CHAPTER 46
"Hey, good morning, Mike."
"Hey, Emily, I was looking for you too."
"What's up, Mike? Are you okay? Do you need something?"
"No, I just wanted to ask how you're doing. Considering everything we've been through recently… By the way, we're going back to that house tonight. Maybe we can learn more. I thought I'd ask if you want to come."
"Hey, of course I want to come. Why wouldn't I?"
"You're right… I just… it's hard to say… I don't know how to put it… But I've been thinking about this for a long time; we've been through a lot, we survived a lot recently, and I don't want to hide this anymore… But I think for us again…"
Before Mike could finish his sentence, Emily put her finger on his lips to silence him.
"Stop talking, just do what you need to do," she said, and kissed him.
Mike was surprised for a moment, but he kissed back.
Zack, turning the corner in the hallway, saw what was happening.
"Hey, did I miss something?" he said with a grin.
Emily put her finger up, signaling Zack to stay quiet.
Zack smirked mischievously and stepped back, walking away.
Evening was approaching. The three met in front of the school.
"So, are you ready to go back there? I understand if you're not," Mike said.
"Look, Mike, how many times have we talked about this? I don't think we need to talk anymore, right? Emily, you agree with me, don't you?"
"Yes, Zack is right. Mike, we're with you, don't worry. We'll handle it."
"Then let's get in the car," Zack said.
They were going back to the house Mike had last seen Malcolm in.
On the way, suddenly smoke started rising from the car hood.
"Hey Zack, you still haven't fixed this?" Mike asked.
"I know, I know, you're right. I said I'd fix it, at least check it… But I completely skipped it. Now, even if we fix it just enough to reach our target, it'll be enough. Let's go, Mike," Zack replied.
"Man, Zack, why can't we just go somewhere without these kinds of problems? Anyway, there's nothing we can do," Mike sighed.
They solved the problem and set off again to reach the house, but the road was different from last week; darker, creepier, and longer. Finally, they arrived.
"Hey, wait… This wasn't like this. It's changed," Zack said.
Mike quickly got out of the car, and before he could understand what was happening, he saw demons surrounding him. Everything was pitch dark; it was just him and the demons.
Suddenly, the demons attacked him. He struggled to fight; they were pulling him underground. At that moment, his transformation triggered automatically to protect him. He hadn't fully transformed after trapping the demon yet.
But because the demons were pulling him underground, his defense mechanism activated. He was in a very weak form; he had neither blue nor black flames. Yet, he was strong enough to defeat the demons at that level. His bones cracked and reshaped like iron, claws extended, teeth sharpened.
In an instant, with explosive force, he broke the necks of the demons holding him underground, lifted them up, and emerged to his feet.
"RAAAAAAAA!" he roared ferociously.
He punched the incoming demons one by one, and destroyed the others with flames from his mouth.
After stopping all of them, no more demons appeared.
He returned to human form, and the surroundings suddenly went back to normal.
Zack and Emily couldn't understand what had just happened in the darkness.
Mike, exhausted, fell to his knees; he was struggling to breathe.
Zack and Emily tried to help him regain his strength.
He slowly tried to recover, but he knew that if he stayed this weak, he wouldn't even be able to defeat more demons, let alone the demon itself.