The Short Demon

Boom!

A small explosion shattered the peace, ripping through the room with a force that sent shockwaves reverberating through the air. The floor buckled and heaved, sending debris flying in all directions like shrapnel from a bomb.

Ezra instinctively ducked, his heart pounding in his chest as he narrowly avoided being caught in the trajectory of an unidentified slab of concrete. His senses were on high alert, every nerve tingling with adrenaline as he scanned the chaos unfolding before him.

Bam!

The slab hit Gen who had been standing behind him, send her flying deeper into the room. X and Olivia had jumped back from the table, shielding themselves with their arms.

Ezra's eyes scanned the room as the world slowed to a crawl around him. He was searching for the source of the blast. It hadn't come from X.

His eyes detected a high-speed object careening in his direction. The door, torn from its hinges by the force of the blast, careened across the room with lethal speed. It missed him by mere inches, but the impact sent a table nearby hurtling into pieces, scattering fragments of wood and shattered glass across the floor. The decoded page fluttered slowly to the floor.

There was a bit of silence as the debris found new homes and the table dissolved into mist.

As the dust settled, Ezra's eyes fell upon the figure standing at the hole where a door should have been.

Red vampire eyes stared out from the shadows cast by a bowler hat. Short, with a black trench coat hiding his pale flesh from view. The sinister grin on his face twisted his features into a mask of malice.

Malachi.

Count Solomon's enforcer stood there, flanked by three other vampires in similar black trench coats, their eyes gleaming with predatory hunger.

Malachi stepped forward, his presence radiating menace as he surveyed the room with cold detachment. The rip he had made in the black zone that had protected them from prying eyes slowly mended itself to a close behind them.

Before it closed up, Ezra noticed that Malachi had already set up a black zone of his own before triggering whatever explosive he used.

Ezra could practically feel the smirk radiating from X's body language as X surveyed the scene before him, his demented mind finding amusement in the chaos unfolding around him.

"Welcome Malachi. A bit ahead of schedule but I can't say I wasn't expecting you." He waved cheerfully, his exposed muscles flexing at the action.

Wasn't this dude afraid of Malachi? Ezra frowned before sighing to himself. Why did I ever believed anything this crazy man did?

A groan resounded from deep within the room as Gen picked herself up from the floor. "I don't care who dies anymore. I'm killing one of you." She growled as blood flowed freely from the wound in her abdomen. Her flesh struggled to heal itself but the red chains on her neck glowed dangerously, stopping it from healing.

"Thank you for the warm welcome." Malachi chuckled, his deep voice rolling through the room as he and his companions slowly stepped into the room.

Black mists began to roll off the bodies of his companions whom Ezra noticed were female. The mist swirled in the air before solidifying to join and reinforce X's already existing black zone. The formerly flickering zone darkened into a curtain as dark as the void, a fortress of darkness against the outside world.

Is this good luck or bad luck? Ezra glanced at Olivia who was watching calmly. Seeing Olivia standing without a hint of panic, calmed him. I'll have to trust her. She must have a plan.

Ezra bent down to retrieve the page that had fluttered to the floor in the aftermath of the explosion, his fingers trembling slightly as he held it in his grasp. His eyes met Malachi's gaze and he froze, a silent challenge passing between them as they stood on opposite sides of the room.

"I appreciate your efforts in decoding the page. You have my thanks. Now, the page must be returned to its rightful owner." Malachi chuckled darkly, his voice dripping with contempt. "Hand it over and you will be spared."

"Rightful owner?" X laughed, a hint of his earlier bout of madness could be heard in his voice. "Your master is a thief, stealing what was rightfully mine. His days on earth have been numbered. You're just here to show your master a preview of what I have in store for him. I'll show you what death is. Eternal death."

Malachi tilted his head slowly before turning to Ezra curiously. There was a dangerous glint in his eyes as he spoke. "Oh? What is this I see?"

X turned to see what was happening and in that split second, Malachi attacked. Everything seemed to slow to a crawl as Ezra watched.

Malachi dashed at X, the force of his movement shattered the already broken floor into sand. A dark tentacle burst out of his back and whacked X to the side. His lackeys followed after X but Malachi swiveled on a foot and dashed at Ezra.

Ezra crouched to intercept him but a figure suddenly blocked his vision.

Olivia?!

Olivia slapped away the reaching tentacles before elbowing Malachi in the stomach. Malachi, who didn't control his momentum in time, stumbled back with a wheeze. His tentacles supported him, preventing him from falling.

He leaned on the tentacles before bouncing back. Olivia dodged his swing and peppered him with three blows to his chest. He blocked them with his tentacles and as he moved to block the fourth punch which was aimed at his face, Olivia swept his feet out from under him and as he lay suspended in the air for a second, her fist descended with the fury of a war god.

Crack!

She punched his face into the floor. Blood splashed on the floor as his tentacles went wild. Eight tentacles, each as thick as an adult man began assaulting Olivia who dodged and rolled frantically. Malachi picked himself up as his tentacles moved independently, seeking Olivia.

A scream echoed through the room as a short distance away, X ripped out the heart of one of the vampires attacking him.

"Hold on!" Ezra yelled as he dashed to join Oliva. He snatched a piece of glass from the floor and stabbed a tentacle, pinning it to the floor. The piercing wail of a wounded creature sounded from within Malachi's trench coat as he turned to them, blood dripping from his forehead.

In a flash, Malachi was in front of them and as he punched, Ezra displayed his inexperience at vampire battles. Ezra blocked.

What the-?

Crack!

The force behind the blow shattered the bones in his arms and he was sent flying.

Malachi spun to face Olivia as his tentacles encircled them both. Black ink erupted from the tentacles, coating her as she screamed, the corrosive liquid burning through her skin. With a muted flash, Malachi materialized a plain sword and severed her head.

Time stopped around Ezra as he watched Olivia's head roll slowly to the floor. Her body followed a moment later.

"Who's next?" Malachi turned to Ezra as he slowly licked the blood off his blade. "Tasty."