The Secondary Saga

[Ruby Rose]

I looked Alice in the eyes, silver to red. She was... Crying? What happened to her? That was when it hit me; she was worried shitless about my state of mind. I threw her a comforting smile, tilting my head slightly.

"It's alright. I'm not going mad." I reassured her, before standing up, the vampire's chilled hands leaving my cheeks.

"I beg to differ." She teased cheekily as I extended a hand of my own back down to her, and she gladly accepted it, allowing me to pull her to her feet. We waded through more sludge, the murky substance only reaching around my thighs, while Alice had to lift her skirt almost all the way to not get it dirty. Thankfully, I'm a lanky giant.

The muck became thicker, and rose higher, high enough that I actually had to carry Alice again. This time, though, I was able to give her a ride on my shoulders, seeing as she could keep her balance at that stage. I could hear her scream every time I tripped in the murk (I may or may not have done so twice on purpose), and hear her giggle after the shock. She was a strange girl, and mysterious through and through... But something still didn't feel right about her... I still had to figu-

"OH, SHIT!" I swore as I fell ass over heels, face-first into the swamp that was made of god-knows-what. I managed to claw my way up, and found solace on a rise in the earth, somewhere we could get a brief moment of R and R...

But 'we' did not exist at that moment. I gazed around, my heart pounding. Where's Alice go?! That was when my ears were met with a screaming from the bog, and my eyes met by a flailing arm. I skittered across the dank earth and reached out for Alice, all the while she kept screaming, "Grave! Help me!"

I finally managed to snatch the pearly-white hand and pulled with all my might, the slender vampire slipping out of the swamp, the latter slurping at her heels. I fell backwards, and Alice lay on top of me. Our eyes met for a moment, closer than ever, before she rolled off of me. Although, that was right when it started again.

J̰̿͝O̩̼S̗͍͈̹̻̙͒̎ͮͯ́É̸̘̊̽͑̔ͫͤ̈!̭̭̲̜̍ͩ̿̋͂̇̎ ̨̩ͣͤ̆H̢͕͖͙̲̮̄ͥ̇̃̒EͧL̆̊P̧̗̟͎͙̣ͨ̑͆ͪͮͅ ̢͖͖̺̜͗̇̄ͤ̓M̻͍͖̥ͫ̉͂̐̈Ė͓̗͔̭͎̩͓̆̉͟!̮̳͚̟̦͊ͅ
̝͕̲͚̹̦ͥ
D̤̈̓ȫ̵̪̮̳͂͛̎ͩn̨̍̇̽ͬ͆'͋́̊͡t̝͕̩͕̊͜ ͒ͯ͌́͑̃͌ǵ̦͈̭̱̏̔i͌͐̆̽̏͏̭̲v̸̳̗̏̉é̠̯͙̗̹ͭ̄ ̮̥̗̥͔͕̅̑̅̏ͭͨu̶̱̞͉̘̞̜̲̇ͭ̉p̙̟̲ͩ̊̈́̈́͝ ̤̠̻̥͚̣o̠͚̝̦͚͇̲̎n̝͖̘͖̫̫̉̃ͅ ͭ҉͕̰̦͎̪mͧ̂̀̽ͯ̈͏̞̮̯ẹ̦̖̋̾̔̐̚͞,̶̳͑̋̅͋̃͛͛ ̸̙̤̳̦̺ͧͭ͊̆̀ͤ̌ͅA̤͎̮͔͈̥̳ͪ̇ͥ͌ͫ͡l̤̜̟̞̘̈͛ͪ͐ͫ͑i̖̠͈̖̭̫̔ͬͪ̓͞c̡̞͇̺̟̻̲̮͛̏̈͋̒͑ͣe̤̙!̭̪͂ͬ̓

I looked up took in a sharp, raspy breath, before exhaling slowly. My hands were shaking, my teeth were chattering, what the fuck was happening?

"Grave... What's happening to you?" Alice asked, her voice shaking like a skyscraper suffering an earthquake. My eyes delved into hers, emotionless. I couldn't think of anything to say; it was like my mouth had been numbed by a thousand needles. I couldn't speak, couldn't make a noise... I was helpless. This is what the swamp of sadness does to one's mind. I could only imagine what the others were seeing.

Then they came. The beating of giant wings, scaly and feathery alike, arrived overhead, and my vision flew up to a terrible sight; a dozen demons, coupled with a dozen angels, all blackened and decaying, dripping black, viscous liquid. They were the demons and angels I had mercilessly murdered in my own world. I knew it.

I stood up and flung out my weapons, opening fire. They ducked and weaved past my shots, each and every one. They knew my patterns too well, there was no chance I could outsmart them.

