Amanda screamed and clenched her eyes shut in fear. A shot rang out and vibrated amongst the walls, but there was no bloodshed.

"What?" The gunman looked at his gun and cocked open the barrel. "The magazine is fully loaded. How could it not fire? Maybe it jammed?"

My body shrugged. "Maybe it was a fluke? How about trying again?"

The gunman's eyes turned into slits. "Is this some type of reverse psychology?"

Ember groaned in annoyance. "Look, we'll only come with you if you prove that you really want us. Which is why we asked you to shoot her. If the gun ain't working, then what's to say that we beat the crap out of you?"

"Why do I have to prove something to a child? I could shoot her and your friends easily." the gunman smirked.

A sigh escaped my body. "We know you could do it anyway." Amanda whimpered in his grip, but it was ignored. "But if you want us to come willingly then you have to do this." My hand brushed some hair behind my ear, and I could hear the gunman's pulse convulse.

"Just shoot the girl already." Ember rolled his eyes.

The gunman stared us down before putting the barrel back in place. He threw Amanda on the ground and aimed it at her back.

Amanda crawled to get behind the counter, but invisible blanks of air hit hard against her spine. Out of sheer panic and stress, she passed out in a heap along the floor.

Ember went over to her body and propped it up against the wall across from the counter. "You must be shooting blanks because there is no bloodshed." He put a finger against her neck and felt her pulse beating with life. "She's still alive too."

The gunman vibrated with anger. He pointed his finger at me. "You! You messed with my gun!"

An eyebrow went up. "How? You shot the chef just fine. Now you can't even shoot again? You're just a one-trick pony." My arms crossed.

Ember stood up and walked back over to us. "Dang. You planned on kidnapping two boys but can't even work a gun right. But you did manage to kill someone." He shrugged. "It's not gonna make a difference because you'll be spending your time in Hell."

The gunman started freaking out due to frustration, but my body turned to face Liam and Xavier.

"I know you heard the chef notify the authorities. They should be here soon, but it's taking them longer than I thought." Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the gunman pointed the gun to his head. He clicked it repeatedly, and air hit his head.

"I stopped the possibility of death in this area. That's why the gun isn't working." The shocked faces of everyone didn't stop Jeremy from continuing. "I guess I can let Kye come back since the situation is handled."

"Wait," Donna pushed forward. "Why are you here in the first place?"

My shoulders shrugged. "I didn't make the best choices while I was alive, so I might as well be fixing them now." Donna made a face that I couldn't place, and a scoff rolled off my lips. "I didn't say that you had to like it."

My eyes closed, and my feet teetered before I faintly felt a hand on my shoulder. I felt Jeremy switch places with me but stopped when a familiar ring rang out in a sea of darkness.

Jeremy reclaimed his place and opened my eyes to crimson pooling on the floor.

"I knew," the gunman panted. "That I had bullets."

My eyes widened as thoughts pierced my mind.

¢σи¢єитяαтισи ωαѕ ℓσѕт, αи∂ ιи яєтυяи α ℓιfє ωαѕ ℓσѕт αѕ ωєℓℓ.

Amanda's body was still as blood ran away from her in a fleeing motion. Her side was shot, and her face was scrunched up in pain- but she didn't wake. Her skin grew clammy as her uniform became wet with crimson. Her blood and the blood of the chef held hands on the floor.

"Now, come here." He gestured two grimy fingers towards Ember and me.

Ember answered first. "No."

The gunman recoiled. "No?" He seemed disgusted at his own response. He mouthed the word again before laughing hysterically.

"I didn't have to, but I did. Just to please my little bitty birds. Yes, yes. My twitchy witchy boys- I think y'all are so nice! I give you bowls of porridge, and I give you bowls of ice cream!"

Ember blinked before sighing. "I think he went off the deep end."

"No, shit!" The gunman spit. He took a minute to regain whatever was left from his sanity and pinched the space between his nose and his eyebrows. "You know what I'm gonna do?"

Ember and I shrugged.

"I'm gonna kill you," he pointed to Ember. "And your friends, and then I'll take you home with me." He looked at me with a sickly smile that showcased black teeth that writhed like worms in the soil.

I felt waves of hatred roll off of someone behind me, and it made my back tingle. My body slowly turned to see Liam with blackened eyes, and his fists clenched at his sides.

"This has gone on long enough!" Liam yelled from behind me. He flittered by me and shielded me from him.

"Well, I'll guess you'll be the first to go." I heard a gun click and rasp from throwing up a bullet.

Liam's head jerked back, but there was a hand in front of his face. In a flick, something shot out of his hand and back in the other direction.

My body stepped out from behind him, and I saw a dark spot in the gunman's clothing. The gun was dead on the ground.

"H-how did y-you.."

"No one takes my mate away from me," Liam said in a thick tone. Liam looked back at me, and I saw the whiteness of his eyes come back. He knelt down next to me and cradled me in his arms.

Ember walked over to the gunman and looked back at me.

"If you don't mind- I'd like to end it."

My head gave a small tilt against the side of Liam's face.

Ember looked back at the gunman.

"Because you put my priority in danger, you shall repent for your crimes in Hell."

"Jail?" The gunman laughed and winced at the sudden movement. "What else you gonna tell me- don't drop the soap?"

"No." Ember's voice dropped several octaves. The gunman looked at him more seriously. "You are submitted to the catacombs of Hell, where Lucifer will destroy you."

Ember opened his mouth, and an onslaught of hellfire shot out. It entombed gunman's figure and made it hard to distinguish. The intense heat made me want to shield my eyes but also wanted me to run towards it. I was surprised Jeremy made me stand so still because I wanted to embrace the flames.

I wanted to curl my fingers around the tips of fire that kept licking the air around me, and I wanted to wrap my-

Ember closed his mouth abruptly, and smoke arose from a small gap from his lips. My sincere thoughts of the fire diminished as I looked at the spot where they once stood.

A charred skeleton stared back at us.

I heard Nicole gasp, but I didn't dare to turn around.

In the skeleton's lap was a small orb. It was weak and frail but pulsing with essence. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw one rise out of Amanda. It was brighter and more prominent.

I looked at them both with wide eyes.

"No- I can't handle anymore." I don't know when Jeremy and I switched back, but the fear of more of them entering my body was the priority.

"Anymore? What's wrong, Kye?" Liam stepped in my field of vision. I looked at him then at Xavier and Kyle. Their presence was forgotten to me, but I saw them trying to console Donna and Nicole from seeing a man burn to death.

I looked back at Liam. "C-can you see them? The orbs?"

Liam tilted his head and shook his head. "Maybe you are just seeing things. I wouldn't blame you with the recent events." He shook his head. "We need to leave this area quickly." He stood and went to grab my hand, but Ember tapped my shoulder.

His sudden appearance at my side scared me, but he didn't seem to notice. "It'd be better to do this now and not later."

Now? Do what now?

Before I was able to voice my concerns, Ember reached into his mouth and pulled out a small little orb. He let it spin on his pointer finger as two more joined it at lightning speed. My mind flashed to the courtroom as three spheres joined together.

And, just as I feared, the orbs entered my body.

And I screamed.