The Devil's Spawn

ACT IX: INCINERATOR

Prism paled at the familiar fiery red hair that decorated a lean face with a fair complexion. “There is no mistaking it, that is Leon!”

King glanced at the said girl with concern written all over his face. A deep frown made its way to his lips, making him all the more grumpy and approachable to anyone unfamiliar with the ravinette. “Are you sure? They do not even have red hair, instead, all I can see is someone similar to Nana — which is still very disturbing.” The said male pursed his cherry red lips, his face scrunching up in disgust at whatever he was seeing. In no way does he like what he was seeing — the face of his close friend about to be burned. He hated it.

“Huh? Have you two gone blind?” Kou questioned with one brow raised. The look of bewilderment is visible on his face and he looked at Prism and then King like they had grown two heads. "Can you not see the eyepatch on the other side? That looks like Onyx with his long hair and all. Though that is pretty disturbing, how come the person in the photo looks so much like him — no, it is exactly Onyx's spitting image!" Lou exclaimed, confident of what his two eyes could see.

And when the others picked sides of who and what they saw, Rose's meek voice tried to get their attention. With his keen observation skills, Sora hushed his friends arguing about who each of them saw, and gestured for Rose to continue. Flustered, the said girl gave the ash-blonde a small smile, grateful for his thoughtfulness.

"When I took the picture, I only saw a dark apparition and none of which you all saw."

Murmurs erupted after the meek girl's statement. Simultaneously, the group shivered as they noticed the room temperature dropping in an instant, and the once well-lit room became dim — and they almost did not notice.

"Hey," Hori started once everyone calmed down. "Forget the picture, where are Leon, Nana, and Onyx?"

Silence enveloped the group once more and the overbearing cold became more obvious as they all stilled in silent suspense. The only sound each of them could hear was their breathing, paired with the loud pounding of their rapidly beating hearts. None of them were brave enough to break the silence, afraid it would set something off — something sinister.

Unable to take the suspense anymore, Princess gulped and moved her lips, ready to scold every single one of her friends for not maintaining a cool head — something she also failed to do first, but when she blinked, her vision never came back. The scolding she ought to give the rest morphed into a shrill scream, one that shook the rest and terrified them enough to let out screams of their own.

"Stay close! None of you let go!" Yue barked orders as he gripped anyone close to him — in his case, fortunately, it was Prism whom he had grabbed, and on his left was Princess. It did not take him long to guess since the said girl was still yelling her head off in fright, and he recognized everyone's voices. With a soothing hand, he patted the platinum blonde's back and gently hushed her. Sobs reverberated inside the dark space and Yue could hear Hori gently giving Amber and Sky the comfort they needed.

"Let's all calm down alright? Come on, deep breaths ladies and gentlemen. In and out, just like that," Kou instructed, his soothing voice filling the empty room. He hated it and would never admit it even at the cost of his life, but King appreciated Kou during times like these. Prism, who had been trying to act tough beside him but failing miserably by the little tremors her body was obviously emitting, calmed down after the ginger-haired male's instructions.

"Now that we are all calmer, does anyone have any flashlights of sorts? A phone — though I doubt that after earlier — or maybe the cameras we've brought could give us light?" Kou immediately took the lead, careful with his voice, making sure to not sound louder or too panicky in case he triggers their fear once more.

"None," came Hiro's voice, although the poor boy tried so hard to hide the shakiness of his breathing. Hori squeezed his hand reassuringly and the male twin could not be any more grateful he had his twin with him.

"We can use the camera's flash, even for a brief moment, we can at least see where we are going," Prism suggested, and having no other choice, the rest voiced their agreement. Those with cameras: Prism, Rose, Sky, Hiro, and Kou, began leading the way.

"Be careful with handling weapons to those that do have them," came Yue's warning, and the said people with weapons — Prism with a broomstick, King with a knife, and Yue himself also with a knife — grunted in response to let the tall brunette know they heard him, too drained to even talk.

Prism, being in front, snapped the first photo. And as the bright flash illuminated the stairs leading out of the basement, their screams had once more bounced off the constricting walls of the small basement, the sound deafening but none of them cared as those that could not scream froze in their spot.

"Back away!" Yue ordered and they did not need to be told twice as they scrambled back to where they came from. Out of instinct, Yue, Kou, and King with a trembling Hiro moved to shield the ladies from whatever they saw.

"That was a g-ghost, please tell me I'm wrong, please," Sky pleaded, her voice raised in a higher pitch, and with it came the cracking of her shaky voice.