Actually, I hadn't paid any mind to the smoke bombs around my torso, crafted from the ashes of slain vampires. I went to yank one free, but before I could the sash itself was yanked free by a pair of clawed feet. I took aim at the demon thief, but my attention was stolen by a blast of light, searing a chunk of flesh out of the right side of my neck. I spun around, took aim again, and fired. The beam of burning hellfire finally hit its target, and the decaying angel came crashing to earth, creating a giant crater in the island I had been standing on.

"Alice! Help me out here, damnit!" I cursed, my guns a blur of red, black, white and gold, creating a mini-fireworks display. I heard no reply from Alice. "Alice, com-"

"I can't! I don't know what you're fussing over! I can't help you if I don't what you're shooting at!" She cried, and I felt my body go rigid for the third time, as my mind froze, receiving another message.

A̛̳̦̘̅ͧͨL̖̈́̿͡I̲̱̜̰̙ͫ̎ͯ͝C̨͌E͚̟͎͈̝ͭ̃͂͆̕!̣͇ͣͯ̓̀ͮ̈́ ̥̬H̻̙̽͛̋̈́̂Ė̸̦̥ͫͦ̈͌͒ͦL̨͙ͮ͆P̳͕̥͚ͨ͑͐͗ͧ͞ ̞̖͎̮̯̣̋͛͂̅̅̃͝M͉̪̦̘̰̉̿̃E̹̗͕̤͎͉͛̌͑͋͡,̞͖͈͉̟͚̰ ̭̮̩͗̎̑Ẇ̵̜Ǐ̛̲̼͉̳̽̃́̎̈́̉ͅL̖̲̭̟̭͐̿L̛̜̘̻̎̑͋̋ͫ ̡̠̲̙̳̆Y̠̩̰̮ͭŌ̦̯̎̎̆͐̂̀̚Ű̯͡?̲̮̹̮͇͐̀!̦̤͓̜͇̔́̒̇ͩͫ̕

J̼̦͈͖̿ͅo̖̞͈̳͇̰ͤ̇̎ͅs̨̥̔ͪ̒ͪ̏̃͆é̞̭̜̦̝̃ͨ͌,̫͔͓͙͓͈ͬͤ̈̎ͩ̊͡ ̧̞͔̹̑ͤ̊I̭̫̲͋̓̈ͬͬ̾͠ ̱̝̱̮̭̯c̟͌̒a͚̥̪̫͎ͫ́̋ͅn͕̋̎͌̒̓'̣̟̗͍͘ṱ̯͓̣̄̓̈́ͬ̚!̄ͯͪ́ͫ̿̉ ̡͕ͥI̋͑̈̃̚ ̰͉̠̮̘̩̾͂ͫc̩̰ͦ̇̎a̢ͭn̨̬̱̭̼ͯͯͫ͂ͦ̈́'͔̳̼͕̥̼͍͂̄̉ͨ̓ͣt͍͖̙̙̣̯͋́ͭ̕ ̮̘͂̓ͥ̏ͨ̈́͝d̖̯̘͊̾̇ͮ̂̀̿͡ȏ̮̂̍ͩ͌̏ ̩͓͕̜̯͛͟a͆̋̿ͦ͏̫̫̗͖̝̝̦n̻̺͚̪͔͐͑̽͝y͉̳̬̳̼̐ṯ̌ͭͪ̎̃ͩͅẖ͔̙̉̊̀͊̄͐ǐ͕̹̤n͔̯̻̱̖͉̺̆́́̿̾͆̃̕g̮̙͗̎̄̆͐ ̳͇͚̗̫͐a̦̫̤͓̟̒ň̸̖͕y͚̞̙̲̽ͣ ̠̖̓͆ͧͨm̟̈́͌̈̓̄ő̫͓͔͈̙r͎̹̭̤̪̬̱͋͡e͉̘̦̖͎͉͔͑̿̔͝!̨̠̗̫̩̠̥̀̂́̒

* * *

Grave's gun lowered to Alice's face level, and her whole body trembled, but it wouldn't move. No, it wasn't that it wouldn't move; Alice knew that she should face the man. Flames began to boil within the barrel of the demonic weapon Grave was toting.

"Grave, it's me, Alice!" She tried to reason with the nephilim, but his dulled eyes told her that wasn't going to happen, but she tried anyway. "Come on, Grave listen to me! I'm right here!" She kept screaming at the top of her lungs. The flames began to condense, and Grave's face became a solid picture of grim anger.

"JOSÉ!" She shrieked, and the trigger was pulled, a gunshot resounding through the foggy forest as a bolt of hellfire screamed towards the vampire. She closed her eyes, and prepared for the blazing impact...

MASSIVE SPOILER; FOR JUDGES: [spoiler]Alice is not dead![/spoiler]