“We aren’t going to make it!” Ricky said, now knowing this was a very bad idea, but it was too late to turn back—well if they could. It was merely impossibly. He kept shooting off Kate’s guns

Kate grimaced as she feared this might happened. She always had a backup plan. This mission wasn’t supposed to go this way, and the chances were the mission to go smoothly was high chance, but the demons had ambushed them as they were sneaking around. She grabbed the Portable Port from her pocket and was about to fling it on the floor the next moment, distracted by her task at hand.

A demon lurched at her, knocking the magical marble from her hand, making her stumble back in surprise. She fell down on her bottom, seeing the marble roll to where the demons were, “No!” she screamed, her hands reaching out to the disappearing marble from the demons’ feet. She made a wave of flames to them, and the demons back away, some not fortunate enough.

Ricky pulled Kate up in then, “We need to get out of here!”

“I dropped the marble,” replied Kate with a gasped look. “I don’t have anymore.”

“There has to be another way!” said Ricky with eyes of terror as demons started closing in, some out of their human vessels.

Kate looked down at her watch and glared a hateful stare at the demons. She slammed on the red button, turning the button one time, the meaning of emergency. The button ticked back again, which it meant the watch sent the signal.

Ricky, Kate, and Demetrius all huddled together as demons lurched at them in slow motion, their mouths in saliva, hungry for the kill. And Kate thought, for that split awful, long two seconds, that they were done for. That she failed her brothers. She kept letting flames explode from her hands.

One of the demons froze and jerked his gaze to the window, the rest of the demons following suit. Not because one demon gave a suspicious look, but the oncoming wave of powerlessness that was coursing through the air like high tension of humidity.

“FUCK!” a demon screamed as the figure came closer.

Kate stared in awe, but the other demons stared up in horrible, frightened terror as they literally shook in their shoes.

The windows crashed through the hallway, where the broken elevators were. Every single eye looked upon pair of black wings spreading out like in a splendid stance, the wings expanding out in a threatening fierce, blocking out all the sunlight.

The lights flickered off as the demons stumbled back, a pair of red eyes glaring in the complete darkness, “You called?”

Kate grinned in a beautiful small, “Sara!”

But before she had even finished her name, Sara flickered out her arms, blades glistering in the dark. Then, she folded back her wings in quick succession and was diving through the demons, cutting through flesh, black blood spraying out.

Kate wanted to watch, but she let her flames flow out of her, the light coming back on. Now we have a fair chance.

Demetrius and Ricky were back into their fighting, their back pressed together as they let bullets fly and penetrate the dying demons.

Kate whirled around as a demon crept close to her, but another demon came behind her and stabbed in her in the back. She screamed in pain as she flew her hands outwards and flames burst from her fingertips.

Another demon came and kicked at her leg and she punched the floor, letting a wave of a fire shield slammed around them, the demons turning into nothingness.

“Kate!” Sara called out and demons took that one valuable look at her friend and knocked her down to the floor.

Sara fell in a grunt, seeing demons laugh as they started to kick at her. Sara saw Kate being beaten up and her brothers getting closer to death as demons clawed at them.

Kate was lying on the floor, rolling in pain, trying to stop the punches and hard kicks, but she couldn’t. It was going too fast. She turned to her friend, seeing her being treated the same way, and locked eyes, feeling tears of hurt from losing such a battle in a bad way. She saw Sara’s coal eyes look back at her in an emotionally heartbroken way.

Kate knew that was the end of it.

She had a good long ride until now.

Sara saw her friend giving up, seeing her friend yell in pain as she fought every once to get up and fight back. Then, saw a glint of a dagger swash down to Kate, right where her neck was. Sara’s heart skipped a beat or two. She let an outraged roar escape her throat, having the demons stare at her with smirks on their faces.

The demon's thoughts she was screaming in pain and terror.

No, she was screaming from rage and anger building inside of her. She couldn’t let her friends be killed like this. Sara was their bodyguard. The protector. But...all these demons, even as the best assassin around, she couldn’t kill a thousand of them

She wanted to bury herself in her hands and cry that she ruined everything.

