Kristi Grove adjusted the rigid fabric against her hip with a growl. Won’t this elevator move any faster? She picked at one of the blue straps digging into her skin, deciding that as soon as this wretched party was over she would burn it.

Bret wandered through the trees, bored and aimless. It was a cold and cloudy day; the sky looked like it was going to rain soon. He swatted at the branches and yawned, wishing his mom would just give up on this stupid vacation and take him back home.

“Come on!” Eddie Boleman shouted, pumping his palm against the metal bench press. “You got this! Come on!”

The car came to a stop next to the curb, idling just outside the playground on Miller Street. Haatim glanced out the window at all of the gathered children, running around and playing on the swings and climbing objects scattered throughout.

“That’s it?” Jayson Coley asked, staring out the train’s circular window into the forest beyond. A squat building had just appeared through the canopy of trees, ahead and above them on their path through the forest.

“What the hell was that?” Jeremiah asked, rushing forward. The shocked and terrified look on his face would have been hilarious to Argus Wade if it wasn’t for what had just happened. “What the hell was that?”

Abigail drove out of the city and north on the highway, thoroughly exhausted from the day’s ordeal but not yet able to relax. Haatim sat in the passenger seat, a blank expression on his face as he tried to process everything that was happening to him.

“Stupid head!”  It was the cleverest thing Traq could think of to say, but his harsh words were greatly diminished by the giant grin on his face. He wasn’t mad, he rarely got mad at his friend, but Everett wasn’t playing fair.

Abigail rushed out after the demon, sprinting with long, even strides. The woman she was chasing was fast, and the demon inside of her was pushing the nurse’s body to peak capacity, which made it difficult to keep up.