Young Writers Society

Kaydence

"I hate to disappoint you, but there isn't much we know about who is causing all these people to go missing, but we do know it's nothing we have faced before. We assume that it's Lucifer's 'secret weapon' he's been going on about for years, he's not the sort to be very humble," Gaderel scoffed.

"So, how do we know what we're up against?" Indiana questioned.

Gaderel sighed, "Well, you guys are going to have to go undercover for a while, lay low. Of course, we want you to continue to take out lower-level demons, but we can't just throw you in the lion's den with this one."

"Why? What about this demon makes him more powerful, exactly? How do we know he's more powerful?" Sebastian cut in.

"Well, first of all, turn on the TV." Gaderel nodded towards me, and I reached over for the remote to find the power button.

"Police are left clueless after a gas station exploded late last night, with no explanation as to how the fire started and why there was no one working there at the time, but at least no one was hurt. Back to you, Robert." The news lady smiled at the camera before it flashed back to who I assumed to be Robert sitting at a desk. I quietly turned the TV off, looking over to Bash to see his eyes set on me.

"Would you guys like to explain what happened?" Gaderel folded his hands, giving us each pointed looks.

"Well, we stopped for gas and Archie was caught by the guy working there stea-" I stopped myself, eyes flashing to Archie.

"Yes?" Gaderel continued.

"Well, when I tried talking to the worker, he started to morph into a demon! Someone that looked almost perfectly human! Of course, he did have saggy skin now that I think about it more, but he still looked so human, until his skin literally shredded off," I trailed off, realizing I was rambling.

After a moment of silence, Bash interjected, "Gaderel, why did he look human? Demons have never looked human."

"Well, we think Lucifer has been...experimenting." He replied slowly.

"...Experimenting?" Aileen repeated.

"Trying to find ways to make demons smarter and harder to recognize. We think he's been trying to do this for years, even before you were all born. That's what we think this new threat is...a success." Gaderel frowned as if processing the information himself.

We all took a moment to process, silence filling the room. We were going to have to go undercover? What does that even mean? How were we supposed to identify this new threat?

"So, you want us to go undercover for a couple weeks, kill whoever is doing this, and then we move on?" Archie asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Well, that's the general idea, but this mission is far more complicated than anything you've done before, so it may take a month, maybe even several months." It was only then that Gaderel made his way to the open chair, sitting down and pinching the bridge of his nose. I had never noticed how old he looked. He looked as if he was in his late forties, early fifties, and this made me wonder if people aged in Heaven beyond their years or if they stayed the same like we do.

"So basically, you can't give us any information except that someone is causing trouble. Isn't God supposed to be all knowing, or whatever? Why can't he tell us more?" Bash said, unbelieving.

Gaderel sighed, "I know it's not the best circumstance but you guys are our most experienced group of demon hunters, and the big man swears by you guys."

"Wait, there are more kids like us?" Archie's eyes widened in excitement.

Gaderel paused for a moment, studying Archie's reaction. "Well, yes, you didn't think God was going to only have six people on his side while Lucifer has hundreds, did you? However, God does understand the world is cruel and this is a thankless job, so he only has a few other groups placed throughout the world."

"Why have we never met any of them?" Archie questioned.

"Well, it's not advised because it would distract you guys from your current objective," Gaderel explained, and Archie's face fell.

"If that's all you have for us, then we have matters of our own to deal with," I finally spoke up, not meeting Gaderel's eyes.

"Oh, of course. I'll be in touch with you, Kaydence, to talk more about being undercover." I could feel the tension tighten in the room as Gaderel spoke, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Bash clench his jaw.

"Okay, see you then," I replied quickly, glancing over at Bash's clenched fists. Within a moment of bright light, it was just the six of us.

"Well, this is a load of shit," Bash exclaimed after a moment of silence.

I huffed, "Thought you liked a challenge, Bash."

He looked over at me, his mood unreadable, and I raised my eyebrow. He shook his head, standing up. "Find what you can for lunch, guys, otherwise I don't care what you do." And with that, he turned towards his room, shutting the door behind him.

The tension in the room slowly died down as we all relaxed, finally free from the watchful eyes of Gaderel and Bash. Archie disappears first, almost running to his room. Then Indie and Xander left shortly after, and all the was left was Aileen and I sitting in silence.

"What do you think happens if we die while we're here on Earth?" Aileen finally broke the silence.

