~7:05 P.M.~
Anya
REYNA
Anya
The carnival is in CHAOS!
Anya
Thereâs a GIANT TENTACLED MONSTER
Anya
ITâS LIKE A FLYING SQUID OR SOMETHING
Anya
ððð
Anya
Iâd be more terrified if it wasnât so cool!
Anya
Holy shit nvm!
Anya
Itâs squirting black sludge everywhere!
Anya
This thing is gonna destroy the whole city!
~7:10 P.M.~
Jed
reyna where are u?
Jed
are u at the carnival?
Jed
thereâs a fucking flying squid monster
Jed
blotting out everything in its path
Jed
I donât even know how weâll fight this thing
Jed
oh FUCK
Jed
the ferris wheel is coming down!
Jed
please tell me that ur safe!
REYNA
My phone wouldnât stop buzzing, but I didnât want to read anyoneâs pity texts. I already knew I was wallowing in my own depression. I didnât need any reminders of how fucked-up I was feeling.
~Bzzzz-Bzzzz.~
God, I wished they would just leave me alone!
~Bzzzz-Bzzzz.~
âFucking stop!â I screamed as I grabbed my phone, ready to throw it across the room.
But then I saw the messages. The dozens and dozens of messages.
~Oh my God.~
Everyone that I cared about was at that carnival.
Everyone that I cared about was in trouble.
I couldnât just sit back and do nothing.
My wallowing period was over.
I had to protect the people I loved.
JED
Hordes of people were tripping over each other as they ran, trying to avoid the giant squid flying above, who was leaving piles of black sludge in its wake.
This carnival had turned into a cesspool real fast.
I pushed through the crowd, trying to find anyone I knew.
Trying to find Reyna.
My phone started buzzing, and I pulled it out, hoping it was her.
Killian
Bro are u seeing this?
Killian
Where the fuck did a kraken come from?
Jed
is that what it is?
Jed
how is it flying??
Jed
and breathing out of water???
Killian
U got me man
Killian
Haze imbalance is turning everything upside down
Jed
where are u?
Jed
have u seen reyna?
Killian
No, but I saw her dad and sis
Killian
Iâm trying to get people to safety inside the schoolâs basement
Jed
okay let me know if u see reyna
Jed
and be careful dude!
The sea of people was only growing more turbulent. Some people were shedding their clothes and fully shifting, while others were running to their vehicles.
People slipped and fell in the sludge. Some got stuck in it, as if it was tar.
This was madness. I needed to get to higher ground.
Half-shifting, I dug my claws into a ride called ~The Tower of the Deities~ and began to climb to the top.
When I reached the top and surveyed the mayhem, I was in awe of the giant beast. It was wreaking havoc on an unprecedented level.
My phone buzzed again. ~Please, please be Reyna.~
Reyna
Iâm good
Reyna
Are you okay?
Jed
thank god
Jed
where are u?
Reyna
On my way
Jed
wait, to the carnival??
Reyna
Yeah
Jed
REYNA what the fuck?
Jed
thatâs the opposite of safe!
Reyna
I know, but I have to help
Reyna
Iâm not going to let anyone else get hurt
Reyna
And that includes you
Fuck, why would she come here and put herself in danger? I guess that was one of the qualities about Reyna that I loved most.
She always put others first.
Suddenly, I noticed a tiny speck rocketing toward the kraken. As I squinted, I could just make out a scythe and a pair of wings.
Eve was doing her part.
I needed to do mine too. I slid down the tower, back into the crowd of people.
âThereâs a basement in the school thatâs safe!â I shouted. âEveryone remain calm and follow me!â
EVE
As the kraken brought down the Ferris wheel with a barrage of black sludge, my wings sprouted from my back. I grabbed Snow, just narrowly avoiding the ooze.
I flew down to the ground, where I saw that Raphael had partially shifted.
âAre you two alright?â he asked, embracing us.
Snow looked shaken up, but she was no longer having seizures.
âDid she?â Raphael asked hesitantly, looking from Snow to the kraken.
âIâm not sure, but however it got here, we need to end it now,â I said hurriedly. âIf we donât, it will raze Lumen.â
âGet me on that thingâs back, and Iâll tear its tentacles off,â Raphael growled.
âNo, you need to watch Snow,â I said without hesitation. âIâm the only one who can fly. I have to do this.â
âEve, you canât take on a kraken by yourself!â Raphael shouted angrily. âItâs suicide!â
âItâs ~necessary~,â I responded, using my wings to propel myself off the ground. âKeep her safe!â
I shot toward the kraken like an arrow, pulling out my scythe, ready to chop that slimy bastard in half.
