135 What Lurks in the Darkness

"We lost the other tire; I can't believe this is happening."

"How is that possible?" Charlie was very astonished and couldn't believe it.

Betty didn't want to dwell on this too much and said, "I don't know, but we have to get everyone out and walk."

"That's absurd..."

"I'd rather be on a wheel than walk at night."

"Hey, do you want to stay here and get hit by a car at night?" Betty complained somewhat loudly, looking at the complaining boys.

Charlie shook his head and said, "Well, you get the students out, and I'll light the flares."

"Bring your jackets and stay in groups!" said the coach, looking at his complaining players.

At that moment, a car appeared at the other end of the road, which alarmed Charlie due to the possibility of an accident.

"Here, Betty Borman from 226, we're on 9th Avenue in Kissel County; can anyone hear me?" Betty took the radio, wanting to communicate with the police, but due to communication failures, she hadn't been able to do so.

"It's impossible for them to respond; there's been no signal since morning." The coach wasn't convinced.

But at that moment, a voice came from the radio: "Zz... We received your signal; what's the problem?"

"Zz... Our tire broke down; this is a school bus, and most of them are teenagers, so without the possibility of repairing it, we're adrift," Betty quickly said upon knowing that someone had answered.

"Zz... Wait there; we're coming right now."

"Wait here?" The coach wasn't convinced that was the best idea, given the circumstances.

...

On the other side of the road, a van sped away. Rafael, who was driving, didn't like to travel at night for many reasons; he felt suffocated by the demon that took his family from him many years ago.

Anton, who knew better than anyone about his right-hand man, said, "You can tell me what bothers you."

"Twenty-four years ago, on a cold night like this, my family was taken from me... I had told you about it a long time ago; that damn demon left me alive because it knew I wasn't afraid of it." Rafael was feeling rage at that moment, but he knew that as a child, he couldn't do anything, so he comforted himself by knowing that when he grew up, he would kill that demon with his own hands.

Anton understood what Rafael was going through and said, "From what I've seen, those demons were hunted by the Association of Light; probably, that demon you're looking for is already dead or hiding."

"They sleep for 23 years; during those 23 days, he goes out to eat." Rafael clenched his fists as he stayed awake.

Everyone in the van didn't say anything; they knew that each had their own story, and it wasn't the time to talk nonsense when they knew that Rafael was boiling with fury and helplessness at the moment.

As they approached their destination, Anton could see a man setting off flares in the distance and said, "It's for that place; they're lucky to have found us near this place, or they wouldn't receive help until tomorrow."

But as they approached, just as they were about to devise a plan to help those kids, a black shadow descended from the sky and, like a predator, took the shoulders of the man named Charlie and lifted him off the ground as if he weighed nothing.

Rafael, who saw this, widened his eyes and immediately pressed the brakes. "Did you see what I just saw?"

"Accelerate now!" Anton rolled down the van's window and, unable to contain himself from what he had just seen, manipulated his divine energy directly into his eyes and, looking at the shadow moving into the distance, fired.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Without uttering a word, Anton shot directly, and Rafael accelerated towards the bus in the distance.

"Call the base; we have a red code located in this area... Report that you've seen a demon." Rafael shouted, but at that moment, a shadow hit them forcefully.

Boom!

Anton, who hadn't expected the speed of that demon, got into the van and withstood the impact. The van they were in rolled several times before stopping; everyone was confused and didn't know where they had been hit, but the thing is that the enemy was outside.

"Ahhhhhh!"

Crack!

Anton, who had his eyes wide open, patiently waited for the van to stop moving to analyze the surroundings. "Is everyone okay?"

"I think so; we're all fine."

Rafael didn't say a word; he quickly cut the seatbelt and took his rifle before trying to open the door.

The situation was familiar to him.

Those demons—the demons that killed his family—were the ones that were now here trying to hunt them.

"Let's kill them!"