ã€ŠThis Bookã€‹


 Chapter 1: Hypersomnia (Grayson)

    It was my eighteenth birthday, the day that I was officially an adult in the eyes of society, and all I wanted to do was sleep. Was this what it meant to be an adult? I hadn¡¯t expected it to set in so quickly, the perpetual tiredness. Actually it had been going on for a while by this point. Since about last week I was in a perpetual state of tiredness, barely lumbering through every day like a zombie, reliant on caffeine to even keep myself going. Paradoxically no matter how much I slept I still woke up as tired as when I went to bed. Last night I went to sleep at 10:00 PM and then woke up at 6:00 AM. That was a full eight hours, and I didn¡¯t wake up in the middle of the night at any point. And yet that morning I woke up as tired as a had been that night! I was tired, I was so so tired. Tired for no apparent reason. All I did that day was go do nothing at my homeschool group, then come back and do nothing at home.

    Well okay maybe I didn¡¯t entirely do nothing. At home I mean, homeschool group was the exact same as always. My body was present during Photography and Dungeons & Dragons class (it was less of an educational group than a hobby/social club) then I sat in the lunchroom while my sister was in drama class and engaged in a hilariously pointless debate on the Leigh Leblanc Discord, a debate entirely over the semantics of Leblanc¡¯s interpretation of a heretical text written by an insane naked Byzantine man a thousand years ago called the Seraphic Bible. Coincidentally (or maybe not) this book was one of my birthday presents from my Aunt. Me and my younger sister had been following them since 2013. Half the time Leblanc¡¯s essays and videos were excellent thorough analysis which combined their personal perspective with their vast knowledge of the occult and cinema. Other times¡­ honestly they came off as kind of insane. Their fixation on this particular text provides an example, while the analysis of it as an amalgamation of Mesopotamian Polytheism, Judeo-Christian core theology, and even parts of Eastern philosophies such as Buddhism and Taoism paints a portrait of a work unlike anything else at its time, whenever Leblanc tries to connect the text to their actual spiritualism they lose me. They¡¯ll go from scholarly theology straight to babbling about ancient aliens or reincarnation as a ¡°device for the prophecy of the end times¡± or something. It was actually this jarring mix that kept me and my sister watching. The Leigh Leblanc channel was an absolute trainwreck bouncing from astounding highs to dizzying lows, a constant rise and fall as compelling as any television show. Leigh Leblanc was our favorite Shonen Protagonist.

    Anyway besides that I got a couple of gift cards, I was at the point where I didn¡¯t really ask for anything for or want to do anything special on my birthday. Just getting some money and maybe a book was fine enough for me. We also had subpar fast food and a frozen cake before Aunt Catherine had to go to work. By this point I¡¯d zombied my way through social interaction for about eight hours straight. Time to go back to bed and sleep. Even though I knew it wouldn¡¯t help I really couldn¡¯t think of anything better to do that I actually felt like doing.

    Unfortunately my sister had other plans. Plans which threatened to drag my barely awake ass even farther from the rest I sorely needed. I was sitting on my bed when she barged into my room, she had never bothered to knock with me, smartphone in hand, immediately taking a seat right next to me. Normally I¡¯d say something witty like ¡°Come right in¡± but that day I was just too tired to care.

    ¡°So you remember that thing I was talking about yesterday?¡± Kish said.

    Oh god, not that thing. I think. Of all days why¡¯d it have to be today? ¡°What thing?¡± I said. Lying about not remembering to hopefully buy myself some time.

    ¡°The thing in the abandoned church!¡± She practically shouted. ¡°Remember? There was that article about the guy who said he kept seeing demons come out of it? The one who mysteriously died right after?¡± Since we started living here with our Aunt we¡¯d passed by that church every time we ever went out. It was burned down in the 50s and for some reason in all the decades that followed no one had bothered to rebuild or clear the ruins out. It still remained as an ominous relic smashed just across the street from their modern suburban neighborhood.

    ¡°Okay what about it?¡± I said, still playing dumb even though I know exactly what the answer will be.¡±

    ¡°Obviously we have to go in there and video tape the whole thing.¡± She said. ¡°Internet fame awaits if there is like, a gateway to hell in there, more importantly we could get ourselves rich if something really good is in there.¡±This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    ¡°Okay but our Aunt told me to watch you and keep you out of trouble. I¡¯m pretty sure that includes no running off into old ruins looking for portals to hell.¡± I said, hoping it would dissuade her.

    ¡°You¡¯re just scared aren¡¯t you?¡± Of course she¡¯d say that. To be one hundred percent truthful fear had nothing to do with it. Right then I couldn¡¯t have cared less if there was a portal to hell in our damn living room, I just wanted to sleep.

    ¡°No, I just don¡¯t want to waste my time getting barely legible footage that people will pick apart as proof demons exist.¡± I said, finally cutting to the heart of my argument. ¡°That¡¯s what the damn ghost hunters on Discovery channel are for.¡±

    ¡°Let¡¯s flip a coin.¡± She said. ¡°Heads we stay here and you can lay around all you want, tails we go over there.¡±

    I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and thoroughly exhaled it. She never made it easy. At least this way there was a 50% chance this would get completely finished. And even if not I could still figure out a way to weasel out of it. ¡°Okay, we¡¯ll flip a coin, but if it lands heads I don¡¯t want to hear about it again for the rest of the day.¡±

    ¡°Sure fine.¡± She said. We didn¡¯t flip an actual coin, but rather used a coin flipping site on her phone. She pressed her finger on the screen and¡­

    Tails¡­ damn it. I¡¯d always had bad luck, I should have known better than to agree to this. Kish knew it too, a self satisfied grin stretched on her face. ¡°Looks like we¡¯re ghost hunting.¡± She said.

    And I didn¡¯t even feel like standing up. You know what? Fine. We¡¯ll go over there for a second, peak around, see that there is nothing there demonic there because obviously there would not be, and then go home. If Aunt Catherine asks we¡¯ll say we went on a walk. It wouldn¡¯t even be a lie. It¡¯s a fifteen minute walk from the house just following the sidewalk on the one street connecting our house and the surrounding neighborhood to the highway the church was on. Besides I was an adult now. I had reached the age at which I could legally supervise my sister rummaging around an abandoned ruin of a church. So exciting.

    When we got there I realized that I¡¯d never seen the church up close. It had always been brief glances from the car window passing it by. Moss had covered much of the stone the building was built with while almost any wood was covered black from where the fire had burned it. Only one of the double doors at the entrance remained and even it barely held at the hinge. Getting in wouldn¡¯t be hard, and apparently nobody had bought the land so they wouldn¡¯t technically be trespassing. Superstition had kept anyone from tearing the thing down and putting a McDonald¡¯s in its place I suppose.

    The roof of the church had gapping holes and large parts of it were just gone, so the interior was illuminated by the daylight. The floor had been covered by overgrown grass and past the altar almost the entire back wall was missing. You know what wasn¡¯t there? A portal to hell. Though honestly even if there was one with thousands of demons pouring out it could not matter less to me. I was going home, and I was going straight to bed. I turned off my phones video recording feature. ¡°Well Kish, this was a bust. How about we go home?¡± Except that when I turn around she isn¡¯t there. Had I been so tunnel visioned that I hadn¡¯t even noticed she wasn¡¯t behind me?

    Oh god, where the hell did she go? My head felt like it was going to explode. I¡¯d been getting headaches on and off since around the same time I¡¯d started feeling tired all the time, but most of those were minor. This felt like I was getting stabbed through the head, over and over, every other second. It was happening so frequently that at a certain point I just became almost numb to it, but at the same time my brain was still telling me that there was something obviously wrong here. It was a feeling like having ants inside your skin, all you think you can do is scream.

    Except I didn¡¯t scream. I had to find my sister, so I sucked up and ran outside the church. She wasn¡¯t there either, instead what greeted me was¡­ unsettling. On the ground just next to the highway was the body of something that wasn¡¯t quite human. From a distance it looked normal but the closer I got the more I realized how strange it was. It had humanoid shape, but its arms and legs were much longer than its thin body, it had twelve inch long fingers protruding from its hands still moving back and forth even as the rest of its body laid lifeless on the floor, possibly dead? The spike shoved in its neck confirmed, definitely either dead or on the way.

    What the hell?

    I was so busy processing that¡­ thing that I hadn¡¯t even noticed the woman standing above it, presumably the killer. She was about six feet tall, wore all black, had an eyepatch over her left eye, and had short olive green hair. She stared at me, not a hint of surprise in her one eye, dare I say she had recognition. The weird part was that she seemed familiar for me too, though I¡¯d no clue how, or if this was good or bad recognition.

    I didn¡¯t wait for her to say anything. I started running, running as fast as I could back to the neighborhood. Running past her. I had to find my sister.

    I had to find her before those things did.

 Chapter 2: Childhood Trauma and Inconvenient Demons (Kish)

    For as long as I could remember I¡¯d had a fascination with the supernatural. My earliest memory in fact was the origin of this obsession. I was 6 at the time, my parents had died just a few weeks before so I have no concrete memories of them, even this memory is hazy. Actually I don¡¯t even remember how long my parents had been dead by this point, or really any concrete details. All I have to go on are feelings, strong feelings, I couldn¡¯t even be certain how much of it was real and how much was heightened by my overimaginitive young brain.

    The things I know for sure are that I was that me and my brother were at the Douglas¡¯ house while Aunt Catherine was doing¡­ something related to the funeral I think? Those first weeks after our parents were a mess. Aunt Catherine suddenly had to figure out permanent accommodations for the three of us, help organize the funeral AND keep up as normal at her job. A lot of the time she asked other parents at the homeschool group to babysit us while she was busy. This was actually how I met my best friend, Laura Douglas.

    Anyway Mr. and Mrs. Douglas mostly left us and their kids alone. Laura was 7 and Hayden, her brother was 9, making him the oldest of the group. We played Super Smash Bros or something and then decided to run around the back yard playing some game we made up. As I said I¡¯m fuzzy on the details. What I do remember vividly is a moment where I was alone with Hayden. Even at nine Hayden was creepy, his edgelord phase already setting in. For some reason he thought it would be funny to tell me that he saw my parents¡¯ ghosts in the basement of his house. Of course he dared me to go look, and I did. I walked down to that basement, each stair I descended felt like I was dropping a mile underground. I looked around, found nothing, yet somehow never put together that Hayden was trying to mess with me, so I kept going. I looked in every shelf, every corner, inspected every box, still nothing. Until I heard something drop out of no where. I jumped but I didn¡¯t scream. I turned around, a shoebox had fallen off its place at the top of a shelf, seemingly all by itself. I got down on my hands and knees and uncovered the box, it was filled with antique coins and art supplies, both of which reflected my mom and dad¡¯s hobbies respectively. This convinced me I was onto something. My parents were down here somewhere. I searched in that basement for what felt like an eternity, looking for another sign, anything, but nothing else appeared.

    When Mrs. Douglas and Grayson finally found me down there I was crying. I told them what happened, though the more fantastical elements they obviously chalked up to overactive imagination combined with grief they took it very seriously. The parents scolded Hayden for scaring me but I don¡¯t know if they did anything else after we left. They called my Aunt and she rushed over to pick us up. She was fuming when she got there. The Douglas parents apologized and made Hayden apologize too (one of those obviously fake and insincere apologies) but it took years until Aunt Catherine allowed us over there without her supervision again. Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

    I guess ever since that day I¡¯d been looking for something, anything that would prove that I¡¯d actually seen what I¡¯d seen that day, prove that I wasn¡¯t crazy. My brother and Aunt never said it but I could see the doubt in their eyes whenever I talked about this. This was why Leigh LeBlanc was the only person I truly felt like I related to, even though I¡¯d never actually met them, there was no other sane person who shared my belief in the supernatural. And now after years of searching and bogus hoaxes, I¡¯d finally found my proof.

    Yep, that proof was chasing after me down the street right then. A slender freaky humanoid with long limbs it used to persue after me on all fours. Inconvenient, but in retrospect it¡¯s surprising I never thought about the possibility. I was running for my life from a monster and more than anything I felt like laughing about the absurdity of it.

    I ran back the way I came away from the church. The thing was fast but I still managed to keep ahead of it. Not to brag but I was probably the fastest thing alive in Peachtree Neighborhood. I knew I could make it back to the house before this thing ate me. I was more concerned about my brother, I¡¯d shouted twice at him but he didn¡¯t seem to hear me? What a dumbass. If we both survive I¡¯ll make him get a hearing test.

    I finally get to the house, hastily unlock the door, get in, slam it shut, and lock it back, within the span of a minute. Good thing since I was actually about to give out. Scratch that, a new problem immediately presents itself. The thing starts scratching on the door. Not like ¡°your cat really wants in your room right now¡± scratching, more like slowly shredding the wood on your door. What do you do in this kind of situation? I could call the cops but A. They would think I¡¯m insane and B. They wouldn¡¯t get here in time. I had to do something right then. First I pushed a bookshelf in front of the door, though to be honest it probably didn¡¯t buy me any time for as long as it took to do.

    Second, I uh, stared at the door attempting to figure out what to do. I stared for what felt like eternity until I realized I couldn¡¯t hear scratching anymore. Maybe it just stopped for a second I thought, but nope, a minute passed and still nothing. I looked out the window to confirm, sure enough it wasn¡¯t on the porch anymore. And oh look there¡¯s my brother, running down the street. Took him long enough, except now that thing was running towards him?

    Grayson finally saw and turned back the other way, too late, I knew he wouldn¡¯t be able to outrun as close as it was now. He was only saved by a sudden spike flying out of nowhere killing the demon. I breathed a sigh of relief. I pushed the bookcase back out of the way and rushed to meet him, my big dummy of a brother, and make sure he was okay. As I got closer I noticed he wasn¡¯t looking at me, but at something down the street, which came into focus the closer I got.

    The mysterious green haired woman

 Chapter 3: Chrysalis (Thalia)

    After a thousand years of doing the same things over and over, you get used to repetition, the constant grind of the same over repeated. I¡¯d killed tens of thousands of demons by this point, that was nothing new, as routine as eating or sleeping. Most missions I had no emotional attachment to what I was doing. Locate the target, destroy it, that¡¯s usually how it went.

    This mission was different. For the first time in decades I¡¯d felt something about what I was doing.

    I wasn¡¯t hunting for the kill this time. Like everything in this world Seraphs never truly died, but rather reincarnated in a new form. This one, Blue, just happened to be the soul I was closest to. Not just in this form but in all our previous forms. Seraphs reincarnated as humans, so they don¡¯t know what exactly they are until they mature. Their auras don¡¯t read as Seraph until then either so from the point of death to new form to maturity the living Seraphs just have to wait it out.

    A couple days ago I¡¯d started feeling that aura, which became stronger as I narrowed down its location. North America, Atlantic Coast, the city called Atlanta, and then finally down to ¡°Peachtree Neighborhood¡± outside of the city. Immediately I found Blue¡¯s new form near an abandoned church, along with a handful of demon spawn which I easily dispatched. The master was not around, which unfortunately meant I would inevitably have to deal with that later, I decided I¡¯d cross that bridge when I came to it.

