Bloody Moon V

8:45 PM.

"A zombie attack!" exclaimed Xavier in astonishment from behind his bush. In front of his eyes, he saw hundreds of creepy zombies running toward Nevermore.

"Not even the zombies from Black Ops 3 are this ugly," commented Ajax, who, like his friend, had a surprised expression.

"Gross... Their skin and muscles are falling off as they run," said Divina with a disgusted expression.

"How are we going to get to Nevermore without drawing the attention of these zombies?" asked Yoko, adjusting her black sunglasses.

"We'll carve a path through them!" Enid responded with a frown, as her multicolored nails turned into sharp claws.

The group of five had jumped off the moving buses earlier this afternoon before leaving Nevermore. They needed the help of their classmates to avoid being seen and noticed by the drivers who were taking them back home.

"Calm down, Enid… Our goal is to find that Hyde so you can defeat it," said Yoko, placing her hand on Enid's shoulder.

Her friend had told her about the promise she made to Luke, so she decided to help her. She considered it dangerous for her friend to fight that monster, but it was impossible to change her mind.

"We should have gotten back to school earlier," commented Ajax.

"They would have found us and sent us home," said Xavier.

"Stop talking nonsense. Let's find the area with the least concentration of zombies," said Enid, standing up and starting to walk as cautiously as possible to avoid being seen by the zombies.

"Sorry for her behavior. The red moon makes her much more aggressive. She could transform at any moment," said Yoko, getting up and following Enid.

Xavier and Ajax shrugged and followed the girls. They had come to help Luke. They didn't quite understand why Enid, his ex-girlfriend, was here, but the more people they had, the better.

...

At the same time, not far away, Luke and Wednesday were moving across the rooftops of the gothic academy with great agility.

Hundreds of zombies had breached the barrier. From the rooftops, they could see a swarm of black dots attacking and lunging at the teachers, who were killing them mercilessly.

'The teachers are strong,' thought Luke as he watched a professor, transformed into a werewolf, smashing zombies left and right. However, the zombies had fulfilled their purpose. All the teachers were busy, fighting off the undead. The air already reeked of a putrid stench.

"The hyde, the half-breed, and the faceless one are heading toward the north area," Luke informed Wednesday. Due to the overwhelming number of presences, he hadn't noticed Enid, Xavier, and the others. It was too much information, and his focus was on the main enemies.

"They must be the second distraction. Classic. Where's the gorgon?" Wednesday asked.

Luke focused, searching for the other three presences. He noticed two moving together at a moderate pace, already near the main pentagonal courtyard. They had passed the line of teachers.

"They're in the main courtyard. They seem to be looking for something..." Luke said with a frown. Unlike the others, these two presences—one of them being Sabrina, as he recognized her—appeared to be examining the area they were in.

"Do they know where Laurel hid the book?" Wednesday asked, frowning.

"It's possible. If they managed to kill her from a distance, they could've secured the book to keep it from being found. The other presence is heading toward Raven Island," Luke said.

"Most likely to prepare the mutilated parts for the ritual," Wednesday replied, and with that, both of them began heading toward the main courtyard at full speed.

"If the gorgon is there, I'll take care of her," Luke said, wrapping black bandages over his eyes. Wednesday nodded in agreement. Though she liked facing the most dangerous opponents, she preferred not to go up against a gorgon who could turn her to stone with a single glance. Luke was the perfect counter.

Luke and Wednesday reached the courtyard quickly, moving at high speed across the academy rooftops. The red moon illuminated their figures. Upon spotting the two people lurking in the pentagonal courtyard, they wasted no time and leaped down.

"Superhero landing," Luke murmured, with a barely perceptible smile.

The impact of Luke's feet on the grass created a small crater in the ground, kicking up a bit of dust and drawing the attention of the two hooded figures.

Wednesday, on the other hand, landed gracefully, her feet making no sound as they touched the ground. She glanced at Luke with a raised eyebrow, not understanding his comment.

"You wouldn't get it…" Luke replied with a grimace under Wednesday's gaze. If Xavier and Ajax had been there, they would have understood the reference.

Luke observed the two hooded figures in front of him. Even with a blindfold over his eyes, he could see their heights and builds using his Observation Haki, though he couldn't make out their faces in detail.

One of the hooded figures was short and had a delicate build. Luke already knew it was that bitch, Sabrina Spellman, or whatever her real name was.

