that Malthus is coming to an end I realised how much has changed, not only in the story but irl too. I started writing this when I was 11+ and now I'm 14 and I'm actually really really happy rn lol. I love myself sm like 12 year old me would be proud😂

And sm around me has changed too.

But yeah if you've been here from the beginning, or if you came halfway or you started reading only a couple days ago; thank you. For sticking w me. I appreciate it more than you think.

Here's a pic of levi being fine as hell incase you were having a bad day:)

-Lylie