    After chasing both Blue and a straggler spawn I finally caught up with him and a girl who I¡¯d correctly assumed was his sister. Another complication, wonderful. The hardest part of this process was by far explaining what a Seraph was an why they had to come with us. Bartholomew and Banhi were naturals at this but I¡­ I¡¯d always had trouble expressing myself.Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    ¡°Who the hell are you and what the hell is going on?¡± Blue asking the always expected question. So they were a male this time. He and his sister were half Asian half white, were both smaller than me, and wore casual American clothes not unlike the black hoodie and slacks I wore to blend in.

    ¡°I am Thalia. ¡± I said. ¡°Those things were demon spawn. I just saved your life.¡± It was best to introduce these things slowly. ¡°You haven¡¯t told me your names.¡±

    ¡°I told you this was legit.¡± The girl said. ¡°I¡¯m Kish, this is Grayson. And I¡¯m guessing you aren¡¯t human, are you Thalia.¡± Heavy emphasis on the first syllable, coming out as ¡°Thaaaa-lia.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not entirely human. I¡¯m a Seraph.¡± I explain. ¡± And so is your brother.¡±

    The siblings turn to look at each other, then turn back to me. ¡°Is this some kind of elaborate prank? Did someone in the Leigh LeBlanc community set this up?¡± Grayson said.

    ¡± Who is¡­ ¡± I say. ¡°No it¡¯s not a prank okay. If you¡¯ll allow me to explain.¡±

    ¡°Actually I¡¯d rather go home and sleep.¡± Grayson says, starting to droop over.

    ¡°How can you think about sleep at a time like this?¡± His sister says. ¡°We need to go through the footage you got, get some expert opinions, maybe interrogate green haired lady over here.¡±

    ¡°Excuse me?¡± I say. But then Grayson collapsed to the ground into the fetal position.

    Kish kneels down beside him. ¡°What the hell did you do?¡±

    ¡°Nothing. He¡¯s asleep. The body goes into hibernation when it properly matures into a seraph.¡± I say. ¡°Like a cocoon into a butterfly.

    What I didn¡¯t say was how I hadn¡¯t expected it to be this soon. Or how I know had to worry about both protecting him and the demon that would no doubt come straight here

 Chapter 4: Normal (Laura)

    I was the weird one in the homeschool group, because I was ¡°normal¡±. I don¡¯t mean that to put down the rest of my class, I was friends with just about everyone, it was just an observation, one made by my classmates. While exceptions such as myself exist, there is a lot of truth in the ¡°weird unsocialized homeschooler¡± stereotype. To be honest I don¡¯t know how I got this reputation, maybe everyone else is just so weird by comparison that I come off as plain. Most of them were from uber religious families that sheltered them from dangers of the world like Harry Potter, but there were exceptions. Like Grayson and Kish Blackwell, orphans obsessed with the occult, or Hayden, my brother who was¡­ very trying, and not in the normal annoying brother way brothers are. Put it like this, his behavior towards other kids at only 9 got him kicked out of school.

    That was why my parents started homeschooling us, out of necessity, not choice.At first I resented homeschooling because it was such a sudden change, but going to the group made it better. It gave me an outlet to experience the things I was missing, albeit in a different way. I joined the nerdy kids (which was everyone) for Dungeons & Dragons, I designed the yearbooks, and I helped organize and perform in Drama. The latter was my favorite thing to do, which made me unique in that I was the only one willingly participating.

    My best friend Kish also made it better. We¡¯d met the same year I left Public school. We were nothing alike, yet we were almost inseparable. She only participated in drama because I was into it, even though she hated it. We texted each other every day, practically all day.

    Which was why it was strange that she hadn¡¯t answered my text. Normally she replied at latest after about five minutes. It had been over thirty since her last message. I was starting to get concerned. I looked at my phone again to reread the most recent texts.

    Kish: I¡¯m going out for a walk with Grayson for a bit. I¡¯ll get back to you soon. ¨C Sent 2:34 PM

    Me: Okay ¨C Sent 2:34 PM

    Me: Is everything alright there? ¨C Sent 3:10 PMIf you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    It had been ten minutes since I¡¯d sent that. Still nothing. Her initial message was confusing to me, she was never this vague. Or maybe I was overthinking it. That¡¯s probably what it was, but I still couldn¡¯t help but worry. I paced back and forth in my room, I¡¯d been pacing since I¡¯d sent that last text. I looked back at my phone again, still nothing. I knew there would be nothing, but it was almost compulsive.

    I needed something to distract myself for a second. I plugged my phone into the charger and put it on the nightstand, then walked out of my room. I didn¡¯t even know where I wanted to go yet, I just needed to give myself something to do.

    Maybe I¡¯ll go to the kitchen, find something to snack on. It was as good a plan as any. My brother was in the kitchen. He¡¯d been acting¡­ stranger than usual lately. He¡¯d been spending more time out of the house, he never said where he went, he¡¯d stopped hanging out with his friends, which was a good thing considering what a bad influence they were, but it was undeniably odd.

    ¡°What are you doing?¡± I ask.

    ¡°Nothing right now.¡± He said, leaning on the counter. ¡°Just waiting.¡±

    ¡°Waiting for what?¡± I asked.

    ¡°None of your business.¡± He said. ¡°Just man things.¡±

    ¡°Whatever.¡± I didn¡¯t need this right now. I didn¡¯t care that he was acting like a lizardman or something. I grabbed a bowl of fruit and went back to my room. Apparently the distraction had worked miracles. 1 new unread text. I picked up my phone.

    Kish: You¡¯re not going to believe this. ¨C Sent 3:22 PM

    Me: What? ¨C Sent 3:25 PM

    Kish: There were demons across the street, like ACTUAL demons, they chased me and my brother, and some woman claiming to be an angel killed them, and now Graysons in some kind of induced sleep oh god. ¨C Sent 3:27 PM

    Me: WTF, are you for real? ¨C Sent 3:27 PM

    Kish: YES. I don¡¯t know what to do. I haven¡¯t told my Aunt yet, idk how. ¨C Sent 3:28

    Me: I¡¯m coming over. ¨C Sent 3:28 PM

    I felt my phone buzz as I put it in my pocket but I didn¡¯t bother checking. I grabbed my purse and got in my car, a used 2015 model my parents got after I got my license. Their house was only a short drive away, I could have walked it but this was faster.

    I backed out of the driveway and started down the street. Most of the way I would pass the many houses in the neighborhood but there was also a small park for jogging and dog walking. Nobody was there today, except a couple of people. As I got closer I immediately recognized my brother, what the hell was he doing here. Beside him were these strange cloaked individuals. One of which turned towards me, and it¡­ was¡­ its face. I didn¡¯t know what it was but it was obviously not human.

    Were those what Kish was talking about? What the hell had my brother gotten into?

 Chapter 5: Daemonium (Xegluron)

    a thousand years of anger

    I had never died

    only rage

    I didn¡¯t even remember why anymore

    no form no body

    instead taking the guise of others

    so many others

    this one was called Hayden

    a troubled adolescent

    the objective, the same as always

    KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPHIf you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    this seraph was a child, easy to kill

    my spawn, mindless abominations, searched for the seraph

    they were close I sensed it now I just waited

    the girl, the sister approaches

    ¡°What are you doing?¡±

    when I am in control, the human Hayden is asleep

    in times where I must disguise myself, I awaken them

    eventually she leaves

    a spawn approaches

    I go outside to meet it

    the seraph has been found

    along with another

    an obstacle

    I must destroy

    KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH

    the spawn lead me to the house

    immediately I sense the auras of the seraph

    green aura, blue aura

    why must I KILL SERAPH

    it matters not

    they must die

    another aura

    strange unfamiliar

    like blue¡¯s but¡­ faded

    THE OTHER HAS AWOKEN

    must investigate later

    I have now shed the body of Hayden

    run on all fours

    the green and blue auras draw closer

    tear down the door

    Blue seraph lays on furniture, a girl stands beside him, green has turned to face me

    she raises her weapon

    KILL SERAPH KILL SERAPH KILL SE

 Intermission: Analysis Excerpt I

    The Seraphic Bible: An Analysis

    By Leigh Leblanc

    Introduction (excerpt)

    The Seraphic Bible is perhaps one of the most unusual documents in history. While in recent years it has gained popularity with both Ancient Aliens believers and New Age spiritualists, for nearly a thousand years only a handful of copies existed, an artifact almost buried by history. The original text was written in Greek by a man named Leo Gregoras, living in Thessaloniki, but most of the original sources purportedly date back even further. Gregoras claims that this work was amalgamated from several ancient texts he unearthed in Anatolia (modern Turkey), although if those texts did exist they must have been destroyed after this was written. Gregoras spent a single night in his home compiling the text, his purpose in doing so is unknown, the mystery being weather he intended it as a standalone work meant to start his own cult, or as an addendum to the preexisting Christian biblical canon. It is probable we will never know the true answer as Gregoras famously seemed to go insane after writing it. Running through the halls screaming in some ancient tongues, drawing strange symbols on his bedroom wall, then finally streaking naked in the city square attempting to convert the people of the city to his newfound belief. It was after this that he was put to death for heresy and his original work destroyed. That would have been the end of the story if he hadn¡¯t sent several copies of the work to his disciples in Cyprus, where it was kept in storage though the end of the Byzantine Empire as well as the Ottoman Empire before finally being unearthed and translated by British anthropologist Christopher Wood in 1938. After its publication it mostly garnered the attention of the anthropology and theology communities but had little impact on public consciousness until 1991, when it was popularized in conspiracy theory communities, an interest which only grew with the rise of the Internet.

    It¡¯s not hard to see the appeal, particularly among those types, even discounting the historical context it is a strange work. It meanders endlessly, describes strange metaphysical concepts in depth, characters seemingly change genders (this is debatable but I will argue this point later) and has oddly little in common with Judeo-Christian texts it would presumably be a contemporary of, though that didn¡¯t stop the author from attempting to merge these texts with the beliefs of his Eastern Orthodox Christianity (attempts which more than anything resemble modern fanfiction and are obviously the weak points of the work). The Seraphic Bible has always been at just the edge of mainstream, it¡¯s well known enough that most would know what you are talking about, but almost no one outside of academic circles has actually read it. And why would they? It¡¯s a meandering slog written by a insane person. It has the burden of being both contemptibly dully written and using dated language few would bother with. It¡¯s not exactly a beach read. My goal with this analysis is to present this work and what makes it fascinating in a way that is in plain English, a translation of the translation if you will. While other, much more academic pieces on this subject already exist, those still remain impenetrable to anyone not in the fields of their authors. I will be citing many of these essays throughout this work, providing the most comprehensive yet accessible analysis I can.Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    The Seraphic Bible¡¯s creation story immediately sets the tone for what the reader can expect from this tome. It has resemblances to other creation narratives, yet is decidedly off. We can see how Gregoras attempted to mesh whatever text this is base off with the creation story from Genesis (though again it stumbles a lot, and anyone familiar will recognize the contradictions apparent) but most interestingly is the first figure, an unnamed, unspecified character who some in conspiracy theories have dubbed ¡°One.¡± One does not appear in any other section of the Seraphic Bible, there is almost no description of him/her/them (their gender is also left ambiguous) and their role in the narrative is unclear. Is One meant to represent God? A representation of God¡¯s angels? Some other spiritual being? A being from another planet or dimension? Any of these interpretations could be presented as plausible with the information (or lack thereof) presented on the character. Despite their minimal presence they form the ¡°2001 Monolith¡± around which almost all interpretations are based upon. And yet One¡¯s narrative contributions can be summed up in a few sentences. One appears on Earth near the dawn of time, from themselves spawns eight different new beings from themselves, which they dub ¡°Seraph.¡± Each Seraph is associated with a different color aura (a surprising concept for this time period and location), White, Black, Green, Blue, Red, Yellow, Violet, and Indigo, all of which are split from One¡¯s soul (souls are another important concept that will be returned to later, along with the cycle of death and rebirth). After an undetermined length of time White betrays and kills One for unknown reason (this is compared with the fall of Adam and Eve by Gregoras). Despite the comparison the lack of detail provides little context into the motivations of One or White, thus it is unclear if this was an original sin or if One was closer to the Greek Titans and perhaps attempted to eat their children. There¡¯s simply not enough information to go on as to what sparked this conflict. Whatever the case was it was the inciting incident that led into the later trials of the Seraph and by extension, man.

 Chapter 6: Aftermath (Laura)

    I sat in the hospital waiting room. The police had questioned me and Kish on what had happened, but to be honest I didn¡¯t know for sure myself. Kish was hysterical which wasn¡¯t surprising, but her interpretation of the events were so¡­ distorted. It was difficult to tell what actually happened and what was caused by stress. Obviously the demons couldn¡¯t be real, or was it obvious? Her descriptions were so vivid, and there was that thing I saw¡­

    Maybe it¡¯s better to start from the beginning. After I left the house I saw my brother in the park, only he was with this¡­ strange hooded figure, I couldn¡¯t see it clearly. I¡¯m sure it was my mind playing tricks on me but it looked almost monstrous.

    As I was driving by some kind of animal, ran past my brother, seemingly from out of nowhere, which did something that caused him to collapse. The hooded figure ran after the animal. Immediately I pulled over and ran to my brother to see if he was okay. He was still breathing but something was clearly wrong. I shouted at him, I shook him¡­ nothing. Even when I dragged his body into the car he still didn¡¯t wake. At this point I started thinking it might be connected to what was going on with Kish, so I continued on.

    The Blackwell¡¯s front door was sitting in the front yard when I pulled into their driveway. How it got there is a mystery, even the police are puzzled by that one. I ran through the open doorless ¡°doorway.¡± The house looked even worse on the inside. A plant had been spilled with its vase shattered and claw-marks lined the walls and floor. I followed the marks to the living room. Grayson lay unconscious on the couch, Kish stood to the right with her hand covering her mouth, in between them was some woman I didn¡¯t know, holding some kind of pole arm which she pulled out of the bodies of one of the animals below her. The animals I noticed last and too late before they apparently disintegrated into nothing.This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.

    Before I could even say anything the woman grabbed Grayson and also disappeared. However while the creatures disintegrated piece by piece her and Grayson disappeared in some kind of bright white light. What am I even saying. I probably hallucinated all of that. Sure Kish described something similar but¡­ there had to be some rational explanation right?

    After all this I finally called the police, my parents, and Kish¡¯s aunt, all of whom rushed over here immediately. Hayden was taken to the hospital and I¡¯m still waiting to hear what happened, I tried to describe what I saw as best I could, leaving out some of the more fanciful details. I did describe the woman as she could be a lead on Grayson¡¯s disappearance. In spite of everything that happened and that I may or may not have seen I still felt oddly calm, somehow taking it all in stride. I was obviously worried about my brother, and Grayson even though I didn¡¯t know him that well, but I maintained enough composure to do what I needed to in each situation.

    I went over what happened over and over as I sat in that waiting room. Kish sat next to me, she hadn¡¯t said a word to me since we got here, she just¡­ starred at the floor. Her aunt was talking to the therapist she saw in the other room, probably scheduling more sessions or a prescription. For a long moment me and Kish sat there in silence.

    Until finally Kish spoke up.

    ¡°We¡¯re going to find my brother.¡±

    I turned to her. ¡°How?¡±

    She just smirked at me. It was nice to see her act like her usual self if only for a second. I knew she had something crazy in mind, anyone else I would have said no.