The other figure was extremely tall, around 8 feet. He was muscular, with a massive and imposing frame. Both figures wore black cloaks and hoods to hide their faces.

"So, it's Elliot's bootlicking gorgon and his daughter, who's already failed twice. Hi, Sabrina. Long time no see," Luke remarked with a slight smile.

Sabrina and Atlas were momentarily taken aback by Luke's statement and sudden appearance.

After processing Luke's comment, Sabrina gritted her teeth in fury, but before she could speak, Atlas spoke up.

"Luke Poe. Finally, we meet. You saved me the trouble of looking for you by coming here on your own. Thanks," said Atlas.

"You're welcome. You helped me a lot too by launching this massive attack on Nevermore. With the evidence I've collected, plus this attack, the Spellmans are screwed once the whole world knows you planned this. Thanks," Luke replied with a smile. In the end, he had achieved what he wanted without the need to revive Crackstone.

Luke couldn't see it, but Atlas grimaced. Just hours ago, his master had informed him that Luke had presented evidence to the outcast police. However, the mission remained—he had to kill the boy. If Luke had any additional evidence, it needed to be destroyed.

"A well-hidden dual aura. I must congratulate you on that, but your evidence will be useless because you'll die today," Atlas remarked. What good was presenting evidence if Luke wouldn't be alive to witness the Spellmans' downfall?

[Don't kill Sabrina,] Luke mentally instructed. His message reached Wednesday's mind. They had established a telepathic link some time ago.

Without warning, Luke shot off the ground like a rocket, his body becoming a blur. Atlas barely had time to blink before Luke was in front of him.

Luke extended his hand and grabbed Atlas by the neck. Lifting him off the ground, he accelerated further, pushing him forward. They shot across the courtyard like a projectile.

The walls of the pentagonal courtyard shattered into pieces upon contact with Atlas's body. Within seconds, they were far from the courtyard, which now had a large breach on one of its sides.

Wednesday's braids flew in the wind generated by Luke's rapid flight. Her expression remained unchanged, showing no hint of surprise.

Her dark eyes focused on Sabrina, who was still standing motionless in her spot, her cloak billowing in the gusts created by Luke's movement.

Wednesday had no intention of speaking. Her figure vanished into her own shadow, reappearing in front of Sabrina, who for some reason seemed frozen in place.

A dark scythe was already in Wednesday's hand, and she swung it toward Sabrina's head without hesitation. At last, Sabrina reacted to the possibility of being decapitated.

The dark scythe passed mere inches from Sabrina's face, slicing through her hood and revealing her face, which looked the same as it had last year, though Wednesday didn't know her.

Sabrina had short, wavy blonde hair, fair skin, and green eyes. Wednesday noticed a gaze full of hatred and rage in Sabrina's eyes, her expression unhinged for someone with red aura psychic abilities.

Sabrina's furious green eyes snapped back to reality, locking onto Wednesday.

"Are you his new girlfriend? First a happy, cheerful girl, and now a goth girl. Quite the change, huh?" said Sabrina with a disdainful smile, as two fireballs shot from her hands toward Wednesday at high speed.

With her scythe, Wednesday cleanly sliced through the first fireball already upon her. The second one, having a second more time, she dodged by sinking into her own shadow.

BOOM!

Another wall of the main courtyard collapsed due to the explosion caused by the fireball.

Without missing a beat, Wednesday emerged from a shadow behind Sabrina and hurled a dark knife at her enemy's back.

However, just as the dark knife was inches from its target, it was incinerated by flames that suddenly surrounded Sabrina's entire body.

'Fire shield,' Sabrina thought with a grimace, having made a circular motion with her arms. She had to create a full-body shield just to defend against a small knife.

"Come out and fight me face to face!" Sabrina exclaimed angrily, making a slashing motion with her arm from which a fiery blade shot out.

The fiery blade wasn't fast enough to catch Wednesday, who once again disappeared into her shadow. This only enraged Sabrina further, causing her to unleash streams of fire wildly all over the place like a madwoman.

"To be a user of red aura, you're pathetic at controlling your own emotions," Wednesday remarked, her voice echoing like a whisper from all directions toward Sabrina, who frowned even more.

Sabrina's psyche was not in the best state at the moment. For the past two years, her life had been a disaster. Failed in the mission given to her by her father, lost for the first time in her life, had to live among outcast people she considered despicable, and then living in a run-down house for months when she had lived in luxury her entire life.