I looked over to see her staring out the window, and tried to follow her gaze, but all I saw were trees blowing in the wind.

"I...I don't know. Maybe we find peace," I replied, sighing. One could only hope.

"Kaydence, with this new threat...I'm scared we're not equipped to face it." She finally turned her bright blue eyes straight into mine, and my breath caught at the fear. "I don't want to die again."

It took me a couple of seconds to regain my composure before responding, "If God didn't think we could handle this, he wouldn't have put us in this situation." I hoped I sounded convincing, as I wasn't even sure if I believed that. What if God being all powerful isn't the full truth? Why else would we be down here still?

Aileen must've bought it, as she smiled and nodded at me before getting up and walking away. I couldn't imagine losing her. I couldn't imagine losing any of them. I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders, the pressure suffocating me. I felt like my eyes were going to be the storm of the century with every passing second, and for the first time in what seemed to be forever, I craved someone to just hold me and promise that everything would be over soon.

I shook my head. No time for that.

***

After Aileen had left, I decided to continue to straighten up my new room. I had always kept my previous rooms quite plain before Mississippi. We were never sure how long we’d be on a mission, and it made it easier to move on when I didn't have much to hold onto. There were trinkets I had collected throughout the past two years that I did hold onto, however.

A wool blanket, from Alaska, a wood carving etched with the outline of waves, from Texas, a snowglobe of the city of Chicago, and a pocket knife with gold carvings into the wood handle I found while on a mission in Nevada. However, my favorite, and my oldest item, was the golden heart-shaped locket around my neck.

I unfastened it, pulling myself to lay against my pillows on the white bed. I opened it, running my finger against the engraving, I love you, until death do us part. C.T. The letters were small and curled.

C.T. My breath caught. Cam. A pit of dread sunk into my gut. I had this on when I died.

Suddenly, everything in me wanted to throw it across the room, to never see it again. I gripped it so tightly in my hand I felt the metal cutting into my skin.

I was so caught up in my rage that I didn't even notice Bash, who was now standing at the foot of the bed until he cleared his throat. "If you clench that tiny fist of yours any tighter it might disappear altogether," he chuckled.

I pressed my lips together, glaring up at him. I released the locket, letting it fall on the bed in front of me. "What do you want, Sebastian?" I asked coldly.

Unphased by my tone and eyeing the locket, he replied, "Well, I wanted to talk strategy, but since you seem to busy we can talk later."

"Well, maybe you would've known I was busy if you had the decency to knock," I sneered.

"I did," he rolled his eyes, "loudly." His laugh was almost taunting like he was trying to piss me off. Wouldn't be anything new.

I glared at him as he stood with a sarcastic smile. After a few seconds, I finally sighed, letting all the tension leave my body. "I'm sorry, let's talk."

Bash shot another one of his signature eyebrow raises, hesitating, before finally sitting on the bed in front of me. I crossed my legs, straightening up so he had room. He turned so his back was against the wall, his legs long enough to hang over the bed.

"So, did you already have a plan in mind?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"Well, I was thinking we need to do some research on disappearances, see if there's been weird activity anywhere," his eyes searched my room, almost as if he was studying it. This wasn't the first time he had come into my room, wherever we were at the time, and talked strategy, but it had definitely been a while.

"That's standard though, what else do you got?" I leaned back again on my pillows, watching him. His eyes drifted from my walls to meet mine, lingering for a second, before going back to the locket. He reached over and started to grab it.

"Hey, don't-" I tried to grab from him but he had already snatched it.

"I've never seen this off your neck since I met you, I don't even know what it has inside," He opened it, running his finger over the engraving. He glanced back at my pained face and then back at the locket. "Do you know who C.T. is?"

I couldn't speak. I felt paralyzed and cold. I didn't want Bash to see me this way, so scared and helpless. I was supposed to be strong and fearless, nothing ever got to me. I snatched it out of his hands, standing up, "None of your damn business."

Without waiting for a response, I walked out of my room, not sure where I was going. I found myself heading towards Indie's room, knowing I could vent to her about how inconsiderate Bash was about other people's things, she knew all too well and wasn't afraid to say it.

I knocked on the door, biting my lip until I head "Come in!" from the other side of the door. I opened it to see Indie sitting by the window, watching the birds. She glanced at my flushed face before frowning and patting the space next to her.

"Bash?" she questioned.

"Who else," I mumbled, sitting next to her.

-

chapter word count: 1,945

total word count: 12,001