    But for her, I¡¯d go through hell itself.

 Chapter 7: Subconscious (Grayson)

    I awoke in my bed. It had all just been a bad dream. A shockingly vivid one, but all just a dream nonetheless.

    It was a bright Fall morning, not too hot, not too cool. I walked down the stairs, saw my parents making breakfast in the kitchen. My sister was sitting in the dining room just across from them, my Aunt was there too, coming over for a visit. I sat down with them. A few moments later we ate scrambled eggs and bantered. For some reason, I don¡¯t remember what we said.

    Afterward I ran back upstairs, got dressed and grabbed my backpack, and then ran back down the stairs racing my sister. Of course, my parents wouldn¡¯t let us leave without mushy goodbye hugs. Aunt Catherine refused such sappiness but sent us off in her own way.

    After escaping me and my sister met up with Laura and Hayden. The school wasn¡¯t terribly far away, in perfect walking distance. Brown and reddish leaves fell from the trees. It was all so perfect.

    Until the moment was interrupted by the person who just pummeled into me, knocking me to the ground. It took me a moment to get my bearings, but soon she came into focus, the green haired woman¡­

    Thalia

    Wait what? She wasn¡¯t even real?

    What the heck was going on?

    She stood up, rubbing her head from where she ran straight into me. ¡°Jeez kid. Wake up and watch where you¡¯re going already.¡±

    Then she continued running as she had before, from my left to my right. I looked where she was going. Towards an abandoned old building, a large house that looked both Medieval and Modern. It had turrets like a castle, a dome roof with a cross atop it, statues of knights in the yard, even a moat, yet the rest was decidedly modern.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

    Just who was she? Where was she going? I couldn¡¯t shake the feeling that I knew her, that everything around me was a fabrication, that I would never truly know who I was unless I followed her.

    Wait what? Was I losing my mind?

    I had two choices. Follow her and find out what it all meant, and potentially have my perfect world shattered, or keep going to school, live a normal life, and never know, have it drive me mad forever.

    In truth there was only one option. Even if I regretted following my curiosity, I knew I¡¯d regret not following more.

    Kish, Hayden, and Laura called out as I ran but I didn¡¯t care. I had to know the truth. I crossed the bridge over the moat, felt the gaze of the stone knights as I walked through the plain, wood, modern door.

    I stepped into the massive hallway, two sets of stairs led up to a second floor. Both floors had nine rooms each, symmetrically aligned. The room was empty, no sign of her. I walked up the stairs, one particular door called to me. It was the top center one. It looked like the others, but for some reason my instinct just pointed me to this one. It felt right.

    I turned the nob, and walked in.

    Now I was in some kind of Greek odeon, or at least that¡¯s what it looked like. The door behind me disappeared and now I was standing in the center. For some reason it was night now, but the sky was almost a bright blue and the moon was brighter than I had ever seen it.

    ¡°Confused?¡± A voice appeared from behind me. I turned around, a silhouette appeared, barely visible, almost a grayish color.

    ¡°Who are you?¡± I asked.

    ¡°That¡¯s not important.¡± It said back. ¡°You should be asking yourself that instead.¡± It then lifted its finger to point at something behind me. I turn around.

    It¡¯s a girl, but it¡¯s me. She has almost the exact same face as me. Like looking at a mirror, only slightly off.

    ¡°This is who you were, your Other.¡± The figure said. ¡°Her name is San. She is both you and not you.¡±

    ¡°And who am I?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s for you to find out. I can¡¯t just spell it out.¡± It says. ¡°Just¡­ keep an eye on things, don¡¯t do anything stupid, just observe, take in information, and once you¡¯ve figured it all out well¡­ you¡¯ll know what to do. Don¡¯t worry about all that though, just relax, figure this whole Seraph thing out.¡±

    ¡°Wait!¡± The figure evaporated in front of me. I turned around, San lingered for a second, smiling at me, before evaporating as well.

    Now the world was shaking. Marble started crumbling from the theater. I collapsed to my knees. I heard another voice, more familiar, a frantic voice, shouting ¡°Wake up! Where are you?¡±

    It was Thalia¡¯s voice.

 Chapter 8: Into the Darkness (Kish)

    The car ride home was silent. Not a word from me, my aunt, or Laura. I was fine with that. I need this time to think. To come up with a plan. This was an unprecedented situation. I knew I wasn¡¯t just seeing things, this was real, I had officially discovered the supernatural. I was going down in history. But first I have to find my brother and that strange woman. Even though I was worried about him, I was also excited. I would be the first person to ever document this first hand (and hopefully live).

    Aunt Catherine dropped me off at the house with Laura. Laura¡¯s parents were going to be at the hospital, and since my Aunt was going to go help look for Grayson, everyone had agreed that it would be best that she stay with me at the house. They probably thought she would keep me out of trouble, but she was in on it! It always surprised me how easy it was to trick grown-ups.

    Unfortunately ideas for where to start were¡­ admittedly limited. An unprecedented situation meant no solutions existed outside of the theoretical. And in this case the theoretical was either fiction or the realm of conspiracy theories. So fiction and fiction, at least most of the time with the latter. There was only one person I knew who could be called an expert on this kind of thing. Leigh Leblanc.

    Well okay, I didn¡¯t technically know them. They had responded to my comments a couple of times but, it¡¯s not like they knew who I was. I¡¯d already planned on sending the footage from today¡¯s expedition to them, so I might as well get their advice at the same time. The woman had called herself a ¡°Seraph,¡± so I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if she was like the beings described in the Seraphic Bible.You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

    I had to get the video off my brother¡¯s phone, which thankfully wasn¡¯t on him when he disappeared. He also thankfully didn¡¯t have a passcode. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll forgive me for this one. Before I composed the email to Leblanc I showed the video to Laura. She had apparently seen similar creatures on the way here, so we couldn¡¯t be both crazy!

    Of course I couldn¡¯t just sit idly while I wait for Leigh Leblanc to respond. If I was going to figure out where Grayson disappeared to, I would need more information. Let¡¯s look at the facts of the situation for a second. We found the demons at the abandoned church, the woman only appeared after that happened. It seemed like that building was the source of this disturbance. The only hole in the theory was Laura¡¯s brother, who was obviously at home before then, but we didn¡¯t know for sure when he was possessed, or how that worked.

    For now the church was our only lead, so that¡¯s where we headed. This time however, the building wasn¡¯t empty. There were two figures, a pale, black-haired woman with matching black eyes who was slightly under six feet, and a girl beside her who was about the height of my brother and¡­

    And had almost the exact same face as him. The only differences were her silver hair and eyes, as well as some slightly more feminine features.

    ¡°Kish, what¡¯s going on?¡± Laura said

    I ignore her and stare straight at the two of them. ¡°I don¡¯t have any interest in your BS spiel.¡± I said. ¡°I only want to know two things. One, where is my brother? Two, what the hell is going on?¡±

    ¡°My child, we don¡¯t have to start this on the wrong foot.¡± The black-haired woman said. ¡°We are both looking for the same thing.¡±

    ¡°Huh? Who are you?¡±

    A smile appeared on her face. ¡°My name is Sabreal.¡±

 Chapter 9: The Soulscape (Thalia)

    I¡¯d neutralized the demon with one swift stab, but it had still managed to sink its claws into my left side. I held my hand over the wound, which was starting to gush. The sister hadn¡¯t noticed but I knew I had to get out of there. Take San¡­ I mean Grayson with me and recover on the Other Side.

    There are three planes of existence. The first is the living side, which is the only one most perceive on a conscious level. The second is the Other Side or Latum Alterum. Every living thing has a soul as well as a physical form. When the physical form dies the soul is sent to Latum Alterum to be reincarnated back to the realm of the living in a new body, oblivious that any of this happens.

    The third plane is one created by the soul to sustain itself. The soulscape, which is essentially the subconscious. Anything the soul perceives is translated and created in the soulscape, defining their ¡°reality.¡± Even after a soul is cycled into a new body the information from past lives will remain in the soulscape, though it isn¡¯t consciously perceptible outside of dreams. The soulscape is essentially its own world created from a soul¡¯s experiences. When a Seraph enters chrysalis, they explore and become aware of their own soulscape. After they emerge they have the ability to sense the auras souls and to enter the soulscapes of others.

    The place we where at on the Other Side was somewhere between Caelum and Infernium. A labyrinth of darkness of miles on end. This was a safe place, at least for now, and my wound would heal itself faster here.Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

    Hours passed in the void. I laid on¡­ whatever the floor was made of, and stared up at the black abyss, which looked the same as the floor or the random walls on either side of me. I used to find this place unnerving, but now it was oddly calm. In the living world things changed constantly, I could go to a place I went to a decade before and have it be almost nothing like I remember. This place never changed. It was the same a thousand years ago, and it would be the same a thousand years from now.

    Grayson is still sleeping. Some of his hair is turning blue already, matching his aura. Even watching him sleep he reminds me of her. He seems so peaceful, his chest going up and down as he breathes. San was always the most caring and empathetic Seraph, and I¡¯d missed her so much.

    After a moment I realized something was off however. Every few moments, his face twitched. At first first it was subtle, barely noticeable, but then it became more apparent. This wasn¡¯t something that normally happened in chrysalis.

    I decided to enter Grayson¡¯s soulscape. Even if it was nothing it¡¯s not like I had anything better to do. I laid back down and concentrated, focused on the soul¡¯s aura, connected it with my own.

    When I opened my eyes I was in a familiar place. The ancient ruins of the Greek civilization which was just outside my hometown. I played here as a kid, and later took San here when we had time to relax.  Grayson was close. But I couldn¡¯t determine where. I also felt other auras, ones that didn¡¯t belong to Grayson and that weren¡¯t figments of the soulscape. One was very familiar. One I hadn¡¯t felt in a long time but¡­

    ¡°Did you miss me Thalia?¡±

    But not one I had ever wanted to see again. She emerged from behind one of the ruins. The eight seraph. The traitor and master of demons.

    Sabreal.

 Chapter 10: Blue (Grayson)

    I ran from the collapsing theater, ground shaking as I did. By this point I¡¯d gained the awareness that I was in some kind of dream. Usually this realization meant the end of the dream but here it kept going. The unreality of my surroundings was both obvious yet still playing out. Now I was in some ruins. I realized this place had been appearing in my dreams recently, as had Thalia, though at the time I hadn¡¯t made any connection between it and the real world.

    Eventually I found myself confronted again by Thalia and another, a black haired woman named Sabreal, who I also somewhat recognized unconsciously, and not in a good way.  Thalia clearly didn¡¯t like her either judging by her tense body language. Fists balled up, teeth gritted, she looked as if she was about to pounce on her at any second.

    ¡°Excellent, now both of you are here.¡± Sabreal said.

    ¡°Leave.¡± Thalia shouted pointing at her.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be so aggressive Green.¡± Sabreal said. ¡°I know we have had our differences but at least let me say my piece. Besides it is not like either of us can affect the other here anyway.¡±

    ¡°¡­ Fine.¡± Thalia said, beginning to pace back and forth.

    ¡°All due respect but I know neither of you are real.¡± I said. ¡± You¡¯re both part of the dream. Frankly I¡¯d rather you just tell me how to wake up.¡±

    ¡°Not real? Just a dream?¡± Sabreal said. ¡°Oh, I see my former comrade has failed to explain. We are but visitors in the space that is your soul. This place, this beautiful, purest base of life. A whole world in itself, yet most never know its truth depths. Sad, is it not?¡±

    ¡°Oh Sabreal, as two-faced as ever.¡± Thalia said. ¡°You speak of the purity of the soul as if you weren¡¯t the one who first brought corruption into the soulscape.¡±The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡°It is sad that none of you bothered to understand.¡± Sabreal said. ¡°We are the only beings that know the intricacies of the soul, yet only I have bothered to explore its full potential, only I have tried to discover what it truly is, and what our purpose in knowing is. This is what our master wanted us to do. Our real master, not the usurper you follow.¡±

    ¡°You still haven¡¯t answered my question.¡± I demanded. ¡°How do I get out of here?¡±

    ¡°My child, don¡¯t you understand you are here to find yourself Only then can you awaken a true Seraph.¡± Sabreal said. ¡± As it happens I have someone who can help you.¡±

    ¡°Sabreal! Whatever you are doing, stop.¡± Thalia said.

    Sabreal smiled and continued anyway. Snapping her fingers, and once again the body of my past life, San appeared.

    ¡°You can¡¯t trick me with illusions.¡± I said. ¡± I¡¯ve seen this already.¡±

    ¡°Impossible.¡± Thalia said. ¡°What did you do Sabreal?! ¡±

    ¡°So you sense her aura Thalia?¡± Sabreal said. ¡°I did nothing, I just found her like this. Blue, your soul may have passed out of San when you ¡°died,¡± but for some reason the body continued living, and simply created a new soul.¡±

    ¡°No!¡± Thalia shouted. ¡°That¡¯s not possible, it¡¯s unnatural.¡±

    ¡°What do you say Blue?¡± Sabreal said, looking at me. ¡°Together we can find out who you are. Who you really are.¡±

    I starred at San. She looked like me, maybe I was this person before, but, I knew she wasn¡¯t me. I was me. No one else. And if this was my space, then I could control it.  ¡°I am Grayson Park Blackwell! I don¡¯t know who you think I am and I don¡¯t care! Kish Park Blackwell is my sister, Catherine Blackwell is my Aunt! Only I can decide who I am! Now get out of my head.¡±

    The shaking of the ground turned even more violent. Reality itself was starting to destabilize. Sabreal and San both merely stood where they were, even as both started fading away.

    ¡°I was hoping we could do this the easy way.¡± Sabreal said as she and San disappeared. ¡°We¡¯ll be seeing each other again.¡±

    The world continued to collapse, chunks of the sky started falling like it was nothing but a roof. I watched this sight with a shocking amount of calm.

    And then I jolted awake, as did Thalia next to me. We were in some kind of darkness. It didn¡¯t matter to me at the moment. I stood up. Ran my hand through my hair, grabbed a few loose ones, and pulled them in front of my eyes.

    My hair was blue now.

    I was a Seraph.

 Intermission: Analysis Excerpt II

    Chapter 3: The Seraphic interpretation of the Soul (excerpt)

    One of the more unique aspects of the Seraphic tenets is its conception of the soul. While reincarnation itself is an ancient concept, this interpretation is one that is bizarrely specific. This aspect alone explained and elaborated on at length several times in the text, amounting to a full 50 out of its 397 pages dedicated to explaining what the soul is and how its cycle of reincarnation works. Thus I have decided to dedicate an entire chapter to explaining in the simplest possible way the metaphysics of both, which will be no small feat.

