1 The First One.

Ash Blake had no idea he was turning eighteen that day. He was an orphan, so he didn't know when exactly was his birthday. He was left at the doors of the orphan on a rainy night with no note about him, except a small ring with the word Blake written on it. He was a quiet kid from the start, the nurse that took care of him most of the time in the orphan, Miss Ophelia had come to treat him as her own child. But then after he was five she left the orphanage and moved to another city, this affected him a lot and he didn't get adopted because of his sulking nature. Now after many years he will soon be turning eighteen and leaving the orphanage for good. He was supposed to go to college last month but what happened worldwide, suddenly destroyed all the plans he had made for his life.

It was a quiet morning at the orphanage. He slept in the rooms on the top floor where the teachers slept. Since he was among the only two kids who were turning adults in the orphanage they were given bigger rooms. The other was a girl named Sarah. Sarah wasn't going to college, she was going to be working in the orphanage itself. From very early, she had shown much interest in taking care of the younger kids and doing work around the orphanage that when she had asked them for work, they had hired her. Ash had never talked much to her before, but since they were the only of their age at the orphanage they had spoken a few times. Sarah had then told him, how she enjoyed working in the orphanage and doing something meaningful, Ash didn't understand what she meant at all, for him getting out of the orphanage was obvious and important like breathing, he couldn't stand to live in those same walls anymore.

There were loud knocks at his door which made him jump from his bed, where he was checking his phone. He hadn't gone online yet to see what was happening in the world that day. He looked at the door again, confused and worried; nobody had ever knocked at his door like that in all his life, so for a moment he thought it might just be his imagination. The younger kids weren't allowed on this floor. But then the knocks came again, this time louder. He hurried to open the door; it was only half open when Sarah rushed inside, looking all messed up, and shut the door behind her. She was breathing hard, her face was covered with sweat, and her clothes were shredded in different places. She was leaning against the door, her eyes closed and her chest going up and down as if she had just run a marathon. Ash had a moment to look at her. Her face is beautiful as always and had a motherly quality, it was very welcoming, Ash however remained distant from her; she was wearing a light blue sundress, which hugged her body very tightly; there were three slashes at her front, revealing plenty of white porcelain skins, she had plenty of curves to draw Ash's eyes away. He could see the goosebumps on her skin, that's how close they were, so he moved back as she finally opened her eyes.

"What's happening out there?" he asked her immediately.

"Don't go out there, don't go" she breathed, her eyes were tearing now, which made the situation all the more serious; then Ash heard a screech, a cry so eerie and animalistic that it made his whole body shake. Whatever abomination had made that noise, whatever monster had attacked Sarah, was on their floor just outside this door. The cry didn't come again, Ash again thought he might have imagined it.

"Let me just take a peek," he said to Sarah.

"No, Please, No," she pleaded.

"Don't worry, I'll just open it an inch, I have to see what's out there, the kids downstairs might need help" he said and that made her hold on the door loosen. Ash moved her aside slowly and opened the door ever so slightly. The corridor was dark, but even his human senses could sense something moving in the darkness, something sinister, something non-human. It enthralled him more than scared him and he kept looking in the darkness beyond. Next thing he knew he was going out, he shut the door behind him, and Sarah's pleading cries were muffled. The temperature was cold, he realized he was barefoot when he stepped on something wet and warm. He looked down and saw to his horror, he saw he had just stepped in a pool of blood. He looked up as the noise came again and he saw two eyes in the darkness looking at him, they were way above the floor and much wider apart to be human or anything really. Everything after that happened in haste. He ran back and entered his room, where Sarah sat on the floor against his bed and sobbing softly. He picked her up and opened the window, without thinking twice he jumped holding her in his arms. The noises above became louder, but they ignored them and ran out of the orphanage. Ash was going to get help, but what he saw made him forget about the monster he had just run away from. All throughout the city, fires, and smoke could be seen rising from houses and buildings, people and ambulances and police cars were running around the streets, and the city was in total chaos.

Six Years Later.

Ash was walking back to his apartment after shopping at the convenience center near his building. He decided to take the subway as he was really hungry and just wanted to be back at his apartment eating the noodles he had just bought. He crossed under a big hoarding of the next famous celebrity player this month. He had long stopped paying attention to the leaderboards. He ignored the hundreds of advertisements of different guilds in the subway and read a book on his phone. He reached his station and got off, that's when he noticed it. The strange feeling of someone watching him. It followed him all the way to his building but stopped once he was inside. He took the elevator to his floor and found someone standing in front of his apartment door already. It was a woman, she was dressed in office work clothes, a white shirt, and a short black skirt. Ash moved slowly towards her, maybe she was at the wrong address; she definitely didn't give off the same energy as the one following him. What were the chances that two strangers were interested in him so much? When he reached her periphery she turned and Ash had a sudden burst of memories he hadn't thought about in years. It was Sarah.

"I want to make a deal," she said.