Chapter 2.5

Clay got himself ready for the day and headed downstairs for breakfast. The aroma of baked beans with toast filled the air, making his favorite dish of the day even more enjoyable. As he ate, he opened up the newspaper to find out what caused his foster mother's sudden urgency.

"Gravesville News here ladies and gentlemen," cried the news reporter.

Clay's attention was drawn to a report about another citizen, this time a cop, being abducted. What made it interesting was that one of the cops, Dax, was found barely alive with several wounds. Now he was getting taken care of at the town's hospital, along with the many others who have also been through similar fates in past days. The cause of these abductions was still unknown, causing the citizens to decrease their activities and disrupting the town's life until the culprit was found.

Clay finished his breakfast and headed outside to get to school, with the worrying news about the recent kidnappings at the back of his mind. As he walked, he noticed that fewer people were moving around. Suddenly, a boy skating on a board caught his attention. The boy wore a red jacket over his white school uniform, along with black pants.

"Yo Tony, wait up," Clay shouted at the boy, who turned and stopped, smiling at Clay.

"I thought Dr. Marshel would give you a ride with what's going on in town," Tony said.

"I thought Sergeant wouldn't let you go out," Clay replied.

"I guess we both thought and guessed wrong. School is worth risking our lives," Tony shrugged.

The two friends continued chatting as they headed to school, passing the time. Clay looked around, wondering if Lora would come along.

"She is, most likely with him," Tony replied with annoyance.

"Can you tell me who's 'him'?" Clay asked in a naive tone.

"You know who I mean Clay, I'm not saying names," Tony persisted, keeping his mouth shut.

"No, I don't. There are a lot of 'him' going around Lora," Clay continued his insistence. "Alex? Tom? Rex? The list goes on, Tony."

"It's Jacob, alright?" Tony finally spat out, visibly annoyed.

"Ah, Jacob. Why didn't you just say her boyfriend rather than 'him'? Jealous, perhaps?" Clay teased his old friend.

"I- you, *sigh*. I wish you a bad birthday party," Tony pouted, crossing his fingers to indicate that he didn't wish harm.

"Thanks for the compliment," Clay replied. The two friends laughed as they made it to school.

In their laughter, they didn't notice two figures standing nearby. One was tall, about 6'4ft, and the other quite short, about 4ft. Both were covered in a cloak, making it hard to see their faces. The tall figure appeared to be intrigued by the two duo, drooling over the shorter figure cloak.

"Zepig can't you take control over your hunger" The short figure said, moving as to not get drooled on. Zepig clearly ignored him, only focusing on the boys, his eyes gleaming in excitement.

"I can't Lepig" he finally replied

"Their souls, they are enough for me to carry out my transformation and reach the fifth rank among the HellSpawns"

He scratched his neck, showing six black stripes, one which is fading slowy.

"And we will be closer to freedom from His curse"