    To start with the very basics, the soul is the consciousness of a living being. It inhabits the body of the being but is also its own separate entity. When the body dies, the soul returns to ¡°Latum Alterum,¡± which is where souls are created, returned, and sent into new bodies. This cycle occurs as follows:

    the creation of a soul > the placement of a soul inside of a living body > the soul living out a life in that body > the body perishing and the soul returning to Latum Alterum > the soul lingers in Latum Alterum for a period of time > the soul is placed in a new body and the cycle continues

    Thus like many mythologies, Seraphic belief is divided between the land of the living, and the land of the dead. Though perhaps it is better seen as a divide between the temporary flesh of the material world and the immaterial perpetual life of the soul. Souls can reincarnate as any species of being and it is implied, however not outright stated, that there is a sort of ¡°karmic force¡± that determines what form the soul will take next. It is however clearly stated that a soul can become ¡°corrupted¡± by strong negative emotions such as hate, which can damage the soul and cause it and its physical form to change in peculiar ways. It is from this damage that the first demons would later be created, just before the War of the Seraphs.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

    Just taken on its own the Seraphic concept of the soul could fill its own book, and has! For the sake of brevity I will necessarily have to skip many of the interesting, yet unimportant details regarding it (for further reading on the subject I recommend either my previous paper I wrote on the subject in 2015, or the book ¡°The Seraphic Soul¡± by Professor Molly Ellis of the University of Cambridge). Even with the number of pages dedicated to the concept, there are still many aspects left vague or unclear. Presumably what happened was that the author drew from incomplete sources, with whatever answers there were lost to time, or perhaps in his increasing madness, he simply forgot to include them.

    One interesting aspect that the text never elaborates on is the origin of the soul. There is no specific creation moment for Latum Alterum, perhaps implying it has always existed? It is explained that One was the very first soul on this planet, however there is no elaboration on what that entails. Did all other souls spawn from One just as the Seraphs did?

 Chapter 11: Four Walls (Kish)

    Once when I was younger I had a very vivid dream. It only lasted a few seconds from my perception, but it has stuck with me ever since. I was sitting in my room doing¡­ something. Then for some reason I decided to get up, I opened the door to my room and all I saw was darkness. A massive black impenetrable wall where the hallway usually was. Surprisingly this didn¡¯t freak me out. I just calmly closed the door, walked over to the window, and opened my blinds. The same darkness greeted me outside. It was like my room was the only thing in existence trapped in a never-ending empty void. The only things in the universe were me and this room. This existential thought didn¡¯t phase me either. I just sat down and went back to what I was doing, which is when I woke up.

    I suppose the meaning of that dream was that this room was almost my whole world. The space between these four walls was where I spent most of my time. Every possession I owned was in here, this was where my schoolwork was, even when Laura came over this was where we would hang out. This was how it was for almost everyone I knew my age. It wasn¡¯t so bad but¡­ sometimes it did feel almost like a self imposed prison, one I¡¯d gotten so used to that no other place felt comfortable. Maybe when I died my ghost would linger here, never wanting to leave this place.

    Ah yes, ghosts. That reminded me the reason why I was back in my room letting my mind wander. Our visit to the church was a total bust! I left with more questions than I had to begin with! Those mysterious women just¡­ disappeared. And at the very moment they left I had a deep, sickening feeling, like I was going to throw up. I felt like I was being used. Used purely as a vessel to find my brother, wherever he was, and the worst part was that all it amounted to for me was a big damn waste of time. And who was that woman who looked just like Grayson? Gah! If I ever find that Sabreal woman again I¡¯m going to make her sorry she ever ****ed with me.

    It was almost 1AM at the time. I had nothing better to do than wait for a reply to my email. I¡¯d been staring at the ceiling fan circling and the generic ceiling that surrounded it. If I stared long enough at the fan it was almost hypnotizing.

    I checked my email again. Still nothing. I started rearranging things on my desk. I crumpled up old school notes to throw in the trash later, found that charger I was looking for like half a year ago, the one I¡¯d given up looking for and just bought a new one instead, I find some candy wrappers that I should have just put in the trash to being with.The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

    Bleh. I figured I should go to bed soon, but at the moment I wasn¡¯t anywhere near tired enough to go to sleep. There was nothing more frustrating than laying in bed wanting to go to sleep but being unable to. My eyes were also sore from looking at my computer eagerly anticipating something to happen. I decided to turn it off so I wouldn¡¯t be tempted to start waiting again.

    In the meantime I would attempt to find something non-electronic to occupy my time until I was tired enough to sleep. Next to my bed was laundry basket full of unfolded clothes I¡¯d been procrastinating on for days. What¡¯s a few more days though?

    Across the room from the be was my bookshelf which held the various media I had collected over the years. The top three shelves held my books, which included Leigh LeBlanc¡¯s collected essays, their book on Sumerian mythology, and their one fiction work, a fantasy epic about an immortal cast out into the mortal realm entitled Enkidu. Besides that I also owned the Celestine Prophecy and The Secret (both of which were lame, even when I read them at 13), House of Leaves, Infinite Jest (which I bought because I wanted to prove how smart I was by reading it, but ironically I have still not attempted to read), the entire Twilight series (a gift from my American grandparents), the Hunger Games trilogy a handful of Stephen King books I¡¯d never finished, about a dozen volumes of Bleach, multiple books concerning different accounts of ghosts and the supernatural. I also have a few Korean books I got from my grandparents when we visited them in Suwon. I could pick up any of these books and read if I wanted, but I didn¡¯t feel like it. I didn¡¯t think I was going to stay up that long. The shelf below these had a mix of old DVDs, CDs, and the video games I¡¯d either bought or inherited from my brother. That was one of the nicer things about having an older brother, whenever he got tired of something he had, he gave it to me.

    So I didn¡¯t feel like reading, and I didn¡¯t feel like doing my clothes. That didn¡¯t leave much else. I sat on my bed and¡­ got out my phone. All the things I was trying to avoid were all conveniently on this device. Only a few seconds I told myself. But I knew it was a lie, I was going to find something on Discord to deep dive in-between checking my email over and over again. I might as well go ahead and open it, see that nothing new was there before I went about wasting my time on the Internet.

    Hours pass, I check my email, I go back and forth between apps. I look up at the clock at the top of my screen. 4:27, it¡¯s really been that long. I¡¯m too wired to go to sleep, but too tired to do anything meaningful with my time.

    I hear a knock at my door. At first I right it off as me being delirious and mistaking it for something else. But then I hear it again. I get up and creep to my door. I open it.

    ¡°Hey sis.¡±

    I wrap my arms around my big brother. ¡°Hey dummy.¡± I said.

    ¡°Admit it, you missed me.¡± He said.

    ¡°Only when you admit you¡¯re lost without me.¡± I said. ¡°Now what¡¯s with the hair blueberry?¡±

 Chapter 12: A Week Later (Catherine)

    Another Friday morning. It had been a whole week since my house had been broken into and it still didn¡¯t feel real. Even though in the back of your mind you know rationally there¡¯s a chance that it could happen to you, most people assume it won¡¯t. There¡¯s no way someone could break into my house, right?

    Still, life goes on, even if fixing all the damage is a pain in the ass (and wallet). In addition to replacing the front door and having to fix half the walls and floors I¡¯d decided to get a security system for the house, just to be safe. At least Grayson turned out to be okay. Apparently all that happened was he ran off when the attacker came in the house and got lost on his way back with a dead phone! I¡¯d been so worried about him.

    I was hoping that another day at the homeschool group would mark something of a return to normalcy, but Hayden was still in a coma apparently. It wasn¡¯t directly brought up, but it was clearly on everyone¡¯s¡¯ minds. Maria Douglas sat quietly in a corner, unsurprisingly.

    I hadn¡¯t actually talked to her since the hospital last week, so I figured I should check on her. I sat next to her and put my hand on her shoulder. ¡°How are you holding up?¡±

    She nodded her head. ¡°I¡¯m alright, all things considered. The doctors still aren¡¯t sure if Hayden is going to wake up.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m really sorry.¡± I say, wrapping my arm around her now and trying to comfort her. ¡°If there¡¯s anything I can do, let me know.¡±

    ¡°Thanks, Catherine.¡± She said. ¡°How are your kids holding up?¡±

    ¡°They¡¯re alright. I think they were scared more than anything. I¡¯m still worried about Kish. Like if she¡¯s having hallucinations¡­ I don¡¯t know what to think. At least she has big brother to help look after her.¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°They¡¯re good kids.¡± Maria said. ¡°They don¡¯t deserve what¡¯s happened to them.¡±

    ¡°Oh yeah, first their parents, now this?¡± I said. ¡°I¡¯m going to get a panic attack from worrying about them.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s natural to worry about them. I know I still worry about mine.¡± She said. ¡°Are there any leads on whoever did it yet?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯d think with a crime scene like that there¡¯d be SOMETHING to go on, but no. He¡¯s probably going to get away with it. I tell you what if I could get my hands on him¡­ I probably shouldn¡¯t even say.¡±

    ¡°I won¡¯t judge, I¡¯d like to give him a piece of my mind myself.¡± She said.

    ¡°Well I¡¯m glad I have your support.¡± I said. She still seemed sad so I decided to lighten the mood a bit. ¡°Did you see Grayson¡¯s new hair¡­ it¡¯s unexpected.

    ¡°What made him decide to dye it blue?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know but hey, I did crazier stuff when I was his age. Actually I kind of think it suits him.¡±

    ¡°It does match his eyes.¡± She said.

    ¡°Apparently he has a new friend coming over later too.¡± I said. ¡°Someone he met online, she¡¯s got one eye, super tall, apparently she¡¯s like¡­ really into all that supernatural stuff too.¡±

    ¡°Aren¡¯t you concerned about that at all?¡± She said. ¡°Seems like Kish takes that interest a bit too far if she¡¯s started hallucinating about it.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a harmless interest just like any other. There has to be something underlying for her to have problems like that, and that¡¯s what worries me. I keep wondering what I missed. Were there signs I should have noticed?¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re doing your best Catherine.¡± She said. ¡°That¡¯s all any of us can do.¡±

    ¡°Thanks Maria.¡± I said.

    We talked a bit longer, until classes were over. I think I brightened her spirits a bit, even if only temporarily, and that was enough for me. I agreed to have Laura over again. Between the four of them I knew the teens were going to keep each other busy. Which was fine by me, I was happy to take some time to myself for once.

    For the first time since the break in, I felt like it was all going to be okay.

 Chapter 13: "Old Lady" (Thalia)

    ¡°Now that is an ugly wig.¡± The violet haired woman behind me comments. She was about two heads shorter than me, and puts on a faux French accent despite being Russian.

    ¡°Is that any way to speak to your elders, Rose?¡± I said. I was camping out in an abandoned house changing my appearance when she decided to show up.

    ¡°You know it wasn¡¯t that long ago I had my hundredth birthday. That makes me the elder to most people.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s not my fault that you just can¡¯t die.¡±

    ¡°Sorry to disappoint.¡± I said, holding up the black bob cut wig. ¡°You are right, thought, it is tacky. The things we do to be conspicuous.¡±

    ¡°Apparently the kid is just flaunting his blue hair.¡± She said. ¡°It¡¯s stylish now, so you might as well dump the wig.¡±

    ¡°Fair enough.¡± I say, tossing the wig at her. ¡°I know you¡¯re not here just for a fashion critique though.¡±

    ¡°I heard the traitor was here¡­ and another San? I don¡¯t know if I can handle two of them running around.¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know what I saw yet.¡± I said. ¡°Knowing Sabreal she¡¯s probably trying to trick us.¡±

    ¡°She¡¯s just digging her grave even deeper. If that woman thinks she can win after all this time she¡¯s truly delusional. Doesn¡¯t matter how many demons she throws around, it¡¯s only a matter of time. What really interests me is what happens after she¡¯s gone.¡± She said.

    ¡°And what happens after?¡± I said.

    ¡°I think you know.¡± Rose said, standing up. ¡°It¡¯s in our nature I think, when there¡¯s a void without conflict, we simply create conflict. What¡¯s practically the first thing that happened with out kind. The old man killed our creator. Guess what happened after that? Sabreal started her coup. Hell look at what happened to my parents, those rich aristocrats. When they got the guillotine, after the revolution, they just found more people to kill. I think conflict is in our nature sis.¡±If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°And what¡¯s your point?¡± I said.

    ¡°After Sabreal dies you think a bunch of scheming immortals are just going to twiddle their thumbs and sing kumbaya? They¡¯re all busy making plans for what happens after that, and you can bet at least one of them is going to be the next Sabreal.¡±

    ¡°Not you though.¡± I said. ¡°You¡¯re too smart for that.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m glad we understand each other.¡± She said. ¡°Don¡¯t misunderstand, I¡¯m not sentimental, I just like being on the winning side. What about you? Plan on being there with me?¡±

    ¡°I plan on figuring that part out when I get there.¡± I said, walking towards the door. ¡°Be seeing you, Rose.¡±

    ¡°Au revoir old lady.¡± She said.

    I walked the same path towards Grayson¡¯s house. This time there was no need to rush so I took my time and walked at a steady pace. Rose¡¯s words didn¡¯t really bother me. She hadn¡¯t told me anything I didn¡¯t already know, it was an open secret that each Seraph conspired behind the others¡¯ backs. I had even indulged in a big of it myself. I wasn¡¯t worried too much about the future though, I had a feeling all those schemes would just blow up in their faces. Me? I didn¡¯t really want anything except a good life for me and Blue. Beyond that? Nothing in this world really mattered.

    I knocked on the new door that had been installed. A woman in her mid to late thirties with messy black hair and glasses opened the door. ¡°You must be Theodora.¡± She said.

    We¡¯d worked out my cover story already. I was a friend he¡¯d met from the Leigh LeBlanc community. I was 18, interested in demonology, going into Emory to study Theology, my hobbies is martial arts. ¡°Hello miss, nice to meet you.¡± I said.

    ¡°Likewise.¡± She said. ¡°Come in come in. I¡¯m really sorry about the mess, we had our house broken into last week and we¡¯re still getting the place fixed.¡±

    ¡°No kidding.¡± I said.

    She led me through the house straight to the younger sister¡¯s room. I thanked her for her hospitality and she left. When I entered the room I saw Grayson, the sister, Kish, who was too busy on the computer to notice me come in, and the girl that I saw just after I killed the demon that day.

    She put her hands over her mouth.

    ¡°It¡¯s okay Laura, she¡¯s with us.¡± Grayson said. ¡°I told you that was all a big misunderstanding.¡±

    ¡°Hello.¡± I said. ¡°I guess we haven¡¯t formally met, I¡¯m Theodora.¡±

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m Laura. Sorry I¡¯m just a bit high strung after what happened. It¡¯s just¡­ a lot to take in.¡±

    ¡°Grayson there¡¯s something important we need to take care of.¡± I said. ¡°It concerns¡­¡±

    ¡°It¡¯ll have to wait.¡± Kish said. ¡°We¡¯re busy responding to an email from Leigh Leblanc themselves!

    ¡°What email?¡± I said.

 Chapter 14: email chain

    Kish Blackwell < [email protected]</a> > (11/01/2019)

    Dear Leigh Leblanc,

    My brother and I have been watching your videos since 2013, I¡¯ve read almost all of your books, I would consider you the most brilliant mind in a field of charlatans (except your ancient aliens video, which was, with apologies, stupid tbqh). Thus you are the only person I can think of to ask advice from in this matter.

    I have attached a video to this email which shows the creatures that attacked me and my brother. After the video we were harassed by a woman who identified herself as a Seraph (presumably a reference to the Seraphic philosophy), who kidnapped my brother.

