In a long concrete Hallway a tall pale redheaded boy with more freckles than unmarked skin was running looking behind his shoulder on occasion. As the redhead ran down the hallway a voice echoed around him “Jerry, Jerry, Jerry, Why are you running, it isn’t like I am going to hurt you…Probably.” That was followed by a chuckle, which much like the voice echoed. The redheaded youth sped up as the chuckles cascaded over and around him. He took a left turn from the corridor he had been in and stopped abruptly. In front of him stood a darkly dressed figure, the one who had been chasing him throughout this place. The figure spoke in a light voice “Jerry come on we had a deal, I would let you roam around and in exchange you had to stop causing disturbances in Women’s shower rooms and the like.” He extended his arms gesturing to the area behind and around him. “This to me looks rather like an area where women get undressed for various activities. Which certainly counts towards violating your end of the deal, this mea-” His reprisal was interrupted when Jerry turned partially transparent, and his form changed slightly to reveal what he actually was, a Ghoul, a form of undead and a sub-type of ghost, he impacted against the young man, for a moment. The young man hit the wall with a cough and as he fell down Jerry ran down another hallway hoping to lose his pursuer in the maze of corridors.

Tristan picked himself up off the floor and shook himself off, and reached an arm behind him to remove some shards of glass and metal. When he hit the wall he smacked into a case with a fire extinguisher, He pulled the shards out with a grimace before looking around at the fresh blood adorning the hallway. He sighed and shook his head while thinking ‘Why must he run, they all do, but why, ahh, so troublesome.’ He shook his head once before he took off down the hallway after Jerry. The redheaded Ghoul was running down one of the hallways when a mass of black flew over his shoulder, but it dissipated in the air. He paused and halted for a moment before he looked over his shoulder at Tristan. The young man paused as his quarry did as well and launched a mass of darkness at the Ghoul, similar to what he had cast before, but this one turned into a net-like form and settled around the Ghoul. Jerry hissed as the magical bonds bit into and burned his flesh where they made contact. “Jerry I wish it didn’t have to come to this, especially since we knew each other before you became this, but you didn’t hold up your end, and you also ended up attacking one of the women you were watching.”

He paused for a moment to cast another spell, this time one for summoning a weapon. He closed his eyes as he did so and focused, concentrating on the things bound to him. He could see them in his mind, there were two of them, one was black, dark as night, the other was red, the dark crimson red of blood, it was the paler of the two, but no less vibrant. Within his mind he reached towards the black bond, though for a moment felt tug towards the Crimson bond. It always drew him, though he had learned to resist its call. He extended his right arm forward, and grasped with his hand, within a dark shadow took form. It extended and took the shape of a long, dark metal baton, at the head a protrusion form, which eventually took the shape of a blade. Tristan opened his eyes and waved the scythe down, before he twirled it around in his hand a bit. The Ghoul’s eyes widened in fear and his mouth opened, though he could not cry out due to the net silencing him. Tristan saw the look and chuckled slightly before he responded while brandishing his scythe with a twirl.

“Don’t worry Jerry, this is to send you on your way, at least I am not like the Rogue and Feral Mages who have been corrupted by Death, they would seek to enslave you. I am merely going to send you from this Plane, where to I don’t know. You might go to Heaven, you might go to Hell, hell, I don’t even know if either of those places exists, anyways if there is a next life; try not to repeat the same mistakes you made here.” Tristan then swung the scythe, the blade cutting cleanly through the net, which dissipated around the blade, it cut into Jerry, his mouth formed into a soundless scream. It didn’t actually cut into him, the Ghouls form faded around the blade and disappeared much like that net did when the blade came into contact with it. As Ghoul started to fade Tristan withdrew the Scythe as a light shrouded Jerry’s form as it fully vanished. He walked around briefly and cast some magic to clean up the more suspicious signs of what happened here. Blood would draw more attentions than a broken emergency case and damaged wall alone would. He looked around to make sure he got everything, when an alarm sound came from his pocket; he retrieved his phone and looked to see what it was.

He swiftly unlocked his phone and glanced at it, his eyes widened as he did so. It was a warning alarm telling him he was about to be late, he dropped his phone back in his pack and ran opposite of where he had been facing. As he ran franticly he thought ‘Damn, hope I make it in time, don’t want to be late again, that teacher will get onto me again.’ Running and lost in his thoughts as he was he didn’t notice the being shimmer into place near where he had been moments ago. The figure looked towards him before it reached a hand towards its own ear. It then spoke aloud in an enchanting voice “Yes, Sir? I found him… no, from what I have seen the SSD hasn’t made their move yet. Should I trail him further? Ok, I will just assemble the team.” The figure gave one last glance towards the direction Tristan vanished in before shimmering out of view. Many miles away, in a dimly lit office sat a gaudily robed man; he sat down in a plush chair as he sat the phone on his desk. He chuckled and thought ‘it has been many years boy, but you can’t run from me any longer, you almost cost me my job, you will pay for that.’

Elsewhere in the city in a high end club a rather attractive redheaded woman in her early twenties glanced towards the East. That happened to be where Tristan had been not long ago, the woman gave an offhand remark to the man she had been conversing with. She then stood up, the dress she was wearing clinging to her curves like a second skin, her mane of titian locks cascaded behind her. The greasy looking man she had been dining with looked at her greedily as she left the table. He was actually lucky she left, as he was to be her sustenance for the night, it would have proven an experience one of his ilk didn’t deserve. She only fed on those who had committed certain atrocities, when she was first summoned to this plane after so long; some of her initial actions displeased her master, which led to her banishment. When she summoned herself again she went a long way towards rectifying her past mistakes to please her master. The woman walked out of the club, the crowd gyrating on the dance floor parted as she passed through them, all of them entranced by her. The ancient being in the body of the one known as Kandace looked towards the East once more as she thought ‘Found you, my Master, I hope you will be pleased with my actions.’ She giggled giddily at the thought of his reaction when he saw her next.

In the college Tristan was attending he sat in an office being berated by the teacher in charge of his morning class. He rolled his eyes internally as the gruff voiced older man spoke “ Mr. Carver, how many times have I told you that you must be to class on time if you wish to succeed here, I do not care if your job as you call it was why you were--.“ Tristan tuned out the teachers reprimands, this was not the first time he had heard it, the content of these lectures was mostly the same each time. After the teacher prattled on for a good while he stood up as the older man finally finished and sent him on his way. He left the teacher’s office and walked down the hallway a short ways before reaching and entering one of the restrooms. He stood by the sink for a moment before wetting his face a bit and glancing up at the mirror. It portrayed a pale black haired youth, who many here would consider attractive if not for his overly aloof and carefree nature. On his neck there were two pale marks, near imperceptible against his skin, a marking from that incident so many years ago and from Her.

He closed his eyes and when he opened them again they were different from the normally sea green orbs that lay within his eyes. One eye was crimson, with a slitted pupil; the other was a black lightless orb that seemed to extinguish all that entered it. His hair also changed slightly becoming silver in color and much longer, though the change reverted when he closed his eyes, He gave his appearance one last glance before he sighed and left the restroom to make his way towards the lecture hall. He did not exactly like attending school especially as he had less than fond memories it mostly due to the incident in the past. He exited the building through a corridor off the hallway he had been in; he crossed the courtyard that lay in the middle of the College. It was beautiful or could be considered so at least, there were many flowerbeds and trees along with several benches scattered periodically. If it wasn’t for the concrete paths that were marring the beauty of the grass and the giant buildings surrounding it one would almost think they were at a nature park of some sort. He swiftly crossed through the courtyard making his way to the building opposite and the lecture hall which it contained.