Hollow Fate: The Beginning

Flipped Upside Down

"Mom!" A young voice, a tad bit scratchy with frustration and clear annoyance, echoed through the house, reaching the ears of the parent.

"Yes, Aaron?" A woman, her hair sparkling brown, smooth and soft as silk, called back patiently with an underlying tone of deep affection.

"I can't find my bag!" Her son complained, a long whine to her ears. "Did you take it, by any chance, Mom?"

"Why would I do that?" His mother questioned, a laugh building up in her chest. She loved messing with her son. "Come on Aaron, you are seventeen now! You should keep all of your stuff in a place where you can find them again when needed," she continued as she made her way to him.

"I don't know… you have taken it before," Aaron countered with a shrug as he looked at her skeptically. "Who's to say you haven't taken it now?" He asked almost challengingly.

"Aaron," the woman shook her head and repeated. "I don't know. If I did, I would have given it to you by now, don't you think?" His mother smiled gingerly as she lightly punched his shoulder.

Aaron hummed disbelievingly. "I don't know… would you?"

"Maybe," his mother said with a cheeky smile. Aaron didn't reply and continued searching for his bag instead. It's not like he could grab her by the shoulders and shake the answer out of her. "Tell me when you find it!" His mother said before turning to leave without awaiting an answer.

Aaron found himself running around the house like a headless cockroach in search of his bag.

"Found it!" Aaron exclaimed not a few minutes later. He took the bag out of its hiding place right behind the fridge – whatever was it doing there? – and held it over his head like a trophy. He gave his mother a knowing look, which she skillfully ignored with a smile. He groaned; he could never get her to admit she hid it. He glanced at the clock on the wall before he started packing his bag quickly. That would be a mission for another day!

"You better hurry! School starts in an hour! And your car is in for maintenance," his mother stated disapprovingly as she shook her head again and left the room. Aaron could practically see her grinning the moment she turned to walk away.

"I will catch you next time, Mom!" Aaron called out from his room.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Aaron," chimed his mother from the kitchen.

"Bye, Mom! See you later," Aaron waved not five minutes later. He had a long walk ahead of him.

"You sure you don't want me to take you?" His mother asked from the kitchen.

"Nah, I like the morning walk," continued Aaron as he left, the front door closing.

Aaron walked for about forty-five minutes until he reached a large building.

On a sign at the front and in big, bold letters, the words "Soft Edge High" were printed in an intricate design. "Welcome back to prison, Aaron…" The words echoed in his mind as he walked onto school grounds.

He quickly made his way to the school before heading to the usual hang spot for his friends. He quickly pinpointed his friends and headed towards them with a smile.

"What's up?" Jasmine Kira, a dark-skinned girl obviously of African descent, but with an all-American accent, her hair a maroon color, and her attitude as fiery as ever, was the first to respond.

"Morning, guys!" Aaron nodded at her.

"Morning, Aaron!" Jason Miles, a blonde who was a bit ditzy but a good friend, smiled back.

Michelle Mercy, her hair sparkling gold and her brains always on full gear, was the third to verbally acknowledge him.

He felt his heart race at her gaze. "How are you, Aaron?" "I'm good," said Aaron with a smile.

Dean Kurt and Brianne Lispes, who have brown and black hair respectively, offered a short wave.

"Hiya!" Adam Savage played with his black hair as he looked at Aaron. Adam was very childish at times, but he was also Aaron's best friend. Bruce hummed in greeting. Bruce Finn was usually quiet and never spoke much.

"Fine, fine," Aaron sat down on the bench they had crowded around. "So… why does everyone look like they lost their favorite puppy?" He asked, only half-jokingly.

"Very funny, Aaron," Jasmine responded with a sniff, looking emotionally hurt.

"What? It's a legitimate question!" Aaron continued, "Come on Jasmine, don't be like that!"

"I'm just saying, Aaron," Jasmine said with a loud sigh. "We've got writing today, and I totally forgot…" She dropped her head in shame.

"That's what you get for being so scatter-brained," Michelle replied matter-of-factly. "I remembered."

Aaron scratched his head and shrugged. "Well, I remembered too… I just don't care about it."

"Well, Michie… not everyone is as smart as you and me," Adam replied with a smirk pulling at his lips. His sentence was quickly followed by Jasmine's laughter.

"Yeah! We actually have— wait, you just called me dumb!" Jasmine chimed in, her face changing. She was clearly caught off guard.

