The Perfect Storm

“What’s going on? Why are all these people dying?” I ask, determined to figure this out.

I had been aware that they were hiding something. I had seen the cutup newspaper in Kevin’s house. All of them were about the same thing: murder, kidnapping, bizarre animal attacks and sightings.

“Because of the Demolfs,” Alison says quietly, “They’re killing all those people.”

“What the hell is a Demolf?” I ask angrily, “And why are they killing them?”

“A Demolf is our natural enemy. Sortta like a Vampire and Werewolf. They want us dead; we want them dead. They’re really anything — from animal to human. They’re created from the Apocalypse. They kill and destroy anything they can find,” Alison says gravely, a small hint of sadness in her voice. “Only we can kill them. But it is very difficult. We have to kill them all, and it will stop the Apocalypse for another five hundred years.”

“How do we kill them?”

“Well, it all really depends. They’re broken up into four different groups: Earth, Air, Water, and Fire. Sometimes you can kill them by element. But the most effective way is by stabbing them in the heart, and cutting off their head. You have to do it with your hands, though. Nothing manmade can kill them. You can make your own weapons, though, and that’ll kill them.”

“Does anyone else know?”

“Only Kevin, Chris, Laura, Raine, Josh, Jessica, Martin, Kenny, Randy, Kim, Cassie, Jesse, Scarlett, Sophie, Duncan, Tristan, Alexandria, Marilynn, Andrew, Donovan, Allice, and the rest of my family know. They can help us.”

“Are you planning on telling the others?”

“They’re already working on it. David sent Steve home to warn everyone there. We’re hoping that they’ll help us.”

“Aren’t you scared? I mean, this is so … so … horrible.”

“Melody, calm down. Everything’s gonna be okay. Just like it always is. I have trust in that.”

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“Alright. As you all should know, the Demolfs are back. They’re more determined than ever,” Chris says gravely, looking around at all of us, “I know that we all have our problems, but we need to get over it and work together if we want to survive.”

“Every Witch, Warlock, and Muse in my family are helping. We all have our own special ability. I think that should be helpful since we’ve practically got Riddle blood in us,” Alison says sheepishly, feeding Drew a bottle of milk.

“Vampires are willing to be of service,” Donovan says unemotionally.

“I’m sure you could do that, Prince Dominic,” I say, smirking.

Donovan stood up, growling at me, “I dropped that title over seven hundred years ago.”

“Touché,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“You know, that explains so much,” Kevin says, smirking, “Like how you always expect to get your way.”

“Enough,” Alison says, glaring around, “Donovan left the palace when he was five. By choice. If anyone else is to mention it then I will burn them to ashes. Alright?” No one commented.

“All of Hell is happy to help. We may be Demons, but we’re as upset by the world ending as the next guy,” David says, grinning.

“And the Princesses shall be arriving tomorrow. Melody, you’ll have to explain to them what’s going on.”

“Princesses of what?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. This is sort of weird about the amount of royalty gathered in one place.

“Fairies and Pixies,” Jake sneers angrily.

“Really? I hear that they’re amazing dancers!” Roxana says excitedly.

“They’re the enemies to Witches and Warlocks,” Alison says quietly, “We don’t get along.”

“THEY’RE STUCK UP BITCHES!” Jake yells angrily.

“Exhibit A.” Alison gestures to Jake, who was obviously steaming.

“They think they’re so much better than us! Just because they can fly! Well, if they saw Rose and Faith and Destiny! Oh, then they’d see!” Jake was about to continue on his furious rant, until Alison whacked him upside the head.

“Are you done yet?” She snaps grouchily.

“Yeah, I’m done,” Jake grumbles.

Alison rolls her eyes. “So, as you can see, we hate them, they hate us.” In a much quieter voice she muttered, “Stupid bitches.”

“THEY CAN’T EVEN SEE THE FUTURE!” Jake explodes suddenly. Alison glares at him, but he continues talking, “C’mon, Rose! Remember when you and Princess Calypso got in that argument about whether or not Taylor Lautner was hot?”

“SHUT UP!!!” Alison went at him.

