Three eighth grade students sat around a table in the cafeteria of Redhill middle school. These three students were different to the others for one important reason. In 15 minutes, all three of them would be chased out of the school by an angry mob made up of their classmates.

Just as the three students—two twins named Rafael and Alexis along with their close friend Kyren—were about to start another round of the card game they had been playing, the principal ran into the cafeteria, wheeling in an old television set. When he made it in, the principal tapped a microphone that was sitting in the front of the cafeteria, gaining the whole room’s attention.

“Something terrible is happening.” The principal waved down the questions from his audience. “In a moment, I am going to tune this TV into the news. Before I do so I want everyone in this room to promise to remain calm and collected and to remain in your seats.”

When the room gave their collective assent, the principal stepped aside and turned the television on.

The head of a young woman, made famous from her role as a prominant news anchor, appeared on the screen. “For those who are just now tuning in, we urge you to find cover as soon as possible. I repeat, if you are in the areas surrounding Columbus, Ohio, please find appropriate shelter. We have confirmation that a horde of werewolves has started attacking the suburbs north of Columbus. The current estimated death toll is in the thousands.”

There was absolute quiet in the cafeteria. Redhill was only half an hour east of Columbus. It was possible the horde could turn toward them. Even if it didn’t, many of the students in the room had friends or family in the area where the werewolves had been seen.

The television switched over to an older man. “Although hordes of this size have been sighted occasionally since the start of the werewolf pandemic nearly fifty years ago, North America has only seen a few attacks on this scale, and America’s Midwest has never faced a supernatural threat on this level.”

Kyren stood up from his chair suddenly. His adopted father was a Guild hunter, assigned to hunting down werewolves in the local area. He was quickly dragged back down by the twins whose looks of panic oddly helped to calm him. His father was partnered to theirs. In a situation like this, they would be the ones on the front lines.

The old man was now pointing to a logo on the screen. “Previous threats of this scale across the world have been largely handled by the Guild, a global organization that works under the authority of the United Nations. Many are concerned that the Guild’s light presence in the region will prevent them from resolving this threat quickly.” The man perked his ear up as he heard a voice in the background. “I’m just now hearing that one of our reporters is at the scene.”

The camera cut to another reporter, this one a young man. In the background, fires rose high into the air and screams could be heard in the distance, made distinct thanks to the camera’s quality. “Hello! I am live at the scene of the attack where refugees are evacuating south towards Columbus. Local law enforcement and the national guard have stepped in to help with evacuation. According to the authorities here, no contact has been established with the local Guild branches.”

Kyren, Alexis, and Rafael drew a number of hateful looks from the students around them. The other students probably thought the Guild’s lack of response was because of cowardice or the like. The three of them knew better. They had already begun training as Guild apprentices. They knew just how strict Guild protocol was, and they knew many of the local Guild hunters. If they could not be contacted, it meant that they were either in heavy combat or dead.

The young man continued his report. “The North American Guild headquarters in Washington D.C. has made an official statement. They assure that their troops are on their way along with several of their supers.”

Cheers broke out from the cafeteria. The Guild had started as a purely human resistance when werewolves had seemed a containable threat, but as the threat grew, other supernaturals had emerged to help humanity in its struggle. Nowadays, these supernaturals had taken the title of supers both because of their supernatural powers and as an allusion to how they were seen by the general public: superheroes.

“The Guild has noted that it will take several hours for their forces to arrive, before which, the local Guild branches will be responsible for doing everything possible to contain the threat.”

More eyes turned to the trio.

Just as the reporter was about to launch into an interview with a commander of the national guard, gunshots sounded in the background of the video. Seconds later, a group of people with glowing yellow eyes and claws protruding from their hands started running towards the camera at impossible speed, overtaking the panicked refugees easily. Just before the camera cut off, a dark form flew down from the sky. The shadow that surrounded its body quickly expanded, covering the area as far as the camera could show.

Some of the students frowned in confusion, but others realized what they were seeing right away. A shade. If the Guild’s supers could be considered superheroes, shades were undoubtedly supervillains. One unique property of shades was the shadowy aura that surrounded them. Most couldn’t expand the aura far beyond their bodies, but for all shades, one thing was constant. Anything living that touched their aura would immediately die.

It wasn’t long before even the slowest students realized that they had just witnessed the slaughter of countless people. Soon after, the students all felt a burning anger. That anger quickly sought out the only available targets. Targets whose parents were responsible for the protection of the innocents from supernatural threats. Before long, Kyren, Alexis, and Rafael were assailed by a multitude of thrown lunch trays. As they ran from the other students, they were followed by a steadily larger and angrier crowd.

In the late spring of 2031, three young students were chased out of Redhill middle school by an angry mob of students. All three of them suffered significant injury, but despite everything, they weren’t worried for themselves, but rather for their parents who at that moment could well have been dead.