31 Fallen Seraphim

After the Captain answered Aiden's question he stopped talking seemingly waiting for anyone else to ask another question, and he didn't wait in vain, someone had raised his hand and that person was Ethan.

The Captain nodded urging Ethan to go on, "were are we?" Ethan asked the question that had slipped everyone's mind, where was this place?

Hearing Ethan's question the Captain smiled, he seemed to be waiting for that exact question.

His eyes scanned the ten candidates as he said in a grim voice, "Right now we are outside the first barrier, in a place that you've only heard of in your scary bedtime stories, and we build a base in it. Welcome future agents to the abysmal enclave."

The room was silent for a while with everyone giving the Captain a strange look, this was because the words he just uttered were just too unbelievable.

To understand what the abysmal enclave was you first needed to understand how the barrier worked, the barrier was a dome of energy covering the entire shelter, it didn't have any effect on humans but a demon would never be able to cross it.

Normally it was impossible to see the barrier, but with the help of an infrared camera, one would be able to spot the infrared radiation the barrier emitted.

It was rumored that outside the barrier was another barrier, but this information hadn't been confirmed and was out of reach for normal civilians.

The abysmal enclave was simply the space between these two barriers where demons and Infected beasts roamed free since they weren't disturbed by Contractors.

As the students pondered in shock a woman of striking presence and captivating mystique strode purposefully into the grand hall where the ten candidates awaited her arrival.

Her flowing, raven black hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her piercing green eyes held a profound and enigmatic wisdom.

Dressed in an elegant yet austere ensemble, she exuded an aura that was equal parts graceful and domineering.

"Why scare the newbies so much?" Her graceful voice sounded out as her green eyes scanned the room.

Seeing this woman The Captain nodded, "I'll leave them to you," he said as he walked out.

"You can call me Vice Captain," she said in a voice that sounded neither happy nor sad.

Her tone revealed no emotion at all making her come off cold, the candidates watched as this enigmatic figure began to speak, her voice resonating with an otherworldly command.

"Come with me," she directed them to rise and follow her.

One by one, the candidates stood up from their seats and followed.

"Tap, Tap, Tap," as they moved their feet made tapping sounds in the labyrinth-like halls of the facility.

The walls seemed to be made of some kind of stone-like material with strange glowing symbols carved on them.

As they all followed behind her they admired these symbols that gave off a strange aura, non of the participants spoke to this woman, and neither did they talk to themselves.

After walking for some time the Vice Captain led them past an open space and what they all saw erased all their doubts about their location.

It was late and the sun had gone down, the hell energy in this place was also very thick, but that wasn't what captured the attention of the candidates.

What captured their attention was a dome of light that seemed to cover the sky, it had an intense blue glow that was very visible and a wave of pure energy could be seen flowing through it from time to time.

Seeing the candidates look up at the sky the Vice Captain said, "This Is the true dome that protects the seventh shelter, the dome you are all familiar with is actually a filter."

"A filter?" Mai echoed, her voice laced with intrigue, turning towards Mai the Vice Captain smiled.

"Although the second dome also can stop demons it's not half as strong as the first dome, it's true purpose is to filter the hell energy that flows through the shelter, this way normal humans can live without fear of randomly experiencing hell energy shock."

Hearing her words the students nodded in understanding as they listened to her, "You all are going to wait here for a month before finally participating in the second test, the one month you spend here is all the time you have left to learn about the flawed and mysterious relationship of demons and Contractor's, are you ready to witness the worst of human nature?"

The Vice Captain sounded grim as she spoke, her voice sending shivers down the listener's spine.

Aiden on the other hand was beginning to dislike the unsettling aura the Silence emitted, just what exactly was this cruel world of Contractor's that kept being mentioned.

Thinking about it for a while Aiden asked, "In this one month are we given any breaks?"

There was a reason he asked this question, this was because Amanda had told him that Bruce showed up quite a few times after passing the Selections so he figured that there would be times were he was allowed to leave the base.

"You're already looking for breaks on your first day?" The Vice Captain asked, her question was met with Felix's chuckle.

"He's a cheater, of course, he's looking for an easy way out."

Hearing Felix's comments Aiden narrowed his eyes, he didn't understand why this man was against him, they hadn't had any conflict, "are you a child?" Aiden couldn't help but mock.