“YOU KEPT CALLING HIM — OUCH!!! WHAT THE HELL?!!!” Jake yells, as Alison sits on his back, preparing to break his arms. “You know, you’re a lot heavier than you look!”

“Yeah, I know.” Alison rolls her eyes at him. “And, yeah, I remember. The bitch fucking broke my nose.”

“Speaking of Bitch One and Bitch Two, they’re here.” Alison was gone in a flash. Freaky Vampire speed, I tell yah!

“I can hear you, Melody!” Jesse says, glaring at me.

“So? You have freaky Vampire speed, too. You’re half Vampire!”

“Okay, so, what’d I miss?” A girl asks, boredom written clearly across her face. She had sandy blonde hair — that I’m sure it was really golden blonde if she washed it — and dark eyes. “Hey, little bro.” She ruffles Jesse’s hair, making him glare at her.

“Nothing, Danielle. The Pixie and Fairy Princess are coming, though.”

“Oh, Bitch One and Bitch Two. Yeah, I heard that.”

“Who are you?” I ask, raising an eyebrow.

“The Vampire Prince’s first daughter. My name’s Danielle Grace Connor.” She smirks at me.

I look over at Donovan, just to see his mouth hanging wide open and his eyes bugging out of his head. “HOLY —”

“Finish that sentence and I’ll drive a stake through your heart,” Alison says, as she walks by, “JAKE!!! I’m gonna kill you!”

Jake was off as Alison chased after him. “COME ON, ROSE!!! IT WAS ONLY A JOKE!!! BITCH ONE AND BITCH TWO AREN’T SHOWING UP TILL TOMORROW!!!”

“I’M STILL GONNA KILL YOU!!!”

“REALLY?!!! WITH NO GOODBYE HUG?!!!”

“Oh, you wish!” Alison was sitting on his back, preparing to break his arms in a matter of seconds. “Any final requests?”

“Just one.”

“No.”

“Aw! C’mon! You’re just gonna kill me like that?!”

“Yep. Pretty much.”

“You suck.”

“Focus! Let go of him!” I say, glaring at her.

“Yes, your highness,” Alison says sarcastically, curtseying before taking her seat. “Either way, we need them. Not a word, Jake!”

“But, come on! We’ve already got over five hundred! Do we really need them?”

“Yes, we do. There’s already over three million Demolfs!”

“Three million?” I ask, my eyes going visibly wide.

“Three million, fifty-two thousand, and six,” Alison says matter-of-factly.

“Holy crap,” I squeak, “What the hell did I even do?”

“I dunno. I think the King is just your evil twin like guy.”

“Huh?”

“Well, like McKayla’s my complete opposite, but we look exactly the same. ‘Cause, for one thing, she fell for Jake.”

“Hey!”

“Oh, suck it up, Jake! I thought we were over this already! You. Are. A. Cocky. Ass.”

“Hey!”

“Oh, boy.” Alison rolls her eyes at him.

“You know she’s right,” I say, smirking as he glares at me, “I spent about an hour with you.”

“So you don’t really know me!” Jake says, grinning.

“No, I know you. You’re a cocky jerk with about the biggest ego I’ve ever seen,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“Anyway, I think it’s the same thing with the Demolfs. They all might look like us, but aren’t anything like us. I know they can shape-shift.”

“Speaking of shape-shifting, where’s Tyler?” I ask, looking around.

“Umm … Tyler’s … dead,” Alison says quietly, looking down, “One of the Demolfs attacked him the other night during the family reunion.”

“Oh.” So that was what Alison was upset about the other day. She saw Tyler dying. “I’m sorry, Al, I know —”

“You know, just forget it. I watch people die all the time. It’s no big deal.” Alison looked up coldly, letting me know that this is a big deal. “Oh, and I remembered who you were.”

“Yeah?” I ask excitedly.

“Mercy Trinity Carter.” Kevin did a spit take right then. “Okay, really?”

“Yes, really,” he says, wiping at his mouth, “Excuse me.” He got up, and as he walked away he yelled in a language that I did not know. Which is a lot because I’m not that bright.

“So, we’ve got Vampires, Hell, Witches, Warlocks, and us. Anybody else?” I ask.

