Euriv's Children

Chapter 5

*** Up top is Jess

Ali's POV

The chaos never seemed to end. Students were on the lawn, some suffered burns and were being treated. The pearl white fountain now flowed red with blood. A woman with long blonde hair pulled into a messy bun with chopsticks was holding a little girl with a bleeding arm. She looked up with weary eyes, just barely touched by age. Owen's mom. Mrs. Bates.

"Oh thank Eutriv you are okay." She gave me a big, motherly hug. "What's wrong?" She asked, noticing the distraught look on my face.

"The Inferno Society. One of their members killed." I took a deep breath and stared at the floor. "Killed my dad and kidnapped Owen, Eric, and Cathan, who is apparently my twin. This is Jess, a friend. We just got back."

When I finally looked up at her, she looked crestfallen."It must have been Raina. She took Owen?"

"He's not gone." I reassured her. "I'll get him back, I promise. I don't know what I would do if he was hurt." I finally looked into Owen's mother's eyes. "I swear on Eutriv I will get him back safely."

She gathered me in her arms and rubbed my back. "You know Owen, he acts tough but the Inferno Society have their ways."

"Why not come with us?" I said hopefully.

"I cannot. The Inferno Society cannot know I'm alive. It has to be you. You will make the right choices, and you will succeed. I have faith in you." She took a deep breath and stepped back.

That faith, I feared, was misplaced and a waste of energy, but I headed toward the dorms anyway. No one saw me as we slipped into the junior dorms and turned left, toward the girls rooms. There wasn't a soul in sight. I barely managed to get my key in the lock.

"There has to be something." I rummaged through my drawers for my old clothes. Aha! "Here." I threw Jess one of my old t shirts, a pair of skinny jeans, and a duffel bag. There was no way I was ever going to fit into those again. I pulled out a few other small shirts and changed into some more comfortable and less bloody clothes. Finally I grabbed my weapons belt, and a few daggers and even a short sword.

I found two more duffel bags and stuffed all the clothes I could find, and then grabbed hair stuff and Celia's makeup. She wouldn't survive without it.

"Ready?" Celia walked through the door, bags already slung over her shoulder.

"Almost. Do you want to change real quick?"

"Absolutely." She looked through her closet quickly. Well, quickly for Celia. Typically it would take her forever to find something to wear. She shimmied into jeans and a flowery shirt and grabbed her jacket only to complete it with a bright blue weapons belt of her own. "Ready?"

"Yeah, let's go." I led the way out.

It was hard to believe that someone could cause so much wreckage. The place was still on fire but the fireman were getting most of it. The worst part were the bodies. The dead and the wounded. Mrs. Bates was helping the school nurse bandage people up.

At that moment, a girl looked their way. Her dirty red eyes confirmed. Demons were here killing students. Raina must be behind this.

There was a commotion in the field leading to the parking lot. A group of seniors were battling demons. Some were using the archery targets as shields. The sand was painted red in spots and they were outnumbered.

"Jess, can you carry the bags by yourself?" I asked absentmindedly pulling a dagger from my belt.

"I'll try." She said, her voice quavered. "Why?"