His statement made Felix stop in his tracks, "what did you say?" Felix asked in a threatening manner.

"You both should shut up," the Vice Captain suddenly said addressing both Aiden and Felix.

"There are quite a few rules that you must follow if you don't want to be punished, the first rule is for your own protection so listen attentively," The Vice Captain said.

"First you are not allowed to come outside after dark like this, this is because we turn off the repellant symbols on the walls at night to save energy, and there is a high chance that the demons from outside will come inside, the only reason you're all still out at night is because the symbols are still on."

As they walked she continued "Second rule never interact with anyone except your fellow trainees and teachers, if you meet anyone else they are probably dangerous people who have been enslaved by the Silence." She said before darting in.

"The last rule is that after dark put away all modern devices, no phones no radios, and so on, even though your room is soundproof some demons can sense radio waves."

Hearing this the Candidates nodded. Turning to Aiden the Vice Captain suddenly said.

"As for your question Aiden, unlike the last candidates who had a few months to prepare for the second test you have only a month, so the answer is no, you won't be able to go home; but don't worry, after the second test you can take dangerous missions from all over the world, including the seventh shelter, all you should do now is focus on increasing your strength."

After a long time of walking, they finally reached a large building, where the Vice Captain stopped and ushered them in, "This is the dormitory, where all of you will reside, Felix and Mai will get their own personal rooms while the rest of you will have to share."

Saying this she looked towards the group and sorted them out putting the remaining candidates in groups of two, the two girls Evelyn and Serena got paired together, while Aiden was paired with Ethan, Kevin on the other hand was paired with Lucius and finally, David was paired with Adrian.

After they were given their numbers six men in loose white clothes walked up to them and ushered them to their rooms.

The dormitory seemed like a mix between fantasy and reality, the old walls had glowing symbols engraved on them, and instead of normal electrical lights, you could see flaming torches on the walls.

Aiden's eyes trailed off to the man in a loose white outfit, the outfit seemed like a prison uniform of sorts, and a tight collar with many strange symbols on it could be seen around his neck.

"What is that coller?" Aiden thought as he stared at the metal collar around the man's neck, it was strange seeing a man wearing a collar, it looked like something straight out of corn.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," Landon muttered in his head.

"Hey Aiden, how's your arm?" A voice suddenly asked from the side, the person who spoke was Ethan, and Aiden had almost forgotten that he was there.

"I'm fine," Aiden responded with a forced smile, "I'm kinda happy we ended up being roommates, you seem more easygoing than the other candidates,' Ethan started a conversation.

"Is that so?" Aiden replied halfheartedly.

"Yeah," Ethan said enthusiastically before darting in, "you don't understand, the rest of the candidates are so full of themselves, Mai ignores everyone, Felix is too proud and holds a grudge for no reason, Kevin's kinda cool, David's too weak and gets scared easily and there's the other four from prominent families, it's a handful."

"Prominent families?" Aiden Echoed feeling interested.

"You don't really know anything about Contractor do you?" Ethan asked in surprise.

Hearing Ethan's question Aiden said, "I used to be a normal person before I became a Contractor so I'm very new to this."

Ethan gave Aiden a weird look, "After you became a Contractor and got a license, didn't you notice your feed online start to change?"

Hearing this Aiden narrowed his eyes, he didn't get the Contractor license, he did this because he didn't want to attract the attention of the scouts that flocked the Contractor bureau waiting for new Contractors they could rope into their respective families.

Meanwhile, the strange man with a collar stopped walking and pointed to a door bowing slightly before leaving.

Both men didn't feel odd about the man's silence as they had been told in advance not to converse with anyone here.

The room wasn't locked and both men entered with relative ease.

As Aiden and Ethan stepped into their dimly lit dorm rooms, the heavy wooden door creaked behind them, sealing them in.

The room was bathed in an eerie twilight, and the shadows danced on the walls like secrets waiting to be revealed.

Aiden, feeling calm, glanced around the room, taking in the peculiar sight before them.

In a measured tone, Aiden muttered, "This place is... different."

Meanwhile Ethan, with his easygoing and optimistic attitude, couldn't help but let out a nervous chuckle.

