Young Writers Society

"Sir?" Quinn said. "Look at the date on this. Isn't that the date everyone said the world's going to end." Lethero took the paper from Quinn and looked at the date on top: December 21, 2012.

Lethero took out the GPS and checked the date setting on it. "Looks like todays January 1, 2013."

"How's that possible?" Hayden asked. "When we went into that cave it was 2010. How could we have jumped three years."

"I don't know, but obviously that portal is a time machine." Lethero turned back to the door to examine it and saw that it was gone. "I can say one thing: we're not leaving."

"How're you liking the future," came a voice behind the team. They all flipped around and came face to face with an old man wearing unadorned, blood red robes. "I'm actually surprised APOSF tracked me so fast."

"Sir," Nicarga called out, her voice shaking. "That's the guy from my vision."

Lethero pulled his gun out and pointed it at the old man.

"Oh, put those toys away," the man said. He waved his hand and the entire teams weapons flew out of there hands and landed several yards away.

Lethero yanked out his knife, went to plunge the blade into the man's chest and missed. Lethero looked up and saw that the man had moved several yards back.

"Who are you?" Lethero growled.

"A few years ago, I was referred by many names. Some called me the devil, others called me the anti-Christ, but I guess you could call me Chernobog (Dark God)."

"You're the one who caused this?"

"Yes" Chernobog said calmly. "It's quiet amazing isn't it?" He looked around and said, "It's amazing that when you release a horde of hungry demons on the world, not a single person is left alive."

Suddenly, it felt as a great weight was forced on everyone's shoulders. Lethero looked around to see Quinn standing behind him, her eyes glowing deep red. "You killed my brother," she said. "You will die!"

Quinn launched an kinetic blast so strong that it distorted the space around it, giving it shape, at Chernobog. The evil summonerer only gave a twitch of his finger sending it flying into the side of the building.

"Well, I grow weary from out chat," Chernobog said. "I think it's time to send you back to where you came from." He clapped his hands and everything went dark.

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Nicarga opened her eyes, expecting to still be back in the city, but was surprised to be in APOSF HQ in Washington. She looked at her watch and it read October 12, 2010. The day before they left for their mission in New Mexico. She looked around at everyone to see the same surprised looks on their faces.

"What the hell just happened?"

Mikayla started cackling madly.
"What are you laughing at?" Lethero demanded.
"I can see. This is just an illusion." she said. "Ooh, but I can still see him through it, a little dark-red spark, pathetically small behind a pathetic illusion."
She stood up and dusted her hands off on her pants.
"Can you lead us to him?" Quinn asked, her voice quivering.
"Yes, but you wouldn't be able to do anything to him. I know what I have to do, you stay here."
"No, Wrights. You tell us your plan now and we will execute it together." Leth growled.
"We can't, sir." Mikayla said, asperated. And she started walking off.
"Wrights!" Leth barked.
"You can't stop me, sir!" she said. "And don't send a telepathic after my mind, I'm not thinking anything, I'll just start thinking of things they won't like!"
"Wrights, what are you doing?" Jack yelled.
"Destroying the atlar, sir. It was in a vision." she said back.
"Why would we stop you?"
"Because I have to die to do it." she said, and started running.

Miles

Ok, that was going a little far.

"Wrights!" I called after her. "Mikayla!!!"

"Don't go after her," Lethero said quietly.

"What?!" I asked, stunned. "Are you serious?!"

"If I'm going to send someone after her, it's not going to be you," he said.

"Then who will you send?"

"I didn't say I was sending anyone."

I looked at him, frustrated. "Ok, are you sending someone and if so, who?"

Jack

I could no longer see Mikayla - she had disappeared around a corner and vanished from sight faster than I would have thought possible for someone who was mostly blind. I ground my teeth in frustration as I listened to Lethero's words.

"I didn't say I was sending anyone," he said, his voice too calm for my liking. Mikayla had just announced she was going to kill herself and he wasn't do anything. He was just standing there, staring at the place she had disappeared.