    I know what I saw, I know I¡¯m not crazy, right now you¡¯re the only one I know would understand. If you have time let me know your thoughts on the video and what you think might have happened to my brother.

    -Kish

    Leigh Leblanc < [email protected]</a> > (11/09/2019)Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

    Dear Kish.

    I am happy to hear you are (mostly) a fan. I¡¯m always skeptical when sent video ¡°evidence¡± but yours is at the very least more convincing than usual. It doesn¡¯t seem doctored but I do find myself unsure if the creatures are actually some kind of demonic presence or regular humans moving erratically. There¡¯s never a clear shot of them.

    I don¡¯t have enough information to comment further on the situation so could you perhaps provide a more detailed description? If you can describe the woman who called herself a seraph as well. I¡¯ve mostly considered the Seraphic Bible to be mere fiction but I have had my theories on what they might be like if they did exist.

    P.S. I am sorry to hear about your brother, I hope that he will turn up soon.

    -Leigh

    Kish Blackwell < [email protected]</a> > (11/09/2019)

    My brother turned out to be fine actually! And it seems they weren¡¯t actually demons after all. I¡¯m sorry to have wasted your time. I¡¯ve waited my whole life for something like this and I guess I got too excited.

    <hr>

    ¡°Satisfied?¡± I said, disappointed that I had to lie to my idol.

    ¡°Quite.¡± Thalia said. ¡°Just the fact that you know as much as you do is bad enough. You are to speak of this to no one.¡±

    ¡°Okay, okay fine fine. I get it.¡± I said.

    <hr>

    PS: It was a one eyed woman with green hair calling herself ¡°Thalia.¡± Let me know if that means anything to you.

    -Kish

 Chapter 15: Nothing (???)

    Hell isn¡¯t fire and brimstone. It¡¯s actually cold, almost icy. Standing atop the Grand Ziggurat of Uggae, there was no wind to speak of, or any kind of weather, so the cold was just inherent in this place.

    Sabreal had told me how Infernium came to be. The Ziggurat I stood upon was originally the center of a Mesopotamian city in ancient times. Sabreal used the cities population to test what would eventually become the first demons. In one of her most successful experiments she turned the entire city into demons. It was then that the 5000 year war between Sabreal and the other Seraph began. Sabreal also phased the city from the mortal realm into the other side, creating her own realm as a counterpart to Inanu¡¯s Caelum.

    And it was a realm that fit her. An endless dark maze created from the remains of a dead civilization. Most would probably find it horrific, but me, I felt nothing. As far as I know I¡¯ve been alive for eighteen years, and yet for all that time I can¡¯t remember feeling anything once. I don¡¯t remember anything before waking up in that field. Afterward I lumbered through life, without purpose, wandering from place to place.

    Throughout those eighteen years I had dreams¡­ memories? I saw a best friend I didn¡¯t know, a war I didn¡¯t remember, I saw another life, one that didn¡¯t feel like mine. Sometimes in the dreams I was someone who looked like I did, living in the distant past, other times I was a boy, living in the present day.The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

    Most of the dreams blurred together, I couldn¡¯t make sense of them, but one was at least somewhat coherent. It was also the only one that didn¡¯t involve either of the other two lives, but felt like it was experienced by me. I¡¯m laying down, I think in that same field I woke up in. Someone stands above me, with an androgynous face and long hair. I could hear a few words spoken.

    ¡°You are something completely new my child. Neither Seraph nor demon, but something in-between. In time you will help me finally restore order to this world. But first¡­ revenge.¡±

    Eventually I was found and taken in by Sabreal, and shortly thereafter I met my doppelganger, the one I had been seeing through the eyes of in my dreams. My questions still remained, who was I, what was my purpose?

    Sabreal interrupted my thoughts. ¡°I have given you purpose my child. In return I expect that you will accomplish the task I have bestowed upon you.¡±

    Until I can finally meet my creator and discover the reason for my connection with the other Seraph, I will do what Sabreal asks of me. I turn around and face her. ¡°One thing first. After all this time I¡¯ve finally decided on a name for myself. Call me Aurora.¡±

 Intermission: Analysis Excerpt III

    Defining ¡°Purpose¡± in Seraphic theology

    Like most religious texts, the Seraphic Bible seeks to, at least on some level, explain the meaning of existence, in essence what the ¡°purpose¡± of life is.

    As with most beliefs concerning eternal reoccurrence, there is an element of karmic justice in what happens to a soul after death. This doesn¡¯t mean that leading a good life will guarantee a cushy happy life in the next, often the opposite is the case! The purest souls are often reborn as the downtrodden of society, perhaps cosmic confirmation that money can¡¯t buy happiness?

    More interestingly is the punishment for evil behavior, especially the most egregious kind. It would seem that the more cruel and malicious the acts of a person, the more likely that they will become a demon after death. A demonic soul is one so tainted by impurity that it doesn¡¯t enter the cycle of reincarnation, but rather lingers, its hate binding it to the world. Without the physical form of a body, demonic souls must poses the bodies of others to interact with the world. As the demon lingers in its state of undeath, its psyche continually degrades, becoming ever mindless, losing all grip on who they originally were to begin with. A truly dark fate indeed.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    Ostensibly the purpose of Seraphs is to fight these demons, but given that they came into existence before demons, and that it was a Seraph that created them, what then was their original purpose? Perhaps like man they were pure before their ¡°original sin¡± (killing their creator, One).

    Thus for thousands of years, souls reincarnate into new bodies, Seraphs and demons fight. Is this a truly eternal cycle? One in which all involved are stuck? Or is there and ending at which the true purpose of these beings is revealed?

 Chapter 16: The Plan (Kish)

    ¡°So, let me get this straight.¡± I said, spinning back and forth in my swivel chair. ¡°You want to go over to the emergency room, go into Hayden¡¯s ¡®soulscape¡¯, so that you can expel the demons inside of him.¡±

    ¡°And then he¡¯ll be back to normal, right?¡± Laura interjected.

    ¡°And they think I¡¯m the one that needs medication.¡± I said. ¡°Grayson told me about his vision quest or whatever, so I can buy that part. What I¡¯m having more trouble with is you Thalia. It¡¯s nothing personal I just don¡¯t trust anyone I know nothing about.¡±

    ¡°That is understandable.¡± Thalia said. ¡°It is only fair you should know who I am. I was born in Thessalonica on March 23rd 987 AD. My parents died when I was about six, I lived on the street after that. I lost my eye in a fight when I was twelve. When I was eighteen I had a ¡®vision¡¯ quest of my own, my hair turned green, and I became a Seraph. After this I met San, Grayson¡¯s previous life, and we became best friends. For the next thousand years I¡¯ve been killing demons and navigating Seraph politics. Does this satisfy you?

    ¡°So you¡¯re a thousand years old?¡± I said. ¡°You don¡¯t look a day over twenty.¡±

    ¡°Listen kid.¡± Thalia said, leaning over grabbing each armrest on my chair to stop my spinning. ¡°I don¡¯t need your permission to do this. I am going tomorrow. I just thought I would be nice and offer you the chance to join.¡±Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

    ¡°How generous¡± I said.

    ¡°Why don¡¯t we all relax for a second.¡± Grayson said, causing Thalia to back off. ¡°Look worst case scenario we all look like idiots. There¡¯s no harm in trying. Plus, I think it¡¯s more than fair after you insisted I go with you to that abandoned church.¡±

    Damn, Grayson is really going to pull that one. I look at Laura. ¡°What about you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t understand any of this but, if there¡¯s a chance it¡¯ll help my brother.¡±

    ¡°Alright, I¡¯m outvoted and I¡¯m not going to be a hypocrite.¡± I said. ¡°Guess we¡¯re going to the ER tomorrow.

    <hr>

    Towards the end of the night, after Thalia and Laura left, it was just me and my brother, still in my room, past midnight, the both of us sitting on the bed.

    ¡°Do you really think this is going to work?¡± I said.

    ¡°This is still all new to me too.¡± He said. ¡°I¡¯m still getting a grip on what all of this means. I¡¯ve felt¡­ different since that night, like I¡¯m somehow more connected to others, and to myself. I don¡¯t know what that means yet, but I¡¯m hoping Thalia can help me figure this out.¡±

    ¡°You must trust her then.¡± I said.

    ¡°Call it an instinct¡± He said. ¡°It might be that past life stuff she was talking about, some subconscious memory telling me she is a friend. Could be wrong, but I hope not.¡±

    ¡°I trust your judgment, big dummy.¡± I said.

    ¡°I guess we should get some sleep then.¡± He said, standing up. ¡°I get the feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day.¡±

    ¡°Good night blueberry¡±

    ¡°Good night crazy.¡±

 Chapter 17: Hayden Soulscape, Part I (Thalia)

    In the material world, the bodies of myself and Grayson laid seemingly asleep in the hospital waiting room. Our consciousness however was in the soulscape of the comatose kid who was possessed by the demon, named Hayden.

    Even though the demon left his body and was destroyed by me a fragment still remained, not unlike a parasite in the soulscape. The process of possession is traumatic enough to cause the body to shut down. The demon leaves fragments, memories of itself which spread and infect the person, eventually overwriting their soul and causing them to awake from their coma changed, a demon themselves.

    That was why we were there. The demonic fragment had to be found, and destroyed.

    ¡°Where are we.¡± I asked.

    ¡°Hayden¡¯s room I think.¡± Grayson said. ¡°I¡¯ve never been in here but¡­¡± He pushed open the door. ¡°Yeah I recognize the house.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m surprised you can tell these houses apart.¡± I said as we continued through it. ¡°They all look the same to me. So how well do you know this kid?¡±

    ¡°Honestly I don¡¯t.¡± He said. ¡°We used to hang out as kids but then Aunt Catherine decided to keep us away from him. Now I still see him at homeschool class but like, we never discuss anything deeper than video games.¡±

    ¡°What happened that caused your Aunt to keep you apart?¡± I said.

    ¡°Well he tricked my sister into thinking our parents¡¯ ghosts were in the basement.¡± He said.If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

    ¡°And what happened?¡± I said.

    ¡°Nothing.¡± He said. ¡°Well I mean she thought she saw something but she was really young when it happened.¡±

    ¡°Interesting.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s interesting?¡±

    ¡°Nothing.¡± I said. It probably was too, but it couldn¡¯t hurt to look into it.

    Every room in the house was devoid of any sign of life. Everything was untouched, in pristine condition. Perfect. Perfection sounds ideal on paper but once you find something completely perfect it becomes unnerving. The lack of flaws becomes a flaw in itself, as the human brain tries to process how something so ideal it doesn¡¯t seem real, is real.

    A photo album was sitting on the table. Thus far the only thing I¡¯d found seemingly out of place. I picked it up. Inside were pictures of Hayden, his sister, presumably his parents. Hayden was smiling in most of the photos from when he was a young child. As he gets older he smiles less in them and there start to be seemingly less pictures of him.

    ¡°Is that normal?¡± Grayson pointed at the window. The ¡°sky¡± was a perfect pitch black, similar to in the Other Side.

    ¡°It is normal for demons.¡± I said. ¡°We should try the basement.¡±

    ¡°What makes you say that?¡±

    ¡°Just a feeling.¡±

    The stairway to the basement was a tight corridor lit with only a single bulb, its harsh yellow light tinting the wooden stairs. Immediately the vibe was different. The stainless house giving way to a rustic underworld.

    The claustrophobic descent finally gave way into a labyrinth of shelves filled with tools, toys, and heirlooms buried and long forgotten amidst the mass of acquired ¡°stuff¡±. The lighting was even worse down here, just enough that you could see the outline of everything in the room, but not enough that you could make out specifics.

    My suspicion was correct. This was a place marked by death.

    Navigating the labyrinth, one could feel eyes watching them, omnipresent, but always just outside of peripheral vision. No matter how much one searched, they could never be found. Always seeing, but never seen. That was the true horror.

    Clang! Something fell on the floor behind me. Instinctively I turned around as fast as my body would allow. Behind us, standing in front of the stairway back up. Hayden.

    Or so it appeared.

 Chapter 18: Hayden Soulscape, Part II (Grayson)

    The barely lit figure of Hayden stood in front of the only way out of this dark, damp dungeon, staring directly at us. I was just behind Thalia and trapped between shelves upon shelves of stuff. The metaphorical noose tightened.

    ¡°Interesting, that you thought that broken down old church was so interesting, when this, the real haunted place, was right here all along.¡± He said.

    ¡°Hayden?¡± I said.

    ¡°That¡¯s not Hayden.¡± Thalia said.

    ¡°No point in trying to fool you huh? Well in that case allow me to introduce myself. I am called Xegluron. I used to have a different, more normal name but honestly I don¡¯t even remember what that was anymore.¡±

    ¡°So is that what we¡¯re looking for?¡± I asked Thalia.

    ¡°Not exactly.¡± She said. ¡°The fragment has corrupted his ego.¡±

    She keeps throwing all this jargon at me like its supposed to make sense. ¡°What?¡±The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

    ¡± Destroying the projection of his ego, which is what we¡¯re looking at, would be counterproductive. We need to find the actual fragment which has taken control of the subconscious.¡± Thalia explained, as if it was obvious.

    ¡°If you want to find the fragment, follow me.¡± A new, familiar voice came from behind us once again.

    ¡°Laura?¡± I said, immediately recognizing her. ¡°How did you get here?¡±

    ¡°She isn¡¯t here.¡± Thalia said. ¡°That must be his conscience. The uncorrupted parts of the soul always fight back when a foreign one enters.¡±

    ¡°Like the body fighting infection.¡± I said.

    ¡°Yes, exactly like that.¡± She said.

    There wasn¡¯t much of a choice in what to do at this point. Behind us was the demon, forward was at least a chance. We followed Laura¡­ the mental projection through the basement maze once again. The room darkened more as we ran, getting closer to the pitch black outside. Eventually Laura stopped and picked up a shoebox off the top of the shelf and handed it to me.

    ¡°Destroy this.¡± She said. ¡°And then find its equivalent in the real world. Your sister will understand.¡±

    I took the shoebox and smashed it on the floor. The darkness of the basement was instantly replaced with a blinding light, and then¡­

    <hr>

    My eyes opened and I found myself back in the hospital waiting room, the real world, sitting next to Thalia, who was also just waking up, and Kish. Laura was sitting next to her.

    ¡°That wasn¡¯t very long.¡± She said. ¡°Did it work?¡±

    A nurse approached us and we soon had our answer. ¡°Good news, he¡¯s finally waking up.¡±

 Chapter 19: This Book? (Kish)

    Sometime after all that Hayden finally got out of the hospital. Our house was fixed up, everything went back to normal. Which honestly was the weirdest part.

    Laura and Hayden were all there for all that weird shit. They saw as much as I did, but they never once mentioned it again, even looked at me like I was crazy when I asked them about it. Somehow they¡¯d completely forgotten. Even Grayson never acknowledged it. He moved out a few months after this, moved in with Thalia. I can tell he hasn¡¯t forgot, he just always dodges it. Damn overprotective brother.