With a hint of excitement, Ethan said, "You're telling me. It's like something out of a fantasy novel, man."

Their eyes were drawn to the two massive wardrobes standing sentinel against the far wall.

As they approached, the intricate patterns etched into the wooden doors seemed to beckon them closer, "Let's see what's in here," Aiden muttered curiously.

With deliberate movements, he opened the wardrobe doors.

Inside, rows of meticulously arranged black body armor glistened ominously, looking more advanced than the one they wore before, Ethan ran a hand over one of the chest plates.

Struck by awe Ethan said, "Aiden, these aren't your typical room decorations."

Aiden nodded in agreement and turned his attention to the neatly folded sets of black clothing beside the armor, he felt like he was back to school as he said thoughtfully, "This clothing... it's like a uniform."

Chuckling a bit Ethan replied, "We're part of an elite secret society, dude! Like modern-day knights, stopping evildoers together. "

Hearing Ethan's remark Landon said to Aiden, "Let's ditch this man when we can."

"I kinda like him," Aiden thought,

"Ehhh, what the fuck, are you gay now Aiden?" Landon remarked sounding shocked.

Hearing Landon's words Aiden didn't reply, he was already used to Landon spouting nonsense, "your entire family is spouting nonsense," Landon yelled in annoyance.

Looking at the bunk bed Ethan jumped on the top bunk claiming it as his own like some kind of teenager.

Because of this Aiden was stuck with the lower bunk, not that he minded.

The room had a bathroom in it so both men freshened up before going to bed, or at least one of them went to bed.

Turning to his side Ethan stared at the weirdo doing stretches in the middle of the room.

"What are you doing?" Ethan couldn't help but ask.

Hearing Ethan's question Aiden answered in a sarcastic tone, "I'm eating, what does it look like I'm doing?"

Shaking his head Ethan replied, "I know what you are doing, but what are you actually doing?"

Aiden didn't respond to Ethan's question again, instead, he asked his own, "You were saying something about prominent families, what's that about?"

While Aiden did his workout Ethan explained some things to him, the first thing was the background of those four unknown people, it was clear that they didn't participate in the Selections, apparently, they came from reputable business families in the first shelter.

Another thing Aiden learned about was the fact that the Silence had strongholds outside the seventh shelter and that their information network was one of the best out there.

Aiden was particularly interested in their information network because of the missing children cases, maybe they had something on that, and it could be his first clue towards saving his sister if she was still alive.

Ethan talked and talked from the early hours of the night all the way past midnight, while Aiden was diligently doing push-ups, an exercise which wasn't ideal with his injured arm.

By now Aiden had noticed that Ethan had fallen asleep, as his light snores filled the entire room.

"Two thousand and thirteen, two thousand and fourteen," Aiden counted in his mind, but then something happened making Aiden freeze.

"Chi, Chi, Chi," a tiny voice filled the room. The syllables hung in the air like a curse, a minuscule voice of pure dread.

That sound seemed to awaken every survival cell in Aiden's body, as his weakened soul armor appeared on its own violation.

Slowly Aiden creeped towards the window, the floors creaking with every move, opening slowly Aiden moved the black curtains which had a strange symbol on them.

Upon opening the window Aiden was so shocked that he couldn't move, his face quickly paled and he felt as though his soul had left his body.

What Aiden saw was a single otherworldly eyeball staring straight at him, Aiden felt his bones vibrate and his teeth chattered.

This being seemed to be made of thousands upon thousands of inky black ribbons, its existence defied the laws of motion as it revolved in a manner that surpassed the 4th dimension.

No, it seemed to mock the very concept of dimensions.

On these wide ribbons that unfurled and revolved in a chaotic circular motion were thousands of blood-red eyeballs and mouths leaking out a grotesque red liquid that bore a striking resemblance to human blood.

These mouths had terrifying teeth that seemed to be crying and laughing at the same time.

At this very moment those thousand eyes that distorted space was focused on the small beings that dared to peak at it.

In the midst of all this Landon's voice suddenly sounded out with more seriousness than Aiden had ever heard before.

"Aiden Frostfall, slowly move back, or else you will die in the worst way possible, whatever that thing is holds the blood of fallen seraphim."