Indeed, what made all hairs in their bodies stand up was the pitch-black apparition that stood in between them and the stairway. Hastily, Prism fumbled with her camera in the dark — she almost had a heart attack after she accidentally let go due to the shakiness of her hands, but the girl remembered she wore it around her neck — and the screen brightened up her face. The said girl quickly scanned the photo she had just taken but found the picture of the apparition missing.

"What the hell, the photo is not here!" She exclaimed loudly and caught everyone's attention. "Whatever in the living hell that was, it's gone."

Choked-out sobs could be heard from Amber, Princess, and Sky as they refused to believe what they had

just seen. Unfortunately, this time, no matter how much Hori soothed them, their tears could not be stopped.

"Close your eyes, ladies," Kou instructed.

"What are you planning to do?" Hiro questioned, distress thickly laced with his voice.

"I'm going to take another picture unless we want to be trapped here cowering in the dark."

A click was heard and light flooded back inside the small space. King let out a sigh of relief upon finding no dark apparition around. His eyes roamed, counting his friends, and once more let out a sigh of relief upon seeing them complete. Except for Leon, Nana, and Onyx.

"We need to hurry out of here. Let's go find where Leon, Nana, and Onyx are. Our priority is to make sure they are alright before escaping, and this time, we will stick together."

The girls whimpered in agreement. No matter how scared they might be, the last thing they would want is to feel the guilt of abandoning a friend.

"Hurry before any more could happen," Yue urged and they all ran as if their life depended on it — and with how the situation has turned out, their lives do depend whether they have the means to survive or not. Kou led the group in front with Hiro while King and Yue stayed at the back to watch what's behind them.

"Here." Prism offered her broomstick to the ginger-haired male, concern reflected in her pair of stormy-gray eyes. "You need this protection more than me, though I doubt it would do much but still...anyway, thank you for stepping up to lead us when we are all terrified."

That damned smile, Kou would do anything to keep that bright smile plastered on her face. He flashed her his pearly whites, his cheeks hurting from how wide he was grinning, but Kou did not care. "Thank you, I still appreciate the thought behind your generosity. I could certainly hit anything with this, including a ghost, and I would still come out unscathed."

The dark-haired girl could feel the blood rushing up into her face, making her cheeks feel warm at his slight teasing remark. Prism faked out a cough in order to play it cool, make it seem like his boyish grin had no effect on her. To add to her act, the girl rolled her eyes and punched the boy lightly in his arm. "Stop being dramatic, we are not off to war."

Still with a cheeky smile, Kou eagerly nodded his head, their precarious situation momentarily forgotten, before finally moving forward.

They took one cautious step after another. As they basked in the heavy silence, the group is reminded of just how big and oppressive the mansion is. The mansion still in perfect condition despite it being declared as abandoned should have been the first red flag and they ignored it. And now three out of the fourteen of them are missing.

They should not have separated, but none of them voiced it out. It was obvious that Yue was already beating himself up for making the decision. Even his commonly stoic face could not hide how he is feeling like it usually does. Normally, the tall brunette would have taken the lead by now, barking orders while carrying an aura of confidence with himself, gently giving them words of reassurance. But now Yue had obviously shrunk — and not literally, but it is obvious in the way he deflated, choosing to be at the back to support instead of to lead. And the fact that the make looked sullen and lacking confidence, the rest could only glance at him, unsure if their words of encouragement would even reach him.

But not Prism, what kind of sibling would she be — although not by blood — if she were to ignore her brother who is obviously feeling under the weather. The dark-haired girl gave him a good punch in the gut, catching the rest and the victim of said punches off-guard.

"Stop moping. None of us blame you for what happened. You could not have known something like this would transpire. Besides, it's like you are thinking those three are in danger! Let's believe they are not and go meet with them soon, okay?" With her widest grin, Prism beamed at her very tall brother. A series of chuckles and giggles resonated within the group of friends, their fear gradually getting washed away. And as the atmosphere became lighter, Prism soon realized just how soon she had spoken.

Back in the brightly lit main hall, a tall and wide black screen sat on top of a wooden table — carved and polished to make it look elegant, expensive, and ideal for a luxurious mansion such as the late Hellstine family's home. Falling from the ceiling from who knows where are tiny rectangular pieces of paper. In it were words written in red ink.

The group of friends gulped, hoping the ink used is not what they thought it was. And when the television screen turned on, the group found themselves covering their ears, desperate to keep the deafening sound of static noise.

With their ears painfully ringing, familiar faces were flashed on the screen, and their blood ran cold. A piece of paper fell slowly in front of Amber's face, and out loud she read the message it contained.

"Reveal yourself and do not lie, lest they burn one by one."

With desperate pleas for help, Leon, Nana, and Onyx lay inside an incinerator, threatened to be burned alive.