    Even I¡¯m starting to have doubts about all this. I¡¯d never written any of this down until recently, and reading it back I can tell my memories have started fading. Details are more absurd than I remember, the line between memory, perception, heightened imagination from shock, I can¡¯t tell the difference. Describing all this feels like writing a YA book. Did I just imagine all this? Maybe I really am crazy.Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    It¡¯s not knowing if I¡¯m crazy or not that hurts the most. So many parts of my life I¡¯m unsure if they are fiction or not. I stare at my notebook which I¡¯ve written every detail onto. Somehow I¡¯m creative enough to imagine my life turning into an anime and inexplicably me being the only one who notices, but not so creative that I can come up with a name for it other than This Book.

    Even if it is all bullshit I want to know the truth, I have to, I can¡¯t move on otherwise.

    My name is Kish Blackwell, I¡¯m 18 now in the year 2021, I live in a college dorm with Laura as my roommate, and I will find the truth.

    The truth that lies in THIS BOOK.

 Chapter 20: Dorm (Kish)

    ¡°What are you writing there?¡± Laura said as she entered our dorm behind me.

    ¡°Nothing.¡± I said as I slammed my notebook closed. ¡°Just some uh, worldbuilding for my fantasy novel.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± She sat down on her bed, which was on the other side of the room from the desk and my bed. Despite there being two students per dorm, there was only one desk in each. This was quite unfortunate for the students, but presumably cut corners for whoever pays for this. ¡°Only a few more days until winter break.¡±

    ¡°Yep, just got to get through these finals.¡± I said. ¡°Oh man I need to finish that term paper.¡±

    ¡°You haven¡¯t finished it yet? It¡¯s due tomorrow.¡±

    ¡°Well, not exactly.¡± I said. I realized right after that I was adjusting my glasses which was probably my most obvious nervous tic. In truth all I¡¯d done so far was get my sources together. So I knew I¡¯d be grinding all night to get this paper down. ¡°I¡¯ve got it started though. Might wanna, get some caffeine to power through though. You wanna, go down to the cafeteria, get some of that awful food?¡±

    ¡°Well actually, I was planning on going out with Amy. But maybe we can hang out tomorrow, after you finish your paper.¡±Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

    Having a dorm with my best friend sounded like a dream come true, but if anything we were hanging out less than we did a year ago. Laura was spending more time with her new college friends, I didn¡¯t want to say we were drifting apart but, it did kind of feel that way.

    I hadn¡¯t really made any new friends here yet so I devoted most of my free time to either my crackpot conspiracies or¡­ well procrastinating. I could use any excuse I want but the truth was I wasted my time not working on this paper, and now the day of reckoning was here. Guess I might as well get this over with now.

    First I open my schedule to remind myself of everything I¡¯ve got going on this month, which was an unfortunately significant amount. First I had to get my term paper done tomorrow (which mercifully I was allowed to pick my topic on, and since it was for Theological studies I chose a topic I already know fairly well, the Seraphic Bible), then finals for this semester Friday, a brief weekend where I would have two days to myself, and then¡­ the big Blackwell family Christmas get together, which came as quite a shock to everyone in the family. My grandfather hadn¡¯t even SEEN any of his children or grandchildren since grandma died ten years ago. Hell I don¡¯t think he¡¯d even talked to them on the phone.

    Why the change of heart from him? I¡¯ve no idea. Nor do I know why I agreed to come. I suppose it would be amusing watching the drama between him and his children, I hadn¡¯t seen any of these people in years. My uncles and grandfather¡­. didn¡¯t exactly approve of my mom, Aunt Catherine was the only one who¡¯d even talk to him for a while.

    At any rate I was too young to even remember these people. This will practically be like meeting them for the first time. Either they¡¯ve had a change of heart, or I¡¯ll get to enjoy some amusing yet mildly uncomfortable holiday drama.

 Intermission: News

    The Peachtree Times:

    Top stories

    <ol>

    <li>Report: Shield of Cyprus leader Farshid Hassan confirmed dead in drone strike in Turkey, SOC threatens retaliation</li>

    <li>Report: Archer Enterprises unveils unprecedented A.I. for military use.</li>

    <li>Exclusive Interview: President William Marshall on his unprecedented third party upset in 2020, heightened terror threats, economy, and more</li>

    <li>Box Office: Shadow Prince has best video game movie opening weekend of all time, Hudson Hawk remake flops</li>

    <li>Report: Details from missing Youtuber Leigh LeBlanc¡¯s family on their mental instability, paranoia, cryptic warnings about a ¡°secret society¡±</li>

    <li>Opinion: Molly Ellis: The real reason depersonalization and derealization disorders are on the rise in 2021.</li>

    </ol>

 Chapter 21: The Essay and the Letter (Kish)

    It was almost 8:45 AM when I was walking as fast as I could reasonably get away with through the college halls. I had fifteen minutes to turn in my paper before the deadline of 9:00 AM. Last night I got distracted and didn¡¯t start my paper until 7:55 PM. I finished the entire thing at 6:27 AM thanks to the power of energy drinks (the final paper isn¡¯t my best work by a longshot, but right now it would have to do). Because of the caffeine I wasn¡¯t able to even take a nap. Thus it was now over twenty-four hours since I last slept.

    I stumbled through the college corridors, left, left, right, right, left, until finally arriving at my classroom. My professor was just about to enter actually.

    ¡°Just in time.¡± I said out loud, not realizing I was doing so until it slipped out. I held out my essay.

    Professor Kelly took the document. ¡°You look rough Ms. Blackwell.¡±

    I feigned a laugh. ¡°Well you know me, always staying up late going to parties.¡±

    ¡°You know, your grades have been good.¡± The professor says. ¡°But, they¡¯d be a lot better if you took more time on them. I know its hard, but you¡¯re a natural in this class, and I just hate to see wasted potential.

    Just what I need, another lecture I think. ¡°Yeah, I¡­ I just didn¡¯t know what to expect when I started. When I get back for next semester, I¡¯m going to do much better.¡±

    ¡°We¡¯ll see. Just remember, this is your life, you have to think about what you want to do with it.¡±If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Well if that wasn¡¯t the big question. In eighteen years I had still not figured out what I wanted to do with my life exactly. I didn¡¯t even know why I was taking theological studies as a major, besides that its something that I just happened to already know a lot about. What exactly am I going to do with this degree though? Get a job teaching kids the same useless stuff I learned? Write a book? Get a different degree? Become the manager of a Target and have to talk down Karens every single day until I go insane?

    I am so unbelievably jealous of my brother. He didn¡¯t have to choose what he was going to be, some random anime lady just smashed the door down and dragged his ass into secret demon wars. My interest in the paranormal may have come from that incident in the basement, but really, maybe I just hoped I¡¯d find get whisked away to some hidden magical world, like Harry Potter or something. But no, I¡¯m the ordinary one in the family.

    Besides the fact that I¡¯m inexplicably the only one that remembers any of this of course.

    <hr>

    My classes flew by, an hour here, an hour there, until finally I was back in my dorm. I felt like I was on the edge of death. As I walked in Laura¡¯s eyes widened, apparently I looked as bad as I felt.

    ¡°Hey.¡± She said waving.

    I collapsed face first onto the bed ¡°Hey¡± The pillow muffling my voice.

    ¡°I was going to ask what you planned on doing with the weekend, but I have a feeling it''s going to be sleep.¡± She pushed something under my pillow. ¡°This came for you, dunno who it''s from.¡±

    I grabbed the paper from under my pillow and sat up. It was an envelope, sent from an address in Virginia, sender name ¡°Alan Smithee,¡± forwarded here from my Aunt¡¯s house. I opened it and took the letter out, it was a handwritten message.

    Dear Kish,

    By now both you and the world have noticed my disappearance. I am a creator who has abandoned my own creation. There is good reason for all of this which I cannot disclose at the moment. I wish for us to meet, in person. Further details to come later.

    ¨C LL

    For just a brief moment I forget about how damn tired I am. I just got mail from a famous missing person. Now life was throwing me something interesting for a change.

 Chapter 22: Missing Person (Detective Nelson)

    The sun had nearly set behind the waters of The Atlantic ocean, the sky orange in the waning hours of the day. It made me realize how long I¡¯d been sitting here pondering this case. I¡¯d been doing this long enough to know that not everyone was found, not every story had a happy ending. Some eventually turned up dead after the fact, a few seemingly never turned up entirely, as if they¡¯d vanished off the Earth entirely.

    It was those cases that intrigued me the most. One had to wonder what exactly happened to these people. Were they simply dead? Or had they started new lives somewhere, some place where the world would never truly know what happened to them. It was the lack of closure that killed me I suppose, it was horrible to find someone dead, but at least you knew, with this¡­ it was like reading a book only to find the last few pages missing.

    This case especially bugged me for some reason. It wasn¡¯t because this kid had made national news, I¡¯d never heard of them before, it was something I couldn¡¯t put my finger on¡­ something fishy.

    Leigh Leblanc, 29 years old, born 11/1/92. Identified as non-binary. No wife, no kids. Lived right here in Virginia Beach. Practically a recluse, mostly kept to themselves. Worked at home writing books and producing internet videos. The landlady of the apartment complex said they weren¡¯t late with rent even once and described them as almost a perfect tenant.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more.

    That was pretty much all I had to go on. I watched one of the videos this person made, to be honest I found it to be conspiracy theory gibberish, but what do I know. The note they left certainly screamed ¡°conspiracy nut¡±, talking about secret societies and cults and other such nonsense. This was a side they seemingly never showed to their landlady or family, at least not until the days before they left. The mom recalled their last phone conversation just before they disappeared, where they ranted about how ¡°they found out¡± and ¡°were coming for them.¡±

    There was still almost no explanation for the disappearance itself. Leigh just left their apartment as normal one day and¡­ never came back. Nobody knew where they went, I asked seemingly everyone they knew, all across town, nobody had a clue. There was no video, no sightings, nothing. Even the most desperate cases usually had something, even if unsubstantial. All I had here was the camera footage of them leaving the apartment. It was genuinely like they¡¯d literally disappeared.

    I¡¯d done all I could, the trail was cold as ice, I¡¯d done all I could but¡­ that wasn¡¯t much. Even as I knew I had to move on to another case¡­ I couldn¡¯t stop thinking about this one, there had to be something I was missing, some shred of evidence that would lead me down the right path.

    The sun had almost set entirely in the distance, so I picked myself up and walked back to the car. I thought back to those weirdo conspiracy videos¡­ what exactly was a seraph anyway? The more I thought about it, the more questions I had.

    Better not to think about such things I suppose. At any rate it seemed like this Leigh Leblanc didn¡¯t want to be found. And so I put it out of mind, filed it with every other person still missing, every story without closure, every abrupt en-

 Chapter 23: Seraph Discretion (Rose)

    In all my 200 years on this godforsaken Earth, this had to have been the worst foie gras I¡¯d ever had. Of course my opinion didn¡¯t count for much here, the Americans loved it, and most of these people would probably never even leave this country, let alone try real French food. Still, the wine at least made it tolerable.

    Not that I was in this tourist trap for the food of course, I was here to meet a fellow Seraph, who predictably was already past late. I raised my phone, twenty minutes late, impressive. It always amazed me how little regard others had for their time in this life.

    As long as I was being kept waiting, I figured I might as well make some calls.

    ¡°Office of Ms. Lawson how can I help you.¡± I hear the familiar voice of my secretary, Holly. ¡°Julia Lawson¡± was my fourth ¡°cover¡± identity. I was the ¡°senior communications investor¡± for Hammurabi International, which was itself a bull**** identity. Basically an excuse for me to poke my nose into anything I needed to.

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s me, have you heard anything from that detective in Virginia Beach?¡±

    ¡°Oh I did hear from him actually.¡± Holly said ¡°I¡¯m sorry but apparently he wasn¡¯t able to find anything. Would you like me to get another one?¡± Holly was a pleasant young lady, always showed up on time, handled my paperwork without a fuss, and most importantly, never asked any questions.

    As she said that I saw the man, Bartholomew, finally walk in. I didn¡¯t even bother hiding my rolling eyes. I should have dragged out the conversation and made him wait, but I actually valued my time and wanted to get out of here. ¡°No, that¡¯s fine. Thank you Holly, I¡¯ll be back at the office in the morning.¡± I hung up the phone. ¡°I was just about to leave.¡±This novel is published on a different platform. Support the original author by finding the official source.

    ¡°Don¡¯t be mad, I had a uh¡­ business opportunity on the way here.¡± He said. As much as he annoyed me at times, including this one, I couldn¡¯t deny he was an attractive man, dashing in the way a lot of British pretty boys were, tall, strong chin, yellow eyes, and long blonde hair which in contrast to my violet hair, was easier to blend in with. ¡°So how¡¯d you do it? The Archer merger, couldn¡¯t have been easy, those guys did not want to give it up, even for the most generous offer."

    ¡°I did what I usually do when people don¡¯t cooporate.¡±

    ¡°Oh, of course. So what¡¯d you put in that poor bastard¡¯s head? Actually maybe I don¡¯t want to know. I still get chills from what you did to that last guy.¡±

    ¡°Maybe next time you¡¯re late I¡¯ll take a visit inside your head.¡±

    ¡°Okay I get it, I¡¯ll try to be more punctual next time.¡± He leaned back on his seat.

    ¡°I¡¯m just saying, if you¡¯re going to set one of these up, you should be on time for it. Speaking of which why did you want to meet with me?¡±

    ¡°Why are you so interested in that Leigh Leblanc kid? And why are you trying to hide that interest from Inanu?¡±

    Oh, so he found out about that, I guess Adama must have talked, shouldn¡¯t have trusted him to keep a secret. ¡°Call it an intuition. I think they know more than they let on, and the whole crazy conspiracy angle is a facade to make us think they don¡¯t. I think the disappearance was deliberate too.¡±

    ¡°I see. A new piece on the board. The question is, does this help or hurt us?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s a shame that my people couldn¡¯t find anything. Guess we¡¯re at the mercy of whenever they decide to come out.¡± I take a sip of wine. ¡°Although, perhaps if you were to conduct your own search, perhaps that would yield better results?¡±

    Bartholomew leaned forward. ¡°Where did you say they lived again?¡±

 Chapter 24: Stuck in the Woods: Part I (Kish)

    As I watched tree after tree in silence I thought about the note I received not that long ago. Over the weekend I''d done some research and... nothing, just about everything was a dead end. All I had to go on was that note, which only confirmed that Leigh was probably not dead, and for some reason had chosen me as the person to contact. Why? I guess I''d have to wait to find out.

    For now I tossed an extra spicy, "nuclear" buffalo nacho chip into my mouth as I propped my feet onto the dashboard. Grayson hated it when I propped my feet on his dashboard. He didn''t say anything of course, but I could tell by the short, barely noticeable glares of death, that it bothered him. I don''t even know why I got a thrill out of it, perhaps its just inherent to being a younger sibling.

    "So... are the chips as spicy as promised?" He asked. We''d been on the road about two hours, which meant we were about halfway to our grandfather''s in Charleston. At the last town we were in, I''d incessantly begged to stop at a continence store, firstly so I could pee, and secondly so I could get snacks. Ever since leaving that town all we''ve seen are trees and ancient, rundown houses, so it was fortunate that we stopped when we did.