A voice hushed in her mind, smooth and comforting: “Do you need help, Sara?” Sal asked.

Sara shook her head, grasping her hair tightly, yanking it down that knowing all was going to be lost. “Leave me alone!”

Sal mused, appearing in front of her. “Oh dear, looks like poor Katerina will have her neck slashed and the demons will feast on her body.”

Sara jerked her head to Kate, the blade getting itches closer, “NO!” She reached her hands out. She froze in her movement, seeing everything was moving in such a slow motion, like she was the Flash, herself moving, but barely anyone else.

Sal shrugged, “You fight your powers. Why?”

“Because my powers kill people. Innocent people.” She was astounded, “Are you doing this?” She glanced up at Sal, her tension easing a little as she saw the fighting and angry looks at Kate’s brothers.

“And you say all these demons are innocent,” he breathed down her ear, not answering her question, “You are going to let your best friend die because you were afraid to kill. You could unleash all the potential which you desire to put to waste. You are not an assassin if you can’t kill.” Sal smirked and faced her, their noses nearly touching, his eyes gazing playfully at hers, “And can’t save your own friends. You aren’t even a damn hero.”

Sara gulped down hate that Sal had said...but he had to be right. He was always right, wasn’t he?

Sal gestured to Kate, “Look, a knife about to slit her throat, are you just going to weep like a bitch or do something like a hero?”

Sara saw the blade so close to the neck now, in a torture slow way. She whirled on her feet, wiping off her tears, and spat out, “I am a hero. Katerina’s bodyguard and will not let her die because I was slow!”

The fourteen-year-old girl felt anger rise up to the surface. She couldn’t believe she would just sit there and watch her friend die, thinking she could’ve done nothing when she could

And worst of all, seeing her friend being hurt like that was much worse than stabs all over her body. Sara’s cheeks flustered in frustration and anger, and rage built inside her like nothing before.

How dare these demons to think they could kill them?

How dare she think she could be lazy like that?

Sara saw the glistering magic of the marble that was in a corner. She dashed to it, seeing that time was still slow.

She was going to Kate, when Sal gripped her hands and said with a grin, “I think you owe me a thank you. I am helping you after all.”

“Why did you slow time for me?” Sara asked in confusion. There was no need for him to be helpful to her. She would’ve thought he would’ve liked all her friends to die and enjoyed her to himself.

“A thank you will be nice and sufficient,” replied Sal, gripping her wrists tighter.

“Thank you,” declared Sara, eyeing him with a stern look of dislike, but a grateful gaze passed her feature.

Sal let go of her, “You are going to be so drained by tomorrow...”

The time came back again, everything moving so fast, but Sara moved faster. Her eyes blurred golden as she zig-zagged through the demons in a golden flash, her swords slicing away as she did so. But, as she reached for Kate, barely missing that critical second as the dagger plunged into Kate’s neck, her body convulsing in pain as blood sprayed like a water fountain.

Sara dropped her knees as her hands shook to Kate’s long, slender neck in a sob. She was too late.

Sal appeared next to her, Sara looking at him with a pleading gaze. If he could stop time, he could do something about Kate. “Please! Sal.” She saw now that time had slowed once again.

Sal said, patting Demetrius’s head as he saw his face in a fighting pose as he shoot off the bullets, which were barely zooming in the air. He grabbed one bullet, studying it. “Sara,” he cooed, kneeling next to her as Sara cradled Kate’s head, “You know what to do. You’re choice if you want your friends to survive tonight.”

Sara turned at him, but he had disappeared and the time went back to normal, “Wait!” Sara gasped, wondering where Sal had gone.

You know what to do...if you want your friends to survive tonight Sal’s words repeated smoothly in her mind.

Sara swallowed and growled, “No more wasting time." Anger rose inside her rose even further to the surface as she had relied on Sal to help her save her friends. That she was too incompetent to save her own damn friend without this fucking moron in her head. Not just that, but spite made her soul burn with hatred for herself as she was so damn careless, thinking that there was no other way to save her friends...that she was so afraid to unveil who she was.