Danger ahead

We all continued to search through the forest, and everything about it was weird. The trees and flowers glowed in bright neon colors. Giant sea creatures flew above us, even though we were on dry land, and it was snowing. Everything seemed much larger and more dangerous in this world.

Kai led the way while killing off any creature that tried to attack us.

"Stepbrother?" I asked him after there was no more danger around.

"Yes. I can't remember his name or what he looks like, but I will never forget what he did to me. No matter how hard he tries to wipe away our memories."

Another demon came at us trying to attack. Jennie ran up to it and sliced its neck.

I quickly put up my shield to cover my face from the splashing blood.

Kai continued to talk as If nothing happened.

"My Mom got remarried to his father. It wasn't something I agreed with, because I didn't want anyone to replace my father. Still, I tried to be nice to him and his Dad, because that's what my Mother wanted. She wanted us to get along, but you can't always be nice to everyone, because not everyone deserves your kindness."

He swung his sword at another Demon. I didn't even see it coming.

"I was too nice. I even took the blame for some of the stupid things he did, just to help him get out of trouble. I was so stupid!" He yelled.

It surprised me to see him angry. He hardly ever showed any emotion.

"Anyway, he pretended to be nice to me too, and he made me a painting. It turned out to be a portal, and that's how I got in here. I was the first of his victims."

I stared at him in confusion. "So, he wanted you out of his life and he created a fake world...a nightmare that you can't ever escape?"

Kai looked at the ground. "I don't believe that this place is inescapable. There has to be a flaw in his little magic trick and I'm going to find it."

"Well, how is he able to do this? Is he even human?" I asked.

"I've been trying to figure that out for a while. I don't know what he is or how he did this. I just know that I'm going to escape this place, and I'm going to kill him. I won't let him bring any more people in here. After we find your sister, we're heading up to that cave that I found. It has to be the exit."

Why were Lia and I pulled into this world?

Was he trying to get rid of us too? Just so he could have my mom all to himself?

"What if he's predicting everything that we will do?" I asked him.

"What?" he asked.

"Just think about it. You've all received a painting with your faces on it. Each of you were probably doing something in that painting. My sister was looking at a painting of her standing next to a demon in a forestry background, and that's where she got pulled in. And you…you must be the guy I saw in the painting in my hallway. In it, you were standing next to a dead demon that you killed."

He frowned. "You've got a point. He could be predicting things before it happens."

I continued. "The thing is, I wasn't painted in the same painting as my sister, when she got pulled in by that demon. I was in another painting. But the only way I got here was through her painting."

Kai stood still and thought for a moment before speaking. "When Faye and Leo were pulled into this world by a demon, they said that they saw both of their faces on a painting. And like you said, if he's predicting things, he probably wanted you two to be in separate places. You guys still

happened to be separated, but you still weren't supposed to come in here together. I wonder If this changes something."

"It could, but what I'm more worried about is that he knows we're trying to escape, and he knows how we're trying to do it."

Kai looked at me but he didn't say a word. I was eager to know what he was thinking.

Dean walked over to Kai with a concerned look on his face. "Hey. Do you hear something?"

We all went silent as we tried to listen. I didn't know what to listen for. Strange sounds were coming from all around me, but it's been like that ever since we entered this forest.

"What do you hear?" I whispered. The ground below me was suddenly shaking.

Dean pointed over to a few trees that were suddenly falling to the ground. Something was coming in our direction. All of the small creatures around us started moving away from it.

"What's happening?" I asked. Now I was getting worried. No one answered me. They all stood still and looked up towards the sky.

I looked up as well and saw a large creature, almost as tall as the towering trees. The creature had a blackish grey color, it had on a helmet, but I could see its glowing red eyes through it. It seemed to be covered in armor and had a giant shield and a sword that stretched down to its feet. Wispy grey smoke followed behind it as it moved.

"What is that? A demon?" I whispered.

Kai looked at it with curiosity and fear in his eyes. "I… I don't know. I've never seen anything like it before."

It suddenly focused on us, and I began to tremble in fear.

The Demon lifted its sword and began to swing it at us. We all scattered as the sword hit the ground. A large force of wind came from the impact of the sword, and it blew us backward. I landed on top of kai, and we tumbled to the ground.