    "Eh, its not that spicy." I said. The "nuclear" part of the flavoring was undoubtedly overhyped, these weren''t even as spicy as mild queso dip let alone Chernobyl. Otherwise they weren''t terrible as chips go, and since my phone couldn''t even get a 4G signal out here pretty much all I had to do was eat and annoy my brother. "Are we there yet?"The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

    Grayson gave me a look, which sadly only rated about a 3/10 on the annoyance scale. He merely turned his head and lowered his eyebrows in a manner that more suggested really, you thought that would work? rather than a you are being so annoying look. "I know you can see the GPS, we''re about three hours away. So we are not THERE yet."

    Resigned to the fact that I wouldn''t get any entertainment out of this I merely stared at the trees passing by out the window. This continued for a solid ten minutes of silence, not even the radio worked out here. We really were in the middle of nowhere.

    It was at that exact moment that fate decided to rear its ugly head. At the very worst possible time it could happen, as if predetermined by whatever god or devil to be the most hilariously ironic turn of bad luck in the history of ever... the car died.

    Of all the times it could have happened, it had to be when we were literally in the middle of nowhere, no cell service, no wi-fi, miles from the nearest town, and not a single car that we''d seen for ages. This was just about the definition of "screwed."

    We got out of the car to assess the damage. My brother had me get the map out of the glove compartment my feet had just been resting on minutes earlier. Nearest town was about... 50 miles away... great.

    Grayson popped open the hood and attempted to figure out what went wrong. I didn''t even have my license yet, let alone knew anything about the inner workings of cars, so I merely stood on the edge of the road and watched. At least it was early enough in winter that the cold wasn''t too bad, and having my hoodie on helped.

    Eventually my brother walked to my side, obviously defeated by whatever had gone wrong. He took the map out of my hand and looked at it for himself. "Damn. We are a long way away from anything close by." My dumbass brother said.

    "I hate you." I said, even though I couldn''t help but smile.

    "I know." He replied, smiling back at me.

 Chapter 25: Stuck in the Woods: Part II (Grayson)

    ¡°Do you really think holding the phone up like that is helping?¡± My sister said as we walked on the side of the road. We¡¯d been walking for a good thirty minutes or so now and still there wasn¡¯t even 4G service. ¡°It¡¯s going to take us forever to get back to civilization.¡±

    I lowered the phone and looked at her. It was true. As far as the eye could see on either side of the road was nothing but oak trees and leaves covering the ground. ¡°Look on the bright side Kish.¡± I said, attempting to be optimistic. ¡°At least we¡¯re getting exercise. At least this will make an entertaining story a year from now.¡±

    ¡°What about the bright side of me kicking your ass?¡± She said.

    ¡°I¡¯m not going to dignify the ¡°bright side¡± of an impossibility.¡± I said.

    ¡°Sounds more like you¡¯re scared it¡¯s true.¡± She said, and laughed we traded jabs back and forth as we usually did before she became quiet again.

    ¡°Something on your mind?¡±

    She hesitated. ¡°I just¡­ You ever just look at the forest and think, ¡®what if I just started running¡¯, and then you kept running into it, further and further to the point where even you don¡¯t know where you are? Hypothetically I mean. Like you¡¯d just disappear from the world, live off the land, nobody would know what happened to you, if you were even alive.¡±Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

    Kish had changed a lot since that thing two years ago. Before then we were practically inseparable, even when we didn¡¯t want to be. Now we were so busy we hardly had time to talk to each other. In some ways she was still the same crazy girl, but in others it was like I hardly knew her. ¡°What are you running away from? Hypothetically of course.¡±

    She shrugged. ¡°Myself I guess. But I suppose no matter how deep into the forest I was, I still couldn¡¯t escape that.¡±

    Kish was more right about that than she knew. Not even death could allow a person to escape themselves. The body would change, but underneath, the soul was the same, forever.

    ¡°You okay?¡± I said, finally cutting to the heart of the matter.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m good. It¡¯s just¡­¡± She closed her eyes as she thought. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you after the big family Christmas thing. Promise.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll hold you to that.¡± I said, patting her shoulder. ¡°Don¡¯t forget, I¡¯ve got your back.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ve got your back too big dummy.¡± She said. ¡°Don¡¯t forget, you¡¯d be truly lost without me.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re right. Speaking of which¡­¡± I pulled my phone back out to check again. ¡°Ha! We finally have service.¡±

    ¡°Thank god. I¡¯m ready to get the hell out of here.¡± She said as the phone rang.

    Aunt Catherine answered. ¡°Hey, where are you?¡±

    I laughed.¡± Hey, so you¡¯re not going to believe what happened¡­¡±

 Intermission: Diary â€“ Sun Park Blackwell

    December 24th, 2003

    Finally met my husband¡¯s family today. Ever since we moved here from Pusan after Grayson was born I¡¯d wondered about his reluctance to introduce me, even today he seemed reluctant about it. I didn¡¯t understand it! What could be so wrong with them? Ha! One insane day later and I now understand what he was afraid of.

    It started normal enough, I was introduced to Bryce¡¯s siblings. Catherine I already knew, she lived not far from us and helped watch the kids occasionally. Turns out she¡¯s the one of the only sane ones of the bunch!

    First I met Ricky, the oldest brother, and his wife Grace and two sons, Bailey and Tyler. They were all nice, perfectly polite, but damn if they didn¡¯t all seem like they came straight out of the Florida swamp or something. I don¡¯t think Ricky ever joined in any conversation that wasn¡¯t hunting related, and Tyler was practically nursing Mountain Dew the entire time. Bailey I couldn¡¯t quite figure out¡­ he didn¡¯t really say much of anything the whole time. Standard 13-year old angst or something else? I dread when my kids get to that age. I had a nice conversation with Grace though, and she told me a lot of childhood stories Bryce wold have no doubt been too embarrassed to say.

    Bryce¡¯s younger brother, Kevin, was the polar opposite of Ricky, and honestly way worse. Kevin openly wanted nothing to do with the rest of the family and was perfectly content making his discontent known in front of everyone. He also seemed to think very highly of himself, obviously assuming he was the smartest person in the room. When I was telling his wife, Holly (who was nice enough, but a bit cold), about growing up in Pusan, he kept interrupting me with unrelated facts or ¡°correcting¡± me whenever he thought I said something wrong. Even if he was wrong and I corrected him, he still acted like he was in the right. Smug bastard, I could have punched him. He has two kids, Kinsey and Christian, both almost teenagers and both well behaved, at least while their parents were watching. Christian especially showed a much lighter side when it was just him, the other kids and me, telling jokes and laughing. Even when his father¡¯s back was turned he¡¯d smile knowingly when Kevin went on some pretentious tangent, even winking at me once.If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it.

    Finally we have Bryce¡¯s mom and dad. The mom was very warm and nice, she¡¯s the other sane one. George Blackwell on the other hand¡­ the father, was easily the most eclectic of the bunch. The came out of his study exactly three times, and each was even more dramatic than the last. First he came out about an hour after we got there. I¡¯d expected he was going to join us, but all he did was walk in the room, look at us without saying anything, and then go back into his study. The second time was when it was time to eat. He again said nothing for the longest time, merely grabbing a large amount of turkey and dressing and nothing else. He sat silently at the table eating until he decided to interrupt one of Kevin¡¯s political monologues by refuting every point he made and calling him stupid. Later he made an odd, creepy ¡°joke¡± asking Bryce how much he had paid for me in Korea. After eating he returned to his study, leaving his plate on the table. Finally towards the end of the visit he came out to argue with Kevin again, this time over inheritance. I watched the two men argue pettily for almost an hour before George Blackwell stormed back to the study for the final time, declaring as he did that he was leaving none of his considerable wealth to his children. He was practically a soap opera character.

    Bryce apologized when we got home, profusely, but if anything he was the one more upset by it all. Catherine was obviously used to the whole thing, laughing it off, and I merely took in the pure dysfunction of all, but Bryce definitely seemed to be ruminating on some memories he didn¡¯t mention, especially whenever his father came into the picture. I couldn¡¯t even imagine being raised by a man like him. He was the complete opposite of my father, wealthy, yet seemingly indifferent to everyone around him. What does a person like that get out of life? I suppose this was something I¡¯d never understand.

 Chapter 26: Murder at the Family Christmas (Kish)

    By the time we finally arrived, after Aunt Catherine picked us up from god knows where in northeast Georgia, it was almost 5PM. I was prepared for a drama-filled evening, but what I didn''t know was that within 24 hours my grandfather would be dead.

    It was surreal pulling up to my grandparents'' house for the first time all these years. To be honest I''d never expected to ever come here again, not after the way my extended family had fractured, and how my grandfather openly showed disdain for all of my relatives.

    The house itself was almost closer to a mansion in terms of size. It was a plantation house that was about four times bigger than anywhere I could remember living. It had been in the Blackwell family for generations. Since my grandfather''s grandfather I think. Despite the age of the building, it was obviously well maintained and the white paint was still pristine. The driveway was already packed with five other cars, two of which, were obviously more expensive than the rest, and presumably belonged to granddad and grandmom.

    As the three of us got out of the car grandmom rushed out to greet us, as kind and sweet as she was when I was a kid. From there we were led into the massive house and thus began a seemingly endless parade of relatives. Uncles and aunts and cousins who I didn''t remember and almost instantly forgot the names and faces of. The most distinguishing things I remember are that one uncle was a total redneck and the other was a pretentious "city slicker" as the first uncle constantly pointed out. There was also one cousin, I think from uncle number two, who had a s***-eating grin the entire time and I think tried to hit on me? Aunt Catherine almost instantly bolted for the eggnog, and it wasn''t long before Grayson did the same. For once in my life, I was envious.If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    As the three of us got out of the car grandmom rushed out to greet us, as kind and sweet as she was when I was a kid. From there we were led into the massive house and thus began a seemingly endless parade of relatives. Uncles and aunts and cousins who I didn''t remember and almost instantly forgot the names and faces of. The most distinguishing things I remember are that one uncle was a total redneck and the other was a pretentious "city slicker" as the first uncle constantly pointed out. There was also one cousin, I think from uncle number two, who had a s***-eating grin the entire time and I think tried to hit on me? Aunt Catherine almost instantly bolted for the eggnog, and it wasn''t long before Grayson did the same. For once in my life, I was envious.

    My jaw dropped. The room fell deathly silent. Everyone in the room stared in our direction. If an extraterrestrial had suddenly teleported in front of me, it wouldn''t be even half as surprising, or terrifying.

    For a moment, I''m too stunned for words. "Uh... it''s nice to see you too grampa." I finally blurted out.

    He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. "Why don''t you come with me to my office, I have something to discuss with you."

    Honestly, just the fact that he would even acknowledge me was shocking enough, but what happened next managed to be even stranger.

 Chapter 27: Inheritance (George Blackwell)

    From the moment I woke up that morning, I had a strong premonition. Today was going to be the day I would die.

    Perhaps it was a self-fulfilling prophecy, perhaps this was how it was destined to be, all I knew was that I could feel it. In recent months I¡¯d started thinking more about my inevitable demise, planning what would happen to my company and fortune.

    All of my own children were disappointments. My two living sons were both idiots, though at least the youngest one didn¡¯t pretend to not be, whereas Kevin was a complete pretentious fraud, the kind of person who thought themselves a sophisticated elite, but would never actually become one. My daughter on the other hand, I could tell had no business sense. She was a bleeding heart, and couldn¡¯t make the practical decisions that had to be made. I¡¯d tried grooming my oldest son, Bryce, for the role, he had potential, he reminded me a lot of myself when I was younger, but again like his sister he let his morals get in the way. And so he ran off to Korea. I was kind of hoping we could eventually find an understanding, but he died before that could happen.

    That left the grandchildren, which I narrowed down to two possibilities. Kevin¡¯s son Christian had surprisingly turned out to be much more intelligent than his father, not only being accepted to Harvard, but being top of his class. Bryce¡¯s daughter Kish on the other hand, while not top of her class, interested me for her field of study.

    Indeed, the only reason I was even bothering with Christmas this year was so that I could observe the two of them. It didn¡¯t take long for me to make my decision however, as Christian proved himself much too immature for the role. Not a youthful immaturity mind, but a more dangerous kind, boasting about wasting money, laughing at the family arguments. He obviously considered everything a joke. Just Before Kish¡¯s late arrival I¡¯d already arranged for my lawyer to change the will. Then, I embraced my new prot¨¦g¨¦ with open arms, guiding her into my office and, to her future. As we entered I asked the housekeeper, a Greek woman named Zoe, to leave us alone for a while.

    ¡°So uh¡­ what did you want to say grandfather?¡± She said, clearly confused.

    ¡°When I was your age my father took me aside in here too. He had something important he wanted to talk to me about, and I want to talk to you about the same thing.¡± She stared at me blankly still. ¡°I¡¯ve heard you have an interest in Seraphic theology.¡±Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    ¡°Uh yeah that¡¯s part of my studies.¡± She said. ¡°Why do you mention it?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s only become popular among the masses in recent years, but I can assure you, the Blackwell family has followed the Seraphic theology for generations. You see, that¡¯s what separates us from them. We know where true power comes from.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m not sure I follow.¡± She said.

    ¡°Most believe it all to be nothing but a myth, but I think the two of us know better. We know it¡¯s real because we¡¯ve seen it with our own two eyes. You know your brother¡¯s one, don¡¯t you?¡± Her eyes widened when I said that, clearly she did know. ¡°Seraphs are real, and not only do they live among us, they influence every aspect of our lives, government, religion, culture, you can find their influence anywhere if you look hard enough. Only a chosen few even know to look. When My own grandfather¡¯s company became one of the richest in the ruin of reconstruction era Virginia, that was when they approached him, and our family became one among the chosen. And now, the time approaches that I must pass down that company to someone new. And I¡¯ve decided that it should be you.¡±

    ¡°Me? Why?¡± She said.

    ¡°I see a lot of your father in you Kish. We didn¡¯t always see eye to eye, but he was a smart man and¡­ had he seen my point of view I¡¯m sure he would have been a worthy successor. You¡¯re no stranger to the world of seraphs, hell your own brother is one. I¡¯m giving you a chance most can only dream of. You¡¯ll have more money than you¡¯ll ever know what to do with, you¡¯ll have this house, and most of all, you¡¯ll inherit controlling interest in my company, and a chance to make your mark on the world.¡±

    Kish smiled nervously, clearly waiting for some catch. ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t even know what to say. Thank you!¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t have to say anything. All that matters to me is that the Blackwell line will carry on after my death. Now why don¡¯t you go back to the party? Enjoy the simple life while you can.¡±

    Kish did as I suggested and walked out of my office. I neglected to mention the target now on her back, from family and otherwise, who would be jealous of her new fortune, but what¡¯s life without a few surprises? As she left I noticed Christian was lingering by the door, no doubt listening in. Let him be jealous I say. Few things brought me as much enjoyment as the misery of lesser men.

    <hr>

    Later that evening, after the family left (or maybe they were still here, this wasn¡¯t something I bothered knowing), I continued sitting in my office, reading under lamplight, my premonition still strong. It wouldn¡¯t be long before it came true. Someone else walked in the room, silence pistol in hand, and before I could react, the bullet pierced my heart.

    My last thought? Maybe I should have bothered to spend time with my grandchildren.

 Chapter 28: Motel (Kish)

    I found out about my grandfather¡¯s death the morning after. I was laying in the motel bed when Aunt Catherine woke me up to give me the news.