It twisted and coiled its body defensively as it saw me coming. The creature was magnificentâ¦
But that didnât mean I wasnât going to turn it into sushi.
âAHHHHHHHHHRRRRRGGHH!â I screamed at the top of my lungs as I brought my scythe down onto the krakenâs shell andâ¦
~CRACK!~
My scytheâs blade cracked in half.
It didnât even penetrate the krakenâs natural armor.
Even my Devil powers were no match for this thingâ¦
As I looked at the creature, I was stunned and defenseless. It opened its toothy jaws, and I found myself facing a massive tidal wave of sludge.
~Fuck.~
RAPHAEL
I clenched my fists as I watched Eve fly toward the kraken. I wished there was more that I could do, but not even the Alpha of the Millennium was equipped to fight something of this magnitude.
I clutched Snow tightly as she watched her mother face the most monstrous thing sheâd ever seen. And Snow had seen a lot of fucking monsters.
âSheâs going to be okay,â I said, trying to reassure Snow, even though I needed reassurance myself. âYour mom can handle anything. Trust me.â
But as I said those words, I watched Eveâs scythe break against the krakenâs shell. ~Shit!~
She was right in its line of fire, and it was going to let loose.
âMAMA!â Snow screamed, breaking free of my grasp.
Snow was⦠She was ~glowing.~ She was so bright that I had to squint my eyes.
As she ran toward Eve, her feet left the ground, and she began flying. The energy radiating off Snow was so powerful that it nearly knocked me over.
Iâd never seen anything like this.
As Snow headed into a collision course with the kraken, all I could do was watch. The two women in my life who mattered most were in grave danger: it was about to blot out my mate and my daughter.
Snow inserted herself between Eve and the kraken, just as it sent a wave of sludge toward her.
âSNOW!â
But the sludge didnât harm her. It looked like she had actually ~absorbed~ it. I watched in horror as my daughter flew into the krakenâs tentacled mouth.
An earth-shattering explosion lit up the entire night sky, and it looked like it was daylight for a moment.
Chunks of kraken flesh and blood rained down on me.
~Sheâ¦she killed the kraken.~
Snowâs body was limp as she hovered in the air, a beacon of light. She was pulsating, as if she was about to explode.
The heat from her body was so intense it was burning my skin.
Eve wrapped her wings around Snow, ready to take the full brunt of the blast.
My vision was clouded by tears.
REYNA
Snow was about to explode, likely taking out all of Lumen with her.
Her powers had reached their limit, and we were all going to pay the price.
But I wasnât going to let anyone else die.
Not after what had happened with Derek. I wouldnât let myself feel helpless ever again.
I felt my fangs pushing through the roof of my mouth.
I needed to get up there, but I couldnât fly. How the hell was I going to do that?
I suddenly realized that Snow was hovering over the school.
If I could just get to the roof, then maybeâ¦
EVE
I knew what I had to do.
If saving Lumen meant sacrificing myself, then so be it. Iâd go out with my daughter. I couldnât live in a world without her anyway.
Not long ago, I wouldnât even have flinched at the thought of the population of Lumen going down in flames, but nowâ¦
Snow had unlocked a compassionate side of me that I thought Iâd lost hundreds of years ago.
I tried to hug her tightly, but she was pulsating so hard that she was pushing me away. A particularly intense vibration threw me backward.
This was it.
She was going to explode.
âEVE!â Reyna screamed my name from the roof below me. She had her arms outstretched, beckoning me to grab her.
I didnât know what her plan was, but we had no options left. I dove down and picked her up.
âReyna, what are youââ
As we got close to Snow, she slipped out of my grasp and landed on Snowâs back. I was shocked as Reyna sank her teeth into Snowâs neck.
Slowly, Snow started to dim.
As Reyna drained the energy from her, it was like she had cut a wire, deactivating Snow.
Both girls started falling, but I caught them and laid them safely on the roof.
Snow sat up, bleary-eyed and confused. I hugged her in disbelief.
Reyna had saved us all.
âReyna, youâ¦â As I turned to hug her next, I noticed her lifeless body.
She wasnât moving.
She wasnât breathing.
âReyna!â I screamed, holding her in my arms and shaking her, my eyes beginning to water.
It was no use.
She wasnât waking up.