"Makes sense as to why you were just tricked into calling yourself average," Michelle smirked as she scoffed. "With that thing you call a brain, I am not surprised." Jasmine huffed at the comment.

"Yeah, well… well," Jasmine started, trying to find a response. Just as she thought she had a good one ready, she was silenced by a hand on her shoulder. She glared at Aaron, who interrupted her speech.

"Please, Jasmine… don't strain yourself. Just save your breath and accept defeat!" Aaron said. His face was comically serious. Jasmine pouted angrily, provoking the group to laugh as one. "Aww, shut up, I could have said something!" She said, flustered.

"Oh really?" Jason asked. "What would you have said?" Jasmine flailed for a second. She forgot her super awesome line!

"See? Nothing!" Adam laughed wholeheartedly.

"You guys are jerks, y'know that?" Jasmine huffed in frustration.

"I think she's angry, guys…" Michelle said with a slight smile on her lips. The others nodded in agreement. Amid all this banter, Aaron felt odd; he kept getting this cold feeling, and he felt his heart racing.

"Aaron!" Brianne yelled, causing him to snap out of his trance but also scaring the life out of him.

"What?" Aaron's heart was beating fast.

"I asked you if your mom is still going out today," Brianne said with an innocent smile. Oh yes, she knew what she had done.

"Yeah, she is… why?"

"Nothing, I was just making sure… we're still having our get-together at your place, right?" Brianne asked just to be sure.

Adam looked at her and answered sarcastically, "Nah. Didn't you hear? We're having it on the moon."

"The moon?" Jason repeated dumbly, "Isn't that too far away?" Michelle shook her head. A few of the others were chuckling at Jason's misfortune.

"He was being sarcastic, Jason. He doesn't mean it," Michelle replied before any of the others could say something mean. The shrill cry of the school bell rang in their ears.

"Yay… school begins," Dean said dryly.

Later that day…

'Come on…' Adam silently watched the clock. The seconds were ticking by way too slowly. "Finally!" Adam exclaimed as the bell rang, signifying the end of the day.

Thankfully, he walked out the door and turned right, walking into Jasmine, who was in the class across from him.

"Hey, Jas…" greeted Adam, a sly grin slipping onto his face. "Were you able to remember your comeback?" Adam asked with an amused expression.

"No… I had an awesome one, but then… I forgot it!" Jasmine groaned. Adam snickered at her complaint, which she glared at before deflating.

Eventually, they met up with the rest of the group outside by the school gate, as per usual.

"Thank goodness that's over! I felt like shooting myself in the head every second I was there!" said Aaron as Adam patted him on the shoulder.

"Okay, thank you, Captain Dramatic. Let's leave before I hear you can fly," said Adam as Aaron gave him a blank stare.

Dean and Brianne gave a low laugh, while Michelle and the rest chuckled. Aaron hung his head in defeat.

"Fine…" He sighed, feigning sadness.

Aaron looked at all his friends. "See ya later, guys!" Aaron said as he started his walk back home. Adam called out to Aaron.

"Hey man? Do you want a lift? I could drop you at home." Aaron smiled.

"Sure, that would be awesome," said Aaron as Adam chuckled.

"Let's get going then," said Adam as he and Aaron said their goodbyes before leaving in Adam's car. The two sat in comfortable silence before Aaron looked at Adam.

"I forgot, but I want to stop at 'I Scream Ice Cream.' I want to have another screaming flavor," said Aaron excitedly as Adam chuckled.

"Alright, I will drop you at the shop because I have to run some errands, but you do realize it will take you further away from home, right?" said Adam as Aaron nodded.

"Yep, but… I scream for ice cream!" said Aaron.

Adam chuckled at his best friend's antics.

Just as planned, Adam dropped Aaron off at the ice cream shop before driving off.

With Aaron…

'This walk is a lot further than I thought it would be…' Aaron thought as he continued walking. The sunset and night slowly came. 'I probably shouldn't have taken so long at the ice cream store…' Aaron thought.

He finally turned into his street, walked for a couple of minutes until he saw something move. He turned to look, but nothing was there.

"Hello?" Aaron shook his head; he had been watching way too many horror films. Clearly, he needed to apply some brakes with the horror films. Subconsciously, he started to walk faster.

Something pulled on his shirt, provoking him to look back, yet nothing was there. 'I must be losing it…' he tried to relax. He rubbed his eyes and sighed; however, when he opened his eyes again, he found himself staring into a pair of red eyes.