    The next few days went by in a blur. We stayed in the same motel killing time until the will reading, which went as my grandfather said it would, with me getting much of his wealth and controlling interest in his company. Predictably the rest of the family wasn¡¯t pleased with getting mere scraps, particularly Kevin, who congratulated me when I was in the room but I heard call me a ¡°bitch¡± as I was leaving. I¡¯d like to say it didn¡¯t hurt, that it didn¡¯t matter because I planned on never seeing any of these people again, but it did. I never wanted to be a part of these people¡¯s lives, I didn¡¯t care about my grandfather¡¯s money, or ¡°Blackwell-Noble Enterprises¡±. Maybe that was why he did it, one last way to screw over his children.

    Not that I would turn the money down of course though, I could always use the dollar bills to dry my tears, but it was a weird feeling, just becoming a billionaire out of nowhere. What am I even supposed to do with my life now?

    After the will reading we decided to bring some fast food burgers to the motel before checking out. Aunt Catherine was of course, ecstatic, both that I would naturally share part of the fortune with her and that she could rub this in her brothers¡¯ faces. She also agreed to help me figure out the financial stuff since I barely knew how to manage the meager funds I had in college.This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

    After we ate she decided to go out and see one of her old friends before we leave. This finally gave me and Grayson the chance to talk privately. I told him everything our grandfather had told me.

    ¡°Well I guess it wouldn¡¯t help to deny it.¡± Grayson said. ¡°I always wondered why your memory wasn¡¯t wiped, but I guess it was for a reason.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, because I¡¯m smarter than you dummy.¡± Grayson laughed when I said this. ¡°You should have known better.¡±

    ¡°I guess you¡¯re right.¡± He said. ¡°So who do you think did it? Killed grandfather I mean.¡±

    ¡°Honestly, I don¡¯t care. Probably one of his kids thinking they¡¯d get the inheritance. Joke¡¯s on them right?¡±

    ¡°You might want to start caring. Did it occur to you that whoever killed him might kill you next?¡±

    That wipes the smile off my face. ¡°I guess I didn¡¯t think about that. Guess it¡¯s a good thing I have you to watch my back¡±

    ¡°You may be the smart one, but I¡¯m the sensible one.¡±

    ¡°And who do you think did it?¡±

    He thought for a minute. ¡°Best guess would be Kevin, I mean he¡¯s the one who never shut up about the will. The rest hated him too, but you¡¯d think would at least be content to just wait for him to die on his own.¡±

    ¡°Kevin seems like all talk and no action. Now his son is creepy.¡±

    ¡°Which one, Christian?¡±

    I nodded. ¡°You know, that day he commented on my ¡°childbearing hips.¡± And then at the frigging will reading he would not stop staring at me.¡±

    Grayson made a vomiting motion. ¡°His own cousin, what a creep. I don¡¯t even want to think about what goes through that guy¡¯s head.¡±

    ¡°No telling.¡± I said before we both fell silent again. ¡°Some family we¡¯ve got huh.¡±

    ¡°Honestly, you and Aunt Catherine are the only ones I consider family.¡± Grayson said.

 Chapter 29: Investigation (Grayson)

    When I was Kish¡¯s age, I went through a phase where I practically slept all day. Now I was so busy I barely had any time to sleep. After weeks of running around Atlanta on a wild goose chase with that serial killer demon, it was nice to spend some time with my sister and aunt, even under these circumstances.

    Unfortunately, now it was back to work. As it turned out my grandfather was connected to the seraphs, so we were supposed to investigate. Of course, I wasn¡¯t told this until right before we had planned on driving back to Atlanta. This meant that instead of driving Kish back to her dorm, as was planned, I instead had to drop her off at the house she now owned, while listening to her complain the entire time, and then pick up Thalia at Charleston International Airport.

    Thalia was waiting as I pulled up, wearing a business casual black jacket with matching slacks and sunglasses. I was still wearing a suit from the will reading, so we both at least looked like we could pass for federal personnel.

    ¡°Sorry about the late notice.¡± She said as she slammed the door closed. ¡°I hope I didn¡¯t interfere with your plans too much.¡±

    I was beginning to feel like a taxi driver. Thalia, like my sister, seemingly refused to learn to drive, though unlike her she had about a century¡¯s worth of time to try to learn. ¡°Kish doesn¡¯t have to go back to school until the beginning of the year.¡± I said. ¡°I don¡¯t know why she was so upset we¡¯d be delayed. I guess friends or something. She¡¯s staying in her new house for now.¡±Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

    ¡°We may have to visit there later, for evidence.¡± She said. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about your loss by the way.¡±

    ¡°Honestly, it wasn¡¯t my loss.¡± I said. ¡°I didn¡¯t even know him that well. I was shocked he left everything to my sister.¡±

    ¡°Well now we don¡¯t have to keep secrets from her.¡± Thalia said. ¡°At least, not many.¡± If I was being logical, I didn¡¯t want my sister to know about any of this, but if I¡¯m being honest I was glad she did. I was happy to have someone to talk to about this who was closer to my age.

    ¡°So why aren¡¯t we just leaving this one to the police?¡± I said.

    ¡°Well, since the guy was connected its important that we make sure that it wasn¡¯t something that shouldn¡¯t get out.¡± She said.

    ¡°You think a demon killed him?¡±

    ¡°Maybe. It¡¯s not likely though. I¡¯d be more concerned about terrorists, or conspiracy nuts.¡±

    ¡°Or the family?¡±

    ¡°It wasn¡¯t the family.¡±

    ¡°You¡¯re sure?¡±

    ¡°Why? Did you notice something?¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s probably nothing.¡± I paused, before noticing Thalia¡¯s insistent silence. ¡°Kish was telling me about this cousin of mine, Christian, apparently he was acting weird, hitting on her, and apparently he was cut from the will in favor of Kish. Again it¡¯s probably nothing though.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯d like to talk to him. After we look over the evidence and the scene.¡± She said.

 Chapter 30: A Killer Revealed (Thalia)

    Over the many centuries I¡¯d lived I had gained a talent for intuition. Human behavior is full of patterns, observe them enough and you¡¯ll begin to notice. This is especially true when you realize that you¡¯re dealing with the same souls over and over again. Thus I knew as soon as Grayson¡¯s cousin was mentioned that this was the person we were interested in. Each call he made asking where this guy was, where each person had less of an idea than we did, only made me even more certain.

    My final confirmation came not from a call made, but a call revieved. I overheard the words ¡°where is she?¡± and ¡°what happened?¡± spoken frantically with this caller. ¡°Who was that?¡± I asked when he hung up.

    ¡°Laura, she¡¯s a friend of my sister.¡± He said. ¡°We need to head back to the house, apparently something happened and she¡¯s freaking out.¡±

    The drive to the old house was a brief one, I caught Grayson speeding a couple times but didn¡¯t say anything. It was his sister in danger, and in our kind of life family isn¡¯t something you get to have long.

    When we arrived and ran through the front door, I saw exactly what I expected. A young man about Grayon¡¯s age, with short hair wearing a white polo and white khacki shorts, standing arms crossed, as if anticipating us.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    ¡°Where¡¯s my sister?¡± Grayson demanded.

    ¡°Would you believe me if I told you I didn¡¯t know?¡± Christian said, smiling. ¡°To be totally honest, I came here because I wanted to kill her, but apparently someone else got here first. If I had to guess, it was whoever killed dear beloved grampa.¡±

    ¡°So you didn¡¯t kill him.¡± I said.

    ¡°That¡¯s correct.¡± Christian said. ¡°I¡¯d love to say that I did but there¡¯d be no pleasure in taking the credit for something I didn¡¯t actually do.¡±

    ¡°Since you¡¯re being so forthcoming, I have one last question.¡± I said. ¡°You aren¡¯t totally human, are you?¡±

    ¡°My, I should have expected your type to be so observant.¡± Christian said. ¡°In that case allow me to reintroduce myself. I am Christian Blackwell, sociology student by day and serial killer by night, but I am also someone else, a traveling companion I picked up long ago, one who shares my ideals.¡±

    Was this a human willingly possesed by a demon? Such a thing was rare, but not without precedent. Most demons had to maintain at least some control over their host but this¡­ this demon was in perfect sync.

    ¡°To be honest, killing normal humans was starting to get old. Killing your kind? Now that will be a challenge worthy of our talents. Christian said. ¡°Oh Jack! It¡¯s time to come out and play!¡±

    Knives spawned in Christian¡¯s hands, his pupils dilated, his body began hunching forward. This was no ordinary demon, this was something more powerful. And now it was lunging towards us.

 Chapter 31: Nausea (Kish)

    I watched my brother drive off to do, whatever it was that was more important than driving me home, leaving me in this big empty mansion with nothing to do. Not even grandmom lived here anymore. Almost as soon as my grandfather died she had packed up and left for the beach house that was in her name in Virginia.

    Hours passed as I wandered the empty rooms. This place creeped me out. It was the same feeling I had in the Douglas¡¯ basement all those years ago. That feeling of being watched by something I couldn¡¯t see. The lingering souls of my ancestors perhaps, watching me, judging me, from inside the walls.

    Why did my stupid brother have to leave me in such a creepy house? The only thing I had to do to occupy my mind besides wandering the rooms was my phone. I texted Laura ages ago that I would be delayed getting home, and she still hadn¡¯t responded. I guess this was a ¡°keep Kish waiting¡± kind of day.

    Outside it had started storming, which only made the lamp-lit house even creepier. Lots of large empty rooms without much in them, a couple of couches in the living room, a kitchen with the bare minimum, bedrooms with dressers and no personal touches. Apparently in these last few years grandfather and grandmother stayed on different sides of the house, almost never seeing each other. The only personal touches I noticed were the occasional photo or painting of them or the family. Grandfather didn¡¯t smile in any of them.

    What even did he live for? He obviously couldn¡¯t have cared less about his family, but he didn¡¯t even seem to enjoy his wealth either. It must have been miserable. I had to wonder if his alienating behavior was a symptom of being miserable, or if it was the one thing he enjoyed in life.

    His office was the one place where I could see any touch of personality. He had an extensive book collection, including a lot of first editions, Faulkner, Hemingway, and of course, the first English translation of the Seraphic Bible. It was weird having one book, this book, was part of so many key moments in my life. What was once an amusing oddity defined my life now, it was inescapable, inevitable, constricting.

    By this point there was only one room left I hadn¡¯t explored. One of the four ¡°children¡¯s bedrooms¡± upstairs. Which was apparently my father¡¯s. While the room had obviously been changed a bit to make it a more general guest room, there were still a few things which were obviously my father¡¯s. A few old photos, a couple from when he was a child, and one from his graduation, along with some old tapes and early CDs. Apparently my dad really liked Rush.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    Towards the end of the room was a closet. One of the werid things about this house was that this particular closet was apparently accesable from both this room and one of the other bedrooms. Basically one long hallway with storage space. I couldn¡¯t say what, but something drew me to that door. I opened it and was greeted with a dark hallway which seemed to extend forever, but I knew logically led to the other bedroom across the house. The closet reeked for some reason, I couldn¡¯t even say what it smelled like¡­ old house? Decaying body? Whatever it was I started feeling nauseous at that point. Not terribly, but enough to be somewhat uncomfortable. I continued on anyway. As I did the light behind me started to fade, but there wasn¡¯t another in sight. My nausea kept getting worse, at a certain point it felt like I was going to throw up.

    Then I stopped, and threw up. The smell of the disgusting liquidy remains of whatever I had eaten last made the stench of this place even worse.

    At this point I finally came to my senses, I didn¡¯t know how close I was to the other side, so I figured I might as well just turn around. As I came back closer to the light, I noticed a shape in front of it, which I soon recognized as the sillhouette of a person. I wasn¡¯t even sure if it was real, it seemed to keep fading in and out of existence. ¡°I¡¯ve been waiting for you.¡± The figure suddenly started talking, though it wasn¡¯t a voice exactly, more like something that resembled my own thought process.

    ¡°I told you that we would be meeting soon.¡± The voice continued in my head. ¡°I have chosen you for a specific reason. By this point you¡¯ve only scratched the surface of the world which has been hidden. You see a truth few others can see, but you don¡¯t have the tools to understand it yet¡­ to understand¡­ what these parasites are doing to the planet.¡±

    Eventually I got close enough to recognize the figure. ¡°Leigh?¡±

    They then disappeared before me. ¡°Not much longer now¡­ until we officially meet.¡±

    I¡¯d somehow gotten even sicker by this point, to the point where I could barely stand. I hobbled out of the closet before falling down on the floor. With what little energy I had left I got my phone out of my pocket. Grayson¡¯s number wouldn¡¯t ring for some reason, so I called Laura next. Thankfully she answered. ¡°Hello?¡±

    ¡°Call Grayson, call someone, I¡¯m at my grandfather¡¯s mansion, I feel like I¡¯m dying.¡± The phone slipped out of my hand. By then I was starting to fade from consciousness. The last thing I saw before passing out was some woman standing over me¡­

 Chapter 32: Invisible War (Zoe)

    I had been undercover as George Blackwell¡¯s nurse for five months, bided my time, gathering Intel, finally got the go ahead to kill the bastard, and now the young woman who had inherited his fortune had passed out in front of me. At first I was worried she might be dying, but her pulse seemed okay when I checked it. At any rate I didn¡¯t have time to waste. She was at least easy to drag downstairs, she was only about 5¡¯2 and was probably under a hundred pounds, and load into the trunk of my car. As I closed it I nearly panicked as I noticed another car approaching the driveway. Thankfully they weren¡¯t close enough to see. I decided to play it casual, I suppose my alias would have its use one last time.

    The car parked and one of the relatives from the party the other day emerged from the front seat. I recognized him as one of the grandchildren, but I hadn¡¯t bothered to commit his name to memory. ¡°Hey, you¡¯re my grampa¡¯s nurse?¡± He said, acting like he had any kind of relationship with the man. ¡°What are you doing here?¡±

    ¡°Mrs. Blackwell asked me to pick up a few of her things she forgot.¡± It was even true. Last night she called from her beach house, it was pure coincidence, but a lucky one, one I intended to use.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°Need any help?¡± He said.

    ¡°Uh no, I¡¯ve pretty much got everything already. But thank you.¡± I said. ¡°I was actually just about to leave.¡±

    ¡°Alright.¡± He said. ¡°Call me sentimental, I just wanted to see the old man¡¯s place¡­ One last time.¡±

    A likely story. At any rate it didn¡¯t affect me, so I left him with whatever it was he was doing and drove off. It was about nine hours from here to Virginia Beach, once there I¡¯d be directed to a remote site nearby considered ¡°safe¡±, although I wasn¡¯t sure such a thing existed with the enemy we were fighting. Even though I know I¡¯d been absolutely discreet, I couldn¡¯t help but worry that they were watching. Perhaps I¡¯d been fighting this war so long that it was the only thing I ever knew. I¡¯d spent my whole life in the shadows, fighting an enemy almost no one knew existed. An enemy that also had the ability to influence everything.

    If my mission was successful, if we were able to turn the Blackwell heiress to our side, we¡¯d finally have a way to find our enemy¡¯s weakness. And maybe, just maybe, finally bring down the Seraphic hegemony.