“Heaven!” Sophie says, grinning, popping up like lightning, “I just got off the phone with Chief Deangelo — NOT YOU, JAKE!!!”

“See! Cocky!” Alison makes a dramatic gesture to him with her hand. “And you say I have a big ego.”

“That’s because you do Mrs. Most-Powerful-Witch-In-The-Universe-Who-Can’t-Go-Without-Using-Magic-For-Anything,” Jake says sarcastically, smirking.

“YES I CAN!!!” Alison says defensively, “I can do a lot of things without magic!”

“I bet you can’t even tie your shoelaces!”

“I know you can’t!”

“That’s because I don’t have to!”

“Enough,” I say, glaring between the two, “What about you, Bennett? Is your family even helping?”

“He’s scared that his mommy will kill his girlfriend,” Alison says teasingly, rolling her eyes, “You should’ve seen Martin’s face when he met Jake.” Martin grumbles incoherently.

“Well, Witch —”

“My name is Alison,” she snaps.

“Yeah, whatever. I can’t call my brothers because then they’d slaughter all of you.”

“Oh, so the upcoming end of the world means absolutely nothing to them!”

“Fine. If you wanna die so badly then why don’t you call them?!”

“Alright, Jake?” Jake hands her Tristan’s phone. She walks away before Tristan got the change to protest.

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No more gas, in the red, can’t even get it started
Nothing heard, nothing said, can’t even speak about it
On my life, on my head, don’t wanna think about it
Feels like I’m going insane, yeah

The words to the song almost seemed to swirl around me as I sat in my room, thinking. So much information. Little to no time to think about it. I could feel the headache as it formed.

I pulled out my laptop, typing in the Google.

It’s a thief in the night to come and grab you
It can creep up inside you and consume you
A disease of the mind, it can control you
It’s too close for comfort

I wasn’t sure what I was looking for exactly, but I knew what I wanted to find out. Slowly, with my hands shaking slightly, I typed: Demolf

Put on your pretty lies, you’re in the city of wonder
Ain’t gonna play nice, watch out you might just go under
Better think twice, your train of thought will be altered
So if you must falter be wise

What I found scared me half to death.

Your mind’s in disturbia, it’s like the darkness is light
Disturbia, am I scaring you tonight?
Disturbia, ain’t used to what you like
Disturbia, disturbia

I felt the laptop fall out of my head, everything swarming around me like a tornado. All the past events; everyone around me; what everything meant.

Faded pictures on the wall, it’s like they talking to me
Disconnecting on calls, the phone don’t even ring
I gotta get out or figure this shit out
It’s too close for comfort, oh

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I woke up on the cold floor of my office. I wasn’t sure how I had gotten there. I didn’t care. My head was throbbing, my entire body sore from the uncomfortable, hard surface of the floor. I felt like I had just been ran over by one of those ridiculous Monster Trucks, or just fought John Cena.

I sit up, rubbing my head. I knew that I probably looked a wreck. My theory was confirmed as I looked in the mirror. My rainbow hair was knotted tightly, looking like a giant bird’s nest from atop of my head. My eyes had purple rings under them, and the eyeballs themselves looked red and puffy. My face was an ugly pasty color, my makeup smeared all over it. All in all, I looked hideous.

I take a washcloth and start working on my face, watching with satisfaction as it started to get that natural glow back. I continue on my morning routine, skipping the makeup and just curling my hair. I look up at myself, smiling. Much better. I looked like my normal, pretty self.

Now, to get to work. I walk into my office, Mountain Dew in hand to wake me up. I sip on it as I pick up my laptop, which had oddly fallen on the floor. That’s not like me. I study it, soon realizing that it was broken. Crap. Looks like I’ll be studying the old-fashioned way. Oh well.

A knock at my door pulled me away from the mythology book that I was reading. I walk out of the office, opening my front door to reveal Kevin. “Hey,” I say, leaning against the door frame.

“Hey. I wasn’t sure if you’d be up or not.”

“Well, I am. What do yah need?”

“Actually, I’m here to help you. Alec said that you’d probably be doing research.”

“Unless you can fix my laptop, I don’t think there’s much you can do.”

“Let me take a look at it.” I shrug, gesturing for him to come in.