As the fight continued, the courtyard was in worse condition: fire was everywhere and several walls were destroyed. Sabrina already had several cuts on her body left by Wednesday and her stealthy attacks.

'Let's finish this,' Wednesday thought, emerging from a shadow created by the crackling fire.

"Finally coming out of your pit. Ready to fight face to face, mole girl?" Sabrina asked with a smile as she prepared the firebolt that would shoot from her eyes.

"Your words have no power over me. You should greatly improve your red aura if you want to affect me, and I doubt you can," Wednesday said, noticing the hypnotic power of Sabrina's words. She had been perfectly in control of her emotions since she was a child.

Only two events had caused her emotions to fluctuate: when her pet scorpion died and everything she experienced with Luke.

After saying that, she extended her hand, and a scythe of darkness began to form. Unlike the previous scythes she had materialized, the handle was much longer and thinner. With a fluid and precise motion, she swung the scythe, creating a dark slash that spread like a wave of darkness.

The slash moved swiftly, consuming the air and silencing the roar of the flames. All the fires in the courtyard were extinguished instantly at the dark cut from Wednesday.

The courtyard fell into total darkness once again, illuminated only by the red light of the moon. "Emerge, crow," Wednesday whispered in a cold, monotone voice.

From the shadows, a shape began to take life. At first, it was just a dark outline, but it quickly grew in size and definition until a gigantic crow emerged from the darkness. Its eyes glowed with malicious intelligence, and its plumage was made of pure shadow.

The giant crow spread its wings, nearly spanning the entire courtyard, and positioned itself behind Wednesday.

"It's been a long time since I came out of that pit! You finally give me some freedom, Wednesday," croaked the crow. Its tone was low and raspy, each word scraping like claws on a chalkboard, with a distorted echo. It was as if something grotesque and unnatural were trying to imitate human speech but failing to conceal its true nature.

"For a supernatural crow, you talk too much. There is your prey. Don't kill her," Wednesday said, giving a slight nod of her head for the shadow monster to attack.

"Sharp-tongued as always!" croaked the crow, laughing shrill as it launched itself at Sabrina, who stood frozen, staring at the giant shadow monster.

Sabrina's eyes began to glow until a powerful beam of fire shot out from each one, striking the giant crow. However, to her horror, the fire seemed to be swallowed by the darkness of the crow and continued its path, barely pushed back.

The crow, with its wings spread wide, enveloped Sabrina in a prison of darkness. The Spellman girl was completely blind as if she were in an endless absolute darkness.

Suddenly, from that darkness, she caught a glimpse of dark tentacles slithering toward her; she couldn't do anything to dodge them. She couldn't move or use her fire powers in that prison.

The tentacles coiled around her arms and legs, completely immobilizing her.

"Fire, fire, appear, damn it!" Sabrina thought nervously, but her fire wouldn't come to burn through the darkness.

Without warning, the sharp tips of the tentacles began to tear at her skin, creating deep lacerations. Blood flowed forth, dark and abundant.

Wednesday, standing in front of Sabrina, watched her coldly. Sabrina was kneeling, with a vacant expression, as if her mind were trapped somewhere else.

Suddenly, Wednesday noticed the lacerations beginning to appear on Sabrina's skin.

'It has begun,' thought Wednesday, and at that moment, the silence was shattered by a heart-wrenching scream from Sabrina. The wounds multiplied, tearing through her delicate skin as the cries of pain intensified.

Wednesday, with a cold smirk of pleasure on her lips, watched Sabrina's suffering.

"I didn't like how Luke said your name," she murmured in a frigid tone, placing her pale hand with black-painted nails close to her face.

The crow, lurking in the shadows with Sabrina, seemed to receive a mental command from Wednesday. Without wasting a moment, the dark tentacles enveloping her rose, sliding toward Sabrina's face.

The tentacles aimed for her eye sockets. Their tips elongated and slowly entered Sabrina's eyes, intending to inflict maximum pain.

They then began to exert controlled pressure, gently pulling her eyes outward. The process was slow and agonizing. Sabrina's eyes started to stretch; her eyeballs bulged outward, veins swelling and bursting under the pressure.

Finally, with one last firm and merciless tug, the tentacles extracted Sabrina's eyeballs from their sockets.

Sabrina's scream of pain was worse than the previous ones.

"Don't spend your energy too quickly… The torture has only just begun," Wednesday said with a faint, terrifying smile on her beautiful face.

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