“Vincent...” Professor Morell held the boy tight, his voice quivering. “I can’t believe it’s really you...” “Hey, you’re crushing me!” Vincent cried. Professor Morell finally let him go, staring at his face with such longing in his eyes. “Okay, mister, you’re really freaking me out here...” Vincent said with a frown. “Just who are you anyway?” “It’s me, your brother Randalle...” the professor said, to which he was answered with a snort. “Idiot!” Vincent jeered, “It’s true my brother Randalle is older than me by 12 years, but he’s not an old geezer like you!” The professor stared at him. He then pulled back his right sleeve and showed Vincent a birthmark shaped like a dagger. Vincent’s eyes widened. “You have been gone for almost 16 years.” he told the boy. “Of course, you don’t recognize me...” his voice broke. “But hey, I’m not even in my 40’s yet, so don’t call me old geezer!” he said playfully, touching the boy between the e

“Master Johan.” Johan stirred in his sleep. He had been dreaming about his mother. Of the small stifling room which smelled of old fish. Men would come at night, sometimes two, sometimes more, and ask of her. He would take them to the small room – just a small enclosure in the old abandoned shack they lived in. The walls, if you could call it that, was but an old tarpaulin they salvaged from one of the abandoned tunnels in the old mine. It was held up by two pieces of timber of varying height and nailed to the corner of the room. His mother always sends him to his gran whenever she had guests. There, he would listen to gran’s stories, and maybe get a bite to eat if they were lucky. She always had a way with words that somehow fills you up even if all you had for breakfast was half of last night’s stale dinner. When ever she told her stories, her golden eyes would shine in the darkness, and the lines in her face would seem to fade, as if revealing the princess

When the group finally got to the mall, the first place they visited was the clothes store. They met Mar with a very timid Benette there. As promised, Dorin bought Johan 3 new shirts. Vincent went straight to a fashion boutique to buy his clothes and showed the sales person a signet ring etched with a black sun with an eye in the middle. The clerk bowed his head slightly and showed him the latest items in the store. “What’s that?” Johan asked while Vincent instructed the clerk to bill his brother from the University. “It’s the Morell seal,” he told Johan proudly. “Members of the main family always wear this wherever we go. I seem to have misplaced mine though,” he added, “so I borrowed my brother’s ring.” Vincent took three big bags full of clothes from the counter and thanked the clerk. He then took a separate bag from the rest and handed it to Johan. “Here, this is for lending me your shirt.” he said with a smile. Johan looked inside

Sebastian made his way to the men’s room, walking leisurely as he looked at the priceless works of art that adorned the walls. On his way back, he noticed the waiters guiding a couple of diners as they left the hall. Several of the tables were already empty and the rest of the guests were also starting to leave. He looked at the rest of the diners. They were all on their last course, except for a couple or two who were still finishing their main dish. He then looked at their table. His friends were quite lively. The rest of the tables around them were already empty.‘Perhaps they got offended by how noisy we were.’ He thought to himself.Until he saw one of the waiters rope the area off.Seb felt a chill run down his spine. He hurried back to their table to warn his friends, but it was too late.He watched as Dorin took a bite off the fat éclair he was eating, gulping as he looked at Seb, and fall unconscious on the table

“One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight... is that the most you could do?” Vincent mocked his brother. The younger Morel was able to summon 8 demons from the in-between, but they were all currently being subdued by the demons his older brother summoned.Twelve of them.Three of their demons were too tattered for battle, and the first one was still busy with the immobilized assailants. But still, his brother’s demons were much bigger than his.“This is not over yet...” Octavius, his hands shaking, made another cut in the air.“Are you sure you should do that?” Vincent chuckled, “A weakened Morel is a danger to himself, you know.”“I know what I’m doing!” the other insisted. Octavius slipped his hand through the darkness once again. “I call upon...”Before the younger Morel could finish the summon, his face suddenly paled and contorted as a shrill screa