"Okay," Miles breathed, showing at least the appropriate reaction of frustration. "Are you sending someone, and if so, who?"

"I'm going," I announced without a second thought and took off after Mikayla. I didn't bother looking back to see if I was being pursued - if I was, all the better. That meant backup. If I wasn't than they could just stay behind for all I cared. I for one wasn't going to let a teammate run off and get herself killed over some vision.

"Mikayla!" I called as I dashed through a doorway, only to skid to an abrupt stop and my surroundings abruptly changed. I was back in the abandoned city, on the street a few feet away from where we had last been. With a quick glance around I spotted Mikayla a few hundred feet away.

"Mikayla!" I shouted again, running to catch up with her.

"Mikayla!" shouted Jack.
"Don't follow me, please don't follow me!" Mikayla said.
"Why not?" Jack reached a hand out and grabbed Mikayla's elbow. She sent it back into his chest and he exclaimed his shock, letting go.
"Because it's me or all of you!" she screamed. "I saw it in a vision! Go away ,"
Using all her force, she pushed for Jack's spark and sent him to the ground.
"They're only possiable futures! You don't know that!" Jack said.
"But they're all we've got."
And she rounded a corner and was gone.

Aw, shoot. We were all back home. And to top it off, Mr. Super-evil-necromancer didn't bother to send my headband with me. Or maybe I dropped it somewhere. I was just getting to my knees when Mikayla jumped up, babbled something, and then ran off. I couldn't hear her very well for all the layers of people between us (not to mention that I was almost stooping to the floor) but it didn't sound like she was exactly right in the head. And what was that she'd said about telepaths?
'And Jack came tumbling after...'
It was weird the way that phrase came to mind, but it was exactly what happened. Jack chased after Mikayle, leaving the rest of us feeling like soggy crackers.
"What do we do, boss?" I asked Lethero. "I don't like what I see in her."

I'm going to California. They have Wi-Fi, but obviously I'm going to be inactive. Just so you know. Please keep me in the plot. Thanks.

Miles

"Maybe he'll be able to pursuade her to stop," I muttered to myself. Lethero was still contemplating what to do.

Sheesh, couldn't the guy just make a plan?

Jack was probably the only one of us that was right in the head. He had ran after Mikayla instead of standing here gaping like a fool.

"So.... what're we doing now?" I asked, mock politely.

"Jack can stay with her," Lethero said. "But we won't follow her."

"Are you kidding!" Miles yelled. "You're seriously going to let Mikayla go kill herself?"

"No, I'm not," Lethero replied calmly. "She can't get back to the cave to destroy the altar. Though APOSF HQ is an illusion, the city wasn't. We're still there. Unless she can found the portal back, she's as stuck as we are."

"So what're we going to do?"

"Haydes, I want you extend your mind out, look for anything significant." Lethero turned to Nicarga and Saphire. "I want you two to see what you can do about this illusion. Hayes, Quinn, and I will stay here and keep watch. Everyone else go help Jack fetch Wright, I'm going to need her."

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Nicarga sat on the ground discussing blood sigils and pentagrams that might dispel the illusion with Saphire. So far, they came up empty. Whenever they tried a possible rune, it always got absorbed into the ground.

"I think I found something," Haydes said, after Nicarga's last rune sunk into the ground. "There's another portal. It's somewhere that way," Haydes said point of to the left.

Suddenly, Nicarga got an idea. "Haydes, do you remember what the tattoo on the necromancer looked like?"

"Wasn't it kind of like a pentagram, but instead of a star it was a five leafed flower?"

Without hesitation, Nicarga drew the flower on the ground and instead of sinking in, it flared, making everyone shield their eyes. When they lowered their arms they found themselves back in the city.

Haydes led the way towards a door in the side of the building. He put his hand on it and shut his eyes. "It's a way out of here, but wherever it is, it's not on Earth."

Miles

Being set off to fetch Wright. Alright. That worked for me.

"Ok, let's head out," I said. Everyone and I walked down the street of the city, looking around.