"Are you okay?" he asked as he lifted me off of him quickly. He then got up immediately and grabbed my arm and pulled me up.

I didn't even have time to think straight.

"I need to get to its head." He suddenly took off before I could answer him.

Dean, Jennie, and Mike followed him as they charged at it.

I didn't know how they could fight it. It was much larger than the other monsters and it had a weapon.

I watched as Kai ran up the demon's sword, heading for its head. The demon saw him and swung its arm around making Kai fall off. Once he fell to the ground, the demon tried to crush him, but he quickly moved out of the way. Jennie ran towards its feet and sliced its legs while trying to bring it to the ground, but its armor was too thick. Dean tried to distract it, while Mike climbed up a tree to get to its head.

I felt so useless, just standing there. I wasn't trained at all, especially for fighting this creature, but I couldn't just watch. I had to help them. Maybe this demon would also be afraid of me.

I ran up to it and tried to slice its other leg, but it didn't run away.

"What are you doing?" someone yelled. "Are you trying to get yourself killed? Go back!" It was Jennie, she was dodging the monster's blades and yelling at me at the same time.

"I'm trying to help."

"We don't need your help! All you're doing is distracting me— Ah!" Jennie suddenly got hit by the demon and her body flew into the air and smacked against a tree. She tumbled down the branch and her body left a trail of blood.

"Jennie!" Mike yelled.

The demon quickly grabbed him off of its shoulder and threw him face down to the ground. Then it lifted its foot to crush him.

I was in complete shock. I couldn't believe what I just saw. This was my fault. I distracted them.

"Malaika! Run! Get out of here!" Kai yelled.

As much as I wanted to run, I couldn't. Not after what just happened. It didn't feel right. I quickly grabbed multiple rocks off of the ground and threw them at the demon's helmet. It got irritated and ran towards me. Its sword suddenly lifted in the air, as I expected it to. I followed the same move as Kai did. Once its sword was on the ground, I ran up the sword quickly. I knew it was going to try to brush me off, so I had to be prepared.

It shook its arm, but I quickly jabbed my sword into its armor and tried to hold on tight. However, the sword wasn't deep enough, and I ended up flying off its arm to its back. While falling on its back, I quickly jabbed the sword into it again and I decided to jab my way up to its head. The sword began reaching into its skin as I jabbed through the armor harder. The creature screamed with a loud pitch that shook everything around us. Then I fell hard to the ground. It then took its helmet off, and I saw blood coming from its neck. I managed to do some damage to it.

"It took its helmet off! Come on, we need to slice its head!" Dean yelled at Kai.

Dean and Kai quickly ran at it, but the Demon pushed them away with its shield. It then turned to me. All of its glowing red eyes were on me, as it ran towards me. I quickly got up and ran away from it. My sword was still stuck in its armor, leaving me nothing to defend myself with. I started picking up more strange rocks as I ran. I didn't think throwing rocks at it would kill it, but I was panicking and I had no other options. My back was also still in pain from the fall, but I didn't have much time to worry about it. I ran as fast as I could with the rocks in my hands. I could feel the ground below me shaking as it chased after me. I couldn't outrun it much longer. It suddenly picked me up, and I knew that I only had seconds to act. Its hands were crushing my rib cage as it held me. It brought me closer to its mouth. I knew It was the perfect chance for me. I raised my hand and quickly threw as many sharp rocks as I could into its eyes and mouth before it could react. Blood began to drip from its eyes, and its mouth. I suddenly saw steam coming out of it, and It's skin began to melt. It looked like the rocks were burning it. I didn't understand why, but I kept throwing them. It dropped me to the ground and its body fell after me. It's hand fell on top of me, and I couldn't move.

There was nothing but silence after that. I tried to get up, but I felt very weak.

"Kai! Where are you?" I yelled. There was no sound from him.

"Kai!" I yelled again. I didn't want to be left here alone. I hoped that he was alive. After a moment of silence, I suddenly heard footsteps.

"I'm here!" I heard Kai's voice. He and Dean ran up to the Demon and pushed its hand up, so that I could crawl out.

Once I was out Kai ran over to me and held me.

"It's alright. I got you. You're safe now."