Fear engulfed him as his body froze at the sight; words couldn't come to his mind. He felt like he wanted to scream, but the sounds were stuck in his throat, almost choking him. The amount of terror flowing through him was enough to paralyze him and his vocal cords.

Aaron could not only feel his heart in his chest, but he heard it pounding, shaking lightly as he watched the figure: a being with long black claws and the face of a goat with glowing red eyes and horns on its head, nearly twice as tall as he was, and he was six feet and one inch tall.

When it spoke, he felt like he was about to pass out from the overwhelming fear. The voice vibrated through his very core.

"Lunch…" The creature said as it exhaled black smoke through its nose.

Aaron's legs were shaking as he looked at the creature. 'Did… it… just… say… lunch…?' He suddenly felt like crying; he was hoping, no, praying it was a bad dream. The air around him felt dirty.

'Is… is… this where… I die?' He didn't have time to wonder as the creature lifted its right massive hand with claws.

Aaron did the only thing he could do: he watched. The giant hand neared him as if in slow motion, just as he started screaming at the top of his lungs.

With Adam, five minutes ago…

He had been driving around town, enjoying the sights and running his errands, when he felt his mind buzz, almost like it was ringing. He turned down the radio before talking.

"Demonic Magic Art: Link Accepted," Jasmine's voice started talking in his head.

"Hey, is Aaron with you?" She asked, her tone sounding urgent.

"… No, why?"

Michelle's voice suddenly entered the conversation. "I can't believe we didn't hear of this sooner, but Bruce has been planning to kill Aaron. We heard one of the demons at school talking about it, so I… persuaded them into telling us when he wants to kill Aaron. According to the information, he wants to do that today!" Said Michelle, as Adam frowned.

"I left Aaron at 'I Scream Ice Cream,' and if I know him, he will have stayed there for a while, so he should be on his way home now… otherwise, it might already be too late," grimaced Adam as his anger spiked. "We all know the way Aaron walks home from school, let's see if he is still on the street. Hopefully, we aren't late," said Adam as they all nodded.

"Link Terminate," said Adam as the buzzing feeling disappeared.

Now with Aaron…

Suddenly, a red flame hit the creature and forced it back. Another creature appeared, one that had red flames enveloping its red skin, stood in front of him. Its slim red tail slowly moved from side to side. "You okay, Aaron?" The creature asked. It was about seven feet tall and had two horns on its head, yellow eyes, and red leather bat wings with a wingspan of eight meters. It was completely ripped.

Aaron was extremely quiet. He had no idea what to do, and he honestly felt like any sudden movement would result in him as pieces on the floor. But something tugged on his arm. He glanced down at the contact. Surprisingly, it was Michelle. "Move, Aaron." She pulled his arm towards her, forcing him to move as they ran towards the rest of their friends down the road.

Aaron looked around frantically. He was relieved, but his mind was in overdrive. "What the hell is going on?" he asked, looking between his friends. Adam and Bruce were missing, his mind vaguely noticed.

"Adam is fighting Bruce," said Jason, as if it were a very normal thing to say, a logical conclusion.

"What?" asked Aaron incredulously.

Michelle grunted in irritation. "Not helping! Just please try and calm down, Aaron," said Michelle, her voice somehow cutting through his fear and making him relax slightly.

"We will explain when Adam gets back. Just try and calm down, breathe, Aaron… breathe," said Michelle, looking Aaron in the eyes.

Aaron slowly nodded, turning his attention back to the smaller red-looking demon.

Back with Bruce and Adam…

"What the hell are you doing, Bruce?" Adam asked in annoyance and frustration, his voice dark and noticeably lower.

"I am hungry, and Aaron was the only human I was longing for," Bruce responded in his deep baritone voice with a shrug.

"Is he not your friend?" Adam asked, a dark glint in his eyes.

"He never was, and he never will be. Come on, Adam, you are a Devil. You shouldn't be stopping me… you should be encouraging me!" Bruce growled out. "When Lucifer finds out, you will be punished for this!" Said Bruce.

Adam looked at Bruce. "Well, I think I know how you feel," Adam said, which made Bruce grin, mentioning Satan's name always worked. "You never were my friend, and you never will be." Bruce's dark grin contorted into a frown just as quickly. "And how will Lucifer ever find out? Who said you were leaving here alive?"

Bruce took half a step back before he growled.

"I will kill you myself if I have to!" Bruce's right eye twitched with rage.

"You? Kill me?" Adam shook his head, not amused in the slightest. "Don't make me laugh." Bruce growled, sounding like a feral beast before he charged at Adam.