"Should we split up?" I heard someone ask.

"If we want to get lost, sure," I said sarcastically. "At least stay with one person, alright?" Crap. I sounded almost like Lethero. "If that's what you want, I mean."

Jack

She was fast, I'd give her that. And stronger than she looked, too. I winced and rubbed at my aching ribs where her elbow had connected, singing silent praises that it had been more of a glancing blow and had not broken anything. I doubted I would've still been standing, had that been the case.

"Mikayla!" I shouted again, running after her as best I could with one hand over my sore ribs. "Mikayla, wait! Shouldn't we all, I don't know, talk about this or something?! Before you go throwing your life away?"

I rounded the corner she had disappeared behind and stopped, cursing. She was nowhere to be seen, and this street looked exactly the same as the one I had just left. For all I knew, I could have been going in circles. I had never been a huge fan of big cities for this exact reason. It was too easy to get lost.

"Mikayla!" I called, straining to get my voice loud enough to be heard. Echoes bounced off the walls of the buildings, becoming oddly warped until all I could hear was, "...la...mi...ayl..."

"Jack!"

I spun around, peering back around the corner of the building and catching sight of a few people from our group racing towards me. I waved to get their attention.

"Where's Wright?" Miles asked as they drew closer.

"Disappeared," I replied, pointing back down the street behind me. "She just took off and I lost her."

"You hurt?" he asked, looking pointedly down at where I still held my side gingerly.

"No, I'm fine. Listen, she has this weird idea that either she gives herself up or we all die. She claims she saw it in a vision. We have to find her and stop her before she does something stupid."

Saphire
I felt my heart running a marathon in my chest. I crossed my arms over my chest red alerts going off in my head. I found myself whispering a protection spell barely aware of the words. "I don't like this." I said aloud. "Join the club." Someone muttered. I smirked slightly and shivered again.

Miles

"Well, lets find her before this crazy vision of hers becomes a reality," I muttered. "Any ideas? Anyone?"

No one said anything. Great. I didn't like nor want to be in the spotlight.

Did I just use the word nor? Oh, I was seriously dying here... Apparently it must have shown on my face because someone gave me a funny look.

"Alright, let's find Wright and make sure she doesn't die," I said finally.

Ack, I've been away a long time.

Corry

I scanned the surroundings again, as far as I could within a few minutes. The search wasn't very thorough, only enough to pick up unshielded consciousnesses, but it would have to do. Suddenly, I saw a group of minds, not unlike the demons we'd been attacked by before, clustering around the others.
"Lethero, you're not going to like this." I said aloud, transmitting the image of the impending ambush.
Miles, demons! Headed your way! Look out!

Miles

Oooh, crap. "Demons!" I shouted. "And, apparently they're coming this way. Joy."

Everyone jumped into action. I grabbed the gun. Whoo-hoo. Last time the gun hadn't been useful for anything. But maybe this time the demon would actually be something I could see. Or, demonS, apparently.

Jack

"Demons!" Miles suddenly shouted. "And apparently they're coming this way. Joy."

I scowled. This was the last thing we needed. Mikayla was suicidal and we were being attacked by demons. Plural. Meaning multiple entities intent on attacking and probably killing us. And we were split up, meaning that Miles and I, and the few others that had come with him, had to fend them all off on our own.

How we were expected to do that I had no idea. Things weren't looking so good.

"Who here still has their weapons?" I asked. "Everyone? Good. Listen, we're going to need to find some advantage point here, if we want to survive this. Hide behind a car or in an alley. Or better yet, if you can get in, hide in one of the buildings and shoot from the windows. Out here, we're sitting ducks. Easy targets. Understood?"

Everyone nodded and set off to take up their positions. Miles and I busted down the door to a building, whose sign read, Faye's Furniture. Inside were couches and tables and wardrobes, all covered in dust and some broken and rotting. I knelt by one of the front windows, pulling out my revolver. With the handle I smashed one of the windows and peered cautiously out into the street.

"Any idea as to where they are?" I called over to Miles.